The Arrival (6 page)

“We received a message from Nidus
Communications, of course.” Aliah gave Jessica a slight nudge.

“Oh, really? So what else do you know?”
I asked in a hushed voice.  

“Gaby said that you’re going to put some
action behind your words from last night.” Destiny gave a slight shake of her
head while letting out a low huff. “Remember what I said.”

“I know. But we’re going to do what we
can.” I elbowed Kate. “Isn’t that right?”

Kate cast a timid smile. “Yeah.” I felt
for her, and I hated pushing Kate to do something she didn’t want to do, but I
really needed her help.

Jessica sucked in a breath. “Well, we
decided that we’re behind you one-hundred percent.”

“Thanks, Jessica. That means a lot,
coming from you.” Immediately the tension settled, and I relaxed, feeling
comfortable once again at my familiar spot.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Don’t mention it.”

“I hope something good comes from this.”
Aliah passed Kate a note and a ring in the shape of a heart.

Kate took the heart-shaped ring, decorated
with red, white, and blue beads that formed the US Flag, and placed it on her
finger. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” Then she slid the note into her bra. “I’ll
guard it with my life.”

“You better, because it has some really
special instructions,” Aliah said, before slurping on her chocolate milk.

“I’m sorry that I have nothing to offer.
Other than this.” Destiny placed a 3D origami star in the center of the table.
Black cursive letters covered the yellow parchment.

I picked it up by the leather string
hanging from the top. “What does it say?”

“Wow, did you fold that, Destiny?” Kate
leaned over, admiring the dangling star.

“Yes, I did.”

“It’s gorgeous.”

“Thank you. May it serve as a reminder.
A reminder for what our forefathers fought.”

I gave her a big smile. “Freedom.”

“You got it, sister. Freedom.”

“The Declaration of Independence,” Kate
said, in a hushed voice. How appropriate. Everything was crystal clear. I had a
duty to those girls, and I would do whatever I could to help them get out of
that place.

“Here, Kate, you take it.” I placed the
star of freedom in front of her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. My dad has one framed in the
house. I can quote most of it.”

“Then you should keep it.” She said with
a smile.

“Okay.” I wrapped the string around my
finger and let it spin.

Within a few minutes, the news spread.
All eyes were on Kate and me. It didn’t take long for the entire dining room of
girls to gather around us. With hormones levels high, it became a
‘Kum Ba
Yah’
moment, as tears dripped from our lashes. They embraced us while
offering words of encouragement. They covered us in beaded jewelry, from
bracelets to necklaces, to pins and even rings. The beads sparkled in red,
white, and blue—symbolizing the colors of our great nation. Everyone handed us
notes, folded up in different shapes and sizes. We shoved them into our
pockets, shoes, and anywhere else we could hide them.

I couldn’t believe the overwhelming
support we received. It was surreal. I never expected those girls to back us
up, not to mention, for them to see us as their heroes. My heart ached as the
desperation in their faces all but pled for us to help them. They wanted out of
Nidus as much as we did.

We were their only hope.

θ

“Wow—I can’t, I mean—” Kate pressed a
hand to her chest.

“I know.” We stood in my room, not sure
what to do. “To the bathroom,” I mouthed in a hushed voice.

We rushed to our safe place, trying not
to drop anything on the way. Kate hit the close button for the bathroom doors,
while I turned on the water.

She reached into her shirt and pulled
out a fistful of folded letters. I removed stacks of intricately folded notes
from my pockets. I kicked off my shoes and retrieved more memos that girls had
slipped me.

“I can’t believe this.” I shook my head,
still shocked by what had happened. I never imagined our venting sessions would
turn into a great movement, with Kate and I at the head of it. More than ever,
I felt like I had a duty, a calling, and a responsibility to these girls.

“I know. It’s kind of surreal,” Kate
said, continuing to unload more notes along with trinkets in the shapes of
hearts, stars, and peace signs.

“Look at all these bracelets they gave
me.” I showed her my wrists, which were covered with red, white, and blue beads
strung on black leather rope.

“I know, look at mine,” she held up her
hands.

“Oh, I love your ring.” I pointed to a star-shaped
flag that sparkled when the light hit it.

“I hadn’t even noticed.” Her eyes
gravitated to me. “Look, you have one, too.”

I wiggled my fingers, admiring the ring
crafted in tiny red, white, and blue beads that resembled hers. “I can’t
believe they made all of this.” I scanned my dress and lost count of the
pendants pinned to me. “For us, Kate.” I swallowed the lump quickly forming in
the back of my throat. “For us.”

“I know, Miranda. It’s so sweet and
thoughtful.” Her voice quivered as tears trickled down her cheeks. “Check this
out.”

She placed a large peace-sign brooch,
strung with beads representing the colors of our nation that formed the US
flag, in my palm. “Wow, that’s so cool.”

