Gated (28 page)

“No, you did the exact right thing. We’d just both be in here right now.”

“And I’m sorry about Indy. I didn’t know … most of us didn’t. My dad said that Pioneer only told the men and even then he only told them just before they had to … kill them.”

“I’m sorry too. Marie, where’s Pioneer?”

She shrugs. “I haven’t seen him in hours. Things are out of hand right now, Lyla. Your townie boy’s dad showed up here a few hours ago and he wasn’t alone.”

“I know, I saw Brian come in just before they took me here.”

“There was gunfire. Everyone was shooting. It wasn’t like target practice. I was so freaked out. I could barely aim the gun, I was shaking so hard. Will and Brian did better, but I don’t think that they actually hit anyone.” Her eyes are wide and scared, but excited too. It reminds me
a little of Pioneer’s face earlier when he talked about our new mission. But she has no idea what Pioneer’s planning next.

“Marie, listen to me,” I say before she can start talking again. “We have to get everyone out of the Silo.”

I’m hoping that she’ll listen better than Will did. I need someone to believe me. I don’t want to fight this fight alone. And I need her to open my cell.

“Why would we want to do that? They’re still out there, Lyla.”

“Pioneer’s had a new vision. He told me when he came down here last. The Brethren told him that in order for us to be with them, we had to die now.”

Marie stares at me. “I know you’re desperate to get out of here, but seriously, Lyla, accusing Pioneer of something like that is just crazy.”

I exhale loudly. She doesn’t get it. “Marie, I’m being serious! We’re not safe in here.”

Marie makes a face and cuts me off. “You can’t start all that again. Pioneer’s doing what he has to. You like that boy, I get it, and it sucks that you can’t see him again. But this is not the way to handle it. You’re just getting yourself into more trouble.”

I drop my face into my hands. Why did I think that I could get her to listen? I make a frustrated sound into my palms.

Marie comes closer to the cell. Her flashlight dances
across my cot. “Everything will be better now that we’re underground, Lyla, you’ll see. We can both start over. I can’t exactly sneak magazines and stuff anymore and f awill be byou can’t see that boy. It’ll be easier now. No more temptations, right?” She looks at me hopefully. “It’ll be good.” She’s convincing herself as much as me.

“No, it won’t! We’ve been friends for a long time, Marie. Look at me. Do I look like I’m lying to you?” I move until I’m just on the other side of the bars from her. We stare at each other.

Marie stills and her smile fades away. “You’re really serious, aren’t you?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. You have to get me out of here. We have to go warn the others.” I’m feeling hopeful again. With Marie to back me up, I should be able to get at least some of our friends and family to believe me.

Marie’s just staring at the bars, her face slack with shock.

“Marie?” I say, and pat her hand to try to snap her out of it. “Marie! I don’t think that we have a lot of time.”

She looks up at me, her eyes bright with fear. “What’re we going to do? We’re sealed in here. It’s already too late.” She grips the bars and her flashlight slides upward, caught between her hand and the iron. It sends a perfect circle of light bouncing across the ceiling. I can’t see her as clearly now. She’s more shadow than person.

“I don’t want to die, Lyla. I thought being in here meant that I wouldn’t have to.” She starts to cry.

I place both of my hands over hers. “We don’t have to die. That’s just it. Not if we all tell him together that we don’t want this. He can’t make all of us do what he wants, not at the same time, not on his own.”

“But won’t we just die in a couple of months anyway when the world ends? We won’t be able to come back in here then.”

“I’m not really sure that the end is coming anymore. Don’t you think it’s possible after everything that’s happened that he’s wrong? I think that’s why he’s fighting so hard to keep us here.”

“But what if he isn’t wrong?” she presses.

“It comes down to whether or not you’re ready to die today. I’m not. If the world ends, we can’t fight it, but we can fight one man. We can choose to live this day and every day after it that we have left. And besides, is being sealed inside this place really going to be living at all? We can’t even be sure how long we’ll have to be down here. If we’re stuck here the rest of our lives, will we feel like we’ve had any kind of life at all? I don’t think just surviving like that is enough, Marie, not for any of us.”

