Redeemer (15 page)

 

 

 

20

 

We head to the meeting spot at first light, and it's apparent immediately we aren't the first ones to arrive. A dozen teens and adults mingle in the small opening, some hiding behind trees and others standing in the open.

“Who are these people?” I whisper. We move quietly behind the trees, trying to keep from being seen just yet.

“They've come to hear what we have to say.” Fischer turns to me. “I think we should expect several more.”

Les shakes his head, not even attempting to hide his disgust. “This will draw too much attention. It was a bad idea from the start.” No one responds to his hateful words.

Over the next hour, ten more people arrive. Together, Keegan, Fischer, and I, along with Guard Rok and his men, approach the group. The group watches us with suspicious but hopeful eyes, no one speaks or moves.

“You've all come to hear about God?” Fischer asks.

A few of them glance at each other and one boy steps forward. “We came to hear about the rebellion.”

Fischer shakes his head. He stands with pride and assurance—a quiet assurance, the one I saw in him when we first met. Whatever issues he was dealing with when I found him have been worked out.

“Without God there is no rebellion. We don't seek to fight and win against the Greaters. We only seek to tell the truth about our origins and our future. If you are willing to hear us out and help us with this mission, you'll find the answers you seek for the other issues.”

The boy melts back into the group and a rumble of voices moves through them. Finally, a man—as old as Dad, if not older—steps forward boldly. “There is no God.”

“You're wrong,” Fischer says. “There is a God, and He knows you.”

The man's uncertainty and distrust play across his face. The uncertainty and distrust are feelings I remember well. But I also remember other feelings. Feelings that Fischer was getting me to a certain end, and if he wanted to tell me about God then I would listen because I trusted him.

That act—trusting—led me to find God. These people need the same knowledge.

Fischer begins explaining God's creation of the world, and how it came to be that His existence was lost on humanity. He tells them about salvation through Jesus Christ's death on a cross, and he urges them to accept the gift of eternal life God offers.

As he speaks, more people join the group and others leave, uninterested in learning about a presumed God or anything besides fighting the Greaters.

Tears burn at the back of my throat as Fischer's words wash over me. Words of God's love when so many others have rejected me—Dad, Frost Moon, Lilith. But not Mom. Mom loved me until the very end, and she never wanted anything for me but the best.

Glancing at Isabel, I remember her words from several days ago. She claims to have known Mom.

Can it be true? I don't see how it could be, but she seemed so sure. And so sorry about it.

Maybe I'll get her alone sometime in the next few days to talk about what she knows and why she believes what she does.

Fischer finishes his speech and many of those in the group claim to believe his words, even though others say they don't believe any of it. The ones who believe pledge to help spread the message, and even while many of them go in small groups back to the city, some refuse to return. Instead, they follow us back to the skyscraper.

“I counted forty-eight at the group's highest attendance,” Guard Rok says as we pace ourselves back up to the eighteenth floor. “And they said there were many more who were too afraid to sneak out.”

“And what about you?” Fischer asks the question I had in mind last night. “Do you believe the message I gave them?”

Guard Rok considers his words and finally nods. “Yes, I think I believe it. I had heard the stories you told once before. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now I believe it.”

“It's amazing so many believed so easily,” I say. “It took me weeks.”

“Your circumstances were different,” Fischer says. “Your world was different.”

This is true, but Keegan took even long than I did. I turn to him as we climb. “Why didn't you go back to the city?”

“What's there to go back to?”

I want to say Lilith, but I can't bring myself to ask him about her so I say nothing.

Once we're on our floor, I scan the crowd and take in the newcomers. This morning we left as eight, and this afternoon we returned as twenty-one. And there are more? We may have an honest chance at making a difference.

“Fischer.” I weave through the group and reach him at the far wall, near the windows. “How are we going to feed these people? We have nothing.”

He takes a deep breath and looks back to the city. “I wondered the same thing. We're going to have to go after supplies.”

“They've been storing supplies at the dome,” a girl says. She's younger than me, probably not old enough to test. She steps forward and glances between Fischer and me. “I've seen the trucks going back and forth, dropping off the boxes of food and other items.”

I look to Fischer and he nods. “That sounds like exactly what we need.”

Keegan steps close to us and lowers his voice. “I can get in and out of that dome. I've done training inside and still have my badge. We can do it with no problems.”

“What is the dome?” The only dome I've ever seen was the training dome in Greater City.

“It's an entertainment facility. They put on concerts there, or play sports on the ground floor. I've even heard of them hosting dinners inside for the Greaters when they visit.”

Keegan's words from his letter all those months ago play through my head—there are Greaters all over the place.

“So it's a place for the Greaters to enjoy themselves when they're in town, and now they're stocking it full?” I ask. “What does that tell you?”

“The Greaters are coming to Middle City 1.” Keegan shakes his head. “I don't know why I didn't realize this before.”

It's hard to make my brain believe what he says, but I know he's right. “If the mother country attacks, they'll go after Greater City first. Frost Moon is planning an evacuation.”

Fischer watches me with sad eyes. “If the dome is full of supplies, it's exactly the place we need to be. We can take as much as we can carry, then get out.”

He doesn't seem to like what he's suggesting any more than I like hearing it.

But Keegan doesn't have any reservations about it. “We can put a team together and go in as soon as possible. I'll start rooting through these people and weed out those who should stay behind.” He moves eagerly through the crowd, not a shadow of doubt in the set of his broad shoulders.

Turning back to Fischer, I brace myself. “Where is this leading?”

“A fight. Whether it's with the Greaters or this mother country Frost Moon mentioned, we're going to have to fight at some point. The best course of action is getting as many people on our side as we can.”

