Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) (28 page)

“
Alessa?” she asked. “The
girl from your dreams? She’s real?”

“
Of course she’s real,”
Isaac maintained.

“
Well that’s a relief,”
Josephine replied. “I thought you mighta been, you know –” she
performed an exaggerated cuckoo sign, circling her finger at her
temple, her brown eyes impossibly wide, “– losing it.”

Isaac laughed heartily at Jo’s antics
– she’d been the one who first reminded him of Alessa, back on the
drama, when he’d apparently been saying her name in his sleep, long
before he remembered who Alessa was.

“
I wasn’t
losing it
,” he teased.
“I just forgot who she was for a bit.”

Josephine was indignant.
“Some boyfriend you are. I hope
my
future boyfriend treats me better than
that!”

“
Whoa there,” Albert
interjected. “We’ve got quite a few years before you start worrying
about a boyfriend, okay?”

Isaac and Martha laughed together. Al
just looked worried.

“
Wait, so tell me your
story,” Isaac requested, turning back to his stand-in parents. “How
did you all end up in Paragon?”

Albert cleared his throat. “The same
way as everyone else, I guess. We heard about the quarantine zone,
and we came.”

“
But how did you end up on
the dramas? Why would they take a little girl prisoner?”

“
Little girl – try baby.”
Martha shook her head. “We snuck her in. They tried to turn her
away, claiming she was sick.”

“
She was one at the time,”
Albert added. “Our baby girl.”

“
I knew there was nothing
wrong with her. And I was
not
about to let my only remaining child go,” Martha
added fiercely. “Not after what happened to John.”

“
We lost our son during
the war,” Al explained. “He never even met his sister.”

“
We snuck her in under a
coat. But we weren’t able to keep Jo hidden for long, once we got
inside,” Martha continued. “They took us captive, kept us in a cell
for the early part of Josephine’s life. It was no way for a child
to grow up.”

Albert picked up where she left off.
“When they started filming the dramas, we finally had an
opportunity to give Josephine some semblance of normalcy, so we
volunteered to act. We were terrible, though, and Jo was only a
child still, she wouldn’t cooperate. That’s when they stitched us
the first time. We did two or three dramas before the one with
you.”

“
So wait,” Isaac
interposed. “If you’re all actually a family, how did you manage to
accept me as your son on the show?”

“
Wishful thinking?” Martha
replied. “You’re about the same age as our Johnny would have been.
I guess if you want it badly enough, you’re willing to see what
they want you to see.”

“
And what about the name
of the estate – Mason Manor? Your last name isn’t Mason, is
it?”

“
No, it’s not,” Al
verified. “We just took it at face value that that’s what the place
was called – if you recall, our family history and our name never
really came up in conversation.”

“
That’s true,” Isaac
replied. “I guess that’s exactly what their selective perception is
designed to do – gloss over the details.” For him it had all fit so
perfectly, since his name really was Mason – he’d just assumed at
the time, of course, that his family carried the same name. It was
amazing how the producers had managed to obscure all these little
details to keep them trapped in their game.

“
So what happens now?”
Martha asked. “Are you staying with us for a while?”

Isaac smiled. “Well, Alessa’s waiting
for me, so I should get back to her. But I think Regina’s got a
plan to get us all out of here and down to the base we found. I’m
sure she’ll make the announcement tomorrow, I’m not really supposed
to say.”

His mother – faux-mother, he had to
keep reminding himself – patted his hand. “That’s okay,
dear.”

Just then there was a knock at the
door and Alicia came bursting through, her usually neat kinky hair
slightly disheveled. She looked harried, a light sheen of sweat
coating the smooth ebony skin of her forehead.

“
Oh, sorry – I saw the
light on. I hope I’m not interrupting.” She noticed Isaac. “Isaac.
I’d heard you were back. Welcome.”

“
Good to see you, too,
Ali–”

She cut him off before he could
finish. “Martha, can you come with me?” She looked grim.

“
Oh, no. Yes, right away.”
Martha jumped and grabbed her shoes, following Alicia out the
door.

Isaac stared after her,
puzzled.

“
Martha used to be a
nurse,” Albert offered by way of explanation. “She’s helping Alicia
with some medical… stuff.”

“
What kind of ‘stuff?’”
Isaac asked.

Albert looked warily towards
Josephine, but his frown released when he saw that Jo had fallen
back asleep, still sprawled across Isaac’s lap. He spoke softly not
to wake her. “I’m not supposed to say anything, but… have you ever
noticed that there are no other children in Paragon?”

Isaac had noticed, though he hadn’t
really thought much about it. “I thought the young were
particularly susceptible to the virus.”

“
They were. If any kids
besides Jo survived the outbreak, they didn’t make it to the gates.
Or, at least, didn’t make it
through
the gates. I think the
youngest person I saw here once we arrived must have been 14, maybe
15. Anyway, it’s not like there haven’t been births.”

That was true – Isaac thought he had
seen one or two pregnant women around Paragon here and
there.

“
But none of the
deliveries have been successful. That we know of,
anyway.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Listen. You can’t tell
anyone this. I’m not even supposed to know, and if Regina found out
Martha told me, she’d be livid. I mean that the babies keep… dying.
They come out healthy and strong, and within days, they’re sick.
The same symptoms as everyone else had. It’s – it’s
horrible.”

Isaac couldn’t imagine. He’d seen
firsthand what the virus did to an adult – he couldn’t imagine a
newborn child suffering the same fate. The thought was
sickening.

“
So Alicia’s been trying
to help. Some of the women who lost a child, once they joined the
rebels, they started getting suspicious. They were afraid that
Paragon had infected their babies with the virus on purpose, maybe
to control the population or something. So when they got pregnant a
second time, they stole away to Alicia for help instead of going to
the med center. But Alicia hasn’t been able to do any better. I
think this is the six or seventh failed birth she’s
attended.”

