Aberrant (6 page)

"No idea." Joshua shook his head. It was too dark
to really see much in the tunnel, aside from straight ahead. Even with the
lantern the tunnel was dark.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a flicker and a
flash. Realizing the tunnel lights had been turned on, my eyes burned for a
moment. The unknown objects were lighting sensors that lit up our path as we
continued walking south. I glanced back, watching as the lights behind us faded
off every hundred feet. As another light flipped on, the one furthest back shut
off. It must have been a mechanism to preserve power. The lantern flickered and
sputtered out. Dead. "Dumb luck?" I smiled weakly at Joshua.

He gave my hand a hard squeeze as we continued into the
tunnel. "I think the Rebel Alliance knows we're coming. By now, word
should have reached wherever they live that we've left Genesis and need their
help."

"I'll have to thank them." I smiled, relieved for the
illuminated path. I stopped momentarily to drop the lantern to the ground since
we no longer needed it. "I'm glad you came with me," I whispered.

Joshua grinned, pulling back slightly. "Like I would
have had it any other way?"

I leaned my forehead against his. “You could have stayed in
Genesis with your family.”

“You are my family now,” he reminded me with a gentle kiss
to the tip of my nose. “We need to keep moving.” I nodded faintly, knowing he
was right. Until we reached our destination we couldn’t stop. Every second we
rested was a moment we could not waste. We needed all the time we could get to
escape.

"You hear that?" I gasped certain of the sound of
voices. Maybe I was losing my mind from lack of sleep but I was sure I heard
noises coming from up ahead.

Joshua didn't answer, straining to hear what I heard. A
moment passed, and I stalled as a shadow cast over the walls. And then I saw a woman
slowly walking toward us. I really hoped whoever she was happened to be with
the Rebel Alliance – it was all I could think of.

"Olivia, Joshua?" The tall, thin blonde woman
approached us.

I hesitated to answer, but felt I had no choice except to
confess who we were. "Yes, that's us." A moment of trepidation and
fear coursed through me. Could it possibly be a trick? Someone discovered our
destination and wanted to cut us off on the way?

"We didn't expect you until at least tomorrow." She
gestured for us to follow her. "You’ve made incredible timing. You mustn’t
have stopped at all. We're making sleeping arrangements for you as we speak. I
thought I would lead you the rest of the way."

"Appreciated." Joshua nodded, following behind me
as the tunnel narrowed.

"You know who we are, but I didn't catch your name,"
I remarked, following behind her. She was several inches taller than me, but
even more so, I noticed her well-defined muscles.

"Scarlet," she replied over her shoulder. "Come
on." She continued to lead us through the tunnel for about half a mile until
we reached a fork. The tunnel dumped us out under some type of shelter. Clearly
people had taken all three options – footprints made it unclear which was the
right way to go. "Follow me," Scarlet gestured as we took the fork to
the far right.

I was grateful Scarlet had found us when she had. I didn’t
think I'd have taken the right direction without guidance. I couldn't help but
ask, "Where do the other two tunnels lead?"

She paused for a long moment before answering us. "Different
sectors." She let that hang in the air, and although I had a thousand
questions at this point, I had a feeling she had no interest in answering any
of them.

I could hear Joshua breathing heavily, and I knew he must
have been tired. I was exhausted. "How much longer is it?" I asked.

"Considering how far you two have traveled already, not
far. The compound isn't completely underground," she smiled. "We just
have to reach the surface, which is quite a hike up."

"Great," I tried to add as much enthusiasm as I
could, but I found it hard considering we hadn't slowed down in hours.

Scarlet smiled glancing back, "Aside from the part
about it being uphill, we're almost done. Just don't die on me, okay?"

A nervous laugh escaped my lips, confused by her words. Die
on her? She had a strange sense of humor. "Right. Got it." I pushed
myself uphill. I focused on her feet, following each step she took and put one
foot in front of the other. It was no wonder they sent Scarlet to find us. She
was definitely in good shape. "Do you come through the tunnels a
lot?"

