Brave New Love (19 page)

•  •  •

Doreen returned after a couple days of detention for attacking a security guard.

“Almost lost it,” she said, joining me between classes. For the first time since ever, Doreen looked scared. “Yeah, I almost serked.” But then she shook it off and
smiled. “I can’t be next. I’ve bets with five seventeens and four sixteens that Pete will be next. I can’t ruin my winning streak.”

Her comment about Pete stopped me. Jayden had said the same thing. “Why him?”

“Red-headed, attached earlobes, and he gets upset about cheaters.”

“Attached earlobes? Seriously?”

“Yep. They’re recessive, along with—”

“I know. Has anyone bet on me?” I asked.

She kept a straight face, but humor sparked in her hazel eyes. “No one.”

“But I have—”

“You have the calmest temper in the entire compound. It’s a losing bet.”

Ha. I could prove her very wrong, except I’d be stunned and carted off to Berserker boot camp. Doreen’s comments about Pete gave me a few things to think about. Did DS know people
could “survive” serking?

•  •  •

Jayden was released from detention after ten days. The longest time for a detention. Ever. Healing bruises and cuts marked his face and he walked with stiff legs, heading
straight for the dorm. Students stared after him with mouths open in amazement or nodding with respect.

I suppressed the desire to chase after him, planning to let a few days pass before I approached. But the next morning, he sat in the corner with elbows propped on the table and his head in his
hands, appearing miserable. I hoped it was an act for the guards.

When the bell rang for first period, Jayden didn’t move. As everyone filed out, I crouched next to him.

“Go away, Kate,” he said without glancing at me.

“If you’re late—”

“I won’t go back to detention. They’ll have to kill me first.” Now he lifted his head and gazed at me in utter defeat. “I’ve thought about my plan. It sucks.
There’s no way out of this place. When they come for me this time, I’m not going to pretend to be weak.”

“No, you’re going to first period.” I grabbed his wrist and jerked him to his feet. Towing him from the dining room, I headed toward the science building.

He stayed a step behind me not resisting, but not quite cooperating either.

I talked to him as we crossed the compound. “You can’t give up, now. You made a promise to your mother, and I made a promise to my friend. If we break them, they’ll haunt us
forever, or so I’ve heard.” I took his snort as a positive sign. “Besides, I have an idea on how to get us both into the administration building.”

He jerked me to a halt. “How?”

“You might not like—”

“I’ll do
anything
to get out of here.”

But could I?

“Tell me.”

I did.

He stared at me as the information sank in. When he drew breath to speak, I stopped him. “Think about it. You’ll be in the most danger.”

“When do we start?”

So much for thinking it through. As we continued to our class, I explained. “It has to be subtle. Little gestures at first, then more . . . reckless.”

“Okay, I’ll follow your lead.”

I asked him if Domestic Security knew people could survive serking.

“Yes, but they don’t want it to happen. Mindless soldiers don’t argue or worry about things like morals and basic human decency.”

Before we entered the building, Jayden paused. “Does this mean you’ve given up on rescuing everyone?”

“No.”

He waited.

I sighed. “One problem at a time.”

•  •  •

And so Jayden and I started sitting together at meals. Haylee didn’t waste time warning me again.

“They’ll send you away” she said.

“We’ll be careful,” I replied. A queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach roiled as I lied to her.

Doreen watched us with suspicion and challenged me during sixth period. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be working on a way out of here, not falling for the new
guy.”

And snap. The answer to my other problem popped into my head along with ten reasons why it wouldn’t work. Plus Jayden wouldn’t agree. Too bad.

I kept my expression neutral as I said in an even tone, “There’s no way out. We’re stuck here and might as well make the best of it.”

“You’re a lousy liar, Kate.” She stormed off.

•  •  •

Jayden and I continued our . . . what to call it? Courtship sounded ancient. Our fake affair? Occasionally ducking into a hidden spot, we would emerge after a few minutes. My
regulation knot would be askew and he’d have a goofy smile on his face. Each time we took bigger and bigger risks.

