The Wall (The Woodlands) (44 page)

The
wolves pushed off and flew through the air. Their fur stood on end, sharp as needles, as their bodies created an elegant arc, paws outstretched and pointed like they were part of a dance. They were awe-inspiringly beautiful even as they were terrible.

Something cracked like
lightning, and the scene transformed. Mid-flight, their fur singed black and they fell like clumps of snow from over-weighted branches to the ground, three feet in front of us. Their chests heaved in pain. The foul smell of burning flesh crept up my nostrils.

We stood like statues, afraid to move, our eyes passing over the lumps of futile fur. Careen stepped forward and swept her foot over the snow under one of the wolf
’s limp legs. “Scorch spot,” she whispered breathlessly as her dusting revealed a metal curve about three-inches wide, buried in the snow. I turned to her with a withering look. She tapped it with her foot and leaned down to press her ear to it with her hands behind her back. I did the same, hearing a faint, ominous humming.

“
They’re called Scorch Spots. Be careful! Don’t put your hands and feet on the ground at the same time and don’t come too close,” she warned, in between panicked breaths. I got up awkwardly, my legs starting to spasm under my weight. “Anything with four legs gets zapped as they cross the threshold. I remember them from my Guardian training. They protected us from animals on outside patrols.”

The wolves
looked at us through piercing, yellow eyes. So un-human but so human was their need.
Help,
they pleaded. And despite the fact they tried to kill me, they were wild animals and deserved a better death than this. Careen obliged, slitting their throats neatly as her hands shook from exhaustion and sheer nervous energy. The wolves bled out in seconds.

I put my shoulder to one, trying
to heave it over, but it was immense and what little strength I had was sapped.

“
We can’t move them,” I said in a high, stepped-on voice. This would draw attention if it hadn’t already. Careen scooped up some snow and threw it on the black wolf’s back. It contrasted so strongly. The pure, cold white against the rough, dark fur and warm, flowing blood. I shuddered at its barbarity and its necessity. We heaped snow and broken branches on their bodies as fast as we could. When we were done, we ran around the wall until we’d put a good distance between us and them, hugging the smooth concrete.

Careen
’s eyes were slightly crazed when they snapped to me. My first clarified thought was Pietre. I hoped he was ok. “We have to find somewhere to hide,” she whispered, although it sounded more like a soft shriek. Even Careen could panic.

I
surveyed our surroundings. The black rocks had petered out and stood only a few feet from the ground. There were straggly pines about two-hundred meters back into the forest but they didn’t look very strong. Wind turbines shot up everywhere. The bases of the posts were big and set in each one was a small maintenance door. I pointed one out to Careen.

“
What about in there? Could we kick it in?” My voice was still breathless, the high edge of terror still dominating. Careen just nodded and we lugged our exhausted bodies to the nearest one.

The door was flimsy and
easy enough to jimmy. Careen, not so carefully, jammed the edge of a knife in and wrenched it until the door came loose. We crept inside the small space and pulled it closed.

Inside, t
he darkness was impenetrable. I could see nothing and only hear Careen’s ragged breathing and shuffling legs. Exhaustion hit me like a falling rock, splitting me open and riddling me with holes. I could move no longer, my brain emptied. We lay against the curve of the hollow post, listening to the whipping of the air above and the creaking and turning of the mechanisms within.

We slept
wound around each other, breathing low and shallow, fearful but unable to stay alert. And as I drifted into unconsciousness, I couldn’t for the life of me care what happened next.

How could I c
are about anything when I was this tired?

I awoke in pain. My back crunched up against cold steel, Careen
’s heavy legs resting over my calves. I couldn’t feel my feet. I wiggled out from under her and pins and needles surged up my legs. Dragging my leaden body around, I felt for the door, suddenly scared we’d locked ourselves in. I didn’t want to come this far and have it end here. I moved around the wall with my hands and couldn’t find the opening, starting to panic. We’d be trapped.

I pressed harder with my fingertips, feeling for any point of
difference. Finally finding the edge of something, I pushed. The cold hit me hard but at least it wasn’t snowing anymore. It was night, a sprinkling of stars and a crescent moon lighting up the darkness. The silhouettes of the wind turbines looked like giant claws stretching to the sky to pull the stars down. I fumbled around, trying to find the handheld, and checked the time. It was close to midnight. We didn’t have long.

I rattled Careen.
“We need to change.”

Changing
brought me close to hysterics—as two girls tried to dress in a narrow space that only got narrower as we stood. There were arms and legs everywhere, bumping heads and hands put in places they shouldn’t have. By the end, we were both laughing so hard we were crying.

“
Ha! The last time I was naked with someone it was a bit different than this,” Careen laughed.

“
Me too!” slipped out before I could stop myself.

She stopped moving and grabbed for my arm in the dark.

“So you and Joseph finally…?”

