Sunset Rising (13 page)

“I appreciate it,” Jack said.
He held out his hand and they shook.

Bron looked pleased beyond words.
I had no idea what was going on between them, so I said nothing.

Bron opened the door
, and we walked out. I had walked these halls since the day I was able to take my first step. This was my home. When I was up in the Dome it felt like it had been an eternity since I had been here, but now it was like I had never left.

Luckily, we didn’t pass
any other guards on the way. My home was an exact replica of all the other homes down here: square box houses made from replicated wood and all attached to each other in a long row, backing onto the stone wall. Each box had a narrow door that led into a two-room apartment. I opened the door and turned on the light. My father was probably still in bed, right where I left him.

“Stay here,” I told Jack.

My father lay under the thin blanket with his back to the door. I went in and sat down beside him on the bed. I placed my hand on his back, feeling for his heartbeat. It had been almost three days since I’d seen him, and he hadn’t eaten that last day either. Four days.

“Dad?” I said softly.
No answer. “Dad.
Dad
.” I was starting to panic, but then he stirred slightly. “Dad, it’s me, Sunny. I’m back.”

“Sunny?”
He rolled over to look at me. I was shocked by how pale he was. “Is that you? Where have you been?”

“Y
ou scared me. I thought you were… Have you eaten since the last time I saw you?”

“I’m not hungry.
I missed you, though. I wondered if you were coming back or if you had run off and married Reyes.”

Obviously my father had not been out of bed
that day or he would know that I did indeed get married, but not to Reyes. Jack came into the room with a glass of water. I was annoyed that he didn’t stay out in the living room as I’d asked but thankful he brought the water.

“I wouldn’t run off and leave you
, Dad. I love you too much.” I took the glass of water from Jack and put it to my father’s lips. He drank.

“Who is this young
man?”

“I’m Jack Kenner,
sir. I’m pleased to meet you.” Jack bent down and extended his hand. My father took it and gave it a weak shake. I watched Jack for a moment, surprised and confused by the respect he was showing.

“I’ve never met you before.
Why are you here with my daughter?”

“I’ll let your daughter explain that,
sir. Sunny, I’ll be out in the living room. Bron’s gone to get some food.”

“Sunny?”
my father asked when we were alone again.

“Well… I guess maybe
I did run off and get married, although I didn’t mean to. It’s complicated. Jack Kenner was supposed to marry the president’s daughter today, but instead he and I got married. It was kind of an accident.”

How could I explain all this to him without telling him I had been forced into
going to Jack’s bachelor party? I didn’t want him to think badly of me.

“An accident?
You got married by accident? To a bourge?” My father was smiling now, almost laughing. It had been a long time since I’d seen him look happy.

“It’s not funny
, Dad!” But I couldn’t help but laugh, too. It all sounded so ridiculous. “Don’t ask me how I got involved in this, but I met the president’s daughter, Leisel, and she convinced me to take her place at her wedding today.” I decided to leave out the part where Leisel thought she might be assassinated, so I played the role of decoy for her. “We were supposed to change places before the bride and groom were registered, but she didn’t show up. So I had to scan in myself and, well, the scanner worked. It shouldn’t have. It should only have worked for Leisel, but she betrayed us. Jack and I are in a lot of trouble.”

“So President Holt didn’t know it wasn’t h
is daughter getting married?” He was still laughing.

“Not until Jack’s mother ripped o
ff my veil and wig.”

My father was laughing so hard he started to cough.
I realized laughing was using up what little energy he had left.

“I bet you caused quite a ruckus up
there. The president must be red-in-the-face, spitting mad.”

“He is.
Spit was flying everywhere. I’ve never seen him that mad.”

No one in the Pit liked the p
resident. He was known for his rages. Whenever something went wrong in the Pit, or we didn’t produce enough coal or diamonds, he would televise a lecture, and we would be forced to go into the common rooms and watch him. When we were all stuck there like that, what else could we do but make fun of him?

“Oh my daughter, you make me proud.
But now you’re in a lot of trouble. How much trouble?”

“How much trouble do you think an urchin would be in for humiliating the
president’s daughter and marrying her fiancé?” I tried to sound lighthearted. But our moment of humor was gone, and the reality of my situation hung in the air.

