New World Order (10 page)

“That’s because I’m not from Korea,” I said. “In fact, it’s been almost three hundred years since the War, so I’d be surprised if there’s anyone actually
from
Korea living on this continent.” Then I thought about it some more. “Or even if there’s still a Korea.”

Sanjay began a retort, but closed his mouth and suddenly looked pensive.

“You know
what he means,” Phillip said.

“I told you,” Hollywood said, pointing a finger at me. “He’s a scorchedlander, and Father Ryder’s going to be really interested in meeting him, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives me an extra reward.”

I flashed the biggest smile I could muster. “Now you’re just making me feel special.” And as sarcastic as I intended my comment to be, I knew there was a grain
of truth in it. Hollywood talked a lot about my clothes, especially my boots, insulated jacket, and rifle. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you stop and clean Ryan’s wound, I’ll tell Father Ryder whatever you want me to so that you can get a big, fat reward.”

Just as I said it, someone farther up the line called for the afternoon break.

Water. Thank God.

Phillip and Sanjay grabbed the reins
on either side of the two beasts hauling us and called for them to
whoa.
Kane’s voice boomed out for all captains to gather at the front.

Hollywood narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t make deals with scorchedlander freaks.” He turned to Phillip and Sanjay. “Give them their rations.” And then he left us to join the other captains.

Phillip scrambled to be the one to give Talon his water. I noticed
he touched Talon a lot when he gave the boy a drink. Holding his head for him or resting a hand on his shoulder. So far he hadn’t tried to get Talon alone, but that was probably because Hollywood distrusted us so much that he wouldn’t let us stray from the wagon.

Sanjay gave me my ration, and when he pulled the bottle away, I appealed to him to help Ryan. “Pour some on his wound. It needs to
be cleaned.”

Sanjay looked at Ryan, who was soaked with fever. He moaned on occasion, but didn’t wake up. A yellow-crusted scab slick with weeping fluid peeked through the tear in his trousers where the arrow had struck. The small opening wasn’t large enough to really examine the injury, though.

“It won’t do him any good,” Sanjay said.

Deep down I knew he was right. There were no antibiotics
or nanotech cocktails to give him. Just water, and that was too little too late.

“We can at least try,” I said. “He’s worth payment from Father Ryder, right? That means more for you if he lives.”

Sanjay shrugged one shoulder and poured some water on Ryan’s injury. Then he tried to give him a drink, but the water ran out the side of Ryan’s mouth and down his neck. Sanjay let go of his head,
and Ryan slumped against me.

“Told you,” Sanjay said.

Hollywood returned to our cart looking happy. “We’re going to head home,” he said.

Phillip looked surprised. “Not all the wagons are full.”

“We’re splitting up,” Hollywood said. “Another recruit died, and we’re going to lose more if we stay out much longer. All full rigs are heading back, and the empty ones are staying out with Kane
to keep hunting.”

There was some disorganized yelling, shouting, and bad-tempered expletives before the wagons full of recruits were separated from the empty ones. It was the first time I had the opportunity to see the people who had been taken on that awful night. They took up two carts: one full of men and boys and another full of women and girls. The youngest boy was about ten, the youngest
girl around seven. Hollywood’s words ran through my head:
You sit in that wagon acting as if we’ve done you wrong when what we’ve actually done is save you.
I wondered how saved these people felt.

Our downsized caravan moved out with the now-familiar chant of “Giddeeeyup!” Ryan’s head lolled against my arm as the wagon started moving, and a few groans escaped his lips. I retreated to my happy
place. Sunny.

My mind traveled back to the first time we’d met. Her fiery red hair had been a shock and a little too exotic for me at first, and the fact that she came from the Pit had made her taboo. After all, I was a Kenner, and Kenners didn’t take mistresses from the Pit. Just playing along with Leisel’s little plan to bring her back to my apartment had made me squeamish. But then she was
in my apartment—wearing my bathrobe, her hair tousled from a restless, drunken night, and mascara smudged around her big dark eyes—telling me all about her troubled life. I’d thought I was well- advised on the Pit. I’d thought I had a higher understanding of the intricate legalities of the treaty, the Pit’s role in maintaining the Dome, and the troubles associated with their socioeconomic class.
So hearing her life was troubled wasn’t surprising, but her willingness to take a bullet—
risk her own life
—to ensure Leisel and I would one day rule the Dome and help the people of the Pit was a shock. And it was the moment I started falling in love with her.

