The Arrival (14 page)

I woke and squinted at the clock. A big
nine flashed brightly. How had I slept so late? I needed to get dressed so Kate
and I could leave. First, I had to make sure we were one-hundred percent nanobot
free. I scurried from beneath the covers and pulled the tracking device from my
backpack. Sitting on my bed, I powered up the device.

“Miranda?” Mom knocked on the door
before easing it open.

I shoved the device under the sheets.
“Yyeess?” My veins filled with adrenaline, and my heart pumped like I was
running a marathon, even though I sat perfectly still. Maybe too still.

“Everything okay?” She peeked in,
allowing the smell of pancakes and bacon to flow into my room. My stomach
rumbled with hunger and my taste buds watered with each inhalation. Mom knew
how to cook a great meal, and I hoped it wouldn’t be my last.

“Yeah, just waking up.” I stretched and yawned.
“Smells good.”

She walked to my bed and sat beside me.
“I made breakfast for you.”

“Okay, thanks.” Peering through the
corner of my lashes, I checked to make sure I’d hidden the device completely. I
didn’t want her to see the electric blue light under my sheets.

“Do you want to go with me to drop off
Matt?”

I tried to recall our last conversation
but nothing came to mind, because I’d spent the last few days preparing for and
then recovering from the serum injection. Not to mention the mind blowing
connection that Dimas and I shared. “Where?”

Mom giggled and furrowed her brows.
“Summer day camp.” She waited, as if I should remember something. When I said
nothing, she continued, “At the church.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, um--Kate and I were
planning to go to the mall today. Is that okay?” I hadn’t rehearsed my excuse.
It sounded pathetically fake, and I hoped she believed me. “Besides, Matt’s
still acting weird around me. It might be better if you take him without me.”

“Oh, all right. Do you need a ride?”

The doorbell rang, diverting my
attention. “That’s probably her. I need to get dressed.” I scooted to the side
of the bed, making sure the device remained covered. “Can you send her up?”

She gave me a big smile and patted my
leg. “Of course, baby.”

A surge of guilt mixed with sadness
filled me, knowing that might be the last time I saw her. It made me want to
tell her what I planned to do. But I refrained. Even if she understood, she
would worry about me and tell Dad. He would come after us, and our plans would
be ruined. The letter I wrote to them would explain everything. Leaving them to
guess our whereabouts would give us enough time to get to Columbia and back.

As she rose from the bed, I reached for
her hand. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yes?” she asked, brushing my hair from
my face.

“Thanks for all that you do.” I leaned
forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby.” Mom embraced me,
and I held her, allowing her to stroke my hair and ease my worries. It felt almost
as good as Dimas’ mind connection, but the more I thought about it, I realized
nothing compared to Dimas.

Neither of us seemed to want to let go,
and I wondered if she sensed I wasn’t the same? After all, I was different not
only mentally, but also physically. And that’s why I had to leave.  I had to
stop the experiments with more girls. The future of the human race rested on my
shoulders. I swallowed the thick lump lodged in the middle of my throat. I
would not cry.

Mays are strong and never show weakness.

After giving her a tight squeeze, I
eased back. “See you later, Mom.”

“I’m going to the grocery store after I
drop off Matt. Call me if you need a ride.” She walked toward the door.

“I will.”

She turned one more time, giving me a
wholehearted smile. “Have fun.” The warmth radiating from her brown eyes belied
the sincerity deep within her, completely opposite Dad. She closed the door,
and I prayed it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her.

In seconds, I fished the tracking device
from the tangled blankets. Nervous, I tapped my thumbnails to the sides and
gripped the device until my trembling ceased. I keyed in my information first,
and the tracking device narrowed to 11066 Great Lakes Circle. The icon pulsated
in vibrant blue, showing only one source with the nanobots. The dog.
Whew.

With renewed confidence, I quickly
checked the status for Kate. The blue marker moved two blocks and flashed. I
fell onto my pillow, hugging the device. The torment we had suffered had been
worth it, so far.

In that moment of celebration, I noted the
things that once brought me contentment, like the coziness of my bed and the
chair I spent countless hours in reading magazines or books. For some strange
reason, it didn’t feel like home. But it was my home. The place I longed to be
for the past nine months. The posters that lined my wall and the stuffed
animals atop my chest of drawers seemed foreign, as if they belonged to someone
else. Why did those things not matter to me anymore? Had I actually outgrown
them? The more I studied each and every knickknack, I appreciated the special
memories they held, and that’s when I realized that despite what I fought for,
I knew I needed to be at Nidus. Fighting to protect the girls. Figuring how
we’d break free.

Not wasting another minute, I hopped out
of bed and changed my clothes. In a few hours, we’d talk to Senator Wesley
Bosch and convince him that what the Eslites were doing to us was wrong.

We would be free.

***

As Kate and I walked down the street,
someone honked.

“Hey, you girls need a ride?” We turned
to discover Bryce driving his sister’s Mustang.

Kate rested her sunglasses on the bridge
of her nose and raised her brows. “What’s he doing here?”

I shrugged. “I better go see.”

I walked to the car and leaned into the
driver’s side window. “Does your mom know you have your sister’s car?”

“She’s at work,” he replied, avoiding my
question.

“What about your sister?”

With a slight huff he said, “Of course
she knows. You think I’d take it without her approval?”

“Just checking.” I lifted my hands in
surrender. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

He strummed his fingers along the top of
the steering wheel. “Why do you insist on protecting me?”

