Dax and Ian burst into the furnace room. Ian charged Arlo and Nico, tackling them and scattering the pile of crates across the room. The pair dropped Tristan, who tumbled to the floor.
“Wait, it’s not what it looks like,” Arlo cried. “It was just a prank. We were only giving him a scare. See, he’s all right.”
Tristan gave a muffled response.
Dax grabbed Arlo by the throat and pulled him to his feet. Ian did the same to Nico. “The same type of ‘prank’ you pulled on Lucian? Fiona wanted proof of my suspicions: I’d say this proves you two are cold-blooded murderers.”
“Tristan plays pranks all the time,” Arlo said. “We were just playing one on him. We’re not murderers.”
“And even if we were,” Nico said, “what could you do about it? You’re not in charge, Dax. Varian is.”
“Shut up, Nico,” Arlo said.
“No, keep talking Nico,” Dax said. “You’re right; there’s nothing I can do. So tell me, which one of you broke Lucian’s fingers?”
“That was Arlo’s idea. He snapped them one at a time.”
“Shut up, Nico,” Arlo cried.
“Like Dax said, only Varian has the power to punish us. It doesn’t matter if we tell her.” Nico turned to Dax and chuckled. “Arlo did it while singing Ten Little Indians. The kid’s whole body jerked and he tried to scream with each broken finger.”
Dax gritted her teeth and glared at Arlo. “And then Arlo killed him.”
Nico shook his head. “Nah, I did that.”
“Those bruises I saw on Lucian’s body…” Dax began.
“He made a good punching bag.” Nico laughed. “Like I said, Dax, we’re enforcers. As long as we keep Varian happy, we can do whatever we want. Besides, I never liked that brat anyway.”
Ian’s fist pummeled Nico like a pile driver. “I liked Lucian. He was just a little kid.” Nico collapsed, unconscious. Ian advanced on Arlo.
Dax saw the fear in Arlo’s eyes. “Stop him!” Arlo cried.
She shrugged. “I’m not in charge, remember? Ian doesn’t have to listen to me; if he did, I’d tell him to break your fingers one by one. Instead, I’m just going to stand here and enjoy watching whatever he does to you.”
The muscular youth grabbed Arlo with both hands and lifted him by the neck and leg like a barbell, throwing him against the wall. Arlo slammed into the wall and dropped to the floor, badly shaken. Ian pulled him up by his hair.
“Please, Ian, don’t listen to Dax. Don’t break my fingers.”
“All right. That’d take too long anyway.”
Arlo relaxed, giving a relieved sigh.
“I’ll just break your jaw, instead.”
Arlo’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth but before he could protest Ian’s enormous fist slammed into his face, again and again until Arlo went limp.
Ian released Arlo’s hair and let him fall to the floor. “He was right, though. Varian won’t punish them.”
“Especially not if Varian ordered them to kill Lucian and Tristan.” Dax glanced at Tristan, still gagged and bound lying several feet away on the floor. “Tristan’s been through an ordeal; he looks shaken up and he may have been singed by the flames. Why don’t you take him back to his room to lie down?” She picked up one of the scattered crates. “I’ll clean up here and check in on him later. First I want a word with Varian.”
“Mmmubm!” Tristan cried, shaking his head.
Ian nodded. “Gonna need to get a knife to slice this tape off him.”
“Don’t rip the tape off his mouth; ask Fiona to find some oil from the kitchen to dissolve it. You don’t want to rip his lips off with the tape.” She turned to Tristan. “Don’t worry, Varian won’t get away with ordering Lucian’s death.”
Tristan shook his head vigorously. “Mmmubm!” he cried.
Ian picked Tristan up and cradled him like a baby. “Relax, little guy. I’ll carry you to your room.” They left, as Dax stacked the crates, remaining behind with the two unconscious killers. Dax grabbed Nico’s ankles and slid him across the floor to the base of the furnace. Then she walked to Arlo, slipped her hands beneath his underarms and dragged him over to the furnace beside Nico.
Esme knocked on Varian’s door. He was surprised to see her. “Change your mind already?
“Hardly.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“For some sick reason, I still care about you enough that I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I ran into Ian helping Tristan to his room. Arlo and Nico were going to throw him into the furnace.”
“What?” Varian’s jaw dropped.
“You didn’t know?”
“Of course not. Is he all right?”
“I think so. But Ian said you told them to kill him.”
“That’s absurd! I knew nothing about this.”
“Í hoped you’d say that. You seem genuinely surprised.”
“I am. I’m going to have to do something about those two.”
“You need to worry about yourself. Once he knows Tristan’s all right, Ian’s going to be coming for you… and so will everyone else when he tells them you ordered Tristan and Lucian killed.”
“But I didn’t!”
“I believe you but a lot of angry people won’t. You’d better find somewhere to hide until they calm down.”
Varian nodded. Esme turned to leave. “Esme.”
She turned back. “What?”
“Thanks. I hope Blaine’s smarter than me and realizes how lucky he is.”
