Redeemer (4 page)

“Line's moving,” Isabel says.

We step forward and make it into the building. A sigh escapes me as I take in the long lines still in front of me. It doesn't seem as daunting today, not with the prospect of going back to Jamie when I'm finished. In fact, I'm almost excited.

After another hour of shuffling along, we reach the grass, and a woman in a guard uniform hands me a ticket.

I spin to Isabel. “Does this mean I get food?”

Isabel grins. “That's right. Even if they run out of tickets, you've got yours.” She leads me to a stack of old boxes and we find a place to sit until our numbers are called. Time passes slowly, but the people keep coming.

Tension seems to thicken with every breath I take, almost making it difficult to breathe. The people on the catwalks shift restlessly. “It's getting worse,” I whisper.

Isabel nods and opens her mouth to answer, but before she can speak a horn blows. The same voice from yesterday comes over the speakers and announces the allowances have run out.

Chaos erupts, making yesterday's shouts seem peaceful.

“Hide that ticket,” Isabel hisses.

I shove the thick piece of paper inside my pocket and back away as people from the catwalks invade the field. They try ripping tickets from people's hands, but the ticket holders fight back.

Blood squirts, bones crack, people shout.

Fear freezes me in place as I stare in horror. Is this really happening? It can't be happening. Violence wasn't allowed in Middle City 3. The worse I ever saw was a bully in school. After his third strike, he was taken.

Guards rush in from somewhere across the field. They Taser people who won't listen, and others take notice and file from the building. A group of three men break out of a huddle and charge the guards, but it doesn't faze the brown-clad group. A big, burly guard shoves one of the men, sending him stumbling in reverse. The man trips over a box in the field and flips backwards. He lands in the high grasses Isabel pulled me away from yesterday.

His scream pierces the air and even the guard winces.

I grip Isabel's arm. “What's happening?”

She frowns and shakes her head. “That's why I told you not to step in the high grasses.”

The guards finish clearing out everyone who can't produce a ticket—I can barely get mine from my pocket when they confront me, my hands shake so badly—and my number finally gets called.

“Arm,” the guard barks. I frown and she rolls her eyes. “I need to scan your arm.”

My gaze flies to the arm with my tracker. Do all Lessers have them? I scan my memories but Fischer always wore long sleeves. If he had a tracker in his arm I wouldn't know.

She huffs and I quickly hold out my arm. I have to provide my address and they promise a shipment will come this afternoon with the food. They warn I had better be home. I agree and am quickly herded outside.

“What happens if I'm not there?” I ask Isabel as we walk home.

“They move on to the next house.”

“But they didn't give me a time.”

“Doesn't matter, sugar. They'll leave it on your doorstep and go.” Isabel gives me a long look. “You need to quit acting like you're still a Middle. You were a Middle, right?”

Her shrewd eyes see right through me and I look away. “Why would you think otherwise?”

“You just got that air about you, sugar. But like I said, you can tell me your story whenever you're ready.”

I look away, and we're quiet for the rest of the walk. At my building, I thank her for her help and we split up. I haven't been here since yesterday morning, but home is no longer a welcome sight. A few people mingle on the porch steps. They stare as I pass, but I don't want to look at them. What if they were in the arena when the allowances ran out? What if I get food and they don't?

What if they attack me?

“New here?” someone calls out.

My eyes slide closed and my shoulders tense. Slowly, I turn and attempt a smile. “Got here the day before yesterday.”

“It ain't so bad, once you get used to it.” It's a woman who says it, though she's not the one who stopped me. Her skin is an awful gray color, and it sags around her eyes, but no aura of tension swirls around her. She's just a girl.

“Thank you,” I manage to say. But truthfully I don't want to get used to what I saw this morning. No one should have to get used to that.

I stand uncomfortably, not sure what else to say. “My name's Hana.”

The woman smiles. “Nice to meet you, Hana. I'm Harley, and this is Hype and Skylar.”