My face felt hot
and I was glad she couldn’t see me, “How did you know we hadn’t already?” I snapped in an unwarranted outburst.

There
was a pause and I pictured Careen searching around in her head for an answer.

“
It was the way you moved around each other, like there was a current running between you.” She giggled. “Also it was the way he looked at you like if he stared hard enough, your clothes would just fall off!”

I
snorted, barely able to contain my amusement. Careen was so bubble-headed, but sometimes she cut right through all the excess rubbish, the politeness. She pushed past the issues pressing at the sides and put her finger right on the heart of the matter.

Being more experienced than me
, I had to ask, “Does that change? I mean, after you’ve slept with each other that first time?”

She slapped out at me in the dark
, grazing my side with her fingertips. “No, silly! It’s just that, now, you can actually do something about it!”

“
So it didn’t change things between you and Pietre?” More silence.

“
Pietre and I haven’t done that yet,” she said quietly.

“
Oh,” was all I could say. I was glad she couldn’t see my face, my eyes wide and unblinking with surprise. Pietre had lied to me. Good for Careen. She had more control in that relationship than I realized. It made me think I didn’t know her that well and the more I found out about her, the more I liked. I mean, she certainly was an acquired taste, but then, so was I.

I thought about Joseph and Orry, waiting for me at home. At least I hoped t
hey were waiting for me. A jagged lump rose in my throat, bringing water to my eyes. I would never find someone who loved me as much as Joseph did. I missed my family so much I felt like I would be sick. It was a physical pain that twisted and turned in my stomach.

I wiped the tears from my eyes, found Careen
’s arm, and squeezed. “You ready?”

There was no response.
“Careen, did you hear me? Are you ready?” I whispered through gritted teeth.

“
I nodded,” she said irritably.

I rolled my eyes
. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the dark. I can’t see you.”

“
Oh yeah, whoops,” she said in her light and light-headed tone. “Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.” And like that, she was back to the same old Careen.

We stepped outside
and were surprised to find the snow had disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived. The ground was muddy and the air mild. I fished out the handheld and handed it to Careen. She swished and swiped the screen until the homing beacon signal appeared on the screen—a little red dot that seemed to be moving within a very confined space, back and forth. The Spider lived in Ring Five. She shoved it in her pocket. A slight glow emanated from her right side where it sat.

Inside our pack
s was an additional set of camouflaged clothing, as well as gloves and booties for climbing the wall. Careen had the device that would open the gates. We were to get in and out quickly, making as little noise as possible.

We crouched down low and padded swiftly towards the
wall, leaving our conical refuge behind. My heart was beating so fast I was sure Careen could hear it. Here we were, back at the place it all started. I swallowed hard when were close enough to the wall for its shadow to chill my bones. I severely understood the gravity, the danger, of what I was about to do.

What if I failed?

What if they caught me?

What if I never go
t back home?

Stealing up to the edge, it was so hard not to turn around and run in the other direction. It loomed over u
s, just tipped by the light of the crescent moon, a towering wall of concrete that seemed to reach past the trees and into the sky.

Careen
turned to me. “Are you sure you want to do this? You could come with me.”

“
No. I’m not sure,” I said, but I had to. I had to try. “Give me a leg up.”

Sh
e hesitated. I put my leg on her knee and she pushed me up the wall. The gloves and shoes stuck to the concrete like glue. It was still a strange feeling, fun. I clambered up the wall like a gecko. I didn’t look back. I didn’t look inward either—I would see Joseph and Orry’s faces and I would change my mind.

Deshi said we had
four hours once we disabled the gates. I reached the top and stopped to take a breath. Pau from this angle looked like a maze. It reminded me of one of the many toys Orry had accumulated, a circular piece of plastic with a metal ball inside. You had to tip the game back and forth to work the ball through to the end of the maze. The sense of being rattled around like that ball was strong. I fought the dizziness off, took one last look, and made my way down the other side.

Careen was right behind me. She landed soundlessly on the dirt inside and glanced my way.
“Good luck,” she whispered, her breath making clouds. “I’ll meet you on the outside at four.” And then she sprinted off towards the first gate. I watched as she took a small, black disc and placed it over the locking mechanism of the gate. The camera followed her and locked onto her moving body as she pushed in and twisted it counter clockwise. A light flashed red.
Red, red, red
… It needed to turn green. I held my breath and we both stared at it. Red, red, red…
green
! Relief flooded over me. Careen nodded and slipped through the gate silently, giving me one last look of concern before she disappeared.

I should have followed but
I stalled. In that moment, I felt it. Looking up at the wall that now contained me, everything felt wrong. My home was wood and stone. This place was unnatural in every way and I couldn’t shake the feeling I shouldn’t have come. Again, I had to swallow the bad feelings. I needed to get to Ring Two, and to do that, I needed to run. I tucked my gloves and booties in my pocket and got moving.