One night during free time, Doreen surprised us soon after we slipped into the blind spot behind the math building.

Ready for a fight, she didn’t hesitate in confronting us. “You’re planning to escape without helping the rest of us. Aren’t you?”

“Yes. It’s impossible to save everyone, so we’re saving ourselves.”

Confused, Jayden glanced at me.

Doreen sucked in a breath.

“You’re not worth saving, Doreen,” I said. “You’re just a big bully. All talk. No action. I mean, really. You were depending on
me
to be a savior? I avoid
trouble. You’re as stupid as you are ugly.”

Jayden hissed at me. “Are you insane—”

“You’re dead!” Doreen wrapped her hands around my neck with amazing speed as she serked. Digging her fingers in to my throat, she snarled as the blood lust filled her eyes.

Pain and panic froze me for a moment. I needed air. Then my own serker instincts kicked in and, with Jayden’s help, we pinned Doreen to the wall.

He called her name over and over in that calm tone he’d used on me. She stopped fighting, but still hadn’t come to her senses.

“I’ll bet you can’t control your emotions, Doreen,” I said, matching his even tone. “I’ll bet you’ll let the blood lust rule you, Doreen. I’ll bet
you a month’s worth of chores that you can’t overpower your genetics like I have, Doreen.”

“You are insane,” Jayden said.

With a visible effort Doreen focused on me. “You’re going to lose, Kate.”

“I hope so.”

Jayden rounded on me. “You wanted her to serk! What if she didn’t wake? You could have ruined everything.”

“This was the only way I could help my friends and keep my promise.”

“And I didn’t merit being informed about this little diversion.” Anger spiked each word.

“I didn’t know if it would work.”

He bit off a furious reply as Doreen responded to the emotion, straining against our hold.

“Just keep it together,” I soothed. “Ride it out like a muscle cramp. Eventually it will pass. You can do this.”

When she stabilized, Jayden released her. “She’s yours now, Kate. Good luck with your pet project. I’m done.” He left.

•  •  •

I kept Doreen focused and centered over the next five days just as Jayden had done for me. He stayed away and everyone believed we had broken up. Funny, it felt as if we had. We
hadn’t done anything but talk during those pretend trysts, but I missed them.

Once her serker rage settled, Doreen didn’t waste time targeting the next person. “I’m going to play cards with Pete and cheat. He’ll serk.”

She did, and I helped to wake him. But keeping close to him proved more difficult. During fourth period, Pete lost his temper playing basketball, drawing the guards close.

Doreen and I couldn’t intervene without causing suspicion. If he gave in to the rage, I’d have to stay longer. But that was a problem since my eighteenth birthday was only a week
away. I couldn’t leave Doreen alone. There had to be at least two serkers left behind or we had no chance of taking over the compound. Anxiety swirled.

Just when it appeared as if Pete wouldn’t recover, Jayden stepped close to him and talked Pete through it. Relieved, I studied Jayden and wondered if he’d talk to me again.

•  •  •

“So that’s your plan?” Jayden tilted his head toward Pete. Our group was running the obstacle course. “Trigger all the seven-teens so you have your own
personal serker army?” His voice held a hard edge.

“Yes, except it will be Doreen’s serker army. I’ve my cleared appointment with the doctor in five days.” I noticed his alarm. “Don’t worry, I plan to serk
before then. Put on a show and take out a few of them before they stun me.”

“Not a very good plan.”

“No, but I screwed up the original one so . . .” I scuffed my shoe in the dirt, working up the nerve. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Doreen, but I knew
you’d—”

“Refuse to help?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re right. I’d have refused, but how was I to know you could trigger her?”

“That’s the other part. I didn’t. I knew she’d had a couple of close calls and I know her sensitive spots.” I gave him a wry smile. “Being the good girl is
hard work. In order to avoid getting into trouble, I kept on everyone’s good side. Which means I know quite a bit about all my fellow seven-teens. When I thought about all my classmates
who’d serked—I mean really considered the causes—I eventually recognized a pattern.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this?”

“It was just a theory.”