“You can have it.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll pin it on that
ugly backpack. Give it some color.” When I smiled, a single tear dropped to the
sack. I had never been so moved in my life. No one had ever made me feel that
important, ever. I had to do whatever it took to help those poor, desperate
girls. I had to save us and free us from Nidus.

Kate and I stacked the letters in the
center of the floor. There had to be at least a two hundred, if not more. “We
have to check them. We need to see if they are words of encouragement or if
they have actual information that can help us.”

“Okay.” Kate eased to the floor.

For the next two hours we reviewed every
single letter. Many were addressed directly to their parents, boyfriends,
friends, cousins, or other family members, while several were written for Kate
and I. Out of all the letters addressed to us, only five had actual names of
people with political power that might be able to intervene on our behalf.
Unfortunately, they were located further than Columbia, South Carolina, where
Kate’s uncle lived.

“What do we do with these?” Kate scooped
a handful of letters, allowing them to sift through her fingers and land on the
pile.

I looked at the mound of paper, made up
of so many hopes and dreams and folded in different shapes, decorated with
flowers, hearts, kisses, and smiley faces in a variety of colors. They were
personal messages, handwritten by someone’s daughter, sister, friend, or
girlfriend. But the paper reflected more than words. It held someone’s
emotions, feelings, thoughts—or maybe even explained what the Eslites were
doing to them.

“We have to mail them.”

“All of these?”

I retrieved one letter. “Yes, every
single one of them.”

It wouldn’t be easy, but we had to at
least try. Those girls were counting on us.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Kate stood and
pressed her ear to the wall.

“Hear what?”

“I think someone’s at my door.” She
pushed the open button and dashed into her room.

I immediately searched for a place to
hide our evidence.

“Hey, look who’s here?” Kate announced.

With a broad grin, Gaby stood beside
Kate. Relaxing my shoulders, I exhaled. “Hey, Gaby, come on in.”

“Wow, what’s all this?” Gaby knelt.

“Letters from everyone,” I said, plopping
to the floor. I picked a trinket folded in the shape of a heart and covered
with red glitter kisses. “This one is addressed to someone’s boyfriend.”

“Gee,” she said, running her fingers
over the front of it. “You two were busy. How many girls did you go see?”

“Well, actually they came to us.” Kate closed
the door and then sat.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Girls approached us on the way to
dinner. We joined the group to eat, and Destiny said you had told them about
our plans. Before we knew it, we were surrounded,” I informed her.

“That didn’t take long.”

“I know. And I was worried we wouldn’t
have time to talk to everyone, since we fell asleep after Bryce dumped Miranda.
But it looks like it worked in our favor,” Kate confessed. For half a second I
wanted to be mad at Kate, but figured I would eventually end up telling Gaby
anyway.

I prepared myself for the next question.
As much as I wanted to forget the breakup, I knew they would ask me about it. I
had to keep my focus on the plan, and talking about Bryce only distracted me.

“Bryce dumped you?” Gaby’s gaze rested
on me, as she waited for an answer.

“Yeah.”  Averting my stare, I mumbled, “He’s
a total jerk.”

She placed her hand on mine. “I’m so
sorry. I know it’s not easy and it sucks.” The warmth of her touch declared her
apology genuine. Even though she had a boyfriend, I figured she could
sympathize with me. But what guy would dump her? Gaby had a great personality,
which made people naturally drawn to her, not to mention, she was pretty. Wait,
I take that back, she was cover model-gorgeous without Photoshop and air
brushing.

“Thanks.” I squeezed my eyes shut for a
brief moment, refusing to give in to the pain creeping in my heart. It waited
patiently for me to acknowledge it. Ready to break me down, again and again,
until nothing was left of me. Nothing but an empty carcass with a hole in the
center of my chest.

I’m a May and Mays’ don’t cry. We are
strong leaders and never show weakness.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it,”
Gaby said, in a low voice.

“So am I,” Kate added. “Even though I
think he’s a total dick for doing that to you.”

“Thanks. I’ll be okay.” I gave her a
forced smile that had
‘fake’
written all over it. I told myself I would
be fine, and I would be, until I saw him. Saw his half smile that accented the
mole above his top lip. Saw him glide a hand through his wavy brown hair. Held
my breath as he dotted the tip of my nose right before my lips met his. Then
again, those thoughts were only hopeful dreams that may never happen again.

“Hey, check out the jewelry they made
for us.” Kate held up her hands, trying to change the somber mood.

Gaby reached for Kate’s wrist. “They
made all of this?”

I nodded, showing her my arms. “Yes,
they did.”

Gaby pressed her finger to her trembling
lips. “Wow.”

I quickly removed one of the pins on my
dress. “Here, you can have this one.”

She accepted the heart-shaped pin. “Are
you sure?”

I waved it off. “Yes, of course. Let it
serve as a reminder of what Kate and I have promised to do.”

“You two are the bravest girls I know,”
Gaby smiled, while pinning the brooch to her shirt.