“But I’m scared,” Marie says. Her voice trembles.

“I am too. I’m terrified of standing up to him. I’m terrified of dying. But it’s like he said that day out at target practice. Even lambs have to be lions sometimes. We have
to fight that fear. If we hadn’t been so scared of the rest of the world in the first place, we might not have given Pioneer so much control over us. It’s time to take it back.” I tighten my grip on her hands. “If we do it together, it won’t be so bad. Please, will you help me stop him?”

She sniffles loudly, but she doesn’t take her hands away from mine. I smile at her anmil Pld hope that I look braver than I feel.

“Okay, lions it is, I guess … roar?” Her voice is shaky and that last word comes out more like a question than a statement. Her eyes meet mine and we both laugh, the high, hysterical kind reserved for times like this one when you have to either laugh or else scream.

“I came down here to get you out anyway.” She smiles through her tears. “I mean, I figured that with all the commotion, no one would notice right away, and by the time they did, you could’ve laid so low that they would see you weren’t gonna cause any more trouble. But I suppose that was some ridiculously faulty thinking, since I haven’t even sprung you yet and you’ve already convinced me to come over to the dark side.”

I grin at her. “I love you, Marie.”

“And I love you. Now stand back.” She puts a hand in her pocket and pulls out a key. “Did you know that there are backup keys to everything in Mandrodage Meadows? Pioneer had my dad get them made one time when we were on a supply run. I knew he had to have them stashed
somewhere. Took me most of the afternoon to figure out where. Turns out they were in the armory. I saw them when I turned in my gun earlier.”

“You had to turn in your gun?” He doesn’t want anyone armed now. I shiver when it hits me how thoroughly he’s planned this next step … almost like it was something he’s been considering for longer than just today.

“We all had to. Pioneer’s idea. He said we wouldn’t need them anymore today. But I guess that’s because of what you said he’s planning.” She still can’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Marie moves toward the lock. She shines the flashlight on it and leans over. “I’ll have you out in—”

Her voice cuts off as the darkness behind her begins to move. Her chest bounces off the bars in front of me and her back arches backward like it’s on a string. The flashlight drops and spins across the floor.

“Marie, what happened? What is it?” I yell. My eyes follow the arcing path of the flashlight as it travels across the floor. A hand and Pioneer’s familiar plaid shirt materialize for a second. In the hand is a knife. Rimmed in blood. He was here all this time, even before Marie came in. Why didn’t I hear him come in? I must’ve been asleep. Was he waiting down here to see if someone would help me?

And now he’s stabbed Marie.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” I scream. “Leave her alone!”

The flashlight is still rolling across the floor, illuminating bits and pieces of Pioneer and Marie. Marie makes a
small sound in the dark. I strain against the bars and try to reach out, grab Pioneer if I can. I want to keep him from her, but he dances out of the way.

Eventually the light stops on Marie. Her mouth is open. Nothing comes out but a rush of air. Then Pioneer’s foot hits the flashlight and it spins away again and she’s swallowed up by shadows. When the flashlight illuminates her body the next time, she crumples forward onto the ground. I crouch down on my side of the bars and reach for her.

“Marie!” The flashlight slows to a stop beside her slumping form. She looks at me. Her mouth is still open and trying to form a word or a scream or both. A thin line of red blood leaks from the corner of her lips and drips off of her cheek, ofr m which is now resting on the floor just outside my cell.

Pioneer picks up the flashlight. Marie manages to turn her head and her eyes go wide when she sees Pioneer standing there. I don’t think she knew it was him until just now. He bends down beside her and gently moves the hair from her face. He sets the flashlight down beside them so that it shines on them both and then he looks at me. His eyes meet mine and they’re resolute. Empty.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!” I scream. I pull at the bars, try to shake them loose.

“She was going to let you out. It would have ruined my new plan,” he says. He looks from me to her again. “I can’t say that I’m surprised, though. Close as you two always
were, it was only a matter of time before she followed your bad example.”