The threesome waves and smiles. They're older than me, but maybe not by much. How did they get here? Birth? Breaking the law?

“I'll see you around,” I manage to say, even though I'd rather not.

The starkness of my apartment makes me want to run screaming from the city. I cannot make this a home. I cannot.

My gaze roams to the bed in the other room. The bed calls me. Begs me to lie down and ignore my troubles.

I could do it. I could fall asleep again and forget everything. I'm stuck here until my food arrives, anyway.

But giving in to temptation would only bring me lower and I know it. I can beat this thing. I don't know how, but I can start trying today.

Moving to the windows, I look for somewhere suitable for planting. It's nearing autumn, even though it's still blazing hot outside. I'd probably have to grow plants inside, anyway. A dilapidated yard sits a half block away. Would anyone mind if I dug up some dirt?

My apartment doesn't have much, but I might be able to find a few containers suitable for filling up with dirt. Then, if I get any fruit or vegetables with my food delivery, I can use those seeds to plant.

I glance again at the deserted yard. The road is easy enough to see from there, so I shouldn't miss the food truck if it comes. I dart around the apartment, digging to find a container somewhere—anywhere—that would hold dirt. The cabinets below the counters are empty. The cabinets above the counter are empty. Which I already knew, and thankfully there are no more rats today. The closet in my bedroom is empty.

There is nothing. I have nothing.

Then another thought hits me. How much water allowance will I be given? It probably isn't even enough to keep a plant watered. Of course, it's worth the try.

My next best option is waiting for the food truck. Maybe something they bring me will be usable for filling with dirt.

Hours pass but I finally hear the rumbling of a vehicle outside my window. A truck pulls to the front of the building and two guards climb out. One carries a box toward the door, and the other guard moves to the back of the building.

A few moments later someone knocks, but when I open the door the guard is gone. The box lies on the broken, wooden floor. If I hadn't been home, someone could have taken my entire box! No wonder they warned me to be home.

I haul the small box inside and hurry back to the window. The second guard reappears from the back of the building. She carries a wrench or some other tool and climbs back into the truck just before it pulls away.

My stomach growls at the thought of going through my food. It sits on the counter, begging to be eaten, but it's such a dismally small amount. How will that ever last me a month? I begin picking through it and a frown pulls my cheeks down. Boxed food. Boxed food. Boxed food.

There isn't a single fresh item in sight.

Sadness seeps through me. It's not that I care this is what I'm going to be forced to eat. It's that Lessers have been forced to eat this for a century or more. A hundred years of unhealthy, mistreated people.

This is why I have always wanted to help them.

I have to help them, still.

My conversation with Supreme Moon on the day I was caught runs through my mind. He asked if I had any notions of helping the Lessers once I was here. He said he would make sure that couldn't happen.

He obviously knew what he was doing in sending me here, but I've never let him stop me before.

I slide the box into an empty cabinet and pull out a few dry crackers to keep my stomach from growling too loudly, then I test the faucet in the sink. A steady stream of brown water runs out, but after a moment the water clears. There are no glasses or bowls or silverware in my kitchen, so I stick my face under the faucet to get my drink, then I quickly shut the water off. I definitely don't want to waste it.

So this is my life. This is the way Supreme Moon expects I'll live out the rest of my time.

I pull my shoulders back and wipe the water from my chin. His expectations of me are totally wrong.

 

 

 

 

6

 

Jamie meets me in the hallway when I get to her apartment a half hour later. “I can't believe you're really here!”

The feeling is mutual.

I smile and follow her inside. “Where's Easton?”

“Sleeping.” I peek at him for a few minutes, still barely believing this tiny baby is Jamie's. She said he was born just two weeks ago. She said they sent her home from the meager clinic just a few hours after delivery.

We sit on the couch and I know I have to plunge right in to what I need to ask her. There's no reason to hold back the way I did in Middle City 3. “Jamie, do you meet with the Christians here?”

