Sunset Rising (17 page)

“Sunny
.”

I didn’t want to hear his lies.
“
You tell me!”

“I’m going to take her home,” he said to Bron over my head.

“This is my home! And I’m not going anywhere with
you
!”

I tried to break away from his hold on my wrists, but he pulled me down the hall with him.
I wasn’t ready to leave my home yet. I needed to see for myself that Dad wasn’t in there. Maybe Bron had made a mistake. I pulled against his hold, but he just tightened his grip.

“Let me go!
I need to go back and see. Maybe he’s still in bed, and Bron just didn’t see him,” I sobbed.

Jack pulled me to him by my wrists and looked into my eyes.
“He’s gone, Sunny. They have him.”

I didn’t want him to tell me that.
I didn’t want to believe it. But somewhere deep down inside, I knew the truth. Bron said Domers took him. Domers didn’t come down here to kick people out of their homes. There was only one reason they would come for my father. Me.

I couldn’t
have stopped the flood of tears that came pouring out even if I’d had the strength to try. I had been so naïve to trust Leisel. I thought she had been worth the risk of helping, and yet it had cost me far more than I ever could have imagined. Just thinking of her set every fibre of my being tingling with hatred, and it sapped the rest of my strength. I felt my legs give out from under me, and Jack let go of my wrists to catch me.

“I’m going t
o take you home.”

“No.
I don’t want to go.”

“
What the hell are you doing to her?
” Reyes yelled from down the hall.

I lifted my head from Jack’s shoulder and looked up to see Reyes bearing down on us.
He looked like he was ready to kill Jack. I pushed away from him, hoping my legs would hold me up. They did.

“Reyes, it’s
not what it looks like.”

B
ut Reyes didn’t listen. He headed straight for Jack. “I told you not to touch her,” he ground out between clenched teeth. He pushed Jack hard, making him back up a few steps.

“He wasn’t touching me like that
!”

Reyes was taking another run at him
, and I put my hand on his arm and stopped him. I saw Jack getting ready to spring at him. I knew what damage Jack could do to Reyes, and I silently pleaded with him to leave Reyes alone. I saw Jack relax.

“Then what the hell was he doing?” Reyes look
ed at me for the first time. “You’re crying.” He gave Jack another accusatory glare.

“Can we go somewhere and talk?” I asked Reyes calmly.

He turned back to me and gave me a nod.
I slipped my hand into his and walked down the hall with him. I hadn’t been alone with Reyes since the night I was drafted to work at the bachelor party, and I owed him so much.

“They took my father,” I said when we
’d found a place to be alone.

“I heard. It’s always big news when Domers
come into the Pit. You know I’m still here for you.”

He looked into my eyes and brushed away my tears.
I looked back into his dark eyes. When he wasn’t angry or upset, he had kind and loving eyes. I always thought they were his best feature. He brought his lips to mine, and we kissed. The kiss was gentle at first, but then he became more aggressive. He backed me up against the wall, and his hands started searching under my t-shirt.

“Stop!” I said, breaking away from his lips.

“I don’t want
to stop this time.” He kissed my neck while his hands continued their search despite my struggles. “What are you wearing?”

“God
, Reyes, this is not the time!” I pushed hard against his arms, trying to free myself from him.

“It’s never the right time, Sunny.”
He dropped his hands from me and took a step back. “I don’t understand. We’ve been together so long! If you loved me you would want to.”

“For
god’s sake, Reyes! I just found out that my father’s been taken into custody. I don’t know if he’s being tortured or already dead.” I was astonished by his complete lack of sympathy.

“And I might lose you
.” Despair laced his voice.

Now I understood his des
peration to make love to me, even though it wouldn’t help either one of us. In fact, it would just make things more difficult. Not only was I a felon on the run, I was legally married now. “Oh, Reyes,” I said softly. “I’m sorry I did this to you. I’m sorry we can’t be together.”

“We can still be together.
You don’t have to live with that bourge.”

“But I don’t have anywhere else to go and neither does
he.”

“Who cares if he has somewhere to go?
Get rid of him, and I’ll move in with you.”

I tried to
figure out what he was asking of me. Why was he bringing this up now, just when I was trying to deal with the news of my father? Didn’t Reyes know that my life was a mess? Why was he trying to complicate it even more?

“You know what you’re asking is impossible,” I said, shaking my head.
“The first time we had to scan in during a lockdown, we’d be caught and arrested.”

“Or maybe you just don’t want to get rid of him
.”

“What?”

“Maybe your marriage to him wasn’t an accident. Maybe it happened exactly like the president’s daughter said!” He took another step away from me.

“No.
It happened exactly the way I told you. I didn’t lie. I’m not in love with Jack, but that doesn’t mean I want to see him hurt. Right now, our new identities are the only thing keeping us safe.” As I said the words a little voice inside my head started laughing at me. Safe for how long? I wondered if I was going crazy. How could Reyes demand a future with me when I could be dead tomorrow? Didn’t he know my life was as good as over?

“I don’t know what to do,” he said in frustration.