She gave a half-smile and headed down the hall. Varian stood at the door pondering his options. He was all alone now. He has no friends, no allies. They had all turned on him believing the worst of him. Even those he hadn’t alienated by his greed and hubris couldn’t forgive the prospect of murdering one of their own. Varian panicked. Fear pushed adrenaline through his bloodstream as he raced from his room in search of a hiding place. It had to be somewhere no one was likely to go, but even in such a sprawling complex there was hardly an inch which the dozens of teenagers didn’t visit at some point. Except, he thought…
He knew there was one person who seldom visited the bunker’s many nooks and crannies because she rarely left her room – and she never had visitors. Coralie’s a loner with no friends and no one else will enter her room, which makes it the perfect hiding place, he thought. Varian knocked on her door. When Coralie opened it, he pushed his way in. “They’re after me. I need to hide.”
“Who’s after you?”
“Everyone. But this is the last place they’d think to look.”
“Why’s everyone after you?”
“They blame me for what happened to Lucian and Tristan. They don’t understand. But you understand, don’t you Coralie? We’re both outcasts and we should help each other.” Varian was desperate, shaking and sweating.
“Tristan, too? Then, it’s true. Arlo and Nico killed him?” Dax and Ian must have been too late, she thought. Then it hit her. “What about Dax?”
“Who cares about Dax? I’m the one being hunted.”
Coralie backed away and ran to the door. She opened it and screamed, “Dax! Dax!”
“Coralie!” Dax called out from down the hall.
“There he is!” Keiana shouted.
Varian stepped into the hall and saw Dax, Keiana, Ian, and a mob of others heading his way. He bolted, heading into the main area of the bunker. He saw the social area, and beyond it the foreboding exterior hatch leading to the world outside the bunker. He ran to the hatch and turned the hand wheel. His hands gripped the wheel coating it with sweat. If he stayed in the bunker, he would be cornered with nowhere to run; outside, he would be free, with unlimited places to escape to. Yet the virus and other dangers awaited him outside. Varian was conflicted. Then, he heard voices and saw his pursuers descending on him. He pushed open the hatch and clambered out.
Varian was prepared to see anything – except the sight that greeted him. He saw at least a dozen boots and wrapped his arms around the closest one. He looked up and gasped in surprise. “Covid!” He tightened his grip, clutching Covid’s leg. “Please! You must protect me from that mad mob.”
“You saved us the trouble of knocking,” Covid said. “Now, what are you talking about?”
Destine turned to Archer and Robin. “Can you two and Maga tie up all the horses? It sounds like we may be needed inside. We’ll leave the hatch open for you.”
“Sure,” Archer said.
Corona, Kai, and Destine stepped through the hatch into the bunker, followed by Covid and Varian. They were greeted by a wave of shock and joy from their friends. Fiona, Nessa, Tristan, Corbin, Coralie, Blaine, and Esme had joined Keiana, Ian, and Dax in the social area. Many others were exiting their rooms and pouring in to find out what all the commotion was about. Fiona embraced Corona, although Coralie cautioned to stay a safe distance from the returnees in case they had been infected.
“No need to worry about that, Coralie,” Kai said. “As far as we can tell, the virus is gone and has been for many years.”
“We can go outside safely and begin building structures above ground,” Covid said.
“What’s it like out there?” Keiana asked.
“It’s a vast land, larger than you can imagine,” Covid said. “There’s incredible beauty and incredible danger. There are also survivors: some good and some evil. There’s love and family, hardship and perseverance, and death. And we’ve only scratched the surface.”
“Yet we’ve made friends.” Destine said. “Three of them have come back with us.”
A murmur went through the crowd. “Where are they?” Nessa asked.
“Outside securing the horses,” Destine said. “They’ll join us inside the bunker shortly and then you can all meet them.
Nessa cocked her head. “What are horses?"
Covid laughed. “I think you’re going to enjoy the answer to that.”
“Not to mention going for a ride in my not-a-sports-car once its battery is recharged,” Kai said.
“Your what?” Nessa asked.
“It sounds like you’ll all have some interesting stories to share,” Keiana said, “but first, we have a pressing matter to attend to.” She pointed to Varian.
Covid followed her gesture. “What’s this all about?”
“Since everyone’s present, we need to determine Varian’s fate.”
“Don’t tell me you’re dumping Varian as leader already?”
Keiana’s mien turned deadly serious. “Not only has Varian proven unfit to lead us, he has shown he’s unfit to be a member of our community. We must decide whether he should be banished from the bunker or if his misdeeds warrant the loss of his life.”
“Huh?” Covid exclaimed. “We’ve been gone a few days and you’ve all taken leave of your senses? The death penalty is something out of our history books; it would never be condoned in the bunker. We don’t kill each other.”
“Varian did!” Nessa exclaimed. “He killed Lucian! And he almost killed Tristan!”
Covid, Corona, Kai, and Destine shared a shocked expression. Corona shook her head, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of Lucian. “Lucian’s dead?”
Dax stepped forward. “Beaten to death by Varian’s enforcers, Arlo and Nico.”
“Enforcers?” Destine asked.
“His henchmen,” Dax said. “They kidnapped Tristan and were going to throw him into the furnace.”
