Escape from Harrizel (22 page)

“Fallon,” Reid tosses his Senz in the bucket
to come after me. He’s at my side in seconds.

“Did the war even happen?” I whisper.

“What?”

“I can’t remember a single thing. It’s
like,” I exhale, “everything’s a blur before this. It used to come
to me in bits and pieces but now…”

“Fallon.”

“And if I can’t remember what happened, then
how do I know what’s real or not? How do I know I haven’t always
been here? That this place—”

Reid rounds in front of me, stopping us half
way to the giant metal pole. “You need to be quiet. They’re
probably watching us right now,” his eyes flicker to the Castle,
“look, I know you want answers and you’ll get them. But give me
some time. We have the meet up with the RCs later. Let me see what
I can do for later this week.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just let me see what I can do…” he leaves
without giving me a second to respond.

***

I’m the last to arrive.

“Here we are then,” Sampson gestures me
toward the others outside his door. “Now, a quick word of
caution—move fast and keep close. Take the wrong turn and you may
never find your way out.” He glances to Reid who offers a slight
nod. “Let’s be on our way then.”

Sampson leads us through the darkened
corridor to the invisible outline in the purplish-black marble.
With two Callixes and four babeebs spread among us, the shadowy
stairwell’s cloaked in soft shades of gold. Reaching the ground, we
filter into another passage, Reid and Sampson leading the way. Vix,
Clark, Pratt and Griffin follow and then it’s me. The three Rogues
keep to their silent curiosity, trailing behind as Reid and Sampson
take tunnel after tunnel.

Eventually we reach Camp’s entrance and we
all pile in. Pratt and I share a seat while Clark, Vix and Griffin
claim the bench opposite us. Tucker, Able and Jace group near the
entrance, just off from Sampson, their eyes large as discs as they
gaze around the hollowed wooden room. Reid closes in behind them,
completing our wide, lopsided circle. Ten in total.

Walking to the center and without speaking
to anyone directly, Reid asks, “What do we know? We know people are
being taken. You can see this with Raj. Hinson. What else do we
know?” his eyes dart around. “They’re drugging us. Erasing parts of
our memory. If they weren’t, you’d know who I meant when I
mentioned Hinson a moment ago. You’ve known her until very
recently, when you were instructed to take a pill to protect you
from berry juice poison.”

“Load of bullshit…” Clark mumbles to
himself.

Tucker’s eyes flicker to mine at the mention
of her name. He looks back to Reid in confusion. “Erasing?”

“These lists they’ve started… it’s a new way
of Snatching.”

“How do you know?”

“What’re they doing in the labs?” Reid
crosses his arms, “treating for the berry poison, right? There’s no
such thing. Those people aren’t coming back.”

“They’re Snatchings in the day time. For all
of us to see. And they go willingly,” I tap my temple,
“
smart
.”

“So wait…” Tucker shakes his head, pinching
the bridge of his nose, “they’re increasing the Snatchings… but
then erasing them?”

“Pretty much,” Clark sighs, arms folded as
he leans against the wooden wall across from me. “Welcome to
Harrizel.”

“Yeah but they haven’t asked us to take a
pill in days,” Able tries.

“They will.”

“How do you know?” Jace asks.

“People will start wondering where their
friends went.”

“Yeah, but they’ll never ask it aloud,” Able
tries to reason, looking between the two other Rogues, “they’ll
assume they were snatched at some point.”

I shake my head. “They’ll catch on. Strange
how
every
person from the list
suddenly
went missing.
No, the Dofinikes are smarter than that. They need to keep us
coming to them willingly.”

“And the list sizes are growing,” Pratt
chimes in.

“
Exactly
,” I look around the hovel,
“they need more of us and quicker. Regular Snatchings alone aren’t
doing it anymore.”

“But for what?” Able turns to Tucker, then
Reid, “We still don’t even know
why
they’re taking
people.”

“The
why
,” Sampson interjects,
“although very important, should be second to the
how
and
when
. Regular Snatchings and now the lists,” he turns to
Reid, “By the Rogue’s calculations, have the Snatchings increased
as well?”

