Aberrant (10 page)

Little ones will never lie

Hide your children, fast and swift

For twelve already fallen in the rift."

I paused listening to the words, thinking them over.
"How does that have anything to do with the tech center?" I asked not
seeing the connection.

"That was the song mothers would sing to warn one
another that the government was kidnapping children. I suppose,"
Jacqueline sighed, "it was the first taste of what our world has
become." I didn't want to believe her. It sounded awful though I knew
there might have been some grain of truth to the song.

"How many towns are there?" I asked as we
continued walking down the long stretch of road.

Jacqueline shrugged. "A lot? I don't know. Are you
asking how many government towns or how many rebel towns?"

"Either." I say. "I'm still wrapping my brain
around the fact that I was living in a breeding camp."

Jacqueline nodded. "It takes some getting used to. There
are five breeding projects, at least that's how many we've found. The
government refuses to call them breeding projects, which is precisely what they
are. They prefer Genesis, and then a Greek alpha denomination to decipher them.
Genesis Alpha, Genesis Beta, Genesis Sigma, Genesis Delta and Genesis Zeta. Though
I don't get the point of that." She confessed. "The government has
many other projects, though, too. There's breeding, food preparation, clothing
production, shelter construction, and science advisement. They have funny names
like Genesis, Provisions, Livery, Edifice, and Maven."

It was a lot to take in. "What about the rebel
towns?" I asked, curious how many of those existed.

"I don't know the names of all the rebel cities. Most
of them are named after rebels who created the towns or stood up to the
government. This city is Haven named after Raven Haven. Funny name, right?"
Jacqueline laughed leading us into the restaurant. "Raven Haven led the
rebel alliance about twenty years ago when this town was formed. She really got
her hands dirty, helped define this town and put us on the map for the
alliance."

"Is she still here?" I asked curious why – if she
was so great  – she didn’t belong to the council or if she had, why no one had
introduced me to her.

"Sadly, no." Jacqueline shook her head, not saying
anything more. We took a seat at a small table. "It's self-serve. We just
swipe our cards when we go up for food," she explained to me. "The
cards provide us with money for food. You'll learn you have enough if you don't
eat the most exotic meals every night."

I nodded slowly, trying to take it all in. "How do we
earn money?" It seemed like a stupid question, but clearly things were run
differently here than back home.

"Well," Jacqueline spoke up, "I'm still in
school. I'm almost sixteen, so they give me an allowance for food and
necessities. When you're eighteen, you're expected to find a job here in
town."

"You mean you can choose what you want to do?" I
asked, perplexed. Back home the government assigned us our jobs. We didn't have
a choice – we were placed based on our aptitude tests.

Jacqueline tried not to laugh as she nodded vigorously. "Yes,
of course. Come on – let's eat and then I'll show you a few more sights on our
way back."

We did eat. It was a lavish meal, one I hadn’t experienced
in a lifetime. Flakes of fish melted in my mouth. Jacqueline handed me liquid
gold. Repeatedly I plunged my fork in watching it drip bite after bite. She
laughed at the mess I made all over the table but I didn't care. We drank a
dark purple juice that was both sweet and bitter at the same time. It burned my
throat and made my cheeks flush with each sip. For dessert, chocolate was drizzled
on a mouth-watering cake filled with fudge. Though it was small, I finished it
in seconds, I couldn't have eaten another bite.“So, where to now?” I asked as
she led me out of the dining area.

“I thought I’d show you the library, and then we could take
a look at one of the museums. They have recovered artifacts from thousands of
years ago."

“Really?” I knew what a museum was from history, but I had
been told they’d all been destroyed in the Fourth World War – that nothing had
been left standing. Eventually, our town Genesis was formed to keep us safe and
help our nation grow. I doubted our government more and more.

“You’re like a child on Christmas morning,” Jacqueline
joked. “The way your face lights up,” she mocked, but I didn’t care.

“Christmas morning?” I asked her, perplexed.

She shook her head. “Forget it.” Together we walked across
the street and took a sharp turn as we found our way onto another parallel road
housing both a museum and library. The buildings were several stories tall and
loomed over Haven.