“I’m not, but Miranda is.” Kate pointed
to me.

“Yeah, whatever. So, did you have any
luck at the Med Center?” I asked.

“You bet I did.”  Gaby’s gaze widened. “I
talked to Dr. Ridus—”

“What?” Kate’s mouth dropped open. “Why
would you do that?”

“Yes, please explain.” I had to admit
that I was shocked and worried at the same time. I had to hear Gaby’s rationalization
for putting us at risk. At least when it came to Gaby’s actions, I trusted her
more than anyone else.

 “Relax, both of you. We can trust Dr.
Ridus. He’s not like Dimas or the other Eslites. He thinks what they’re doing
to us is wrong. Very wrong. He’s totally against Dimas. I guess that’s why he
started confiding in me a few months ago about the genetic modification and
testing.”

I narrowed my stare. Although I wanted
to believe her, I still had my doubts, only because I didn’t trust the Eslites.
“Are you sure he’s on our side?”

“Yes, of course.”  She nodded her head
and smiled. “Considering what’s going on in the Med Center and the lab area, I
know he’s telling me the truth. He tells me things he shouldn’t, and he really
wants to see this end.”

“Hmm, I wonder why he’s confiding in
you.” Was it too good to be true? Why would an Eslite be willing to help a
human?

“In fact, he’s working on something
right now that you and Kate can take to block the nanocytes from being tracked.
That will allow you to go to Columbia or wherever you need to go without the
Eslites knowing.”

“What?”  Kate’s eyes bulged. “I…I don’t
know. I mean, I can’t do this. I’m not smart enough to know what to do. What if
we get caught? I don’t want to put Miranda in jeopardy if I do something wrong.
I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her because of me.”

 I wrapped my arms around my legs and
hugged them. A cloud of doubt rolled in, filling my mind to the fullest. Kate
was right. Our idea was not only crazy but risky, too. Convincing two people
probably wouldn’t make a difference, anyway. My dad only had a local influence
and although Kate’s uncle probably had more extensive connections, he didn’t
know me. I had no idea if he would believe Kate, either.  Aside from that, Kate
didn’t seem to want to go through with it, and I felt exactly the same way she
did. If anything happened to her, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

“Kate, you can’t back down now. You can
do this. Right, Miranda?” Gaby glanced at me, her smile weakening as my doubts
registered.  “I mean, Miranda can’t do everything by herself.”

“I don’t know, Gaby. I mean, I
appreciate all that you’ve done, but Kate has a point. It’s highly unlikely my
dad will do anything about it, and Kate’s uncle is in another city. I don’t
want to put anyone’s life in danger, especially Kate’s.

“No. No. You can’t back down now.” Gaby placed
her hands on Kate’s shoulders. “You can do this. You just need to find some
cojones
and man up. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. Having blonde
hair doesn’t mean you have to act blonde.” She released Kate and then turned to
me. “Miranda, you already have
cojones,
so I think you need to pull them
back out and tell yourself you can do this and forget about Bryce right now.”

Mouth agape and eyes wide open, Kate and
I stared at Gaby. Before we could respond, she resumed her rampage.

“I’m putting my life at risk, too, you
know, and so is Dr. Ridus. He’s working damn hard to find a way to make this
possible. If you don’t at least try and take a stance, then we will never
know.” She paused for a moment and inhaled a deep breath, relaxing her tone.
“If you try and fail, then it’s okay because at least when you come back, you
know you did what you could. What you haven’t realized is that this goes beyond
us. You’re fighting for all six hundred girls on this floor. You’re fighting
for the thousands that come through this facility, testing day and night.
You’re fighting for the six thousand souls that are here, right now, that have
been ripped away from their families and have no idea when or if they will
return home. And if anything, you’re fighting for the survival of the human
race, for crying out loud.”

After she finished, she collapsed to the
floor and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

“Wow!” I gave her a round of applause,
hoping that made her feel better. Letting things out like that always did for
me.

Gaby appeared shocked that I was
supporting her versus yelling at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said,
reassuring her things were cool with me. Her outburst struck a chord. The
phrase my dad taught me played, over and over, in my head. The more I repeated
it, the madder I got. If Dad believed that Mays were strong leaders, then why
didn’t he follow his own beliefs? If Mays didn’t show weakness, then why was he
so willing to let his daughter go? Why didn’t he fight for me? Bryce was
willing to fight for me, or at least he was when I had to leave. Yet, my father
took a back seat and did nothing. He owed it to me, that one time. And if not
for me then for the millions of females that would eventually process through
the facility, and for the salvation of the human race.

“All right, Gaby, I’ll do it. I’ll do it
for you, for Kate, for me, and for every girl locked in this hellhole. And I’ll
do it for every female that’s alive and has yet to be born. I’ll do it to save
our human race. And if anything, I’ll do it for love. Because I’d love to get
us the hell out of here!”