Pulse (17 page)

“How?” Dylan asked. “How did he propose we do this?”

“States. That was the short answer.”

“But why States, what was his reasoning?”

“They all agreed on building States—every country, every scientist—for a lot of reasons. Getting everyone into small spaces would open up vast portions of land. They estimated that the North American landmass would need to be eighty-three percent empty, seventeen percent full in order to survive. That’s not including agriculture, just humans. Everyone had to populate in the same places,
huge
places. And those places had to be created from scratch as clean, modern, perfect atmospheres for living. No more gasoline-fueled cars; those would fall under a worldwide fossil fuel ban. Using gasoline or oil would have to land you in jail or worse; that was critical.”

“And people really bought into this?”

“Not at first, no. But then there was the global drought, followed by sections of Japan and China going under sea level. And the 2029 quake—that was what really did it. The earthquake really woke a lot of people up.”

“So far you’re doing great. What happened next?”

“Well, that’s when Hotspur Chance and all the other scientists went back to work. Only this time they invited the smartest engineers, planners, and architects to join them. There were thousands of people working in relative secrecy for a while. I mean, people knew what they were doing, but they lived on a closed campus and didn’t release reports or news very often. The world kept falling apart while they worked.”

“How many of the thousands of people who went in came out at the end?”

Faith thought this was a weird question.

“I guess I don’t know what you mean. A lot of them never did come out; they just kept working. Hotspur Chance was the only person the public saw very much of.”

Dylan nodded like he understood and motioned for Faith to go on.

“The first States were started in 2032, and people began moving in a few years later. The States were designed to grow outward as more people arrived, but I don’t know too much about what they’re like on the inside. You know, since I’ve never been in one.”

“And what percentage of the world population now lives in a State?”

“More than ninety percent. It’s shocking, really. Just twenty years, and the world is nearly empty. Crazy, right?”

“It shows what we can do when we put our mind to it, but, yeah, it’s a lot of people.”

Faith shrugged. “I don’t know; I guess it’s perfect and clean and fabulous inside. My parents are so headstrong about it. They’ll never go inside the State. I think that part of them may have rubbed off on me.”

“It’s not a crime, living inside a State.”

“Might as well be. Can’t drive, can’t burn wood, no pets, can’t go wandering off into the middle of nowhere in search of some peace and quiet.”

Faith was always bothered by the conformist aspect of the States. It wasn’t in her nature to walk in the same direction everyone else was walking.

“Freedom is pricey, no doubt,” Dylan said, then he turned his head sideways slightly and looked at Faith like he were trying to read her mind. “Did you ever hear anything about the intelligence movement?”

“The what?”

Dylan nodded perceptively, like Faith’s ignorance was the only answer he needed.

“Another time,” Dylan said. “I understand what you know.”

“How’d I do? A-plus, right?” Faith said.

“You’re about half right. And the half you got wrong has a lot to do with why you can pick up a glass with your mind and shatter it on the ground.”

“Sorry about that, by the way. Was it expensive?”

Dylan smiled and shook his head. “No, not expensive. I found them in the back room of the Target just down the street.”

Dylan put his hand out across the table, reaching toward her.

“Can I touch your wrist? It will help me explain.”

“We’re all done with the history lesson, and now you want to hold hands with the teacher?”

“My turn to teach you, if you’ll trust me.”

Faith’s heart danced nervously inside her chest. There was something mystifying and dark about Dylan that made him very attractive. But the mysterious, good-looking type had been recently banned from Faith’s life. Wade had set her on edge, and she wasn’t going to let another jerk get under her skin.

Faith looked at her spoon, which hadn’t been used, and thought about having it do something other than sit there. The spoon moved slowly up in the air, then settled in Dylan’s hand.

“So no hand, just a spoon?” Dylan asked. He didn’t get an answer, just another shrug of Faith’s shoulders.

“I have trust issues.”

Dylan looked off toward the Western State glowing in the distance.

“A lot more happened in those years behind closed doors than Hotspur Chance let on. I’m not going to tell you everything right now; it’s not my place to do that. But I can tell you a little. Hopefully it will be enough, for now.”