“
Can’t they put the babies
in a sterile neonatal unit or something, to keep them from getting
infected?”

“
Martha said that’s the
first thing they tried – the rebels stole a unit from the med
center, apparently they were trying the same thing there – but it
doesn’t seem to help. The mothers are healthy, but the babies are
all sick.”

“
What about Ma –” he
caught himself, “– Martha, and Alicia? What if they get
sick?”

“
They’re taking
precautions, don’t worry about them. Martha’s actually starting to
think we all might be somehow immune. But Regina said they can’t
get everyone’s hopes up until they know for sure – it would be too
dangerous, if they were wrong. Anyway,” he shook his head
dejectedly. “I’m more worried about the implications. I don’t know
what’s going to happen if we can’t help these mothers. I don’t
know… what will come next.” He looked at Jo with concern, clearly
contemplating what kind of bleak future she might have – that any
of them had – if they couldn’t create new life.

Isaac was still a ways off from being
ready to father a child of his own, but the thought of losing his
hypothetical baby only days after birth – to the ravages of the
virus, no less – sent chills down his spine. He couldn’t imagine
anything worse.

“
Alicia and Martha will
figure it out,” Isaac reassured Al, and himself. “They have
to.”

“
I hope you’re right,”
Albert concurred. “Anyway, that’s enough sorrow for one night. We
should be celebrating. It’s really a wonder to see your face again,
son.”

Al didn’t seem to notice the slip, so
Isaac didn’t say anything. It felt good to be someone’s son again,
even for pretend. “Yours too,” he smiled.

Al yawned. “Well, I guess we should
get back to bed.” He scooped Jo off Isaac’s lap and laid her gently
back on her own cot. “It sounds like you and Regina have an
exciting day planned for us tomorrow.”

30. LULL

The wheels were in motion. Regina had
initiated the exit plan, and each cog in the machine of the
resistance was diligently grinding away.

Scouts had been dispersed early that
morning, and slowly word had spread to each pocket of the rebellion
scattered across Paragon. By the end of the day, the order had been
given: if you want to be extricated, meet at the old train depot an
hour before dawn; bring only what you can carry; and do not speak a
word of this to anyone.

For their part, Isaac and Alessa had
been given a solitary day of rest to prepare them for the trials
ahead. Alessa was happy to fill Isaac in on Michael’s theories
about her new “empath” abilities, and to use the downtime to
finally meet Isaac’s family from the drama. She could see why he
was so enamored with little Jo – she reminded Alessa of a younger
Janie, just so full of life, nearly bursting at the seams with
personality.

Unfortunately, though, seeing Isaac
with his could-be family had only added yet another weight onto
Alessa’s shoulders. She knew she needed to get Isaac and Janie away
from the rebellion to protect them, and she knew that Isaac would
never agree, so she had planned to trick him into leaving. He would
be furious, but at least he would be alive.

But she hadn’t factored in the chance
that he might reunite with this family. Abandoning the resistance
was one thing; abandoning the closest thing he had to family, that
was another. Alessa wasn’t sure if Isaac would ever forgive her for
taking him away from them. But then again, at least he’d be alive
to hold that grudge. If she let him stay… there was no telling how
things might turn out.

Alessa had spent most of the day
trying to distract herself from the guilt by focusing every ounce
of her concentration on praying that her sister would – as Regina
suspected – be somewhere in the solitary wing of the prison. If she
couldn’t find Janie, she didn’t know what she would do. She
certainly couldn’t leave her behind, not again, not without knowing
if she was even safe.

The irony of her feelings was not lost
on her, either. Alessa knew what she was about to do to Isaac was
exactly what she refused to do to herself, to ask him to leave the
people he cared about most to save his own skin. Alessa would never
agree to do that to Janie, and Isaac, she knew, would never
willingly do it to Jo and her parents. That was why she wouldn’t
give him a choice, wouldn’t even let him suspect until it was too
late.

She felt like such a hypocrite. But
better to sacrifice her own honor than Isaac’s life,
right?

Alessa crawled into her stiff cot to
rest while she waited for Isaac to return. He’d gone to stop by
Martha and Albert’s room one last time, to make sure that they were
prepared for tomorrow’s escape.

The logistics of covertly moving 800
people to an off-limits part of the city were, as one might
imagine, a tad bit complicated. If a single person was caught in
the area by Paragon’s guards, it could raise suspicions and foil
the entire plan. Isaac was determined to make sure that Jo’s family
at least would be able to get to the rendezvous point
safely.

It helped that the depot itself was
underground in an abandoned section of the compound, and could be
reached through the sewer system. But that still meant that 800
people had to climb out of bed, sneak out of their efficiency
units, clamber through a manhole or drainage grate, and make their
way in the dark to an area they’ve never been to before, all
without making a sound. There were bound to be some
mishaps.

But then again, knowing Regina, that
was probably part of the plan. The ones who got caught would
provide a diversion for the rest of them. Regina was as ruthless as
she was pragmatic – Alessa couldn’t see her arguing against a small
sacrifice for the good of the whole. But Alessa herself didn’t feel
quite so good about that philosophy – it just didn’t seem fair. She
was glad she wasn’t the one in charge, that she didn’t have to be
responsible for making these decisions.

The door creaked open and
Isaac slid into the room, a grin plastered across his face. “That
Josephine,” he shook his head, still smiling to himself, “is really
something else. I don’t know how a kid who grew up like she did
could just be so
buoyant
.”

Alessa smiled in return, though inside
her heart was crushed by a python of guilt. “She’s remarkable,
Isaac. I can see why you care about her the way you do.”