Chapter Twenty-One

 

 

A lot happened when the black vapor died down.

First, there were a few hundred bodies in the plaza, all covered in what looked like sparkling black soot. That was the gross part. We'd probably have to help clean that up, but at least they weren't gory like the victims of the virus had been.

Then I hugged both of my parents, and then we all embraced together. Dad even got Matt to join in on the hugging, which I could tell he was uncomfortable with doing. Well, so was I. We had never been a touchy-feely type family, and we all struggled to hold back tears, which was super awkward.

And right after that, dozens upon dozens of Enforcer helicopters descended on Landin, coming from all directions. The broadcast had gone to everyone's contacts in the world, and it seemed that the Grounders hadn't yet had time to enslave all of the law enforcement. Though they didn't have weapons, I knew that they had cameras, and they were broadcasting the results of this battle to the rest of the world. I knew that, in every corner of the planet, people must be cheering and hoping for the return of those still stuck in the Mars colonies. There would be joy and grief, anger and pain.

It was surreal, being in the center of it.

The Enforcer helicopters landed where they could, and the occupants got out. They wandered around while the rest of us stayed up in our walkers, not sure what to do. At last, someone climbed down from one and walked over to speak with the Enforcers, cape flowing. Leader Kassam. He had survived after all, and though he walked with a bit of a limp, he seemed otherwise healthy.

Matt scrambled down the ladder. "I need to go see my dad," he said, disappearing.

I wanted to say something after him, like how he had been angry with his distant father before, but I got it. I did.

Mom winked at me. "Is that your new boyfriend?"

Dad took a step forward, limping a bit himself. "I'll need to put the scare in him, in that case. And you, Tess, for coming back here."

"I'm following Matt," I said. "You two stay up here and recover."

I had never scrambled down the ladder as quickly.

I let Matt go over and speak with his father, who also wrapped him in a hug. I looked around to see Lili and Lyle holding onto each other and staggering out of the Great Council, but none of the other Identity people came out with them. I knew what had happened and that there would be some awful bodies inside, mixed in with the Grounders. Everything felt strange. We were both refugees from dead worlds, fighting over the same living planet, but the Grounders had gone too far.

We would have to be careful not to be like them.

Matt and his father separated. He faced me and smiled.

And then I broke inside as I remembered who his father was, and where he wanted Matt to go.

If Matt was having that thought, he wasn't showing it yet. He grinned as he stepped around a Grounder body and walked towards me. "Tess," he said. "I've meant to give you something, and if you don't want it, I understand. I've been holding onto something for you for days." He reached into his pocket.

"Which is?" I asked, heart racing.

Matt drew out a single patch and held it out to me.

My old Earther patch.

The one that Mr. Skeleton had cut off right after I finished watching that horrible movie.

I stared at it for what felt like minutes. Matt was patient, keeping his palm outstretched. "I managed to pick it up right after you passed out. I knew you wouldn't take it before, so I kept it to myself. But now that we know the truth about the Grounders, you're just as justified in wearing this as they are. I mean, I get it if you don't want to take it back--"

Without thinking, I snatched it out of his hand.

"Of course I'll take it back," I said. "I can't believe I beat myself up like that for so long."

Matt grinned. "I'd kiss you, but that's gross with all these bodies lying around."

"I agree," I said, knowing that Mom and Dad were watching from above. "And we want to do it when my dad isn't going to climb down and kill you."

 

* * * * *

 

The next weeks were chaos.

But it was good chaos.

A few members of the Great Council survived the attacks by staying inside the building, but the Enforcers were able to get in and grab them (while wearing oxygen masks at the warning of the surviving Identity people) and they dragged them out after using those electric batons to paralyze them. The Enforcers also brought in teams to clean up the mess around Landin, and they brought in a group to blow up the factory the Grounders had been using to harvest people. A special news report came out about the inner workings of the evil facility, but I didn't get to watch it because only adults got access, many of whom decided they didn't want to see the graphic details. Mom and Dad forbade me to see it, anyway.