A tear trickled from the corner of my father’s eye.
“Are they going to make it a public execution?”

My breath caught on a sob.
Was this our goodbye? “The only reason I’m here with you right now is that I escaped. I don’t know if they’ve discovered we’re gone yet or not, but when they do, they’ll come looking for us. I don’t intend to go back into the Dome alive. I won’t give them the satisfaction of a public execution.”

My father sat up and looked me in the eyes.
“Then you
stay hidden
. Do you hear me? You don’t let them find you.”

“I’ll do my best
, Dad. Jack and I have new identities, so maybe we can live down here for a while.”

“You do everything you can to stay alive
, Sunny. Get more coal and cover up that hair of yours. Stay out of sight.”

The front door of the apartment opened
, and the smell of the food Bron had brought wafted through. She came into the bedroom and handed me the container.

“I promise to stay
alive if you promise,” I said to Dad. “Eat this.” I opened the container of stew and started spooning it into his mouth. I could tell it was making him feel sick, but he swallowed it. I managed to get a few more mouthfuls into him before he collapsed back on the bed. I put the glass of water to his lips, and he drank.

“You’re running out of time
, Sunny. I need to get you upstairs,” Bron said quietly.

“Can’t I stay here with him?
I don’t want to leave him like this.”

“I’ll be fine
, Sunny,” Dad said. “I promise I’ll eat and drink. You try and come to see me tomorrow.”

“I’ll check in on him,” Bron
said. “Right now, we have to go.”

I kissed my father good
bye and went back out into the living room. I took the coal I always kept in my cupboard and put it in my pocket. Jack gave me a questioning look but didn’t say anything.

“The place is filling up with guards now
, so I want the two of you to march in front of me. It will look like I caught you out during curfew,” Bron said.

“Let’s go
.” It pained me to leave my father, but I risked everyone’s safety if I stayed. If I were discovered here, my father would be in trouble for hiding a criminal. And if I sent Jack on to the apartment that Benjamin and Autumn were supposed to share and Autumn was absent during the check-in, then he would be questioned about my whereabouts, which would probably blow our cover. I had no choice but to go. I silently cursed Jack for giving me an identity that prevented me from looking after my father.

We marched toward the stairs, Bron behind us with her gun.
We only had two levels to climb, so it would be a short walk. As we started up, two guards coming down stopped us.

“A couple of troublemakers
?” one of them asked.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Bron
said. She motioned for us to keep moving.

“Why are you even bothering to take them upstairs?
Just shoot them,” the other guard said.

“That’s against regulations
.” She prodded us with the barrel of her gun. “Keep moving.”

“Since when do we worry about re
gulations down here?” The guard laughed and the other joined in. “Listen, if you want to get your exercise climbing up and down those stairs, be my guest. But I see anyone out, I’m shootin’ them.”

We made it to the fourth level
then without further incident. Once we located our new apartment, I nervously passed my hand over the scanner. I was relieved when I heard the door unlock. My new chip worked.

“I have to go back down, so you’re on your ow
n. I’ll keep an eye on your father,” Bron said.

“Thank you for everything
.” I wanted to give her another hug to show how much I appreciated her help, but if a guard came around the corner and saw it, we would both be in a lot of trouble.

“Thanks,” Jack
said.

“It’s been a real privilege
, sir. I’ll help out any way I can.” She left to go back to the sixth level.

We went in and checked out our new home.
The place looked tidy. I wondered about the previous occupants and where they might be now. Culled? Shot during the riot? How long had it been empty?

“Why was Bron acting that way with you?” I asked.

“I told you Liberty has supporters
, and I guess she’s one of them. Why did you take the coal?”

“My hair.”
I took off my cap and threw it on the table. My hair was still in the tight bun I’d worn under Leisel’s wig. I took out the elastic and shook it loose. It felt good. I picked up the coal and rubbed it against a lock of hair. “See? No more red. You should use it too. No one has light hair down here.”

I finished rubbing
the coal through my hair and handed it to him. He took it, looking at it dubiously. Then he took off his cap and started rubbing his head with it.

