Redeemer (11 page)

Rushing down in the open doesn't seem like the best idea, so we stick to shuffling behind trees. In no time at all we reach the bottom. We're nowhere near a gate, let alone the front gate. That's good. We need to stay as far away from the main gate as we can. Middle City entrances are heavily guarded, as are the cities themselves.

“Why are the Middles treated as prisoners?” I ask. “There were almost no guards in the Lesser Cities, but here I can already see patrols around the fences.”

“The Greaters' success balances on the obedience of the Middles,” Isabel says. “Didn't you learn that while you were Greater?”

I shrug as I take in her words. She's right, I guess. It isn't a new thought, just one I had forgotten. “Which way?”

Fischer frowns as we take in the fences. “Greater City is directly north of Middle City 1.” He studies the sun and its direction in relation to our location. “The gate is on the south end, I think, which means we need to go left to avoid it.”

I have no idea whether he's right or wrong. But I follow him, and so does Isabel. She hasn't questioned me once since leaving Fischer's home city. She doesn't ask to be made aware of the things I know. She doesn't demand to know where we're going. Still, she deserves answers. I have to remember to explain to her about Fischer and Keegan soon.

For now, I hurry to walk side by side with Fischer. It takes a while, but we finally come to what looks like an opening in the fence in the distance. Two guards sit atop the guard station, and I stop. “We can't get past them.”

Fischer shakes his head. “There are other openings, we just have to find them. We may need to go back the other way.”

“Or we could follow that path.” Isabel nods to what appears to be a path leading through a treed area. It's clearly beat down, as if it's used regularly.

It would keep us hidden, and we might be able to move through it without being spotted.

I look to Fischer for confirmation.

“That's as good a plan as any,” he says.

We hurry through the trees quietly, and we've almost reached the other side when I trip over a large stone and tumble to the thorny ground.

“Are you OK?” Fischer squats beside me to help me up. He brushes the hair from my face and our eyes meet, maybe for the first time since leaving the hospital. My breath catches, and his eyes light. He seems to
feel
for the first time in days.

“Did you see what you tripped over?” Isabel asks. Her voice is low. We don't know how close we are to the guard station, and getting caught again isn't on the agenda.

Fischer and I turn toward her, and I take in what tripped me. No rock lies on the ground. A brown, metal disk sticks up a few inches from the dirt.

“It's a manhole,” Fischer says, his eyes wide. “We can get inside the city through the drains.”

I manage my first hopeful smile in days as I glance at Fischer's face. “Will it work?”

Amazingly. Fantastically. Miraculously. He smiles. “I think so.”

Fischer positions himself to pry the top from the manhole, but when he tugs it comes sliding off with ease and he ends up on his back. A moment later we're shimmying down a rusted, smelly ladder. Fischer goes first, and his feet make a soft splash when he hits the bottom.

“It's safe. Come on down.”

I hit bottom next, and Isabel a few moments later.

Darkness surrounds us, the only light coming from the hole above us. “How will we see?”

Fischer glances around. “These old tunnels used to have electricity inside them. Artificial lighting lined the walls at intervals. Surely they have to maintenance these tunnels from time to time. I bet there's still power somewhere.”

I shiver in the darkness. “So how do we find the switch?”

A high-pitched groan grates the air, and I turn to find Isabel wrestling with an old metal door. She slips inside before I can ask what she's doing, and a few minutes later there is light.

I laugh out loud this time. “Isabel! How did you do that?”

“There's a power box in there. Don't you remember? I studied city planning back in my Greater days. I know how to find a power grid.”

I throw my arms around her neck and squeeze with all my might. “Thank you, Isabel.”

“No need to thank me.” She pulls away with an uncomfortable frown.

“There is plenty of reason to thank you. I wouldn't have made it out of Lesser 4 if you hadn't helped me.”

She shrugs off the compliment and steps forward, but I catch a slight glimmer in her eye. “This way, I assume?” She points toward what must lead to the city, and Fischer nods. This time she leads the way without question, leaving Fischer and me to trail behind.

We walk for a few minutes in silence, but the darkness wraps me in a strange feeling of safety. Like I can't see the danger so it isn't really there. Fischer's steps sound softly beside me, and I reach out for him. He takes my hand and my heart skips.

Suddenly, I want to tell him about everything that's happened in the last few weeks. Everything he doesn't know. “I found my friend Jamie in Lesser City 4. Isabel led me to her.”

Fischer nods, seeming interested in my words, so I go on.

“We weren't given food on a regular basis. Was it like that in Lesser 3?”

He nods again. “Once a month. They brought boxes to our doors.”

“No, it wasn't like that in 4. We lined up for miles, and before everyone could reach the front, they ran out. Some people left with nothing.”

His gaze flies to mine and his eyes hold the horror I felt living through that.

We walk a few minutes in silence before I speak again. “Where do you think they're taking the Lessers?”

“I don't know.” His frown is back. “Wherever it is, they're shipping them out by the hundreds.”

“Do you think they're sending them in place of the Lesser prisoners?”

He considers it before shrugging. “I couldn't say, but why so many?”

Silence wraps around us once again, but it's not uncomfortable like it has been. A small piece of the old Fischer is back, the one that returned with his smile topside.

After what feels like all day but is probably only an hour, we agree to stop and figure out where we are.

“We've passed a few ladders,” Isabel says. “All of them lead up, but who knows where? We don't want to pop up in the middle of a busy street.”

She's right. Getting out of this drainage system won't be easy.

“There's no way to know where we are,” Fischer says. “We're going to have to take a chance.”

Those are exactly the words I don't want to hear. Thoughts of getting caught and sent away or killed are just too much. I want to be free—free to find Guard Nev. Free to warn the people of what's coming. Free to live.

