Uglies (27 page)

“Give me a knife.” Maddy held out her hand, ignoring the shocked look on her son’s face.

Tally scrambled through her knapsack. She passed her multiknife to Maddy, who pulled out a short blade and cut a piece from the arm of her jumpsuit. When the elevator reached roof level, its doors slid halfway open and groaned to a halt, revealing the uneven hole Tally had torn to gain entry. They slipped through one by one and ran for the edge of the roof.

A hundred meters away, Tally saw the hoverboards cruising across the compound, called by her crash bracelets. Alarms were ringing all around them now. If by some magic the Specials hadn’t noticed the escape so far, the riderless boards had tripped the wire.

Tally spun around, looking for David. He was stumbling along at the back of the group, half in a daze.

She caught him by his shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head. Not at her, not at anything in particular.

“I don’t know what to do, Tally.”

She took his hand. “We have to run. That’s all we can do right now. Follow your mother.”

He looked into her eyes, his face wild. “Okay.” He started to say more, but the words were drowned out by a noise like huge fingernails scraping metal. The hovercar door was fighting against the nanotech glue, setting the whole roof shuddering.

Maddy, last out of the elevator, had jimmied its door open with a powerjack. Its voice kept repeating, “Elevator requested.”

But there were other ways onto the roof. Maddy turned to David. “Glue down those hatches so they can’t get out.”

His gaze cleared for a moment, and he nodded.

“I’ll get the boards,” Tally said, turning to dash for the edge of the roof. When she reached it, she jumped into space, hoping her bungee jacket still had some charge.

After one bounce, Tally was on the ground running. The boards sensed her crash bracelets and sped toward her.

“Tally! Look out!”

She looked over her shoulder at Croy’s shout. A squad of Specials was headed toward her across the compound, an open door behind them at ground level. They ran inhumanly fast, covering the ground with long, loping strides.

The boards nudged her calves from behind, like dogs ready to play. Tally leaped up, teetering for a moment with one foot on each pair of sandwiched boards. She’d never heard of anyone riding four boards at once. But the closest cruel pretty was only a few strides away.

Tally snapped her fingers and rose swiftly into the air.

The Special jumped, amazingly high, the fingers of one outstretched hand just brushing the front edge of the boards. The contact set them wobbling beneath Tally. It was like standing on a trampoline while someone else jumped on it. The other Specials watched from the ground below, waiting for her to fall .

But Tally regained her balance and leaned forward, heading back toward the building. The boards picked up speed, and seconds later Tally leaped off onto the roof, kicking one pair of hoverboards to Croy.

He pulled them apart while she separated the other two.

“Go now,” Maddy said. “Take this.”

She handed Tally a swatch of orange fabric, a small bit of circuitry visible on one side. Tally noticed that Maddy had cut pieces from the forearms of all the jumpsuits.

“There’s a tracker in that cloth,” Maddy said. “Drop it somewhere to throw them off.”

Tally nodded, looking around for David. He was running toward them, his face set into a grim mask, the tube of glue crushed and empty in his hand. “David—,” she started.

“Go!” Maddy shouted, pushing Shay onto the board behind Tally.

“Um, no crash bracelets?” Shay said, her feet unsteady. “This is not my first party tonight, you know.”

“I know. Hold on,” Tally said, and shot away from the roof.

The two of them teetered for a moment, almost losing their balance. But Tally steadied herself, feeling Shay’s arms wrap tightly around her waist.

“Whoa, Tally! Slow down!”

“Just hang on.”

Tally leaned into a turn, sickened by the sluggishness of the board. Not only was it carrying two, but Shay’s wobbly moves were freaking it out.

“Don’t you remember how to ride?”

“Sure!” Shay said. “Just a little rusty, Squint. Plus a little too much to drink tonight.”

“Just don’t fall off. It’ll hurt.”

“Hey! I didn’t ask to be rescued!”

“No, I guess you didn’t.” Tally looked down as they soared over Crumblyville, skipping the greenbelt to head straight back toward the river. If Shay hit the ground at this speed, she’d be worse than hurt.

She’d be dead.

Like David’s father. Tally wondered how he’d died. Had he tried to escape the Specials, like the Boss?

Or had Dr. Cable done something to him? One thought stuck in her mind: However it had happened, it was her fault.

