Outcast: A Corporation Novel (The Corporation) (21 page)

Then my body comes to its senses and I wrap my arms around his neck like a constrictor. Ethan has only kissed me once, and that had more of a desperate, out of control feel to it. This one is different. Commanding, but soft. There’s desperation there, too, but I think it’s spurred by sadness. Almost like he’s trying to say—

I rip myself away and blink back tears. “This is not our goodbye! You will come back.” I turn away, wiping tears from my cheeks. I refuse to say goodbye to one more person I love. I can’t do it. I can’t stand to let my heart be jerked around on such a thin string.

“You know what?” I finally say, more tired than I have ever been in my life, “Maybe this is a good breaking point for us. Maybe it's best if we part ways as friends, officially.”

Ethan looks to the ground, runs his hand through his hair and lets it settle on the back of his neck. His knuckles go white when he squeezes. “Yeah, you're probably right. It would be for the best.”

“It's just that we've been fighting so much lately, and we seem to be going different ways. It would be easier for you if you don’t have any feelings of obligations back home when you’re out in the Further.”

“Look, he says, “I totally get it.” He looks down at me, a forced smile lifting his lips. He holds out a hand. “Friends?”

“Friends,” I say as I take his fingers in mine.

“I’ll still love you. Even from out in the Further, and even though we’re only friends.”

When Ethan leaves the room, I drop to the floor in a pile of sobs.

Ethan

I'm not happy with how Karis and I left things. I knew she wasn't going to be content with my decision, but I didn't think she would react the way she did. I send the thought to the back of my mind as I throw my pack over my shoulder. I can fix things when I get back. I can fix it all, when I get back.

“How are we supposed to get out of Neech?” Raj asks.

“I thought you had everything planned out?” I say, taking my anger out on him and not bothering to hide my irritation at his presence. “Or was that just the arm twisting?”

“Is this how the entire trip is going to be?”

“Safe to bet that way.”

“I'd better not be the only adult voice on this trip, or my hands will end up around both your necks,” Dhevan says. “Put these one.” One at a time, he tosses us each a dark piece of cloth.

“What are we supposed to do with these?” Raj looks at it in disgust. I sniff mine. At least it’s clean.

“Tie them around your eyes.”

Raj looks to Dhevan. “You're not serious.” Dhevan just stares at him.

“Just put it on,” I say, folding the coarse cloth on itself and tying it around my eyes.

“This is ridiculous.” But I hear Raj moving the fabric about.

There are footsteps behind me and I feel Dhevan tug on my blindfold. “Making sure it's secure.” I hear him move on to Raj. “Nice try,” he says. I assume Raj tried to make his blindfold not as
blind
as it should be.

“Ow!”

“That's what you get for not doing it right on your own.”

“Why do we even need these?”

“Because you aren't cleared to go where we need to go.”

“Not even Ethan? That's interesting.”

“Shut it, Raj,” I say. “Can we just get moving?”

“How are we supposed to make it through Neech blindfolded?”

I feel a hand clamp down on my left shoulder. “Don't let go,” Dhevan says. He takes my hand and puts it on his shoulder. “And don't try and look where we're going. If you do, you're done and you’ll be staying behind in Neech. I don't care who you are.” His words are clear to me. But that doesn't change my resolve to try and see where we're headed, anyway.

Our progress is slow and our pace is limited. Being out past curfew, being where we're not supposed to be, doing what we're not supposed to be doing has me on edge. So much rides on what we’re doing. I don't like not being able to see, I'm more exposed and vulnerable than I should be. “Our fates are in your hands,” I say.

“Don't tempt me.” There’s no humor in Dhevan’s voice.

I'm able to track where we're at for a good length of time, but then I think Dhevan starts taking unnecessary turns to try and throw us off. Which works. I have no idea where we are, but with the amount of time we've been walking, we could have circled a good part of Neech.

“Hold up.” Dhevan says in a low voice.

I stomp my feet a little and rub my hands together to get rid of the chill that’s crept under my skin. “You can let go of my shoulder,” I say to Raj.

“But you're so strong.” Raj lets his hand drop.

I roll my shoulders back a few times. During our walk, my mask had slipped. Not much, but enough for me to see a thin strip of my surroundings. I tilt my chin up a little, hoping it's a slight enough change that Dhevan won't think too much of it. I can make out his shuffling feet just off to my right.

I turn in that direction and say, “You almost done with whatever it is you're doing?”

He ignores me. I figured he would. We're at a section of Neech near the Black Market, I can tell by the boarded windows, crumbling structures, and broken fencing. Dhevan’s standing in front of a small concrete building that looks like all the rest, but a little more sunken than the others. He fingers one of the wooden boards blocking the window and tugs at it. It's only a foot or so off the ground. It swings open like it’s on hinges, like a door. This must be what they've been working on; what they've been hiding from me. It has to be.