Scarlet didn't turn around to answer my question. "What
do you consider a lot?" She gave a shrug. "We use them when we need
to." I gasped for air, breathing loudly as I struggled with the incline.
"Maybe another twenty minutes," Scarlet encouraged us. I focused my
attention on the ground, watching the path as I climbed the final hundred feet
behind the blonde. Then sunlight came into view. I grimaced, my eyes tearing from
the bright light outside. "There's no door on this side?" That
surprised me.

"No, why? Yours has a door?" Scarlet asked
curiously.

I nodded, climbing out and onto the surface. "Where is
everyone?" There seemed to be nothing in sight for miles.

"Our city isn't here." She smiled. "We'll
take a vehicle across the plains. Won't be that long. Just sit back and
relax."

"A vehicle?" I repeated, feeling a sense of dread
at the word.

I felt a fierce curiosity as the gate by the wall opened.
I knew I should be in class, but doubted anyone noticed. We had learned just
days ago about the Monospaces and how they transported newborns to other towns.

I'd never seen the gates open. It was a rarity. Only on days
the Monospaces entered and left the city was it necessary. I hid alongside an
empty house. The family living there was at work, a job assigned by the
government. My body stayed pressed tightly to the siding, peeking out every so
often to watch with fascination as vehicles rolled in, one after another. I'd
never seen cars, trucks, tanks, or any other type of transportation before. I
read about a few types of transportation – mostly trains and planes in books – but
this was real. I could almost reach out and touch them.

The vehicles came to a halt just inside the town, and my
body froze, afraid if I didn’t stay still I'd be seen. The government
considered skipping school a misdemeanor the first time and a public felony the
second. I'd already been caught once and was forced to do community service at
school. The second time would mean I'd be brought before the Governor and he
would choose my punishment. I wouldn't let that happen.

I stood from the sidelines, unable to do anything as a
guard walked across the street and pounded on the door of a home. I didn't know
the family. I didn't have to know them to understand what was happening. The government
owned her second child. She was nothing more than a surrogate after her first
child was born.

"Please, no! You can't take my baby!" The
mother rushed outside screaming as she chased the guard who held her newborn. Dressed
in rags with ratty hair, she looked filthy. I'd never seen anyone dressed so
terribly. The government always provided citizens with clothes. Why had they
not given her new necessities?

"He's not your son," the guard warned her,
protecting the child at all costs.

Another guard stepped out from the truck. "Is there
a problem?"

The mother's face reddened with tears. As I stared closer,
I could see the apparent bruises on her neck and arms. She pulled the rags,
once a robe, tighter around her broken body. "You can't take my only
child!"

I gasped, her only child? The government wasn't supposed
to take a family's first child, only the second born and any thereafter. I
didn't understand what I was seeing. I didn't understand what was happening
around me.

"Please!" The mother shouted, defying the
government and not caring about its repercussions.

The guard carefully positioned the newborn into the back
of the truck inside a special seat, before turning around with his gun drawn on
the woman. "You'll go back inside before what happened to your daughter
happens to you."

"You'll kill me?" She laughed hysterically.
"Go ahead!" She stepped one foot in front of the other. Not a hint of
fear in her eyes. "My husband would if he could. Why shouldn't you be the
ones to do it? You made me marry him!" I could hear the scuffle of
commotion as they fought over the gun. I couldn't see who had it or who was
winning. I doubted there would be any winners today.

The truck blocked my view as a shot rang out. Blood smeared
along the car window, and the mother's body slid down the car and onto the
ground into the gutter. I gasped in horror and choked back a sob as I ran further
away from the vehicles, the Monospaces and guards. I wanted no part of ever being
near a vehicle again.

"You've seen a car before, right?" Scarlet asked as
though it were no big deal. She hadn't noticed the fear on my face, and I
certainly didn't expect her to understand the reason. If she was lucky, she’d
never lived a day in Genesis. Joshua hadn't known my fear, either. I never
found the courage to tell him what I witnessed. "Get in and buckle up.
It's not a long drive."