“Neither do I.” We looked at each other for a moment, knowing we had reached an impasse. Finally I broke the silence. “It’s going to be lights out soon. I need to get back.”

“Think about what I asked
.”

I smiled sadly and gave him one last kiss before I made my way back to the apartment.
I could think about it all I wanted, but nothing was ever going to change.

Jack was doing sit-ups when I walked into the apartment.
I had hoped he would be asleep since I didn’t really feel like talking. It was as if my life had become surreal, and I was nothing more than an apparition walking through it. Although being so disconnected from my feelings wasn’t an entirely unpleasant experience.

Jack stopped exercising when I walked in and jumped to his feet.
“I was worried about you,” he said a bit awkwardly.

“There was no need.
I was with Reyes.”

“That’s one o
f the reasons why I was worried.”

I raised my eyebrows.
“He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Really?”

I glared at him.

“You were very
upset.”

“Was I?
I can’t imagine why. I mean it’s not like my dad was just taken prisoner, or that my best friend is being used by a monster or that I’m on the run from being executed… Oh wait! I am.” I ripped off my hat and threw it on the table.

He spread his arms wide.
“You can take your frustrations out on me.”

For some reason, my thoughts wandered to Reyes and his insistent groping a few minutes earlier.
It had all gone so badly with him. I knew despite everything that had happened that he still wanted me, but I didn’t think I had anything left to give. My heart was too full of murderous desire.

“In my mood, I might just do som
e real damage.” I flopped down into a chair. “Tell me now, Jack. Where do you think they would take him?”

“He’s probably being
questioned about you. About us.”

“Would they torture him?” I asked
even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Maybe.
I don’t know for sure. It depends on what he tells them right away.”

I could tell he was being honest with me, but I felt there was something he wasn’t telling me.

“Will they send him back?
When they’re done questioning him, will they send him back here?”

He looked at me for a few moments before he answered, as if weighing
his answer. “Probably not.” His expression was pained.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands, and tried to absorb this information.
Yet somehow my mind couldn’t accept it. I dragged my hands down my face and looked at him. “What will happen to him?” I wanted to know everything no matter how much it tore me up inside.

Jack looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know for sure. Maybe he’ll be Culled early.”

“Culled early
.” I rolled the thought around in my head. “There’s no such thing as being Culled
early
. Fifteen years ago when your people tried to lower the age of the Cull to thirty, we rebelled and the age was kept at thirty-five. So you see, I know there’s no such thing as being Culled
early
. If my father is killed now, it’s called murder.”

“I
’m sorry. Just tell me what I can do for you. I’ll do it.”

“There’s nothing you can do.
There’s nothing I can do. The bourge will win like always.”

“
So you’re giving up?”

“What else can I do?
They’ve taken away everyone I ever loved. My mother and father are gone, my best friend is gone, and pretty soon you and I will both be gone. We can’t win. The odds were always stacked against us.” The lights went out, leaving us in darkness. “See? They even tell us when it’s time to go to bed. Good night, Jack.”

“I
’ll take the chair.”

“No
, it’s my turn tonight.” I made my tone intentionally dismissive.

He
hesitated a moment. “Good night, Sunny.”

I watched him stumble his way to the bedroom, knocking things over as he went
, and marvelled at how completely blind he was in the dark.

I hunkered down in the chair even though I was sure I was never going to get to sleep.
My head was pounding and my stomach upset. I tried to sort through the mess that was my life, but my brain refused to cooperate. Instead, I found myself thinking about when Summer and I were kids in school and all we had to worry about was getting our homework done. Somehow, I managed to drift off to sleep wrapped up in the memory.

The
bong bongs
ringing out startled me awake. It felt like I had just closed my eyes. I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around the bedroom. My bulletproof vest was on the floor beside the bed. I was confused because I was sure I went to sleep in the chair.

I heard Jack moving
around in the other room. Although I would have preferred to lie down and pull the blanket over my head, I forced myself out of bed and got dressed. Jack was at the sink splashing cold water on his face when I went into the next room.

“I thought I was supposed to take the chair last night
.”

“I missed the chair.
It’s comfortable.” I could tell he was lying.

“No
, it’s not. And you look exhausted.”

“You could use some cold wate
r on your face, too.”

I realized I must look a mess.
My eyes felt hot and swollen from crying so I took his advice. The cold really did feel good even though it was a waste of our water ration.

“Thanks for taking my vest off me last night
.” Getting the weight off for a few hours was good, but being half naked in front of Jack was not so good.

Jack turn
ed a little red. “It was pitch black. I didn’t see anything. But I know how much you hate wearing it.”

“I do hate wearing it.
It’s a constant reminder of what my life’s become.”

“Ready to go to breakfast?” he asked
, his voice falsely bright.

“I’m not
hungry this morning.”

“Oh, yes you are.
Come on.” He threw my hat at me, and I caught it. “Food will make you feel better.”

I wondered why he was being so nice to me.
I figured it was because I was ready to give up and if I did, we would both end up being caught. His survival was inextricably linked to my own. I didn’t feel like I owed him anything, but I didn’t have any desire to see him dead either, so I put my hat on and followed him out the door.