“Not
like that. You’re making a mess.” I sat him in the chair and rubbed the coal just against his short strands, staying away from his scalp. “There.” Dark hair didn’t suit him at all, but I decided to keep that to myself.

I walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet
, hoping the previous occupants hadn’t used up all their water rations. The water flowed. I took a glass down from the cupboard and filled it.

“There won’t be any food in here, but we have water,” I said.
I had almost drained the glass when there was a knock at the door.

“Is that the guard for the ch
eck-in?”

I nodded,
went to the door, and opened it. A guard stood there with a scanner. We waved our hands over the scanner and received green lights. I realized too late that we didn’t have our hats on, but at least we’d covered our hair with coal. The guard moved on to the next apartment.

“How can your father
do the check-in if he can’t get out of bed?” Jack’s voice held a note of concern.

“Bron’s been the guard in
that section for as long as I can remember. She’s probably checking him in.”

“He
looks really sick,” Jack said softly.

“He is
.” He was sick with grief over the death of my mother; sick with despair knowing his own death was only months away. I should be with him, but I was trapped. “And thanks to you, he’s on his own.”

Jack held up both his hands as if to ward off a blow.
“I didn’t know.”

“I told you!
Before your wedding, I told you my dad was sick and I had to look after him. But you didn’t listen because you didn’t care.”

“I’m sorry.”

I saw the sincerity on his face, but the sentiment had come too late. My father was alone because Jack didn’t want to be left on his own down here. I blamed him for my predicament.

“I need sleep.”
Without another word, I escaped into the bedroom and closed the door. I didn’t care where he slept or even if he stayed. I just crawled onto the thin mattress and tried to blot out the last three days of my life.

I felt so hopeless.

It wasn’t the sound of the
bong bongs
going off that startled me awake but the reaction of the person in the next room. I sat up, eyes wide open.

“What the hell is
that
?” Jack asked, as he raced into the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Aren’t there any windows in here? What’s going on out there?”

“Relax.
It’s just the morning call to work. The lockdown must be over. That’s why no one came to check us in again during the night.”

“Morning call to work?”
He looked confused.

“Happens every morning down here in the Pit.
We have about fifteen minutes to get to the common room for breakfast. Exactly one hour from now, we need to scan in at our place of work. And we can’t be late or we’ll lose our jobs, and Benjamin and Autumn will be homeless and no better off than Jack and Sunny.”

I got out of bed.
I realized I still had the bulletproof vest on, and it was beginning to feel like a dead weight. “I have to take this thing off.”

“Leave it on if you can stand it.
It makes you look heavier—less like Sunny.”

He was probably right.
Plus the added protection against bullets might come in handy if I was caught.

We went out into the
living room. Jack donned his hat and threw mine at me. Hats weren’t very popular in the Pit, but there were a few people who wore them, so we shouldn’t look too out of place.

I decided to go to the sixth
-floor common room for breakfast. There was already a lot of traffic on the stairs—early risers hoping to be first in line for breakfast. Technically we were supposed to stay on our own level for meals, but the guards never bothered to enforce that rule. Mealtimes were about the only time throughout the day when we could socialize, and the guards didn’t mind, as long as we went about it peacefully.

We reached the sixth level
, and I turned toward my home to get my dad to come to breakfast. I was hoping I could get him out of bed quickly, because I didn’t want to miss out on the food. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I last ate and it appeared that I would have to go and work a full day in the laundry room. As I rounded the corner in the hall, I could see Bron standing not far from my father’s apartment. She looked startled to see me and silently shook her head
.

“Stop,” Jack said, grabbing my arm to prevent me from going any further.
“Something’s wrong.”

I gave B
ron a questioning look, and she mouthed the word “guards.” I didn’t know if she meant someone was at my father’s house right now or if they had been there. I wondered if my father was okay, or if the guards were there to kick him out of the apartment now that I was no longer there to support him.

“Turn around,” Jack
said. “Take us to the common room. There’ll be a bigger crowd there to get lost in.”

Since I had no
choice, I did as he asked. I had to trust that Bron wouldn’t let anything happen to my father. At least I’d been able to get food and water into him the night before.