Joshua glanced over the car. "I've never seen
one," he confessed to Scarlet. "We never had the need for them back
at home." He turned and stared at me. "You okay?" he asked, looking
me over as he helped me into the backseat.

"Fine." I sighed, buckling myself in. I could hear
the latch as Joshua secured his own seatbelt. My body was covered in a sheen of
sweat, and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t know whether to be grateful or
offended he sat up front beside her. As we took off in the open-air vehicle, I
quickly decided I was grateful. The bumps jolted me around and my stomach was
doing somersaults. I just hoped we wouldn't crash.

From the backseat, I could barely hear what they said, but she
sounded flirty and rather pleased with herself. Joshua smiled and I could see
her reach out, resting a hand on his forearm. I wanted to slap the smile off
her face. I couldn't move though. It was impossible, considering the fact I was
restrained by the safety belt and we were moving across the plains at an
astonishing speed. I gripped the backseat, wanting this ride to be over and was
hoping we'd arrive soon.

"Are we there yet?" I screamed into the wind as I
felt us make a sharp turn, and we headed as what I could only imagine to be
west.

"Relax, Olivia. I'll get you there in one piece." Her
laughter vibrated through the vehicle, and I shuddered at the thought of Joshua
smiling and laughing with her. I couldn't see his face from where I was
situated, but didn't dare move, either. No. I would not be jealous. I had no
reason to be.

The ride seemed to last forever. It felt longer than the walk
through the tunnel but I knew that was unlikely because the sun hadn't yet set.

CHAPTER 6

We crested a hill, or what Scarlet explained to us was once
called 'The Bluffs.' I didn't ask what that meant – I found myself too tired as
my eyes grew heavy. In the distance, I spotted a city. Finally, I could see our
destination.

We drove faster – it hardly seemed possible – whizzing past
old buildings, structures that hadn't been tended to in at least five hundred years.

Approaching the town, barbed wire surrounded the community. What
were they trying to keep out? We hadn't seen much on the drive. I saw no signs
of civilization during the ride from the underground tunnel. I knew the
horrendous stories from school about the Gravelands, but so far, I'd witnessed
only miles of nothingness.

We approached the guards standing tall at the entrance. They
opened the gate without so much as us slowing down. Clearly, they knew Scarlet
and didn't feel it necessary to wait. I wondered if getting in and out was so
easy, or just for her. Who exactly was Scarlet, our escort on the final leg
from the tunnel to the rebel alliance? Hastily she made her way through the city.
The tallest buildings seemed to reach the sky and tower above the clouds. Eyeing
the streets, I couldn’t tell where people lived. Every building looked
different. I knew my mouth hung open, but I couldn't help it. "Why the
need for such lavish buildings?" I asked staring up at the skyscrapers, my
eyes squinting towards the sun.

"That was built long before Haven was a town,"
Scarlet explained, "we just try and make the most of the buildings and
resources we have."

"The government doesn't interfere?" I couldn't
fathom how they would be left alone. Was it not obvious people were living
within the city? Was the barbed wire not evidence enough?

"There's a mutual understanding between us,"
Scarlet answered. "We're bugs to them and so long as we don't infect their
homes and invade their space, they have no reason to squash us. That's enough
for me." She didn't elaborate and I felt as though she was implying I
shouldn't ask questions about it. "I know it's different, but you'll get
used to it," she called over her shoulder, the wind whipping through the
truck. "The city looks big but there's only a few thousand people here.
Nothing compared to Torv. Have you heard of that city?" She didn't give
either of us time to answer. "I've heard your home in Genesis was much
smaller, but you'll find Haven to be home in no time. I'm going to take you to
your quarters. You’ll find sleeping arrangements and a place for you both to
shower and get cleaned up. After that, the council has plans to meet with
you."

"The council?" I heard Joshua ask, not sounding as
though he understood anything more than I did. I felt some relief in his response.