He's right. I know he is. But the thought of war is so foreign, so terrifying, I shudder.

Keegan emerges from the sea of people quickly, his face lit up with excitement. “There are a few people who are perfect for this job. Come on, I'll introduce you to them.”

I glance at Fischer one last time. He grimaces, but we follow Keegan into the fray.

 

 

 

 

21

 

Two teens, both younger than me, stand near the stairs. One is a boy with shaggy brown hair and the other is a girl. Her long hair reminds me of Jamie's, and my heart hurts for a beat. Where is Jamie now? Is she OK? Have they punished her because I left?

I shake the feelings off. They don't even know I was staying with Jamie. Jamie is fine. Jamie will make it.

“This is Tye and Libee.” Keegan nods at us. “Hana and Fischer.”

He stumbles over Fischer's name, but I pretend not to notice. “It's nice to meet you. You've been inside the dome?”

Libee glances at Tye before turning back to me. “My dad runs it. I know how to get in and out without being noticed. I can get you in, too.”

This is perfect. I smile at her. “That sounds wonderful. Does anyone know you're gone from the city?”

“No way,” she says.

Cutting school is breaking the law. They threatened us with demotion back in Middle City 3. However they are getting out of school now is a mystery, but it's not my problem.

I keep the thoughts to myself as we discuss a plan to get back inside the city and into the dome. Keegan perks up at the mention of guns being kept inside. I glance at Fischer.

He frowns throughout the conversation, but he never speaks up to disagree.

Guns make me nervous. I've almost never seen them, except on the guards at the prison outside of Greater City. That isn't exactly a happy memory, so seeing more of them isn't at the top of my list.

Still, I know Guard Rok is right. War is coming, and we're going to have to fight.

I shudder and Keegan glances at me. His eyebrows rise and I know he's silently asking if I'm OK. I attempt a smile, but it comes off wrong.

The planning ends and I slip away. How can any of this be happening? A few months ago I was a normal person in society. I planned to take my Test and pass with flying colors. I planned to help the Lessers. I planned. I planned. I planned.

It's almost like none of that planning mattered, ever.

The room is too full—full of old office furniture, rebels, bad feelings and excitement over things that shouldn't be exciting. Except Fischer. He has a reason to be excited, since he's finally getting to share his beliefs on a large scale.

This is something positive. Something I can focus on in spite of the overwhelming feelings running through me.

Keegan finds me at the back corner of the room. At first he pauses, but then his hands are on my shoulders, gripping me gently as he leans close to my face. “Are you OK?”

I swallow and nod, not meeting his eyes.

“Really? Because you look kind of upset. I'd go so far as to say panicked.”

My gaze finds his and I manage a real smile this time. “Maybe a little panicked.”

“Things are going to be fine. Better than fine. This dome thing is going to go off perfectly.”

I want to believe him. “The plan sounds simple enough.”

Libee told us about every entrance into the dome on the lower level, but she also said there are entrances on the second floor, if you can find a way up. Stairs come out of the wall if you know how to find them, and she does.

The plan is to get in at the second floor level, where the guards won't be patrolling. She's going to draw a map so even if we get separated each of us can still find the different storage locations.

We go in three days' time.

Keegan steps closer and his grip on my shoulders tightens. “It is going to be fine.”

I nod because I can't speak. His body is so close to mine, and I shouldn't want to close the distance between us. Fischer still speaks quietly with Tye and Libee across the huge room.

Fischer or Keegan? Keegan or Fischer?

I can't think about getting close with either one when I can't decide who I want to be with.

Keegan follows my gaze and his face falls when he realizes I was looking at Fischer. He steps away, but his face looks more disappointed than angry.

Heat creeps up my cheeks as Keegan blends back into the small crowd, and suddenly I can't get away fast enough. I find a door leading to a stairwell at the back of the room. Buildings in the Early Days always had two exits—they say it was for fire safety, but I don't care what they were for as long as I can get out.

I trudge up a flight to the next floor and heave my way into another large, abandoned office space. This one is just as dusty and dirty, just as neglected. Windows line the front wall, but the glass was busted out long ago.

Making my way to the open edge, I gaze out at the gray and cloudy day. I get a good view of the world outside this building. The land stretches on for miles and miles. No one knows what is out there. No one knows where the mother country is, or when it will come.

They might be just over the farthest hills in the distance. Or maybe there are people past the hills. People who are not regulated by the Greaters.

So many people we were never told about, people who may need help or may be able to offer help to us. And yet, we've been kept from them all these generations.

An odd emotion fills me as I scan the area. An emotion that says I'm glad to be a part of the effort to bring us all together. To be a part of the group offering them deliverance from their suffering.

A fat raindrop hits the open windowsill and splatters on my hands. Another drop falls, and another, until the sky is filled with sheets of water.

It is standing here, soaking wet, that I finally recognize my feelings. It's almost like I'm being called. Singled out to do something important.

The thought of fighting makes me cringe. Facing an unknown enemy, or even a known enemy in Frost Moon, makes me want to cower.

But I would face those and more for the feeling surging through me in this moment. The ability to matter. The choice to do something great. To make a difference.

I let the rain wash my fears and doubts away, and I whisper one silent prayer for God to be with us. Finally, I return to the eighteenth floor. No one has noticed I'm gone. I'm not sure why but it surprises me. Laughing at myself and my own self-absorption, I move through the people and find Fischer.

“Do you think we should practice sneaking in and out?” It was an idea that came to me on my jog down the stairs.

“What, you haven't had enough practice yet?” He grins and I smile back.

“True, but I think practice would be good for us all. See how fast we can get around a large area, and how hard it will be to stay together.”