When the fog grew bright ahead, Lukas knew the sun had risen. He couldn’t actually see it, as he would have through the optical filter of the Canopy, but his compass indicated he was running due east. With each breath, his lungs sent out a puff of white that quickly dissipated into the surrounding fog. His heart pulsed at an elevated rate, but one he could maintain for an extended period.
Besides his breathing, the only other sounds were his boots hitting the terrain of the Barrens. The slap of mud. The crunch of gravel. The muted thud of weeds. Each sound alternating in a random sequence.
The Outlier clothing he wore, taken from a soldier killed in one of the recent tunnel conflicts, had been chosen only as a disguise. At first glance, Lukas had been repulsed by the mud and other unknown stains. But appearances, he’d learned, could be deceiving. The clothing was insulated, and during the cold hours before dawn, it had proved itself quite useful. It was also surprisingly quiet. The fabric made almost no sound as it slid across itself with each of Lukas’s strides. Whoever created it knew stealth movement would be critical to an Outlier’s survival. And now that the sun was up, Lukas could see how well the drab, mottled shades of brown, green, and gray blended with the appearance of the Barrens.
In addition to the disguise, Lukas carried an Outlier’s carbine on a strap around his neck and shoulders, as well as a handgun in a holster on his hip. It was apparently the standard complement of weapons, judging by the soldiers OCON had killed in the tunnels.
The only parts of Lukas’s attire that didn’t conform to Outlier standards were his rating—which he’d covered with fingerless gloves—and the backpack he carried. It contained food, a water filter, medical supplies, a tarp, a blanket, and an NVD—he anticipated being out in the Barrens for several days and nights. Without knowing exactly what to look for, he had to be prepared for almost anything.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t clear on his objective. Quite the opposite. Lukas was searching for evidence of an Outlier population. The place where they were hiding. It was a prerequisite to finding Rena. He just didn’t know what form the evidence would take.
OCON’s assault teams were scouring the tunnels beneath the city, tracking and killing Outlier recon teams in hopes of locating their base of operations. All of Rena’s friends, acquaintances, and family had been downrated and her father arrested. Operatives were surveilling every possible point of contact, hoping she would show her face. This war had grown exponentially in a matter of weeks, and unfortunately, Lukas had contributed to it. But somewhere along the way, his investigation into the Outlier spy initiative had become a personal mission to find Rena and tell her the truth.
The Outliers were using her as a tool to further their cause. OCON was using her as an excuse to expand their efforts to annihilate the Outliers. Rena was caught in the middle and she didn’t even know. It had taken time for Lukas to recognize it, but after watching the footage of her as an innocent child hiding in a dumpster, he was convinced she was still innocent.
o o o
“You ain’t like the other soldiers,” said Evelyn.
Rena brushed her hands together and the dirt fell off in clumps. “Why do you say that?”
“They have their tasks, and that’s all they ever do. This work,” she said, pointing to the row of holes Rena had almost finished digging, “it’s beneath them. Or so they think.”
Rena had decided to use her second day off to come back to the orchards and help Evelyn. And the old woman was right—the other members of Rena’s team thought she was crazy to spend her time working. Rena didn’t care. There was something peaceful about being outside among the trees. Digging her hands into the soil. Pruning bushes and watering plants. She was helping to keep something alive, and in doing so, Rena felt more alive than ever before. It wasn’t exciting work, like some of the things she’d done as a soldier, but it seemed more meaningful.
“I guess we all contribute in our own way,” Rena finally replied.
“Ain’t that the truth.”
There was a hint of bitterness in the old woman’s reply that caught Rena’s attention. “You don’t like those greenhouses … do you?”
Evelyn swatted at the air with her left hand. “It’s unnatural. There’s no love in how they treat them plants. No appreciation for what they give back to us.”
Rena thought about the contrast between growing techniques. The greenhouses were efficient, and because their purpose was functional, they were considered a success. The orchard was … not efficient. But the purpose of it was …?
She couldn’t put it into words. There was some sort of intangible value here that had to be felt. Experienced. Evelyn knew what that value was. She lived it. Breathed it. Stuck her hand into it every day. The real question was how did Rena recognize it?
“Evelyn?”
“Yes, child.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Oh … a long time. Lost track of how many years.”
“Were you here when Commander Ryce was born?”
Evelyn smiled. “You one of the few villagers who looks at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I know somethin’ worth knowin’.”
Rena frowned. She felt sorry for this old woman who was gradually being pushed to the fringes of Outlier society. Which was ironic, because the Outliers were an entire society of outcasts. Suddenly, Rena realized that she had tilted her head to one side like Clarine used to do.
“He wasn’t born here,” Evelyn continued. “He came from the city.”
“Oh!”
“Not many people realize that. He came here when he was just a few years older than you are now. The soldiers must’ve seen somethin’ in him, ‘cause they took him in before anyone else had a chance to find out what else he could do.”
Rena rubbed her hands on her pants and sat back on the dirt. “So he started at the bottom?”
Evelyn nodded. “He did so well over the years they kept promotin’ him. Eventually, after everyone else was killed fightin’ OCON, Ryce was the most experienced one left.”
That explained the commander’s passion for the cause. He’d lived through the death of all his superiors and had probably witnessed his friends being killed by operatives too.
“What about you? You were obviously born in Esh.”
Evelyn looked down at the stump of her right arm. “Seems like a lifetime ago.”
“What made you want to become an Outlier?”
“Well,” she said, lowering herself to the ground. “I started to see how Esh’s way of life was changin’ me. I didn’t want my thinkin’ to be contaminated by the system. I guess you could say … I followed the trees.”
