19

Evazee’s insides slipped like sludge on a potter’s wheel. The oily residue of the voice in her head convinced her that this was not Jesus, but Shasta. A wave of thick nausea swept through her.

Paintbrush tugged on Evazee’s hand. “I feel sick.” Her lips clenched in a tight line.

Evazee gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze and pulled Zulu close. “We need to get out of here.”

Zulu inched up slightly before folding himself down again. “The gate where we came in is closed.”

Bree frowned at Paintbrush who’d turned whiter than a human should. “That gate is probably locked already.” The pull on Evazee’s insides grew. She shook her head to clear it and focussed on Paintbrush. The girl was in distress, squirming the way Evazee would before throwing up in a crowd. “Is there a restroom here?”

Bree tilted her head. “This way.”

They eased their way through the mass of bodies, slowly working their way to a door on the side. Evazee had Paintbrush by one hand and used the other hand to part a way through the crush of people. Nobody moved. Paintbrush had her free hand over her mouth, and her shoulders heaved as she walked.

“Let us through, please. She’s going to be sick.” Evazee kept her voice low. She didn’t need the attention of the whole gathering, just the souls who stood between them and the bathroom.

Nobody paid her any attention, they all stared towards the back of the room with a vacant rapture on their faces. This wasn’t working.

She cleared her throat. “Vomit. This girl needs to vomit.” The word vomit worked better than if Evazee carried a live rattlesnake.

The crowd opened up before her and ushered them through without any trouble. As they passed, the pathway closed up behind them like the Red Sea after Moses.

The bathroom glowed with light from the rock walls. Paintbrush plonked herself down on the stone floor, leaned back on the wall with her eyes closed and her hands across her belly.

Bree pushed through the swing door seconds later and handed Evazee a bottle.

“Give her some water. She’s probably dehydrated.”

Evazee unscrewed the lid and passed the bottle to Paintbrush. She took it from Evazee and pushed herself upright. As she tilted the bottle to her lips, the gold logo on the label caught Evazee’s eye. She grabbed it out of the small girl’s hands.

“Wait a moment. This logo...” She twisted towards the glowing stone for a better look. Faint gold, printed tiny, it would be easy to see it as a decorative mark, but looking close it became clear. Four snakes tied at the tail, writhing outwards. The mark worn on the foreheads of those who belonged to Shasta.

~*~

Kirsten from Marketing swept back into the office with two spots of colour riding high on her cheeks, and her hands stretched out in front of her as if they’d done something to offend her. “I don’t see why I’m always the one to do the dirty work. Honestly.” She held out her hands towards Kai. “Take off my rings and my Naviband. I have to go wash my hands. Come on, quick-quick.”

Kai shuffled over and slipped her rings off, fumbled with the unfamiliar clasp of her Naviband and watched her scuttle off on heels that were high enough to make it look as if she was on the verge of face-planting. The Naviband sat on his palm as light as a feather.

The moment her footsteps were beyond his earshot, Kai bolted in the other direction. He walked as fast as he could without looking suspicious, though everyone in this section hurried about looking worried, so he fitted right in.

He found a restroom, locked himself into a cubicle, and pressed the side of the Naviband, hoping that it wasn’t somehow linked and coded to Kirsten the way Elden’s had been. The screen woke up and options cycled across it. He clicked on find and an empty search field opened up. No letters appeared for him to type, and he frowned. How would he make this work? It nearly slipped through his fingers, but he caught it and put it on. Dropping and shattering it would not help.

If he was Zap, what would he do? They’d been friends for as long as Kai could remember, and over the years, Zap had always come up with some sideways plan that seemed to solve whatever issue they faced.

The Naviband beeped but nothing appeared on the screen. Odd. Zap would love this enigma of a device. As Zap crossed his mind, the strongest compulsion to get up and move washed through Kai. The Naviband seemed to pulse in time to the urge in his mind.

He got up and walked through the doorway. An overwhelming urge to take the passage to the left beat inside his chest. He followed. The compulsion inside changed as he moved. Each time he yielded to it, the next direction came.

Kai found himself alone in a long passage, and he picked up the pace to a jog. Following the promptings took him down a lift and through a warren of turns and passages. It ended with a dull buzz from the Naviband.

Restricted area, not for cleared for access. He hunted around and found a security guard asleep at his station. Could it be this easy?

~*~

“What are you doing? That’s perfectly good water! Why are you pouring it down the drain?” Bree had her good hand on her hip, and the other hung limp again.

Evazee held the bottle under her nose and pointed at the symbol. “Don’t you recognise this?”

“It’s a fountain. What’s wrong with that?”

Evazee squinted at it again, turning it towards the light, this way and that. “How can you not see snakes?”

Bree frowned at her as if she was speaking Spanish. “Maybe you need glasses.”

Paintbrush held out a hand to see. “Snakes.” A shudder of deep revulsion ran through her. “I don’t want that.”

“Well, fountains or snakes, that symbol is on every product used in the kitchen.”

“But that’s terrible. I wouldn’t trust anything with that image on.”

Bree shrugged. “You and a whole bunch of radicals that live outside the city. They too have your issues.”

Evazee’s heart popped in her chest. It beat so fast, the noise of it filled her head. She knew this feeling. This was the Holy Spirit. “Take me to them.”

~*~

The security guard’s Naviband took Kai straight to where Zap and Ruaan were being held, down a passage full of tiny cubicles and holding cells. The Naviband unlocked the cells too.

They came out of the darkness, blinking wildly.

“How did you get us out? I thought you’d be locked up too.” Zap’s pupils were twice as big as usual.

Kai frowned and waved a hand over Zap’s face. “Did they inject you yet?”

“I dunno. I can’t remember much.” Zap rubbed his knuckles into his temples.

Kai grabbed his arm and studied it for fresh puncture holes. The skin seemed intact.

Ruaan groaned and doubled over. “They haven’t fed us either.”

“OK, come you two. We have to get back home. I think this navi-thing will get us out of here.”