He
headed down to the sixth-floor common room for breakfast. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not. Reyes would probably be there, hoping for an answer from me, and there was only one answer I could give him. I knew it wasn’t going to be what he wanted to hear.

The lineup for breakfast was
still short at this early hour. I looked around the room and almost sighed with relief when I didn’t see Reyes. Maybe if we ate fast enough, I could get out of here before he showed up.

“Sorry to see your boyfriend’s not here yet,” Jack said once we were seated.

I opened my food container and felt a wave of nausea.

“Eat it,” Jack
said. He must have seen my expression.

I took a spoonful and forced it down.
“Summer’s not here either.”

“You miss
her don’t you?”

“Very much
.” The food was getting easier to eat and my stomach was feeling better. I finished the container and downed my glass of water. Jack was finished, too. “I guess we should head to work.”

“You don’t want to wait an
d see Reyes?”

I shrugged.
“I’ll see him tonight.”

He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t push for an answer.

We walked silently together to the stairs. He surprised me when he gently took my arm and pulled me toward him and kissed the top of my head. “Stay safe,” he said and then began his descent into the mines. I stared after him, wondering at his act of affection.

When he was out of my sight,
I made my way up to the second floor. Crystal was already there, waiting patiently for the room to be unlocked. When she saw me coming, she quickly turned her attention to the floor. Obviously, she didn’t want to socialize, which was fine by me. I didn’t want to either. So we stood together in an awkward silence. She gave me a sidelong glance every once and a while. I probably looked awful.

Supervisor Madi sneered when she arrived.
“I see we have another early bird.” Perhaps being early wasn’t a good thing.

She unlocked the door
, and I went to follow her in, but she let the door fall back and it almost slammed in my face. I caught it by one hand before it did.

“You didn’t think she was going to hold the door open for you?” Crystal asked.

“I’ll know better next time.”

As I walked into the laundry room
, I realized that getting here early wasn’t such a good idea. Di wasn’t here yet, and I still needed pointers on the finer details of doing laundry. I scanned in and went over to the carts of dirty laundry already queued and waiting to be done. I took the first one, returned to the station I had worked at the day before, and started sorting clothes. I was almost done when Di walked in.

“Good morning
, Crystal. Good morning, Autumn,” she called out to both of us. Crystal ignored her as she had the day before.

“Good morning
, Di,” I said.

“Oh, someone had a hard night last night,” she
said when she saw my swollen eyes. “Lover upstairs?”

Crystal perk
ed up and paid attention to our conversation.

“A lover upstairs?” I
asked.

“Are you somebody’s mistress?
Did he treat you badly?”

Now I understood what she meant. She wanted to know if I was in the same p
osition as Summer was with the president. “No, nothing like that. I just had bad news last night.”

“Someone pass away?”

“My father
.” I thought if I gave her an answer she would stop asking questions.

She put a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I didn’t wa
nt her sympathy. It made me want to cry again. “I hope I’ve done this right,” I said, gesturing to the piles in front of me.

She looked over my work and changed a few things in the pile.
“You really need to pay close attention to the darks and lights. You put dark clothes in with light and it will ruin them.”

“Thanks for the adv
ice. I really do appreciate it.”

Di left me to go and do her own work.
The morning seemed to pass by quickly. I managed to get two carts full of laundry done by the time lunch was brought in. The laundry room seemed infinitely hotter that day. Then I remembered that the day before the room had been closed for half the day due to the lockdown. It really was hotter in there. The bulletproof vest didn’t let my skin breathe, and with every minute it felt like it was getting heavier. I wasn’t sure how long I could stand it.

I retrieved my food and water rations and sat on the floor to eat, thankful to get off my feet.
My water was cold and refreshing, and it was all I could do not to guzzle it. Di sat across from me, looking at me curiously.

“It’s hot in here,” I
said.

“You can have the rest of mine. I’m not that thirsty
.”

I wavered for a moment, not sure if
it was polite of me to take her up on the offer, but I was so hot that I accepted gratefully. Drinking it and dumping it over my head to cool me off were almost equally appealing. I drank it, thinking the latter would get me into trouble.

“You don’t look so good,” Di
said. “You’re really hot, aren’t you?”

“I
guess I’m not used to the heat.”

“Where did
you work before?”

Her question caught me off guard.
I didn’t have an answer ready. I couldn’t say the kitchen because she would want to know why I would leave such a plum job. And it was hot in the kitchen too, so I would be used to working in the heat. I had to think of something else.

“Sewers
.” That seemed like a good lie. It was cold and smelly there and perfectly reasonable that anyone would look for a job somewhere else.

She wrinkled her nose.
“That’s a nasty job.”

“Back to work!” Supervisor Madi called out.
It had only been twenty minutes since we sat down. When I worked in the kitchen we were given a half hour for lunch.

“She’s a slave driver,” Di
said as she hoisted herself off the floor and walked over to return her empty food container. I followed her and put my own away.

My full stomach combined with the heat o
f the room was making me sleepy. I became slow and clumsy and kept dropping things on the floor.