“They’re about to. Up until now, it’s been
standard, but the King’s are recruiting. All the fights lately—it’s
part of their process. Let a bunch of Arrivals beat the shit out of
each other.” Reid turns to Tucker. “Have you heard anything
more?”

“The same.”

“Any possible leads?”

Tucker shakes his head.

“How do you know when the Snatchings are
going to occur?” I ask.

“We don’t,” Tucker huffs, “we try to
anticipate it,
prevent
it… but we never know for sure. Our
Scouts and Clients only secure so much info. Without the Kisses’
assistance, it’s more difficult.”

“Have you ever been able to stop one?”

“A few times, yeah,” Tucker nods, “when our
Clients have been able to pull the Kings’ Clients over. They give
us their assignments and we give them protection, food. They’re
afraid though, obviously, so it doesn’t happen too often.”

“Make sure the Rogues and Scouts don’t take
any more of the pills,” Reid tells Tucker.

“They won’t. But they’ll have a hard time
believing.”

“Why?”

“Never heard anything like it before.”

“What about the food?” Pratt asks. “They
know about that.”

“What do you mean?” I turn to her. “What
food?”

“If you call it that…” Jace mumbles beneath
his breath.

“What the Dofinikes give us,” Pratt
explains, “that nasty stuff. It’s like oatmeal porridge with pieces
of bark in it.”

“Notice how you can’t really remember your
past anymore?” Able asks, “Anything before this—your family, the
war, after the war—you can’t remember it, right?”

That’s what I was telling Reid earlier. I
used to think about it all the time, about the life before this.
About the famine, the long winters and desperation. But recently,
it’s been blurry. Nonexistent. The images seem unclear now, like a
fading memory of something too distant to feel real.

“I don’t…”

“It’s because they’re planting those
memories,” Able sighs, “you’ve stopped eating their crap so you
have a hard time remembering anything about the war.”

“Or anything in general…” Clark grumbles
again.

“Think about it,” Able says, “try and focus
on one memory. One
single
memory. You won’t be able to.”

I try, hoping to find a family member, a
friend,
someone
I possibly loved. But nothing. I’m unable
conjure a single face. And that sad fact, among all the rest,
depresses me the most.

“I can’t.”

“That’s because you haven’t consumed the
drug in a while. For you, for
all
of us,” Able glances at
the others, “it’s non-existent.”

“But there are people who still—”

“Everyone who ingests it still believes in
the war.”

“We’re not saying it didn’t happen,” Tucker
shrugs, “just that the memories of it are planted.”

“But why plant memories?” I ask, the obvious
answer hitting me. Of course! They’re covering up something with
them. And if it’s not the war, then what is it? “So if the Rogues
know about the food,” I look between Reid and Tucker, “why wouldn’t
they believe the pills? If the Dofinikes are drugging us, why is
this so unbelievable?”

“It’s never been done before. They trust
you, Rox,” Tucker says, turning to him now, “and they’ll follow you
anywhere, but they might need something to really make them
believe
it.”

“Anyone know Delan?” Reid asks.

Everyone nods but Griffin’s the only one to
speak up. “I do...” he reddens, “I used to see her for a
while.”

“She was one of the ones called on the
lists. Once they ask us to take the pill again, she’ll
disappear.”

“And?” Clark asks.

“Fallon has something of hers.”

“What,” Clark casts a scowl my way, “did you
steal it?”

“No,” I glare. “It’s proof. When everyone
else won’t remember, it’ll be the proof they need that she
exists.”

Reid, who’s gnawing at his thumb, turns to
Tucker with a shrug. “What do you think?”

The Rogue Leader exhales, “How do we do
this?”

“Fallon?” Reid looks to me. “You had
something in mind when you asked for her hairclip?”

“Okay…” I adjust to the sudden attention I
wasn’t prepared for, “this is what we do—the next time they ask us
to take the pill, take turns having each Rogue return her hairpiece
through your Scouts. They won’t know who she is and they’ll trip
over each other trying to find someone they won’t know
anymore.”

“So we don’t tell the Scouts?” Able turns to
Tucker then Reid.

“Not at first,” I explain, “first wave, all
the Rogues need to be on board. Once they believe it, then go ahead
and pass it along to the Scouts.”

Reid nods at this, turning to Tucker, Able
and Jace, “Sound good?”

