Redeemer (6 page)

Her apartment offers a small amount of home, and I don't feel lonely as we make our way inside. It was a blessing to find her here, just like Isabel said.

A thought hits me and I realize Jamie wasn't my only friend here.

“Did you know Ava was here?” I ask.

Jamie begins to feed Easton and I sit cross legged on the floor. “Ava from school?”

“Yep. She was on the transporter that took me to the prison. I guess you never saw her here?”

“No, but I don't exactly get out much.”

Her words make sense, but I do wonder what Ava did to get herself demoted to this city. I don't want to think about Ava—or what I had to do to her—anymore, but I have more questions. “She was completely zoned out on pills. Do you know others like that here? Or did you ever know anyone who was taken on the transporters?”

“There's a section of the city that everyone warned me to stay out of.” Jamie's frown is full of confusion and worry. This is her home now, and I'm forcing her to think of all the bad parts of it. “I think they are mostly addicted to something, whether it's pills or something else. But no, I don't know anything about the people you said were taken away. Before I delivered Easton, I was so weak I couldn't leave my apartment at all. Isabel used to bring me anything I needed.”

Again I'm reminded of Isabel. “She helped me, too. She's very kind.”

“Yes. She's been here a long time from what I understand.”

“And she doesn't want to leave?”

Jamie shrugs. “Neither do I.”

I bite my lip and nod. I don't understand the reasons behind their decisions. Regardless, I have to accept it. They want to stay and build a life, but this isn't the life I want to live. I was called to do more, and there has to be some way to make it happen.

Determination fills me as I settle onto the couch cushions. The morning will bring my first opportunity when I'll make my way toward the city gates, and I will meet with the man called Randolph. Hopefully he's a little more willing to let me go.

I'm awake before the sun comes up, and I prepare for my walk with a flask of water.

“Be careful.” Jamie offers me the most meager amount of oatmeal imaginable.

I take it gratefully.

“It doesn't seem like anyone needs to be very careful about anything in this city.”

She shakes her head and settles into the seat across from me at her rickety table. “Maybe it does seem that way, but this Randolph man works at the guard station. There's no reason to ask for trouble.”

Funny how six months ago I was giving her the same type of speech, and she completely ignored my advice. I'm doing the same thing now.

We finish breakfast and I help clean up before giving her a hug and leaving what I hope is only my temporary home. The morning air is brisk when I step outside, but that doesn't stop the group gathered on the steps of the building outside.

“Good morning,” one of them says.

I smile and wave, hoping no one asks any questions, but I'm not that lucky.

“Where you off to so early?” A woman asks. “Did you get an assignment?” There's something in her voice. An almost jealous tone I don't like.

I force a laugh. “No. I wish I had, but no. I haven't been here long and I'm just going to look around while it's still cool.”

It's partly true.

Their faces seem to relax. “We can show you around any time.”

“Thanks. I think I'm OK for today.”

They let me walk away and I hurry along, not wanting to be stopped again.

I was right when I remembered the city gates—it's a long walk. Once I reach the outskirts of the city, fields stretch out for as far as I can see. A single road snakes through the fields, and I follow it toward the gates.

Blisters burn the sides of both little toes by the time my destination comes into view. Towers rise from either side, and mostly open fields surround every part of me, but to the left is a smaller building.
Mechanics
is written on the side.

No one notices me when I walk into the open warehouse. Men and women scurry throughout, some working on transport trucks and others carrying various machines in their hands, mostly the handheld HELP comps. One of those would come in handy right about now.

“You need something?” a man stops me. “You shouldn't be in here.” He frowns at me but isn't wearing a guard uniform, so I'm sure I'm not in trouble.

“I'm looking for someone named Randolph.”

The man's confused eyes clear. “Randolph's in the back. I'll take you to him.” He turns and walks away without stopping to make sure I follow.

I hurry to keep up with his long strides as we weave through the chaos inside the shop. A man sits along the back wall, hunched over a desk and deep in thought over a handheld comp. His salt and pepper hair is mostly salt, and deep wrinkles line every part of his skin.

“Randolph, you've got a visitor.” The man leaves without giving me another glance, and Randolph turns his dark eyes toward me.

“What do you want?” His words aren't demanding or even suspicious. It's a simple question.

My heart speeds up and I clasp my hands to keep them from shaking. I don't know this man. He could turn me in, or worse.

“Isabel sent me.” Her name brings a smile to everyone's face, doesn't it?

He doesn't blink. “OK. What is it you want?”

Great.

“She told me you could help a person who wanted to leave the city.” Nothing like the truth.

He nods once and stands. “That is true. What do you think you've got to run away to?”

I shouldn't have to explain myself to him, and I grit my teeth. “I don't belong here. I need to find my people.”

“That's what everyone in this city would say. You're going to have to convince me your cause is worth sticking my neck out over.”

It makes a lot of sense when he says it that way. I force myself to relax. “I know things. Secret things, told to me by Frost Moon himself. I also know people who can do something about those things, but I can't tell them if I'm holed up in this city.”

He givens another sharp nod. “Now that sounds worthwhile. Meet me back here two nights from now. Don't show your face until dark. I'll be here.”

It seems way too simple but I don't ask questions.

No one notices when I leave.

 

 

 

 

8

 

The walk back to Jamie's apartment feels much longer than the walk away from it. My one flask of water ran out hours ago, and my feet writhe with every step I take.

Jamie rushes out to the hallway when she hears me clamoring up the steps.

“Hana, I thought you'd been caught!” She grabs me and wraps me in a hug.

I don't have the strength to hug her back, so I wait until she lets go and move past her into the apartment.

“That is a long walk,” I choke out, falling onto the couch.

