The Registry (24 page)
Girls’ educations go only so far. The teachings a husband hands to his wife are much more in-depth. She will learn a new array of fascinating subjects and in some cases may become a necessary hand in her husband’s business.
—The Registry Guide for Girls
G
rant stood waving his hand with a giant smile. Mia didn’t have time to react before she was grabbed and pulled away. She almost lost her footing before realizing it was Andrew dragging her. They took off at immense speed down the stairs, knocking travelers to the side.
At the bottom a man stood in a combative position with a gun pointed at them. Andrew didn’t flinch as he hurled his shoulder into the man, sending him toppling down before he had the chance to fire. The downed man looked just as shocked as Mia at Andrew’s strength. She looked behind to see Grant talking on a radio and running after them.
“Come on,” Andrew said. The basement of the train station was crowded and noisy. Trains pulled in and out across a great number of tracks. There were walkways so pedestrians could cross over the unoccupied rails, but Andrew didn’t use them. He pushed Mia down onto a track and hoisted her up the other side, following her with ease. She didn’t have the time to notice his force. Instead all she could think about was Grant right behind them.
A train was pulling into the next track but Andrew shoved Mia down to the rails. She ran to the other side and tried to pull herself up before the train crushed her. She decided dying was better than becoming Mrs. Marsden. Andrew hoisted her up again, then pulled himself off the track, barely avoiding the train. Andrew landed on top of her. Both lying down, they rolled across the platform.
He stood and pulled Mia up again. They had a moment to catch their breath. Grant had not beaten the train. They were sandwiched between two stationary locomotives with no tracks to jump. They walked fast.
As they approached an overpass, the man Andrew had knocked down reappeared. He was giant and blocking their way.
“Crap,” Andrew said before running straight toward the man.
Mia thought Andrew had lost his mind but followed him anyway. Instead of trying to go through the man, Andrew veered the other way down the overpass. They were heading back toward the front of the station. The giant was right on their heels. Mia could feel him sticking his arms out, trying to grab hold of her.
Mia and Andrew ran straight this time, fighting through all the commuters. Mia was scared to look back. Andrew turned right, running parallel to a huge train and an empty track. They put some distance between themselves and their pursuer; being smaller did have some advantages. Andrew jumped down to the empty rails and Mia followed. He pushed her up in their normal routine but she didn’t see him follow. She looked down in a panic. Andrew’s pant leg was caught on a rail and a train was on its way in.
He yelled at her to keep running but she couldn’t, not without him. She knew she had plenty of time to help him and avoid the locomotive. He couldn’t pull his leg loose. She jumped back down and removed the caught material. He did not look happy with her decision.
Andrew gave her a boost off the track, but she was met by a pair of hands. Grant had run up just in time to grab her. He spun her around so her back was to him and placed a gun against her temple. She could see the large man on the other side of the tracks shaking his head and catching his breath. It was over; he could rest. Andrew jumped up off the tracks and stood on the platform. The train was even closer now, and Mia felt relief as he made it to the platform.
Andrew’s expression was a new one. He looked lost. Grant tightened his grip on her arm. His breathing was quick and heavy.
The entire journey flashed through Mia’s eyes. Tears welled as she stared at Andrew. Andrew’s expression began to harden as he looked past Mia and Grant. She could see he was about to lunge forward when all of a sudden Mia felt a strong knock.
She and Grant started falling back onto the tracks. He let go of her waist and she reached her arms out. There was a tangle of limbs, but one face was clear. Whitney. The three of them were sprawled across the rails. Mia reached out to Whitney but felt a pair of hands under her arms, lifting her up. Suddenly Mia was on the platform, and this time Andrew was gripping her. Grant was against the side of the rails, trying to sit up, but Whitney stood upright, still on the tracks. Mia could focus only on Whitney, who smiled up at her. Mia lunged forward to help her friend up but Andrew gripped her tightly and pulled her back. The giant train almost took her arm off as it rolled into its spot.