“Shay, if you fall off, take me with you.”

“What?”

“Just hold on to me and don’t let go, no matter what. I’m wearing a bungee jacket and bracelets. We should bounce.” Probably. Unless the jacket pulled her one way and the bracelets the other. Or Tally’s and Shay’s combined weight was too much for the lifters.

“So give me the bracelets, silly.”

Tally shook her head. “No time to stop.”

“Guess not. Our Special friends are going to be royally pissed.” Shay clung tighter.

They were almost at the river, with no sign of pursuit behind them. The nanotech glue must have been putting up quite a fight. But Special Circumstances had other hovercars—the three they’d seen leave earlier, at least—and regular wardens had them too.

Tally wondered if Special Circumstances would call for help from the wardens, or whether they’d keep the whole situation a secret. What would the wardens think of the underground prison? Did the regular city government know what the Specials had done to the Smoke, or to Az?

Water flashed below her, and Tally dropped the swatch of orange cloth as they turned. It fluttered away, down toward the river. The current would take it back toward the city, in the opposite direction of their escape route.

Tally and David had agreed to rendezvous upriver, a long way past the ruins, where he had found a cave years before.

Because its entrance was covered by a waterfall, it would shelter them from heat sensors.

From there, they could hike back to the ruins to retrieve the rest of their equipment, and then…

Rebuild the Smoke? Seven of them? With Shay as their honorary pretty? Tally realized that they hadn’t made plans beyond tonight. The future hadn’t seemed real until now.

Of course, they still might all be caught.

“You think it’s true?” Shay shouted. “What Maddy said?”

Tally dared a glance back at Shay. Her pretty face looked worried.

“I mean, Az was fine when I visited a few days ago,” Shay said. “I thought they were going to make him pretty. Not kill him.”

“I don’t know.” It was hardly something Maddy would lie about. But maybe she was mistaken.

Tally leaned forward, skimming the river low and fast, trying to leave the cold feeling in her stomach behind. Spray struck their faces as they hit the white water.

Shay had started to ride properly, leaning with the slow arcs of the river’s bends. “Hey, I remember this!” she shouted.

“Do you remember anything else from before your operation?” Tally yelled over the roar of water.

Shay ducked behind Tally as they struck a wall of spray. “Of course, silly.”

“You hated me. Because I stole David from you. Because I betrayed the Smoke. Remember?”

Shay was silent for a moment, only the roar of white water and the rushing wind around them.

Finally, she leaned closer, her voice thoughtful in Tally’s ear.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But that was all ugly stuff. Crazy love and jealousy and needing to rebel against the city. Every kid’s like that. But you grow up, you know?”

“You grew up because of an operation? Doesn’t that strike you as weird?”

“It wasn’t because of the operation.”

“Then why?”

“It was just good to come home, Tally. It made me realize how crazy the whole Smoke thing was.”

“What happened to biting and kicking?”

“Well, it took a few days to sink in, you know.”

“Before or after you became pretty?”

Shay went silent again. Tally wondered if you could talk somebody out of their brain damage.

She pulled a position-finder from her pocket. The coordinates for the cave were still half an hour away.

A glance over her shoulder didn’t reveal any hovercars, not yet. If all four boards took different routes to the river, and all of them dropped their trackers in different places, the Specials were going to have a confusing night.

There were also Dex, Sussy, and An, who’d promised to tell every tricky ugly they knew to go for a ride tonight. The greenbelt would be crowded.

Tally wondered how many uglies had seen the burning letters in New Pretty Town, how many of them knew what the Smoke was, or were coming up with their own stories to explain the mysterious message.

What new legends had she and David created with their little diversion?

When they reached a calmer part of the river, Shay spoke up again. “So, Tally?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you want me to hate you?”

“I don’t want you to hate me, Shay.” Tally sighed. “Or maybe I do. I betrayed you, and I feel horrible about it.”

“The Smoke wasn’t going to last forever, Tally. Whether you turned us in or not.”

“I didn’t turn you in!” Tally cried. “Not on purpose, anyway. And the whole thing with David was just an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Of course not. You’re just confused.”

“I’m confused?” Tally groaned. “You’re the one who…” She trailed off. How could Shay not understand that she’d been changed by the operation? Not just been given a pretty face, but also a…pretty mind.