We walked into the library first, and my eyes widened at the
sight of all the books sitting on the shelves, untouched – thousands of them,
older texts, some of them novels, others reference books. “Wow,” I breathed
turning in a circle and taking in the entire room.

“Come on.” Jacqueline grabbed my arm, leading me further inside.
“What types of books do you like to read?”

I stared at her. “Genesis forbids books.”

She laughed with a knowing nod. “Yes, but you’re in Haven
now. You can check out any book you like.”

“Check out? You mean read?” I asked curiously. I darted
through the library, my eyes scoured the shelves as I danced between the aisles,
my feet incredibly light. I poured over the books, eyeing each title, deciding
which one would be mine. It was so hard to choose! I’d read romance novels and a
few adventure stories in the cellar during my teen years. I hadn’t read
anything new in ages and I found it overwhelming to have so many choices.

“Here.” Jacqueline pulled a book from the shelf. “I’ve read
this one. It’s got a bit of mystery and romance, but you will never guess the
ending.” I eagerly read the back cover.

“Can I take it back with me?”

“After you check it out.” She smiled with a nod. “Come on,
I’ll show you how.” We walked to the front, and I showed the same card I used
for dinner to check out the book. I knew I wouldn’t have time to read it while
reading the history texts, but I didn’t care. I wanted something to take my
mind off what was going on. I wanted to escape my current reality.

Together we walked from the library across the street to the
museum. She studied her watch as I carried the book I borrowed with me. “We
have about an hour until it closes.”

“Curfew?” I assumed she meant.

“Well, I have curfew because I’m under eighteen,” she replied.
“But you’re an adult. Adults can stay out as late as they wish, but the museums
and town closes by nine,” she explained. “People want to go home and be with
their families.”

I nodded, trying to understand these new rules. “Right.” I
followed Jacqueline up the main stairs and into the museum. My eyes moved over
the glass cases and the artifacts buried inside. There were tools from
thousands of years ago and as we walked through the museum, we moved forward in
history towards the beginning of Cabal.

“Are those–-” my voice trailed off.

“Photographs.” Jacqueline nodded. “I haven’t seen a camera
outside of this museum,” she mused turning around and walking to the opposite
side of the wall. I glanced behind me noticing another glass case and a series
of antique cameras mesmerizing her. It was no wonder.

“Does anyone in Haven have one?” I asked. I knew in Genesis
it was illegal to take pictures, to document anything, the same reason why
books were illegal and our newspaper was written by the government. They told
us only what they wanted us to know. They showed us only what they wanted us to
see. Slowly, I started to see the government for what they really were.

Jacqueline shook her head. “I don’t know anyone who owns a
camera. They’re so old.” She beamed with excitement. “No one makes the
equipment anymore. There’s no reason to,” she mused with a shrug. “Come on,
I’ll show you the maps.”

“Maps?” My eyes widened as I followed her down the corridor
into another room. My gaze tore over the glass cases, taking in each map,
memorizing every detail possible. “Wow,” I breathed, seeing how many breeding
camps there were. They were all situated north and south of where I had lived
all my life. Everything west was marked “Gravelands” on the map. Another map
detailed the local rebel cities, the closest ones to Haven. “Have you ever been
to Torv or Spade?” I asked noticing they were the nearest towns to where we
were.

“I don’t remember much other than Haven,” she admitted. “I
grew up in Livery.”

“What happened to your home?” I knew it was a touchy subject,
but the council had briefly mentioned it. I wanted to know more.

Jacqueline sighed, eyeing her watch. “Come on, I’ll tell you
on the way home.” She offered as we headed out of the museum. It had already
grown dark outside and I followed her closely as we walked back towards the
dormitory. The road was dark but the moon helped light our way back. “I was
three when my town burned down.”

“Burned down? The entire town?” I asked, astonished. I knew
she’d been rescued from a fire in her home, but I hadn’t realized the extent of
what the government had done to the people.