“Sounds fair,” Faith said. Faith felt herself gently moving. It started in her feet, which lifted off the roof as light as a feather. She felt weightless and soft, but an energy was building deep inside her. It was a feeling she’d never had before, and something about it made her grab hold of the chair she sat in.

“What’s happening? What are you doing to me?”

“Better if you don’t hold on to anything,” Dylan said. He backed away from the table and stood up. “You’ll have to drop it eventually.”

The feeling inside Faith’s body magnified like a ripple on the water, growing larger and larger, until Dylan gave her a funny look and her whole world changed in an instant. Like a rocket, she shot straight up in the air, taking on speed as she went. She forced her eyes open and saw that Dylan was right in front of her, rising up in the air as she was. It was dark and cold; and looking down, Faith realized she was sitting in the chair, her white knuckles a grip of steel around the bottom edge.

“You really should let that thing go,” Dylan said as they came to a stop.

Faith was so terrified she couldn’t speak. Her breath kept catching in her throat as she alternately glanced down and shut her eyes in terror. If she could have seen herself, she might have laughed at the silliness of a girl who was floating a few hundred feet off the roof of a building holding on to a chair.

“This will all get easier, I promise,” Dylan said. He reached down and touched the back of her hand, and she flinched, letting one side of the chair slip from her fingers. She tried to hold on with her other hand but couldn’t, and a second later the chair fell out of the sky. There had been something about sitting in a chair that had felt safe, like she wasn’t really this far off the ground with nothing to hold her up. As she heard the chair smash into pieces below, Faith finally lost it. She grabbed for Dylan, turning him around like they were floating in water, then she pulled him close and wrapped her arms and legs around his broad back. He didn’t say a word, just let her calm down and hold him that way as he stared off into the distance. He put his hands on hers where they were gripping his T-shirt in two fists.

“You’re not doing this; I am,” he said. “And I’m really good at it. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Easy for you to say,” Faith whispered. She was still shaking—maybe he’d gone too fast.

“I’m just going to start talking,” Dylan said. “You don’t have to do anything. Don’t think about where we are or what we’re doing. I’ve got you, and I’m not going to let you fall. It took me a long time to find you, much longer than I thought it would. Like I said before, you’re a special person. I’m guessing that’s obvious by now.”

Dylan felt Faith let out a small laugh.

“I don’t know if I can deal with this.”

“You’re strong. You’ll be fine.”

Faith loosened her grip slightly, felt the same weightlessness she’d felt on the ground.

“I’m still scared,” she said.

“Do me a favor and keep your eyes open,” Dylan said. “I want you to see something.”

Faith lifted her head off Dylan’s back and peeked over his shoulder as he turned in the air. They had been facing away from the Western State, but now they could see it full-on. It was more beautiful than she’d expected: a vast city at night, like a whole universe sitting alone in the blackness of space. The wall, which wasn’t really a wall at all, glowed soft and yellow. It looked like a wall of fog caught in a perfect beam of moonlight.

“Wow,” Faith whispered in Dylan’s ear.

“Yeah. Wow.”

Faith wondered where in all those white buildings her friend Liz might be. The State was so huge, miles and miles across and full of the tallest skyscrapers she’d ever seen. Even from a hundred miles away, from the height she was at, Faith could see that the Western State was an entire world unto itself.

“I’m going to take you home now if that’s okay,” Dylan said.

Faith didn’t speak. She wouldn’t have known what to say. The night had already been so far beyond where her imagination could take her that flying home and listening to Dylan’s voice began to feel okay. It felt good to lie on his back as he went, and she began to relax. He told her that she should never try this on her own, not yet. And that she had to be careful not to move things with her mind unless the two of them were together. It was dangerous and especially unpredictable for someone who was as untrained as she was.

As they arrived in the darkness outside of Faith’s house, she wished it wouldn’t end. Standing on level ground turned out to be more of a letdown than a comfort.

“You like the flying,” Dylan said, turning to face her. “I thought you might.”

“It’s all right, I guess.” Faith laughed.