From the day of my birth it had been drilled into my head that the Kenners would take down the Holt regime and restore democracy to our
people. But we had to gain control legitimately so as not to provoke Holt into using the nuclear warheads and blowing us all into oblivion. So we Kenners waged our quiet revolution, building up Liberty to gain the support of the people, and looking for opportunities to take down the dictatorship.

Then along came Sunny. She was looking for opportunities to change the government too, but her
motivation was born out of desperation rather than righteousness. She was so brave, determined, and, I learned soon enough, had absolutely
nothing
to lose. It turned out I had no idea what life was like in the Pit until she took me there and I became a slave. It was her strength that had kept me alive, the thought of seeing her at the end of every day that had kept me going, and her resourcefulness
that had led to the creation of the Alliance and, ultimately, to freedom.

She was so much more than my soul mate. She was my hero. And I needed her strength more than ever.

Our wagon stopped moving again, and I opened my eyes, unaware that I had fallen asleep. There was a high-pitched
errrrrOwww
from the trees that had the recruiters on alert.

“Cats,” Naoki told me. “They’ve been getting
closer since we split with the others.”

Hollywood left our wagon to meet with the other captains and returned shortly.

“How many?” Phillip asked. He had his bow out, ready to shoot any animals that wandered near.

“Three or four maybe,” Hollywood said. He motioned to Ryan. “Cut him loose.”

Naoki, Talon, and I sat up straighter.

“What do you mean ‘cut him loose’?” I asked.

“We have
to slow down those damn cats,” Hollywood said. “Unless you’re volunteering?”

My eyes grew wide as understanding dawned. They were going to leave Ryan as a meal for the cats. “Okay, I volunteer,” I said. At least I had the use of my legs. I could run. Maybe climb a tree. Make it to the river and swim. Ryan had no chance.

“I’m just playing with you,” Hollywood said. “You’re too valuable to
feed to the cats.”

Phillip unhooked Ryan from the rail, nudged him with his foot, and rolled him out of the wagon. Ryan moaned, and I’m sure I saw his eyes flutter open.

“He’s not dead!” Naoki yelled. “You can’t do this!”

“Gidddeeeeyup!” Hollywood boomed.

The caravan started moving again. I watched in horrified silence as we moved farther away from Ryan. It wasn’t happening. These people
couldn’t be that murderous, could they?

As soon as we were clear, three huge tigers approached Ryan. They fought over him before one sank its teeth into his body. I prayed the first bite was the fatal one.

Sunny

The thunderstorms had brought strong winds and warmer temperatures, turning the ground to slick, gooey mud. It made getting down the ridge a lot
more treacherous than the trip up. The fact that I was tired after a fitful night of dozing wasn’t helping. I could only hope that I would grow more accustomed to the lumpy feel of my backpack as a pillow for my head and rocks as a cushion for my rump. At least resting my cheek against Jack’s shirt was soothing, even if it was starting to smell more like my backpack and less like him.

We reached
the river, and I was astounded to see how wide it had become in just one night. I had learned all about spring rains feeding our waterways, with snowmelt contributing to the volume, but to actually see the power of so much water concentrated into one flow was staggering.

Reyes took the raft out of his backpack, and I was just as happy to let Jin-Sook and Eli help him unfold it. I busied myself
filling my water flask instead, still angry about his accusation.

Summer squatted beside me with two flasks in hand. I assumed one belonged to Reyes. She dipped them into the freezing cold river.

“So what were you two arguing about this time?” she asked. I gave her my best deadpan expression. She shrugged. “It was kind of hard not to hear you. I mean, we’re the only people out here, aren’t
we?” she asked with a shiver and looked around.