There was a long line
of people already waiting for the common room to open its door. Meals weren’t served during a lockdown, so everyone was starving. I scanned the faces of the people in line hoping to see Summer or Reyes. I saw a lot of familiar faces, but not those two. I hoped no one would recognize me.

The doors to
the common room opened, and everyone began to shuffle in to get their breakfast ration. Jack and I shuffled along with everyone else, keeping our heads down. When our turn came to enter the room, I saw the big television screen was lit up with the presidential seal, which could only mean that there was going to be an announcement. People were groaning at the sight, not wanting to sit through another lecture. So much of our day was spent working that meals were considered a special time to spend with friends and loved ones. No one liked being interrupted by President Holt.

“Again?”
someone behind me complained loudly when he entered the room. “Does the president think we need more reminding of how lucky we are?”

“Yeah, we were all real lucky yesterday
,” someone else chimed in.

“
Don’t start another riot!” a third person said, his voice booming as he stepped out of line ahead of us. It was Reyes, his glare directed at the two in the back making all the complaints made even more impressive by his tall, muscular frame and crop of curly dark hair.

Even though I had been searching the crowd for hi
m, his appearance was still a shock. All I could do was stand there and stare at him. Now that he was in front of me, what could I say to him? How could I explain everything that had happened? He scanned the line to see if anyone wanted to challenge him, and his eyes came to rest on me. I could tell by his shocked expression that he recognized me right away. I was afraid he might give me away, so I looked past him at the guard standing at the back of the room. His gaze followed mine, and he nodded in understanding. He made a slight motion with his head in the direction of the tables. He wanted me to join him.

“What are you doing
, Autumn?” Jack asked when he noticed my exchange with Reyes.

“He’s a friend.
I need to talk to him.”

“It’s risky.”

“Remember the only reason I came was to say goodbye to the people I love, and that’s what I’m doing.” There was no way I was going to let him cheat me out of saying goodbye.

“You’re right.
I lost sight of our goal here. So is that your boyfriend? The guy your father thought you ran off and married?”

“Does it matter?”
I snapped. Reyes was none of his business.

“Ye
ah, it matters. Look at the size of that guy, and I just married his girlfriend!”

I studied Jack’s expression for a moment to see if he was joking.
I had seen him fight and knew Reyes wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

I
t was our turn to get breakfast, and we were each handed a sealed container with a spoon and a glass of water. I saw Reyes sitting with his friends, Raine and Mica, and for a second, I hesitated. I trusted Reyes, but not always his friends. Would one of them shout out my identity? I didn’t want to get caught so soon. My dad was probably in danger, and I hadn’t seen Summer yet.

Seeing me hesitate,
Reyes motioned for me to join him again. He probably already told everyone we were here anyway. I went to sit with him, and Jack mutely followed behind me.

“This is Benjamin and
I’m Autumn,” I said in a firm voice. I couldn’t believe those were the first words out of my mouth, but I was afraid Reyes or someone else would use our real names.

I took the empty chair beside Reyes and Jack sat across from us.
Reyes gave him a murderous glare before he turned his chair to face me. He put his head close to mine and talked in a low voice.

“What happened?”
His voice cracked with emotion. “I waited and waited for you to come back from that bachelor party and you never did. The next thing I know you’re on television in a wedding dress marrying that… bourge!”

“It was all a mistake
.” I didn’t know where to begin. “I know what it looked like on television, but that’s not the way it happened. Leisel lied to everyone.”

“If you’re not in love with him, then why did you
bring him here?”

“
He helped me escape. I owe him.” I hadn’t quite realized it until then, but strangely I did feel responsible for Jack. I knew I shouldn’t. It was partly his fault that I was in this predicament. I glanced over at Jack. He was busy taking the lid off his container and sniffing the contents. His nose crinkled in distaste, but he tried it anyway. Then he put the bowl down and replaced the lid.

Raine and Mica were staring at him too, not sure what to say or how to treat him. We didn’t
tend to get a lot of bourge down here dining with us, particularly famous ones.

“What the hell happened
, Sunny? Do you know what it did to me to see you up there on the screen with
him
? The president’s daughter saying he jilted her because the two of you are in love? When the guards dragged you off, I thought they killed you.”