“What did they say?” Jamie asks. “I worried you wouldn't come back at all. I worried Randolph would tell you how to leave right away.”

“I would never do that to you.” Guilt slams into me when I see the truth on her face. Her eyes are puffy and red.

My strength rushes back to me and I hurry to her. Now it's my turn to wrap her in a hug. “I'm sorry I scared you. I promise not to leave without telling you. OK?”

She sniffs as more tears gather in her eyes. “OK.”

I tell her what Randolph told me, that I'll be meeting him in two nights. Jamie sits on the couch with me, biting her lip and staring toward the window. “What is it?” I finally ask.

She shakes her head and her gaze finds its way back to my face. “I only just got you back, and now I have to lose you again.”

My chest tightens, and I understand her feelings. I want her to come, and she wants me to stay. Neither one of us can get our way, and neither one of us can do anything about it.

“It'll be OK.”

The two days pass quickly. We spend most of the time talking about my ideas for a better life here in Lesser 4. I ask her about water for a garden, and her face lights up.

“I get extra water allowance because I have a baby,” she says. “I bet I could sustain a small garden in my apartment.”

“Where can we get seeds?” I ask.

She grins. “I know where a few wild plants grow.”

She's right. In a small field a few blocks behind her building, we find a miraculous patch of onions. They're small, but they will do. We carefully dig them up and transport them back to the apartment, and together we replant them.

“You have to follow my instructions.” Remembering her inability to grow things while we were in school makes me nervous this might not work.

She nods solemnly. At least she's taking it seriously.

The day of the meeting arrives. Jamie isn't happy with the thought of my walking a few hours toward the dark. Neither of us knows if I'll be coming back. We hug for several minutes, just in case. I manage to hold in any tears, even though Jamie doesn't.

Will Randolph's group leave tonight? Or is this more of a meeting?

I don't know, and my mind runs wild as I make my way back to the gates. It isn't easy. A person has no reason to walk this way as it nears dark, and in the open fields around the city I'm too easy to spot. I spend most of my time ducking and crawling every time I so much as think I hear a truck.

With Jamie here I'm not ready to leave, yet it's the one thing I want most. I'm not ready, though. Not prepared. I have no water or food, and no way to make fire. I don't know how to find edible plants or small animals. I'm not prepared to be out on my own. What was I thinking?

The panic isn't welcome and I consciously try to push it away, but as the sun sinks lower in the sky, it continues to rear up like the snake it is.

I top a hill and the mechanic shop comes into view. The sight brings a tiny bit of relief. I can do this.

It isn't quite dark yet so I can't go in, but I can't stand out in the open, either. Finally, I give in and sink into the tallest grass I can find.

Pain shoots up my legs. It rattles my teeth. The scream I let out erupts and rings into the open air.

I don't know how long the pain lasts. At some point I realize I'm shaking. Eventually someone grabs me and hauls me onto the road.

Three guards stare down at me—glare down at me.

“What are you doing out here?” one asks.

Think. Think. Think.

But I can't think. My mind is fried. The pain lingers, making it hard to see. Hear. Think.

“Got lost,” I finally choke out.

“All the way out here?” he asks. “You're going to have to do better than that.”

The other two guards chuckle and one says, “She just got fried. Give her a minute.”

Fried?

Somehow my mind goes back to my second day here, when Isabel told me to stay out of the tall grass. The third day, when a man got pushed into it. He screamed.

No wonder.

It must be the Greaters' way of keeping the Lessers from going anywhere they don't want them to go. How did I forget that?

“You guys go on back,” the first one says. “I can handle her.”

The others nod and head back to the guard tower.

The first guard jerks me to my feet and practically drags me toward the mechanics shop. My legs won't work properly but I manage to stay behind him without tripping too many times. He leads me directly to Randolph and shoves me forward. “You better give your people better advice. She's lucky she didn't get her head blown off.”

Randolph scowls at me as the guard stomps away, but I don't care about his scowl. I'm still too rattled by the electricity vibrating through my bones and the fact that the guard let me go. He must be on Randolph's side—whichever side that is.

“I told you to stay out of sight until dark.”

“I tried.” An involuntary shudder races up my spine, and I grind my teeth as I work to calm myself. “I hid in the grass, but apparently it's laced with electricity.”

“You ain't been here long, have you?” Randolph turns away from me, apparently not worried if someone sees me now. He continues working on whatever it was he was doing before I interrupted him.

“Less than a week.”

He shakes his head. “So eager to get out.”

I've already told him why I want to leave. I don't have to explain myself further. Besides, my throat burns and talking hurts it worse.

“The others will be here at dark. We'll discuss more then.” And with that he effectively dismisses me.

I find an out-of-the-way seat and try to fold into the scenery until the few people left in the shop pack up and leave. After a while, Randolph moves to the huge roll-down door of the shop and pulls it until only a few feet remain open at the bottom.

“You can come out now,” he says.

I'm not sure I really want to, but I do as he says. He said there would be others, so I won't be alone in my escape. As the minutes tick by, a question forms in my mind. I study Randolph, and when he glances my way I ask him. “Why do you stay and help others leave?”

He shrugs. “What reason do I have to leave? They give me food and a place to sleep. They turn the other way when I let others out—as long as I keep their machines running, they don't care. I've got a good life here.”

His words make sense, but still they bother me. “But don't you ever feel you could do more on the outside? Help the cause of those who want freedom for us all?”

“Not my fight.”

I don't understand his attitude. It's the same complacency Isabel and Jamie have. They don't mind staying. They don't want to join the fight.

Then another thought hits me. “Why do you help others get out?”

He shrugs. “Why not?”

Shaking my head, I go back to my seat until the others arrive.