E
verything went black. Mia didn’t know if she was screaming, crying, or struggling to get out of Andrew’s hold. Whitney had just sacrificed herself for Mia. Her friend was gone. Whitney was dead. Because of Mia. She felt Andrew’s arms relax; the train was stopped now. She threw herself against it, hitting the steel sides.
“We don’t have time. There’s still that big guy.” Andrew turned and walked.
She looked toward Andrew with shock, but in her daze she knew he was right. She caught up to him, straightened her hat, and kept his pace. She thought about what he had said earlier to Whitney, but it was Mia and Andrew who were selfish.
They walked back a few tracks and stepped onto one of the trains. Mia should have been in awe. This was her first train ride, but with the recent events she didn’t care. It was tall and had two floors with orange seats lining the walls. All of them faced the front of the transport. Andrew climbed the small staircase and picked a spot. Mia sat down next to him. There were no windows on the top floor.
“Don’t cry,” Andrew said with no emotion. “It will draw attention to us. Let’s make sure we get out of here.”
Sitting silently in the train car was not easy for Mia. Other travelers came in and took seats. Nobody paid any attention to the two of them. Mia didn’t think taking the train was the best idea, but all she could focus on was thoughts of Whitney.
It is appropriate and expected to take joy in the enemy’s failures. After all, a failure for them is a win for you, and a win for you is a win for your country.
—The Boy’s Guide to Service
G
rant stomped his feet in frustration. He couldn’t believe they had gotten away. Rex was still bent over catching his breath. He was more affected by the situation than Grant.
“You almost died, boss.” Rex stood up and wrapped his arm around his stomach. “I almost died saving you.”
“Thank you, by the way.” Grant didn’t want to appear rude.
He looked at the back of his shirt. Rex had stretched out Grant’s collar a little. He told himself it was ruined and frowned.
A group of eight men came running around the train toward them. With their tight black shirts and black pants, they did have a commanding effect.
“Where were all of you?” Grant asked. “What’s the point in having a team if it can’t be relied on?”
“Boss, this station is huge. We were split up in teams of two, like you told us,” one of them said.
Leonard and Ross tumbled in behind. It was clear the older man was not used to fieldwork anymore. His suit was drenched in sweat.
“Did you get her?” Leonard asked in between breaths.
“Does it look like I got her?” Grant shook his head. He was surrounded by imbeciles.
“Ross, go to the control room, get every train out shut down. Don’t let any more trains in or out,” Leonard said to his subordinate.
“That’s not necessary. They’re on track five, going to the Southeast Area.” Grant wished he’d won during the more thrilling chase, but he would settle for picking her up. “If they’re still here anyway.”
Ross looked at Leonard for confirmation and ran off. Leonard was on the verge of collapsing.
“Make sure they don’t let anyone off that train. We’ll do a search that way,” Grant said. He looked at his group of men, who were standing there staring at him.
“Didn’t you hear me? Track five,” Grant said, and the men scampered away. Leonard remained behind.
He turned away and placed his hand to his brow. Before he had been enjoying the fight and the chase, but now he was starting to get annoyed. Grant did not like losing and did not like surprises. He had forgotten about the other girl. He knew it was his own mistake. He should have noticed they were missing one and told someone to hunt her down.
“Don’t you want to go to the train?” Leonard broke Grant’s concentration.
“No. It’s a waste of time. I’m sure they’re not on it. That boy is smart, he knows I heard him say the number.” Grant sat next to Leonard and pointed toward the ceiling. “You see that? It’s a camera. They have them all over here. We are going to let them escape and then watch for what train they got onto. If I shut down the station they’ll just find some way to get back into the city, and while I love Saint Louis, it would be too hard to hunt them down here. But if they’re going to some little place, I’ll have the upper hand again.”
“Well, why did you send the men to the train?”
“Because they were annoying me. I wanted them out of my sight.”