That was ironic because I had already witnessed more than they had. But it wasn't like I wanted any more reminders of what Matt and I had experienced.

The Enforcers took over the duties of the Great Council the best they could, and they handed over the remaining Grounders to Leader Kassam and his surviving people. Leader Kassam dragged many of them, including Mr. Skeleton, to Space Port Nine. Matt and I didn't know for sure what was going on there, but it seemed that his father had deported at least some of them because the news reports showed ships leaving and heading in a direction that didn't lead to Mars.

I could rest easy, knowing that Mr. Skeleton was on his way to a horrible death.

And better yet, the Enforcers paid for us to have the green pigment removed from our skin. They had great doctors, and after another simple nanobot injection, I noticed the new color fading a bit more with each day. Even Matt started to look normal, which I had to get used to because I had never seen him as anything other than green. Soon, we'd look like everyone else, and life would get back to normal.

Matt stayed with my parents and me for a couple of weeks while his father helped the Enforcers clean up the mess we had made. He wasn't around much, but Matt assured me that this was usual. My parents made him stay in the spare room across the house from me, but that didn't stop us from going out at night and watching the artificial moon from drifting across the top of the dome.

And the park itself--wow.

Mom and Dad hired some wreckers to remove the cylinder that still sat in the middle of the park. They also filled in the giant hole and planted new trees. It was like watching our bad memories get hauled away and just watching the thing go eased my nightmares some. Another crew fixed the holes in the dome. Talking to the therapist my parents hired to see us helped, but what made things easier was having Matt there. He hadn't stopped believing in what was right, even after I almost had.

And the best part? The little farming bots had scattered around the surrounding neighborhood, planting grass seeds and flower seeds and everything else, and the day that Mom and Dad made me get on the transport belt to go back to school, I could see little sprouts in yards everywhere. They weren't much yet, but I caught a glimpse of an occasional living dust speck scurrying around, even in the plaza. It helped ease my sadness that Toni was no longer there, selling food, but at least the Grounders had either fled back underground or gotten blasted to Venus. At least, it was what all the news reports said--and that scientists were coming up with a vaccine for the virus if it should ever crop up again.

It would take a while, but the world would heal. Now free from the Grounders, we were working on it.

And on the way to school, I held Matt's hand.

"So," I said as we boarded the transport belt. "What's going to happen with the colonies? You have to go back when your father does, don't you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about that," Matt said, waving to Winnie, who stood at a vending machine.

My heart sank. It was the thing I had been dreading.

Did Matt look sick? He barely had any of the green hue in his skin anymore, so that made it hard to tell.

"My father told me that he's going back to the colonies," Matt said, "but he also wants to make it an option if people want to come back to Earth or stay on Mars and help him build it up. He thinks it's a good idea to have a backup planet in the future in case the Grounders manage to reach the surface again. Some of them are still down there."

I eyed the red weeds outside, which looked sickly. The nanobots had reached the wilds, and I could tell that they were beginning to do their work. Soon, it would be green plants outside this tube rather than these that belonged underground. The smog also remained, but it didn't appear quite as thick as it used to. The plants would help take that out of the air as well.

"Well," I said. "It saved us before." I was dodging the real question.

But Matt came through with his honesty and answered it before I could ask. "He told me that I could stay here if I wanted and that he'll be happy to visit a couple of times per year. It depends on how busy he gets, but it won't make much difference if you know what I mean."

I faced Matt, jaw falling, right there on the transport tube.

"You get to stay here?"

He nodded. "Your grandpa's video changed, well, everything. My dad's willing to help me pay for an apartment downtown for the next couple of years. I'll need to get a job, of course. Your dad offered me one in the park."

"He didn't kill you."

"I don't think he will. Yet. By the way, can I kiss you now that there aren't any bodies or parents around?"

We had been so crowded with reporters and Enforcers and, well, parents, that we hadn't gotten much of a chance to have alone time. It would get better in the coming months. I hoped.

"Yes," I said, right there on the transport tube. "You can."