Nothing else could explain how quickly she’d changed, abandoning the rest of them for parties and hot showers, leaving her friends behind, just as Peris had so many months ago.

“Do you love him?” Shay asked.

“David? I, uh…maybe.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It’s not sweet . It’s real!”

“Then why are you ashamed of it?”

“I’m not…,” Tally sputtered.

She lost concentration for a moment, and the back of the board dipped low, sending a sheet of water up behind them. Shay whooped and held tighter. Tally gritted her teeth and took them a bit higher.

When Shay had stopped laughing, she said, “And you think I’m confused?”

“Listen, Shay, there’s one thing I’m not confused about. I didn’t want to betray the Smoke. I was blackmailed into going there as a spy, and when I sent for the Specials, it was an accident, really. But I’m sorry, Shay. I’m sorry I ruined your dream.”

Tally felt herself crying, the tears driven backward by the wind. The trees rushed past in the darkness for a while.

“I’m just glad you two made it back to civilization,” Shay said softly, holding on tight. “And I’m not sorry about what happened. If that makes you feel any better.”

Tally thought of the lesions on Shay’s brain, the tiny cancers or wounds or whatever they were, that she didn’t even know she had.

They were in there somewhere, changing her friend’s thoughts, warping her feelings, gnawing at the roots of who she was. Making her forgive Tally.

“Thanks, Shay. But no, it doesn’t.”

Tally and Shay made it to the cave first.

Croy arrived a few minutes later, without warning, he and his board hurtling through the waterfall in a sudden explosion of splashing and cursing. He tumbled into the darkness, his body rolling across the stone floor with a series of sickening thuds.

Tally scrambled from the back of the cave, a flashlight in one hand.

Croy shook his head and groaned. “I lost them.”

Tally looked at the entrance of the cave, the sheet of water a solid curtain against the night. “I hope so. Where’s everybody else?”

“Don’t know. Maddy told us all to go different ways. Since I was flying solo, I went all the way around the greenbelt first to get them off track.” He laid his head back, still panting. A position-finder fell from one of his hands.

“Wow. You went fast.”

“You’re telling me. No crash bracelets.”

“Been there. At least you had shoes on,” Tally said. “Did anyone chase you?”

He nodded. “I held on to my tracker as long as I could. Got most of the Specials to follow me. But there were a whole bunch of hoverboard riders in the belt. You know, city kids. The Specials kept getting us confused.”

Tally smiled. Dex, An, and Sussy had done their work well.

“Are David and Maddy okay?”

“I wouldn’t know about okay,” he said softly. “But they got off right after you, and it didn’t look like anyone was following them.

Maddy said they were heading straight for the ruins. We’re supposed to meet them there tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow?” Tally said.

“Maddy wanted to be alone with David for a while, you know?”

Tally nodded, but her heart wrenched inside her. David needed her. At least, she hoped he did. The thought of him dealing with Az’s death without her made the icy feeling in her stomach drop a few more degrees.

Of course, Maddy was there. Az had been her husband, after all, and Tally had only met the man once.

But still.

She sighed. Tally tried to remember the last words she’d said to David, and wished they’d been more comforting. There hadn’t even been time to hold him. Since the invasion of the Smoke, Tally hadn’t been separated from David for longer than that hour in the storm, and now she wouldn’t see him for a whole day.

“Maybe I should go to the ruins. I could hike out there tonight.”

“Don’t be crazy,” Croy said. “The Specials are still out looking.”

“But just in case they need anything…”

“Maddy said to tell you no.”

Astrix and Ryde showed up a half hour later, coming into the cave more gracefully than Croy, but with their own stories of running from hovercars. The pursuit had been confused, the Specials overwhelmed by everything that had happened that night.

“They never even got close,” Astrix said.

Ryde shook his head. “They were all over the place.”

“It’s like we won a battle, you know?” Croy said. “We beat them in their own city. Made them look like fools.”

“Maybe we don’t have to hide in the wild anymore,” Ryde said. “It could be like when we were uglies, playing tricks. But telling the whole city the truth.”

“And if we get caught, Tally can come and rescue us!” Croy shouted.

Tally tried to smile at their cheers, but knew she wouldn’t feel good about anything until she saw David again. Not until tomorrow night. She felt exiled, shut out from the one thing that really mattered.