I pulled my flask out of the river to let the water percolate through the filter. “This time,” I repeated. She had a point. Reyes and I had argued a lot back when we were engaged. I put it down to the fact that he never understood me. He was constantly trying to change me. “Same old argument we usually have. I’m not living up to who he wants me
to be.
This time
he’s accusing me of turning my back on the Pit.” I could feel the heat of anger creep into my face. “
Me!
Like I’ve done
nothing
to help my own people.” I looked over my shoulder and snuck a peek at him, partly to see if he was still upset about last night and partly to see if he could hear us. It was hard to tell because he looked focused on his task. “I don’t know why I let him
get to me. He’s always been belligerent and, let’s be honest, this isn’t about the Pit. This is about me being married to Jack.”

“Hold on,” Summer said in a firm voice. “As someone who is still friends with Reyes, I know he’s over you. I’m sorry if that upsets you, but he’s
really
enjoying being single, if you know what I mean.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t mean he was jealous. I meant, well,
he accused me of becoming a bourge.”

She nodded and then said, “Oh.”

What was the nod for? Understanding? I suddenly wished her eyes weren’t hidden behind sunglasses so I could read them. “You agree with him?” I asked with uncertainty.

She breathed out a sigh, hung her head for a moment, and then turned toward me. “I wouldn’t say I
agree
with him, but I can see where he’s coming from.”

Her words were unexpected. Tears pricked my eyes, and I pulled my lips into a tight line in case they trembled. My own best friend thought badly of me. I turned away from her.

She put a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound so harsh.”

“Then what did you mean?” I asked without looking at her.

“Sunny, you’re happily, blissfully married to a bourge who adores you, and
that’s given you privileges that the rest of us from the Pit don’t have, like going to the Academy.”

A pang of resentment hit me. Summer and I lived in the same house, so she knew exactly how many nights I had spent studying to get accepted into the Academy.

“The school is open to anyone who passes the entrance exam, Summer. And you of all people know how hard I worked. I read every one of
Jack’s old textbooks, and he grilled me every night until I knew the information inside and out. And if it weren’t for him, I would’ve flunked out in the first month, so don’t tell me how awful my
bourge
husband is! I’m tired of hearing it.”

“Let me ask you this; how many other dark-eyed students were in your classes?” I didn’t respond. She knew I was the only student from the Pit there.

Setting aside the flasks, she put her arm around my shoulders. “I
do
know how hard you worked, and I’m so proud of you. But you said it yourself, if it weren’t for Jack, you never would’ve qualified for the Academy. Your marriage gives you opportunities the rest of us don’t have, so—” She stopped talking at the sound of footsteps crunching through the gravel behind us. The raft was ready, and they
were carrying it to the river. She gave me a brief squeeze. “Just don’t forget where you come from.” She kissed my cheek. “And now it’s time to get back into the vomit comet. Yay.”

Summer scooped up the flasks and stood. I watched her walk away from me toward the raft and heard her groan and mumble something to Reyes. He enfolded her in one of his big, brotherly hugs and told her the cure for
motion sickness was mind over matter. The sight warmed me as much as it made me sad, and a lump formed in my throat. We had been a tight group growing up and had always had each other’s backs in the Pit. It hurt that I had become an outsider.

Clearing the emotional bulge from my throat, I stowed my flask in my backpack and joined them at the raft.

You couldn’t tell from standing on the
shoreline, but the current had become a lot stronger with the increased volume of water. Our travel was faster, but a little more perilous. It took all of our concentration to keep the raft from running into giant rocks jutting from the riverbed…or maybe they were jutting out from where the shoreline had once been. It was difficult to tell. Summer was sicker than she had been the day before, and
I was getting worried about dehydration. I was relieved when the river opened up into a small, protected lake with calmer waters.

“Hey!” Jin-Sook said, pointing toward the shore.

Reyes and I had been power paddling across the smooth surface, but we stopped and looked in the direction she pointed. Something—maybe the peak of a roof—could be seen poking out from the leafless forest. I scanned
the area for any kind of movement, but saw none. Other than a few small rodents, this was the first sign of life we had come across.