Her eyebrows rise. “What? No. I definitely don't have time for that.” A knowing look spreads across her face. “You're meeting with them?”

“I won't stand by and watch the people here starve. There has to be a way to make things better.”

Jamie grunts. “Yeah, by getting out.”

I freeze. “Getting out? Is there a way out?”

She shrugs and stands from the couch. Seeming suddenly restless, she paces the small room. “I'm not sure. I hear there is, but how would I really know?” When she turns back to me, tears shine in her eyes. “You're going to leave, aren't you?”

Her look of sorrow and betrayal almost breaks my heart. How can I be thinking of helping the people one second and ready to sneak out of the first hole in the fence the next moment? But the opportunity to leave is too much to pass up. My heart races with the possibility, but then I catch her sad face again.

I look to my lap. “I don't know. There might not even be a way out.”

She sighs and sits with a huff beside me. “You'll find a way out, now that you know it might be an option.”

She's right. I know it and she knows it.

“I'm going to find out. How could I not? But, you could get out with me, Jamie. They can't feed you enough here. I got my allowances and there wasn't a single fresh item in the box.”

She shakes her head and turns away from me. “I can't leave. How would I sneak a tiny baby out of the city? His crying would alert every guard in the area. Everyone would be caught.”

“Everyone?”

Jamie shifts on the couch, frowning. “Well, I hear they leave in groups, but I wouldn't know for sure.”

My mind can't comprehend what she's saying, what seems to be common knowledge. I scoot closer to her. “Do the guards know this happens?”

“I don't see how they couldn't know it, but I guess they don't care.” She shrugs and glances Easton's way.

I frown and sit back. This whole city is strange. Too laid back. There should be more guards, more security. It is a city of criminals, after all.

“I'm meeting with a group of Christians tomorrow. You could at least come to the meeting with me.”

Jamie's gaze peels away from me and lands on the window. She stares out at the city, biting her lip. “We could probably come to a meeting, just this once.”

That feeling of hope bubbles up inside me.

“Where will you go?” Jamie asks. “If you run away?”

The question stops me in my tracks. Where could I go? There is always Miriam and the Free, but that would mean finding them. I don't have any other options, though.

“Out west,” I say. “At least, I would start there. I would have to move fast, though.”

“If you could sneak out of this city, you could probably sneak back into another city. Maybe you could find Keegan.”

Her idea makes me so happy I throw myself at her and wrap her in a hug. “That is a great idea.”

Keegan's memory burns my heart and eyes at the same time. I haven't seen him in what feels like forever, but it's only been a month. His last words to me were in a letter, and they weren't even written by his own hand.

K said to tell you he believes.

The best news I'd had, ever. Keegan decided he believed in God. And now Jamie, too. Mr. Elders said something once, the night Keegan and I sneaked onto his boat. Something about God not letting people forget Him. Mr. Elders said God always leads people to Him, revealing the way to salvation.

God is good that way.

My mind spins back to Jamie's words. Can I get into Middle 1? It is worth a try. What would they do if they caught me? Whatever it is, it can't be worse than this.

“Will you think about coming?” I ask, even though I know the answer. She can't bring baby Easton with her. It would be too dangerous for him.

Jamie shakes her head, her eyes sad.

Possibly leaving my best friend behind when I've only just found her is excruciating. I take her hand. “It doesn't matter. There probably isn't a way out anyway.” And there's a huge chance my words are true. I'm making plans as if our speculations are fact.

But we both know it's not true. Deep in my heart I can feel there is a way out, and I'm going to find it. I could help the Lessers by staying, but I can help them more by going. By fixing things. Changing things.

Jamie's eyes begin to droop, and she sighs. “It's hard taking care of a baby.”

“You're tired. Go to bed.”

She nods. “I think I will.” She hugs me one last time before going to her room.