Shay had fallen asleep in a small crevice after complaining about the dampness and her hair, asking when they were going to take her home. Tally crawled back to where her friend lay and snuggled up next to

her, trying to forget the damage that had been done to Shay’s mind. At least Shay’s new body wasn’t as painfully skinny; she felt soft and warm in the damp cold of the cave. Cradled against her, Tally managed to stop shivering.

But it was a long time before she fell asleep.

She woke up to the smell of PadThai.

Croy had found the food packets and purifier in her knapsack and was making food with water from the fall, apparently trying to placate Shay.

“A little escape was one thing, but I didn’t know you guys were going to drag me all the way out here.

I’m through with this whole rebellion thing, I’ve got a wicked hangover, and I really need to wash my hair.”

“There’s a waterfall right there,” Croy said.

“But it’s cold! I’m so over this camping-out bogusness.”

Tally crawled out into the big part of the cave, every muscle stiff, every rock she’d slept on imprinted on her. Through the curtain of the waterfall, dusk was falling. She wondered if she’d ever be able to sleep at night again.

Shay was squatting on a rock, digging into the PadThai, complaining that it wasn’t spicy enough.

Bedraggled, in dirty party clothes, her hair stuck to her face, she was still stunning. Ryde and Astrix watched her silently, a bit awestruck by her looks.

They were two of Shay’s old friends who’d run away to the Smoke the time she’d chickened out, so it must have been months since they’d seen a pretty face.

Everyone seemed willing to let her go on complaining.

One thing about being pretty, people put up with your annoying habits.

“Morning,” said Croy. “SwedeBalls or VegiRice?”

“Whatever’s faster.” Tally stretched her muscles. She wanted to get to the ruins as soon as possible.

When darkness fell, Tally and Croy crept out from behind the waterfall. There was no sign of Specials in the sky. She doubted anyone was searching this far out. Forty minutes from the city on a fast board was a long way.

They gave the all-clear, and everyone rode farther upriver, to a place where the river’s course twisted closer to the ruins. A long hike followed, the four uglies sharing the load of boards and supplies.

Shay had stopped complaining, settling into a pouty, hungover silence. The walk seemed easy for her. Her wiry fitness from hard work at the Smoke hadn’t faded in two weeks, and the operation actually firmed up a new pretty’s muscles, at least for a while. Although Shay announced once that she wanted to go home, heading back on her own didn’t seem to have entered her mind.

Tally wondered what they were going to do with her. She knew there was no simple fix. Maddy and Az had worked for twenty years to no avail. But they couldn’t leave Shay like this.

Of course, the moment she was cured, her hatred for Tally would return.

Which was worse: a friend with brain damage, or one who despised you?

They reached the edge of the ruins after midnight, and boarded down to the abandoned building where Tally and David had camped.

David was waiting outside.

He looked exhausted, the dark lines under his eyes visible even in starlight. But he embraced Tally the moment she stepped from the board, his arms tight around her, and she hugged him back hard.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, then felt idiotic.

What was he supposed to say to that? “Oh, David, of course you’re not. I’m sorry, I—”

“Shhh. I know.” He pulled away and smiled.

Relief flowed through Tally, and she squeezed David’s hands, confirming the realness of him. “I missed you,” she said.

“Me too.” He kissed her.

“You two are just so cute,” Shay said, combing her hair with her fingers after the windy ride.

“Hi, Shay.” David gave her a tired smile. “You guys look hungry.”

“Only if you have any non-bogus food,” Shay said.

“Afraid not. Three kinds of reconstituted curry.”

Shay groaned and pushed past him into the crumbling building. His eyes followed her, but without any of the awe still in Ryde’s and Astrix’s faces. It was as if David didn’t see her beauty.

He turned back. “We finally got some luck.”

Tally looked into his lined, fatigued face. “Really?”

“We got that tablet working, the one Dr. Cable was carrying. Mom was yanking the phone part out so they couldn’t track us through it, and she got it to display Cable’s work data.”

“About what?”

“All her notes on making pretties into Specials. Not just the physical part”—he pulled her closer—“but also how the brain lesions work. It’s everything my parents weren’t told when they were doctors!”

Tally swallowed. “Shay…”

He nodded. “Mom thinks she can find a cure.”