“I don’t remember much. There was an uprising. The people
were fighting with the government. My adoptive parents were seamstresses. Most
of the town worked in some way to create clothing for the entire population. I
remember my father yelling at our neighbor one night. He’d come into our home,
which was forbidden, and he was seeking asylum. I don’t know from what, I guess
the government. He wanted to hide in our home. My father refused to let him. He
was a rebel after all, and although my adoptive mother was a rebel sympathizer,
our neighbor asked the wrong person,” Jacqueline sighed. “I was too young to
understand what was going on. The government came, dragged my neighbor out in
the middle of the night and shot him. The other members of Livery rebelled. They
weren’t happy. They were hungry. Very few had children and felt like they
should be rewarded for their hard work.”

“Rewarded with children?” I was appalled.

“Breeding camps are that for a reason, Olivia,” she informed
me with a heavy sigh. “My mother went outside to join the fight. My father ran
after her screaming obscenities. I stood by the window, crying because they'd left
me behind. Someone took a torch, threw it in the house through the window. It
missed me, but the house lit up in flames. I didn’t leave. I was too young to
understand what was going on, and I was hysterical. I don’t remember much after
that, except for waking up in Landon's arms. He rescued me, saved my life and
brought me to Haven.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Do you know what happened to the
town of Livery?”

Jacqueline shook her head. “There’s no way to know for
certain. People still have clothes. The government is still in charge. Our town
didn’t win,” she admitted as we entered the dormitory. “I guess they found a
way to control the rest of the town and end the uprising as quickly as it
started.”

She led me to my door, stopping for a moment as we
approached the room. “Do you think we have a fighting chance to win this war?”
I asked her.

“If what they say is true about you, then I think we do.”
Jacqueline smiled at me with a mix of curiosity laced in her expression.

I wondered what it was they said about me. Was it the fact
they all assumed I could bear a child because my mother had? What if they were
wrong? “Have a good night,” I offered in return, heading into my room and
closing the door behind me.

CHAPTER 8

I had already tired of the history lessons. The words bored
me as they floated off the page. I never did terribly in school, but something
about Haven and the council disgusted me. Probably the fact they expected me to
have a child with someone in town, and I had no choice in the matter.

A knock at my door startled me. When I pulled it open, I was
surprised to find Joshua on the other side. I didn't let him in. "What?"
I crossed my arms and did my best to look tough. I didn’t want to let him see
he'd hurt me. He lost the right to see that side of me when he'd betrayed me.

"I wanted to apologize." He shifted on his feet
glancing behind him down the hall. "Can I come in?"

I shook my head no, my eyes narrowed like the points of a
dagger. "What do you want?" I wasn't letting up this easily. He
couldn't act like a jerk and then expect me to just to forgive and forget.

 "I know you want an explanation about the girl in my
room earlier, and I think you deserve the truth." His eyes met mine and I
felt my insides tighten.

"It's fine." I held up my hand. "You don't
need to explain yourself to me. We're here and obviously we can see other
people. We're not married," I reminded him sharply. "You're free to
date whomever you want."

Joshua sighed, shaking his head. "She was helping me
study, Olive." I couldn't read him. Was he telling me what I wanted to
hear or the truth? "She doesn't matter to me. Only you do." I felt
his hand pull my arms away from my chest as his fingers slid against mine. I
shifted on the balls of my feet. I wanted to believe him, but something about
her made me uneasy. Maybe her striking beauty simply made me feel inadequate.

“So, you two studied?" I raised an eye wanting desperately
to believe that was all that happened.

Joshua nodded with a glimpse of hope in his eyes. "She
was explaining some of the history texts, so I wouldn't have to spend the next
two weeks locked in my room." He stalled for a moment, staring intently at
me. "I’m tired of this nonsense between us.”

“Nonsense?” I repeated slowly. I stepped aside, letting him
inside my room and closed the door behind us. “You’re referring to what your
mother said about us not being married?” I knew we needed to talk about it at
some point. "For starters," I began, watching as he took a seat at
the edge of my bed. "I'm not looking to marry anyone, but I guess those in
Haven don't care about what I want."