“Well, it worked.” He considered. “Let’s hope your other plan goes as well.”

“Are you sure? We only have a few days.”

“Then let’s not dawdle.” He grabbed my hand for a second, squeezed, and let go. Jayden returned to his place in line with more energy than I’d seen from him in a
while.

It didn’t take long to start the seventeens buzzing over our reconciliation.

Haylee blocked me on the stairs as we headed down to supper. “You are two days away from being cleared! Are you insane? What are you thinking?”

I leaned close and whispered, “Talk to Doreen. She’ll explain everything to you.”

•  •  •

“Are you ready?” Jayden asked me.

Yes. No. Yes. My stomach churned. Unable to trust my voice, I nodded. We sat close together in the dining room in plain view of all the seventeens.

Jayden stood and pitched his voice so it could be heard over the general din. “I don’t care who sees us.” He pulled me to my feet and kissed me, wrapping his arms around my
back.

A collective gasp followed instant silence. No turning back now. Jayden deepened the kiss and I forgot to be worried as strange tingles flowed through me. It was a long kiss. Why not? No sense
wasting what could be our last chance at . . . well, everything.

Rough hands yanked us apart. The four guards Med and scolded us as they marched us into the administration building. I kept a firm hold on my emotions. Would they try to make me serk again?

Yep. They led us down to the room decorated with plastic. The place where they had murdered Molly. Three guards pulled their stun guns, aiming toward me. But this time, when the remaining guard
grabbed his revolver, Jayden moved to stop him.

My guards turned to the commotion, and then I moved. So lovely to use my full abilities without worry. I could have easily killed all three—their actions were so slow compared to mine. I
dodged the stun gun prongs, knocked weapons from their hands, and rendered them senseless with strong kicks to their temples.

“Fun, isn’t it?” Jayden stood over the man who would have shattered his forehead.

“Lots.”

“Ready to get out of here?” He threw me a stun gun, keeping one.

“Oh, yes.”

He grabbed my hand and we raced through the hallways. There really wasn’t much more to the plan beyond getting inside. We encountered a few guards, knocked them out, and then kidnapped an
office worker. Jayden forced him to lead us outside. We dashed into the woods.

I knew the ease of our escape was not the real battle. The real battle would entail convincing the rebels to return with us to help Doreen’s serker army free the others.

But like I said before. One problem at a time.

For now, I let the pure joy of running full serker speed with Jayden take control.

S
TEVE
B
ERMAN

Allard huddled in the cramped, hot van. Resting his chin on the scuffed knees of his trousers, he watched a spider hiding in a crevice beneath the door latch. Only a bit of
daylight slipped through the scattered bullet holes that pockmarked the opposite panel. The spider’s body—fat and spiked, legs like crooked needles—trembled as the van drove over
rough roads, which meant they had left the capital far behind. Allard’s instructors had mentioned that spiders spin many different kinds of webbing, some stronger than steel, some so gossamer
light that infant spiders use it to fly away.

He wished he could fly away. A metal manacle encircled his left wrist, chafing it raw. Attached to the manacle was an unbreakable plastic cord no more than two feet long, which bound him to the
side of the van. It was so short it prevented him from touching the door. A steady ache already inhabited his shoulder—he’d been in the van at least two hours. He worried it might be
more.

His captors played the State music stream from the speakers, loud enough for him to hear in the back of the van. A chorus of schoolchildren sang what had once been a tired anthem, but now
sounded to Allard like something of a taunt.

He had been within sight of the station when they took him. The van had swerved, nearly running him down. They had laughed when he’d told them he was a Citizen. They did
not care that he carried ID. They should never have taken him. Allard’s parents worked for the Party. His father was a high-level clerk in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. His mother
posted the most popular, if insipid, poetry extolling the State on NationWeb.

The van reeked of old sweat. Allard imagined it crammed full with doleful men and boys taken from the street. They would sit pressed together, their eyes closed. Some might even resort to
prayer, hoping the State was wrong, that an abstract deity high above would comfort them and keep them safe when they reached the Front Line.