The pain I had caused
Reyes was clearly written on his face and a stab of guilt went through me. “I think the president wanted to kill me, but he couldn’t because we were being televised. Then the guards came and took him to safety because of the riot down here.” I was babbling, not answering his question.

“
Why did you do it?
” He grabbed me by both my arms. His fingers bit into my flesh, and I winced.

“Because the p
resident’s daughter conned me into it!” At my answer he finally released me. Even though I was used to Reyes being rough with me, I rubbed my arms to assess the damage. It wasn’t bad. “Have you seen Summer? Did she tell you anything?”

“Summer told me about the p
resident’s daughter and how she invited you to his place, but then you never came back. I went nuts trying to find out what happened to you, and then I saw you on television marrying him.” Reyes narrowed his eyes, casting an accusatory glare at Jack. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or sad, so I didn’t know what to say or how to make it right. “What the president’s daughter said—about you and him falling in love and trying to get rid of her—made sense at that moment. What other reason could there be?”

“Leisel manipulated me into taking her place at the wedding.
She caught Summer stealing food after the bachelor party and threatened to tell the authorities. She also gave me a story about an assassination plot planned against her for her wedding day and wanted me to take her place wearing a bulletproof vest. She convinced me that when she and Jack took control of the president’s office, things in the Pit would get better. So I played the decoy bride. I did it to save Summer. I did it because I believed her when she said she wanted to make things better down here. But in the end, she used us. The whole thing was a plan to convince her father to let her succeed him as president.”

“So you’re not in love with him?”

I shook my head, sorry to be the cause of so much heartache.

His pained express
ion transformed into one of anger. “If you had just let me protect you in the first place, none of this would have happened. But you’re always so worried about protecting everybody else!”

I pulled my chair away from his, putting a little distance between us.
Reyes had a habit of being hurtful when he was angry. Not that I didn’t deserve his anger, but having a conversation with him right then would be pointless.
I turned to Raine and Mica. “So what happened here? Why was there a riot?”

“Everyone’s bloody fed up with the bourge, that’s why,” Reyes
said, staring at Jack. Jack glared back at him.

“He’s not wrong
,” Mica said. “People started lining up for the so-called feast the night before the wedding. The guards didn’t care because no one was making trouble and the night had kind of a festive feel to it. After waiting all night, you know what the feast turned out to be? Bread. They gave us bread with our stew. Do you believe that?” Mica was clearly getting upset, which made me nervous. I didn’t want him to draw attention to our table. “So they’re showing us the wedding on the screen and the well-dressed guests taking their seats, but all we can see are tables heaped with food
everywhere
!” Mica shot Jack a look of disgust. “Did they actually think we wanted to see your stinkin’ wedding? We only came for the food!”

“Mica
, keep it down,” Reyes said. The guards in the room remained oblivious to us. “You’ll start another riot, and yesterday’s was bad enough. Three people were killed, including a little kid. We don’t need to start killing each other too—there are enough bourge doing that for us.”

“
He’s just saying what we all felt,” Raine said. “Everyone was just so…
angry
! So you can only imagine how much we enjoyed seeing the president’s daughter crying her fool head off. I mean we were confused at first because we thought she was the bride. But there she was, falling on the floor, crying and looking pathetic and humiliated. It was epic! We didn’t think it could get any better than that, but then someone tears off your veil.” Raine looked at me with a smile. “It was sweet, sweet revenge finding out that Leisel Holt was humiliated by one of us
and
you stole her husband! An urchin married the next president.”

“It’s true,” said Mica.
“The entire Pit went nuts. Everyone was laughing and clapping and cheering for Sunny O’Donnell… except maybe Reyes.” He eyed his friend. Reyes stared at the floor, glowering. “Then the guards started telling us to keep it down, but why should we? We weren’t fighting—we were having a laugh is all. When we wouldn’t stop, they started getting rough, so people started fighting back. That’s when all hell broke loose. The president sent Domers down here and threatened to cut off our ventilation system. People got scared, grabbed their kids, and ran home. They put us on lockdown.”