I wanted to tell him that if I didn’t,
no one else would. Then I realized his mom was probably protecting him more
than I could, or at least trying. But we’d already had that conversation. He
had to figure it out for himself and within time he would understand.  “I guess
for the same reason you feel obligated to protect me.”

“It’s my contribution to the effort.” He
glanced down for a quick second, and I reminded myself not to fall for his
sweet pleas. “And that’s why I’m here. I didn’t want you to miss your bus.”

I hated to admit that his timing was
impeccable. I turned to Kate. “We’ll make better time if he takes us.”

Kate sipped her cappuccino and sighed.
“If you say so.”

I walked to the passenger side and got
in the front seat, while Kate crawled in behind Bryce, huffing and mumbling
under her breath. Even though they had apologized to one another, she
apparently still had some unresolved issues.

“Thanks for finally texting me.” Bryce
laid his hand atop mine. “You had me worried, ya know.”

I shifted and then curled my fingers
into a ball. “Sorry,” I muttered. For some reason the touch of his skin on mine
didn’t feel right. Not like it used to feel.

Kate popped her gum.  “You’re not the
only one she ditched.”

Bryce glanced at her through the rear
view mirror. “What?”

“Yeah, she forgot to call me, too. I had
to wake her the next morning to make sure she was still alive.”

An unsettling gaze fell on me. “Do you
want to tell me what really happened?”

After I had spoken to Kate, I sent him a
text to let him know I was okay. I spared all the details about my reaction to
the serum and especially my new connection with Dimas. I fiddled with the pins
on my backpack and then bit my lip. The person I had always shared my most
intimate secrets with had now become almost foreign to me. “It’s hard to
explain. It made me feel weird, that’s all.”

“Weird how?” He squeezed my hand,
determined to hold on it.

I kept my gaze glued to one of the
American flag pins, refusing to meet his eyes. “Like my veins were on fire.”

“On fire? You didn’t tell me that.” He
slipped his arm across the back of the seat.

“Relax.” I inched closer to the door.
“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

I gritted my teeth, becoming more
irritated and regretting that I got in the car with him. “Yes. I’m good.”

“Oh no,” Kate cried, clutching her phone
to her chest.

“What?”  My stomach automatically
twisted into a tight knot at the shrill of her voice. “What’s wrong?”

She looked at me, her lip quivering as
tears streamed down. “It’s Aliah.”

My heart stopped. “What about her?”

“Gaby said she died.”

“What?” I had to think about her words,
because my mind refused to process them. “Aliah’s dead?”

Kate didn’t speak but nodded her head in
response. Her phone slid from her grasp as she buried her face in her hands,
weeping and sobbing.

“Isn’t that one of the girls you hung
out with?” Bryce placed his hand on my arm.

“Yeah.” My eyes pooled, and I tried to
hold back, but it was pointless. Tears coursed my cheeks.

“Gee, I’m so sorry.”  The concern in his
voice told me it struck a nerve within him too.

She couldn’t be dead. Not Aliah. I
leaped to the back seat and wrapped my arms around Kate. “Oh my God. This can’t
be happening.” The terror had hit home. One of our friends. Gone.

Damn the Eslites.

Kate embraced me tightly. “I can’t
believe she’s gone,” she whimpered between cries.

We held onto each other, crying for and
mourning our friend. But we couldn’t undo the damage. Aliah was dead. We hadn’t
acted fast enough to save her. Pain struck my chest as the memories of her
laughter and smile resonated through my mind. I loved her spunky attitude and
her determination to get out of Nidus and show the Eslites she wouldn’t be
taken advantage of anymore. She’d never get that chance.

 Why did she have to die?

 “Did Gaby say how?” I managed to speak
through the sobs.

“No.”  She shook her head and then
heaved a few heavy breaths before saying, “The email just said she had complications.”

I reclined and set my head on the seat
rest, and I released the air from my lungs. Things were bad. It scared the hell
out of me. What if we died, too? What if we didn’t make it to Columbia? I
quickly pushed the nonsense out of my mind because, if we made it through the
debilitating nanobot serum, we’d make it through anything. But Dr. Ridus was
right about the dangers associated with the procedures. I knew the answer, but
asked anyway, “Did she say what caused it?”

“No.”  Kate wiped her tears. “But nine
other girls died, too.”

“What?”  I sprang upright. “They killed
ten girls?”

With pursed lips she reaffirmed my
statement. She stared at her trembling hands, tracing the heart shaped ring on
her finger, which Aliah had made for her with red, white, and blue beads in a
silhouette that resembled the US flag. “Gaby said everyone was really sad
because…” she paused before the hard sobs returned.

She glanced at me with her big blue eyes
that were now streaked with red. Splotches covered her face and neck, and I
knew I looked the same, probably worse since I had red hair and skin paler than
hers. We were a mess. I handed her a tissue from a box stuffed in the back
pocket of the passenger’s seat. “We’re going to get through this, Kate.” I blew
my nose and wiped my face dry with a tissue. “We’re gonna get through this.”

“I know.” She sniffed. “It’s really sad,
because she died on her fifteenth birthday.”

My heart plummeted. “She died on her
birthday?”

“Yeah.” She continued to cry.

“Man, that sucks.” Bryce grimaced.

I fisted my hands. It made me mad.
Furious. Pissed. How could Dimas allow all of that to happen?

I did not.

There it was, that voice that wasn’t a
voice.

It was Dimas.

Why did I keep hearing him?

Because now we are connected.

Seriously? Never mind. You’re trying to
change the subject. You’re behind all of this. You’re the reason Aliah’s dead.
You’re the reason those other girls died, too.

No, I am not.