“What do you mean?” Rena asked, her eyebrows dropping before she could stop them.
“There used to be more trees in Esh. Grass too. I don’t remember why, but this one day, I looked around and realized there were fewer livin’ things than there used to be. More buildings and paved places. I’d almost forgotten about the birds.”
Rena’s hand went immediately to her mouth. “You know what birds are?”
“Do you?” Evelyn cocked her head to one side.
A lump had developed in Rena’s throat. She shouldn’t have said anything, but what was she supposed to do now? Deny it? Pretend like she’d been joking? No. Evelyn had graciously answered all her questions. How could Rena do anything but repay her with honesty.
“I’ve seen them … in my mind. I have these dreams sometimes.” Rena tried to think of how to explain her memories, but the words wouldn’t come.
“There used to be birds in Esh,” Evelyn said. “Then you could only find ‘em in the trees on the Barrens. Eventually, they disappeared and so did the trees.”
Rena felt like she’d learned the answer to a riddle. “There was this big, dead tree on the east side of Esh. I took my friends out to see it one evening. They thought I was making it up.”
Evelyn squinted at the sky. “Everythin’ is changin’ around us, but most folks don’t pay any attention. If you try an tell ‘em, they think you crazy.”
Rena remembered the time she’d researched the declining population levels along the Outskirts. Esh and everything around it was becoming denser. More urban. Less natural. Could that be the meaning behind Eldric’s words?
This is how we used to live.
She turned to look up through the trees at the water spilling out of the drainage pipe near the walkway. “Were the cliffs always this steep?”
Evelyn squinted as she searched her memory.
“Do you ever recall a time when they had wild trees growing on them?” Rena tried again.
“No, child. I’m sorry. These canyons have looked the same for as long as I can remember. They always been steep. And they always pointed toward the Center of Esh. You know … that’s how we decide what to grow in each one. This one faces east, and the sunrise warms the air. The others to the north and south don’t get as much sunlight, so we keep the hardier crops there.”
“Wait. Why do all the canyons point toward the Center?”
Evelyn opened her mouth to answer, but then she just smiled. “Come with me. There’s somethin’ you should see with your own eyes.”
Rena was scared and intrigued at the same time, but Evelyn didn’t look the least bit concerned. She just climbed to her feet and started hobbling down the aisle through the trees. Rena took another look at the cliffs before getting up and following the old woman. The two walked in silence for twenty minutes before the trees and bushes disappeared behind them.
“Where are we going?”
Evelyn held up her finger. “If I tried to explain it, you wouldn’t understand.”
The dark soil of the orchard transitioned to pale sand. The fog thinned. The sound of the drainage pipe faded into the distance. The canyon grew wider with every step. It felt like they were walking down a slight grade. Half an hour after leaving the orchard, Rena also became aware of a strange sound. It pounded and hissed, pulsing with rhythm that shifted from uniform to random and back again.
“What is that?”
Evelyn continued hobbling along the coarse sand. “Come, child,” she replied, watching the terrain in front of her.
o o o
It sounded like thunder but in short, raspy bursts. Maybe it was the Outliers’ power generator. Some hydro-electric equipment they’d built to utilize the flow of Esh’s runoff. Or perhaps it was one of those water pods the soldiers used for transport. Whatever it was, the sound combined with the thinning fog put Lukas on alert. That was the only reason he saw the edge in time.
He came to a stop at the rim of a rocky slope plunging down at a sharp angle. The weeds and soil of the Barrens transitioned to loose rocks, some as big as Lukas’s head. He’d never seen anything so strange in all his life. In Esh, the ground was flat. In the Barrens, the ground was flat. It was the same everywhere as far as Lukas knew. The only time he’d ever heard of land being something other than flat was when he read about mountains in Dr. Mallory’s session notes. Rena had experienced delusions of living somewhere with land that angled up and down.
This is it! The Outliers’ camp!
It was the only explanation. Rena had grown up out here, trained as a young spy before they destroyed her memory. Her brain had taken that fractured information and turned it into something pleasant, called mountains. Lukas was so close to finding her he could almost taste it.
He stepped off the edge and began to climb down over the rocks. They slid from underneath him, forcing him to shift his weight constantly, feeling his way down the dangerous terrain. It took almost an hour until the slope flattened out. The rocks transitioned to pebbles. The fog continued thinning. The thunderous crashing sound grew louder. And the damp, pungent smell of the weeds gave way to something different. Almost salty.
When Lukas was able to stand upright, he walked down a gentle slope and out of the fog. What waited for him was not a water pod or a hydroelectric power generator. Nor was it an Outlier camp. The only thing that came close to comparison was the lake near the Center of Esh, where wealthy citizens sailed their expensive boats. But this was no lake.
The water extended all the way to the horizon. A clear horizon. A distinct line separating the water from the blue sky above it. And not just blue, but shades of orange and pink and gray as well. In the foreground, the water beat against the land in great swells that rose up and crashed with the thunderous noise that Lukas had mistaken for something else.
With raised awareness comes further evaluation.
It was something he’d told Rena once during a debate. He’d been trying to convince her of the value of multiple perspectives, and that agreement among many citizens is what allowed everyone to discover truth.
But Lukas stood in the middle of an overwhelming assortment of foreign sights and sounds and smells that made him question every experience before this one. In one brief moment, his argument faded into meaninglessness. Because agreement could never result in truth unless citizens possessed all the information to start with. And this thing before him, whatever it was called, proved that citizens didn’t have all the information they needed.