All three nod.

“Maybe
you
should tell them,” Tucker
turns to Reid, “they’ve been waiting to hear from you about all
this anyway. Plus, they have other concerns.”

“Like?”

“Dodging Jeb and the others. They’ve been
getting on their backs about where we’re getting the food.”

“Thought they didn’t care?” Reid frowns.

“Well now they do and they’re being
persistent
.”

“Tell the boys to be…
unavailable
,”
he risks a fleeting glance to me. “They’ll leave you alone if
you’re busy with the Rebirth.”

“I like the sound of that,” Jace grins.

“You would,” Able stifles a laugh.

“I can’t help that girls throw themselves at
me,” his grin widens, “maybe an example is in order and since I’m
Rogue Commander—”

“Guys,” Tucker glances between them. “We
done?”

“Sorry Rogue Leader,” Jace and Able say
quietly together.

“Do what you need to, but plot and plan on
your own time,” Tucker looks between them, “just make sure the
Rogues do this.”

“Yes Rogue Leader,” both reply.

Tucker shifts back to Reid, the last of an
eye roll disappearing. “Not a problem.”

Reid shifts his weight, gnawing his
thumbnail again, “You’re right. We need to address this.
All
of this,” he thinks for a moment, pacing in the small bit of space
available, “Set up a meeting the next night they ask us to take the
pills. We’ll have it here,” he glances to Sampson and then to Clark
who sighs annoyingly. “Do as Fallon says—have each Rogue send their
Scouts after Delan. Let her know we have something of hers.”

“Is it safe to have them all come here?” Vix
asks Sampson.

“I don’t see why not,” he meets Reid’s eye,
“if you think it’s fine.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he turns to Tucker,
“but I want no questions asked about this,” he gestures to the
hollowed trunk.

“They’ll be curious.”

“Of course,” he smirks at the obvious
statement, his tone going rigid with authority. “No questions.”

Tucker nods, glancing at Able and Jace for
confirmation of the order as well.

“So…” he rubs his hands together, “let’s
work on the pills and Delan’s existence. We’ll go from there.
Good?”

The three Rogues nod.

Reid scans the rest of the room, the others
agreeing to the plan. He looks to me last, his intense focus
setting me ablaze. It only lasts a second and he’s moved on again,
gesturing for the door. We all file out of the burrow in one
orderly silent line and once reaching the Castle, Reid heads up to
my room with me.

“This another escort?” I lean against my
door, crossing my arms.

“Maybe,” he shrugs, his mouth set in one
indelible grin. “Did I answer some of your questions?”

“Some.”

“Well…” a lump rolls down his throat, “maybe
I can help you out with some more.”

“Meaning?”

He gestures to the door, “You going to
invite me in?”

I punch the six symbol blocks and we enter,
Reid shutting the door behind him. Suddenly, we’re trapped in this
tiny space again, and I’m both nervous and excited. I stroll
forward, trying to keep indifferent about our proximity, especially
since the last time we were here…

“I was going to give you a chance to ask me
whatever you want,” Reid cuts off my thought, “about anything.”

“Really?” I arch a brow.

“Really,” he grins, crossing his arms.
“Anything you want. Anything,” he amends, “
I
can
answer.”

“Okay then…” I quickly search through all
the questions I’ve had, especially since learning his identity.
“History. Tell me about the Rogues. How did this start?”

“
That
…” he slinks to the bed, “is a
loaded question,” he glances up to me with a sigh and a wink. “I’ll
try to give you the short version but even that’ll put you to
sleep.
Basically…
” he props his elbows on his knees as his
mind drifts back over some distant memory that plays across his
features. “The Kings were established by the time I got here. I
befriended a guy named Grisham… or maybe he befriended me,” he
thinks to himself, considering the possibility now. “I didn’t know
who he was at first, the power he held. But I liked him...” his
eyes narrow, contemplating some great argument within. “He seemed
like a good guy… an
honest
guy. Anyway, after a while, he
finally told me what they did.
Who
they were. Said he’d like
to bring me in. Said he thought I had potential. And for a while, I
liked being a King. Until…” he shifts, his sights deeply focused on
the floor. “I found out our other purposes.”