Today is not the day for freedom, though. It's the day for chances. I point. “There's a ladder.”

Fischer and Isabel spin to look over their shoulders, and Fischer nods. “Then that's our way out.”

 

 

 

 

15

 

Isabel insists on going first and attempting to remove the cover to the street.

“Only move it an inch or two,” Fischer says. “Don't draw any attention to yourself.”

Isabel gives her signature grin. “This ain't the first time I've been in trouble, Mr. Medic. I sneaked in and out of every type of place you can imagine before I ended up demoted.”

Fischer chuckles and shakes his head in the dim light of the tunnels. “You got it. I'll keep my mouth shut.”

Isabel puts her hands on the nearest rung and takes her first step.

“If staying hidden is your goal, I wouldn't take that route,” a deep voice says.

We spin at the voice, sloshing water into the air.

Three men—maybe Fischer's age, maybe a little older—stand at the entrance to a different tunnel. They're dressed in rough, homespun clothes like almost everyone else, but they're here. In this tunnel.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“No one to be afraid of, unless you mean us harm.” The one speaking is tall, with dark hair and even darker eyes. The other two haven't spoken a word, but they're taller than the first guy, and bigger all around.

“We don't mean you any harm.” Fischer's voice is his typical soft and melodic voice.

He's coming back, slowly but surely.

“We're trying to get out of here.” Staying calm is best, but their presence puts a damper on my good feelings.

“Like I said, if you want to get caught, be my guest.” He gestures toward the ladder Isabel still stands on.

I look to Fischer for instruction. We don't know these guys from any other Lesser we'd meet on the street. They could have been sent to trap us. They could want to rob us and kill us.

Or, they might want to help us.

“Then how do we get out?” I ask.

“We can show you, for a price.”

“We don't have anything to give,” Fischer says. “We don't even have food or water.”

The speaker smirks and shakes his head. “What we're wanting isn't something you have, anyway. We want you to bring back a few things from up there.”

I frown and glance to Fischer and Isabel again.

“What do you want?” This time it's Isabel. Her voice commands respect, and her chin juts out in defiance.

“Fresh fruits and vegetables. Every time we start to grow anything, the guards cut it down.”

“What do you mean? How do you grow anything down here?” Their words make no sense to me.

“Not down here. On the outside. Outside the fences. We can hunt and gather rain water, but we have to get our fruits and vegetables from the city. You can do the leg work for us.”

“How would you know we'd come back?” I ask.

Now he grins. His eyes flash in a menacing dance, and I step closer to Fischer.

“One of you will stay behind for collateral,” he says.

“I'll stay,” Isabel says immediately.

But the guy shakes his head. “We want her.”

There is no way in all of Middle City 1 I am staying in this tunnel with these rats. Fischer obviously agrees.

“Out of the question. We'll take our chances up there.” He nods to the ladder Isabel had so recently been ready to climb.

The rat scowls and steps closer to us. “What are you doing down here, anyway? I heard something about Frost Moon and a war. What kind of information do you have?”

Great. So he was sent to follow us.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Fischer turns from them and pulls me with him, but the rat isn't letting us go so easily.

“It's already my concern. Why do you think we're down here? It was either that or be sent away to rot in Lesser 4. When one hears rumors of wars and begins questioning it? Yeah, the Greaters don't like that so much.”

Fischer, Isabel, and I glance at each other. Isabel's nostrils flare and she steps forward. “Maybe we could work together. You help us out, we get you what you want, and we all leave together.”

“Stop the bickering, Les.”

The voice isn't one we've heard before, and neither of the two silent rats spoke it. A fourth man steps from the tunnel, and the first rat—Les—quickly backs away.

“We're all going to have to leave, thanks to the geniuses who turned on these lights.” The man's piercing eyes pin us to the wall behind us. “I guess that would be you? They're going to come looking for the source using up all the power, and that's going to lead them here. So now we all go.”

“We know things,” Fischer says.

My gaze flies to him. What is he doing?

“If you're working against them, we can definitely work together. Join us.” His words are sure and firm. Confident.

Again I'm surprised at who Fischer is. Maybe I never knew him as well as I'd thought, or maybe what he's been through changed him this much. Either way, I'm not sure why he's so quick to change his mind.

“I know a place,” Les says. “The buildings on the north side of the city.”

“Outside the wall?” the leader asks.

“That's right.” Les looks to us. “There are old skyscrapers. They're outside the fence, but they're easy to get in and out of. We can take you there.”

“And we can still get into the city from these skyscrapers?” I ask. Seeing Keegan is all that matters at this point. Is he still here? Is he OK?

The leader nods. “Not an issue.” He walks back the way he came, and Les nods at us to follow.

Glancing at Fischer one last time, we follow the rats deeper into the tunnel.

“So what's this about your rebellion?” The leader of their small group is short but muscular. He holds himself erect, the way Guard Nev always did, and he walks with a surety and purpose. He must have come from the guard.

He glances over his shoulder and speaks again. “Is it the three of you against the world?”

“Something like that.” I don't know if I trust him yet. He hasn't even given us a name. “Why are you helping us?”

“We can't go into the city very often. Getting supplies is becoming harder and harder. They know us. They watch for us. You, however, should be able to move through the city with ease.”

“How do you know they aren't watching for us, as well?” Fischer asks.

Because they are. They definitely are.

The man eyes our clothes. “You're Lessers if I ever saw them.”

I glance at Fischer and can tell he's thinking what I'm thinking. This man is right. We look like Lessers. We've got to find different clothes before we can go deep into the city.

After long minutes of weaving through the tunnels, we come to a ladder and the rats climb without consulting us. They push through into the sunshine, and the light blinds me. Once my eyes adjust, I see I'm outside the city, but at a different manhole. Not far away, a cluster of tall buildings rise to the sky.