He looks down at Marie, his expression full of tenderness. “You are the first of us to travel on, dear one. May you take comfort in knowing that we will join you soon. No need to be scared now. You won’t have to be alone while you wait. I sent Drew on ahead of you last year. He’ll be waiting for you.”

I gasp and Marie’s body spasms. We thought he’d just left—all those magazines and Marie’s hope that she’d see him in one of them—and he was already gone. Pioneer was preparing for this day even then. I blink as tears fill my eyes.

Pioneer leans over and kisses Marie’s cheek gently. The pain in her face is almost more than I can take. She tries to turn away but he holds her face in his hands.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” I yell, but he doesn’t even look up.

Pioneer’s lips move, but the words coming out are too soft for me to make out. Marie is struggling to move, to get away from him, but he sits on her and holds her shoulders down. She moves her hands to his, to pull his hands away, I think, but her fingers are shaking and she’s having difficulty working them. Her breath is wet sounding and whistling strangely.

Pioneer’s lips keep right on moving silently, prayerfully. He puts one hand over Marie’s eyes before he lifts the knife up to her neck. He clears his throat. “Travel safely
to the Brethren in peace.” He says these last words like a benediction, and I throw myself against the bars. My head swims and my legs go weak.

“Marie!”
I scream with everything I have.

Pioneer takes a deep breath and then moves the knife from left to right in one fluid motion, opening up Marie’s throat. Her body jerks. I want to scream, but I can’t. I can’t move. I can’t think. It’s as if I’m made of glass and everything inside of me is shattering. I press so hard against the bars that it hurts, but I keep pressing against them anyway.
Marie
.

When it’s over, the floor is wet with blood and Marie’s pale green shirt is bright red. Pioneer’s face is blood spattered and wild. His hands still grip the knife, but it’s down at his side now. He’s looming over her, watching her chest for signs of movement, but there are none.

Anger bubbles inside of me, lava hot and violent. I pick up the cot and throw it against the bars. The room seems to be spinning. I can feel my grip on reality loosening. She trusted him and he betrayed her. He’s the evil we should’ve been running from all along. How could we not see it? How could we not know? He has to pay. Somehow he has to pay for all of it.

Pion"juve eer stares at the blood on his knife. His hands are shaking. Tears roll down his face. It’s like he’s actually mourning her. Slowly he picks up the flashlight, stands, and walks to the back of the supply room. He returns a moment later with garbage bags and a roll of paper towels.
He wipes off his hands and face, then begins peeling off one garbage bag from the box at a time and laying them over Marie like a shroud.

I watch him numbly. I can’t make sense of what just happened. This cannot be real.

“This is your fault. She could have just gone to sleep with the rest of us. If she hadn’t come down here to set you free, none of this would’ve happened.” His voice cracks. “But I knew that she would. I just knew it, that’s why I waited down here for her to come.” He stares at me so hard that I back up a little. “What have you become, girl? Some kind of demon? My own Judas sent to betray me in my darkest hour?” Spittle flies from his mouth and suddenly he lunges forward toward my cell. I shrink backward even further. He shines the flashlight in my face so that I can’t see him anymore, and I pull myself as far into the corner of the cell and as far away from the bars as possible.

“Well, I won’t let you, do you hear me, demon? I won’t let you tear the Community apart!” he yells.

He can’t reach me from where he is, but still I can’t stop shaking and crying. He slit Marie’s throat to save her soul, and now he’
s bent on saving mine as well.

Suddenly there’s a knock on the door to the supply room.

“Pioneer? We need to talk.”

It’s Mr. Whitcomb. The door begins to open. Pioneer shuts the flashlight off, plunging the room into total blackness again. I had meant to scream and get Mr. Whitcomb’s
attention, but now I don’t know what Pioneer will do. He may have gotten the knife again. If I try to warn Mr. Whitcomb, will he kill him now too?

I squint into the darkness and try to see where Pioneer is, but it’s impossible.

“I’m here, Sonny,” Pioneer says, and he rushes toward Mr. Whitcomb’s silhouette in the doorway. He pushes him back into the stairwell. The door slams shut behind them. I can hear them running up the steps.

They’ve left me in the dark again—only this time I’m not alone.