Grant always enjoyed a worthy opponent, but this boy was not his equal. He hadn’t even been in service. Grant noticed he was clenching his fist so hard his knuckles had turned white. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on Andrew. It was a shame. The boy would have made a great soldier.
“Ross might want to tell them they need to scrape someone off the track.” Grant patted Leonard’s back before strolling down the platform.
Grooms have served their country and sacrificed a great deal in the process. If a wife mourns her old life, she only shows disrespect for all her husband has done to provide for her and his country.
—The Registry Guide for Girls
M
ia concentrated on breathing. It was easy to focus on and she worried she might forget how, as the weight of her grief pressed heavily on her chest. The train doors closed and they rolled out of the station.
Mia and Andrew were the only passengers sitting up top, affording them some privacy. Mia’s eyes glanced toward the door; at any second she expected Grant or his large buddy to walk through and grab them. But she reminded herself Grant was dead, just like Whitney.
“How are you doing?” Andrew asked with genuine concern.
“I can’t believe we made it out of there,” Mia said.
“No, how are you doing? That was . . . unexpected,” he said.
“She’s dead. It’s terrible, I’m terrible.”
“Whitney made a decision; it was honorable. We should remember her sacrifice.”
Remember her sacrifice? Mia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Whitney had died for her. There were so many things running through Mia’s mind that she couldn’t begin to think of what to say, but Andrew had summed it up in a single sentence with no trace of warmth.
“What are you going to do now?” Mia asked. She wanted to mourn Whitney in her own way and not with Andrew’s help.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he saw you help me; you can’t go into service now. You’ll be arrested. You’re a fugitive.”
“I doubt it; he would have to mark me by my number, which he doesn’t know. Giving my description and the name ‘Andrew’ won’t be enough. And he’s dead now.”
“What’s your number?”
“I told you, CMW1408, what you called my last name.”
“Oh.” Mia had assumed they were bound together now, but she was mistaken. “How long till we’re in the Southeast?”
“We’re not going to the Southeast Area,” Andrew said. He handed her the tickets. Their destination was Yuma, Southwest Area. Mia cringed at the sight of the extra ticket. Whitney would never see the Southwest.
“Why did you say Southeast Area then?”
“Because”—Andrew turned to look at her—“I was planning on going to the Southeast, leaving you to continue on your own.”
Memories of their rolling on the train platform together crossed her mind. The feeling that she might lose him too made her feel empty. She looked at her cold, closed-off traveling companion and realized that was all he would ever be. Cold and closed.
E
very time the train came to a stop Mia was sure a RAG agent would enter and take her. But at every stop people got off or on and the train kept rolling forward. Mia and Andrew didn’t do much talking the rest of the trip.
She couldn’t blame him for wanting to leave. This was a lot of work with no payoff for him. He had put himself in so much danger just by helping her. Whitney didn’t leave her thoughts, and she couldn’t bear the idea of Andrew dying now. If they both lost their lives it would destroy her.
Minutes turned into hours; daylight turned to twilight. Somewhere in the process Mia managed to doze for a while. She dreamed of Whitney. Happy in a loving relationship surrounded by a huge family. They were playing together on a beach, laughing and having fun. Mia wanted to join them, but they didn’t notice her. Suddenly Whitney saw her and ran over. Mia felt tears streaming down her cheek as the two joined hands. Whitney smiled warmly and crinkled her nose at Mia. Whitney wiped the tears away and then, in a fluttery voice, said, “Stop . . . stop . . . stop.”
“We’re the next stop.” Andrew shook Mia awake. Her skin tingled where his hand touched her. She rubbed the spot till the sensation went away and tried to process her dream. Wherever Whitney was now, she hoped she was as happy as in Mia’s fantasy.
“Yuma?”
Mia yawned; it was light outside again. She had no clue what time it was.
“No, that’s the end of the line. We’re getting off in Gila Bend,” Andrew said as he stretched. “We need to look for a large car that will honk three times.”