“I promise I’ll tell you more really soon. It’s going to take a little bit of time, so you’ll need to be patient. And I’m not the one to tell you everything, but someone else will. Promise me you won’t try to move anything unless we’re together. Please?”

Faith nodded, though she was dying to get into her house and start throwing pillows around her room with her mind.

“How long have you been watching me?” Faith asked.

Dylan wouldn’t answer her question.

“I can train you, but only on the roof, where we were. Meet me there tomorrow, just after dark?”

“You’re not going to pick me up?”

“Afraid not. We really need to keep this to the roof as much as possible. Deal?”

Faith nodded, Dylan smiled, and then he was gone.

As Dylan hovered above her in the darkness, he worried about what he’d done. It was sooner than they’d discussed, and he hadn’t asked for permission. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain to Faith that he’d been watching her every night for months. And there were much more serious things he worried about, too. He knew a catastrophe could invade the States at any time. And he knew he was about to put Faith Daniels in serious danger.

Dylan would have liked to go home and rest, but he knew that wasn’t an option. He would let Faith have an hour or so on her own before returning to her window, and there he would spend the rest of the night.

He’d trained her to move things with her mind. She was clumsy, but it was a start. What Faith didn’t know was that she’d only discovered half of the abilities she would need. There was something even rarer and more important still hidden inside her.

If he could help her find it, there was a chance she’d live through the coming fury.

Chapter 14
Let’s Not Tie Our Shoes

“But we just got here,” Faith said. “They can’t be serious.”

She was sitting in a classroom, exhausted and confused from her night on the roof of the Nordstrom building with Dylan, when she heard the announcement on the PA system.

“Once again,” Mr. Reichert repeated as Faith looked around the room at all the stunned students. Her gaze fell on Wade Quinn, and she turned away quickly. “Old Park Hill will remain open for two more weeks, at which time you will be reassigned. Officials from the Western State will be contacting parents and guardians to make arrangements. Thank you, I hope you all make the most of your last days at Old Park Hill.”

Faith knew what this really meant. Every time a school closed, the numbers got smaller. She was convinced the State used the closings in order to encourage parents to leave the outside behind. Half of the students in the room, more than likely, wouldn’t make it to the next school. She missed Liz more than ever and wondered, for the first time, whether she should simply give up. If it wasn’t for the bizarre events of the night before with Dylan Gilmore, she would have decided then and there to put a stop to her endless waiting.

“I’ve enjoyed our time together,” Mr. Reichert continued, though he sounded tired and unsure, as if he, too, had run out of reasons to stay. “Let’s do our best to have a nice final run, business as usual.”

So that’s it then,
Faith thought.
Old Park Hill will be closed by a week from Friday. Perfect.

Faith glanced around the room once more, searching for Hawk but finding Dylan Gilmore staring at her from the back row. He shrugged, gave her a little smile, and went back to whatever lesson he wasn’t really listening to.

“I say we have a party,” Wade Quinn said. Faith rolled her eyes, but everyone else in the class including the teacher seemed to think it was a good idea. “Come on, you guys!” Wade continued, lathering up the crowd. “A real end-of-the-world bash. What do you say, teach?”

Miss Newhouse looked around the room like it wasn’t really her call. “I’m only here to observe. As long as your work is getting done, I don’t have a problem with a going-away party. It’ll be mine, too. You were my last assignment.”

“Wait, you’re not even
from
this school?” Faith asked. It hadn’t occurred to her that the school might be run by teachers from somewhere else.

Miss Newhouse laughed softly and shook her head. “No one is from here, Faith. Everyone at this school has been moved just as many times as you have.”

Like on cue, a commercial break appeared on everyone’s Tablet, interrupting whatever individual lecture they were all ignoring. This one focused on the newly released entertainment options for everyone living inside the States. Five new movies were premiering on all State Tablets throughout the week, featuring the biggest-name actors, and a new Tablet series was starting on Friday. This was one of the toughest things about living outside. All the newest, best content was excluded from Faith’s Tablet because she wasn’t on the closed State network. More and more of the really good stuff wasn’t making it out at all; and even if it did, there was a long wait.