Dhevan looks around. “Okay,” he says. “We're going to go forward, but be careful. There’ll be a tiny step up, lower your head, because it's a low ceiling. Then we'll be going down some steep stairs.”

“And we can't open our eyes for any of this?” Raj asks.

“No.” Dhevan comes back around and tugs at his blindfold again. I smirk a little, until Dhevan comes around to mine and does the same thing. I'm lucky that he doesn't notice anything is amiss. “Let's go.”

Hands are placed on shoulders again, and we move forward. My toe kicks against the lip of the sunken window.

“Step up,” is all Dhevan says.

I step up the same time I duck my head. He's right about the steep stairs, too. As soon as I enter the small structure, I'm on a steep descent of stairs and I imagine them to be insanely narrow. I can't see how far down they go, but I assume it's safe to say far.

Raj isn't as prepared as I am because he trips worse than I did on the lip and he stumbles into me, sending my balance off center. I rip my hand from Dhevan’s shoulder and send my arms out into the space next to me, hoping there will be walls to catch myself on. To my right is nothing, but to my left is a solid surface. It's not much, but it's enough.

“Idiot!” I swing at the space behind me and my fist connects with Raj’s shoulder.

“What's going on?” Dhevan says. I feel him turn around.

“It's not my fault!” Raj says.

“He told you to
step up
and then duck your head. Weren't you listening? You could have gotten us seriously hurt.”

“Pay attention, Raj,” Dhevan says, but that's it.

“Give me your shoulder,” I snap at Dhevan. “And be more careful, Raj.”

We link together again and continue down. None of us says anything except for, “Last stair” when we reach the bottom. Cautiously, I straighten, glad there's enough clearance for me to stand up fully.

I peek out the bottom of my blindfold again. There's weak light here, flickering on the walls. What is this place? This is a huge deal, and no one has thought it is worth sharing it with me? It's irritating. No, it's more than that. It's infuriating.

The space we're in is a tunnel of earth. Every once in a while there are pillars of wood or steel that I assume go up into the ceiling for support. At first, I can only hear us. Our steps and our breathing. Our clothes rustling as we walk. But, the deeper in we go, the more sounds come trickling in. A steady thump, like something being hit. There are layers of other sounds I can't quite make out, but this I know for sure: things are being made, a plan is being carried out. And I’m not a part of it.

The ground has smoothed, packed down from being trampled on. Voices carry to us on the stale air. I tilt my ear in their direction. As I do, something catches my eye from the slit in my blindfold—a round doorway in the side of the tunnel with more flickering light. The voices get louder as we approach and smaller as we pass it. I want to know what's going on. We come to another tunnel, on the opposite side. This one is boarded and seems to be abandoned. The more we walk, the more of these doorways I'm able to make out. Voices come and go. New sounds enter and leave. Through it all, Dhevan says nothing. And neither does Raj. I can't help but think he's taking notes for whatever his true purpose is.

I lose track of how far we go, how many turns we take, and how many doors we pass, it's quiet and relatively dark for a while when Dhevan finally has us stop.

“Pay attention. We're going out the same way we came in—steep stairs and then a high lip and a low ceiling. Try to remember that.” He must really be loving his new role of power and information.

I reach out and find the wall on my left, to help orientate myself, and climb. Dhevan goes ahead of me and grabs the material of my duster when I near the top, pulling me out and onto the ground. I have no bearings and no visual, so it's a surreal feeling, not knowing when I'll hit the ground or how far I have to go to get there. Turns out, not very far at all. Only a few feet. I hit the ground with a huff, the air exiting my lungs. There's a thud next to me and Raj's familiar complaining whine.

“You could have at least warned me!”

“Quiet,” Dhevan snaps. “Keep your blinds on.” I hear him behind us, moving things around, presumably closing where we had just exited. “On your feet. We have a little ways to go yet.”

“We're not out of Neech yet?” Raj asks. I’m learning to keep my mouth shut and let him ask the questions I want the answers to. That way he irritates Dhevan’s and I steer clear.

Dhevan doesn't answer. I feel the tug on my arm as he starts to move forward. We aren't walking for long before we’re allowed to take off our blinds.

“Okay,” Dhevan says.

I pick at the knot behind my head and wad the cloth in my hand as I blink my eyes, getting used to the freedom. It's dark out, but that doesn't matter. I turn around, taking it all in.

“The Further,” Raj says, a slight whispery awe to his words.

“The Further,” I repeat.

Karis

The tears stop as suddenly as they start. I wipe my eyes and give one last sniff.

Ethan was wrong; it's not suicide to go back into Dahn, it's suicide to go back without a thorough, thought-out plan. And that's what I'm going to have. I'm going to plan and wait and take my time and if Akin comes for me before then, great. It may take days, or weeks, or even months for the perfect opportunity to come. But it will, and I’ll be ready.

I’ll get my brother back, destroy Akin, and leave the cities. We will take our chances out in the Further and be free of the Corporation's evil for good. We will find Ethan and Dhevan. Whatever dangers that lie beyond our walls, they’re safer than the dangers that lie outside our front doors.

                            Day four

Ethan

I can't see much, with the lack of light, but one thing is plain—we're no longer in Neech. I make a small circle, taking in the barren, empty land surrounding us. I can't see where the tunnel spit us out, which impresses me.

Out from the protection of the monitored and controlled Biodome, I can feel the difference. My skin can already feel the lack of moisture, tightening ever so slightly.

From out here, the cities are almost beautiful. In the center of it all is a tall, dark smudge that I know is Corporation Tower. Lights are scattered throughout its length and it doesn't surprise me that the very top floor—my father's office—is on. He was on watch when we escaped.

I never noticed until I was out here, but Dahn is on a hill. It rises ever so slightly above Neech, and it almost looks like it's sparkling, with the different lights shining throughout the city. Neech is completely dark, and it seems to swallow the light from Dahn.

The night is still around us, and I breathe a little easier, realizing that no one is after us, just yet. Our absence is unnoticed, for now. But not for long. Especially Dhevan's. Tomorrow is the day of rest, giving us a day’s head start before anyone will notice he’s gone. I wonder how far we can get.

“We should get going,” I say.

“Where to?” Dhevan asks.

“Any direction that leads away from the Corporation.” I look down at the ground. It's hard as rock, so footprints won't be an issue. “I want us to be well out of eyesight by the time the sun comes up.”

We walk without talking for or so. It’s Raj who breaks the silence. “So,” he takes a spot between Dhevan and me, “what was that you took us through?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, obviously it's some sort of big secret that even Ethan doesn't know about. I heard people working down there, too. Are you planning on some sort of attack against the Corporation?”

Leave it to Raj to ask just what I want to know.

“It was the only way out that would be undetected. That’s all you need to know about it.”

“Raj is right,” I say. “That was a good sized operation. One you've been keeping from me.”

“It wasn't my decision to make to tell you or not,” he says. As if it were something as small as deciding where to plant the carrots.

“I came to Neech and risked everything to help the people of the Outer City.” I can’t help but feel a little left out, and the panic that creates is clawing at my throat. I don’t want to be left behind.

“So you keep saying.”

“The point is, I think I have a right to know and to be a part of what's going on.”

“So you think.”

He is a man of little words, right now. I wish so much I could see in him what Karis does. I think deep down, there's a likeable guy in there. I just haven't met him yet.

“Is all of Neech going to escape through those tunnels one night, leaving Dahn to fend for itself?” Raj says.

“I'm not going to tell you anything, so you might as well shut it.” 

“As much as I'm enjoying this completely uninformative conversation,” I say, “we need to get moving, cover as much ground as we can before our supplies run out. We’ll only have a day’s head start over the Corporation and that isn’t much, when it comes down to it.”

Eta gave me what she could spare, while still having food and water for herself. Mostly, I have hard bread and dried oats to eat. A few meat pies, but I’ve never actually seen her put any actual meat in them. It's not much, but it’ll give me fuel. Eta also gave me some herbs; a few for cooking, but mostly for healing—pain, fever, swelling, stomach cramps—things like that, along with a few bandages and wraps and soap, and a little manual of sorts for common injuries and how to dress and treat them. I've never been gladder for her taking me under her wing as I am now. I have all the knowledge we will need if something should happen.

“Do you know where we're going?” Dhevan asks.

“When the Guards would go out, they would bring enough supplies for eight days,” Raj says.

“So that's either four days to whatever is out there and four days back, or eight days one way and they get new supplies there.”

“Whichever option it is, we don't have enough supplies for either. We're really going to have to ration things out.” I look at Dhevan's bag. It's easily twice as big as mine.

“What do you bring to the table?” Dhevan ask Raj.

“Direction.” he says. “We go west.”

I keep my mouth shut about my map, for now. It gives me an advantage, should it come down to that.

“For how long?”

“Until we get to where we're going.”

“And where is that?”

“We’ll know it when you see it.” He sounds indignant, pushing past us. We turn and walk with him.

“The Corporation sent you to us with a plan in mind, and you're telling us to go west, but you’re going there as blindly as we are?” Dhevan asks.

I grab the back Raj’s duster and stop him short. “You mean to tell me,” I say as I spin him around, “that you have no idea what you’re doing, where we’re going, or what we’ll find? The Corp sent you out here with us, and you didn’t ask any questions?” He’s going to get us killed.

“You know best, Ethan; when the Corporation wants you to do something, you don’t ask questions.” He shrugs my grip off his coat. “Just keep moving.”