Corona was shocked. “This is unbelievable.”
“Obviously, we need to choose a new leader,” Destine said. “Since Covid received the second highest vote, I propose he be declared our leader.”
“Hold on!” Keiana exclaimed. “I got as many votes as Covid. By that standard, I should be declared the leader.”
“We don’t need another leader plagued by hubris and poor judgment,” Dax said. “Or are you forgetting you also played a role in Lucian’s death, manipulating him into writing that song?”
Keiana bowed her head. “That’s not fair, Dax. I never meant—”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Dax said. “What you intended is irrelevant; only what happened matters. And what happened is a thirteen-year-old child is dead because you saw him only a pawn in your Machiavellian power play against Varian. I saw a dead little boy lying battered and bruised, in his bed doomed by your machinations, miscalculations, and poor judgment.”
Corona stepped forward. “We can hold a new election later but for now we must decide Varian’s fate. We need to choose a judge. Since Covid and Keiana got the most second place votes in the election one of them should be the judge, but as Keiana’s been accused of poor judgment, the duty should fall to Covid.”
Keiana saw the crowd nodding and decided not to push the issue. She didn’t care who became the judge: Varian’s fate was sealed. He would either be banished or executed. She was more interested in the longer-term question of who would lead the bunker.
“All right, I’ll do it,” Covid said. “Varian you’ve been accused of causing Lucian’s death and Tristan’s attempted death. Are you guilty?”
“No,” Varian said.
“Liar!” Keiana exclaimed.
“He’s telling the truth,” Esme said. “He told me he never ordered Arlo and Nico to kill Lucian and he didn’t know Lucian was dead until the morning we all found out. And Varian didn’t know they tried to kill Tristan until I told him.”
“You’re sleeping with him,” Kai said. “You’d say anything to save him.”
“Possibly,” Corbin said, “but Esme’s still right. I overheard Arlo and Nico. Varian only sent them to beat up Lucian. They admitted they accidently killed him while beating him up. And I also heard them plotting to kill Tristan: it was obvious they hadn’t discussed it with Varian.”
Varian sighed in relief. He shot Corbin a thankful smile.
Dax gave Corbin a quizzical look. “What’s you angle, Corbin? You never volunteer any information unless you benefit from it. Is Varian paying you for an alibi?”
“Absolutely not. I merely thought it was my civic duty to reveal what I had overheard.”
“So you’re not receiving anything in payment from Varian?” Dax asked disbelievingly.
Corbin fidgeted. “Varian’s not giving me anything to say this. However…”
Dax arched an eyebrow. “However?”
Corbin frowned. “He is supposed to give me six thousand credits later tonight – payment for another business transaction unrelated to this matter – and it occurs to me Varian can’t pay me if he’s been banished or executed.”
Dax displayed a self-satisfied look. “So you do have a reason – six thousand reasons – to say anything to save Varian.”
Corbin grimaced. “Yes, but what I said is nonetheless true.”
Covid looked at Varian. “It seems everyone speaking on your behalf has an ulterior motive.”
“I don’t,” Tristan said. “Arlo told me Lucian’s death was an accident. Varian didn’t send them to kill him but he did send them to beat him up. And he did send Arlo and Nico to kill me.”
“No, Tristan,” Varian said. “I swear I never sent them to kill you.”
Tristan turned to Blaine. “Tell Covid. Tell him how Varian made you lure me to the furnace room where they were waiting for me.”
Blaine turned pale. “Actually, I never spoke to Varian. Nico came to my room and told me to tell you Varian wanted to meet you to apologize. I had no idea it was a trap to kill you. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, it does seem out of character for Varian to want to apologize. I think Nico wanted me to believe Varian was going to be there to apologize so I could sound convincing to you. He was scamming us both; I don’t think Varian knew anything about it.”
Covid ruminated. “Arlo and Nico can tell us if they acted on orders to kill Lucian or Tristan.”
“You can’t believe bullies like them,” Blaine said. “They bullied me for years.”
“They hurt Tristan even before they kidnapped him,” Nessa added.
Coralie spoke up hesitantly. “They tried to attack me, too. They are bullies… and worse.”
“Then, they need to be dealt with, as well.” Covid gazed around the sea of faces. “Where are they?”
Dax stepped forward bearing a grim countenance. “They’re gone… and they won’t be back.” Her chilling tone precluded further inquiries.
“Good riddance,” Coralie said. “I doubt anyone will miss them.”
Covid ruminated. “Since Varian didn’t order Lucian killed, he doesn’t deserve the punishment of death. But he did order Arlo and Nico to attack and beat up Lucian, making him unfit to lead us. He indirectly, albeit unknowingly, caused Lucian’s death. The only question is whether we should allow Varian to stay among us or banish him from the bunker.” He turned to Varian. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
“I never wanted anyone harmed. Not Lucian; not Tristan. I sent Arlo and Nico to frighten Lucian. I knew they were bullies but I didn’t realize they were sadists. I was horrified and sickened by what they did. I only wanted to scare Lucian to stop his criticism. Whether you think so or not, I was trying to be the best leader I could and he and others kept attacking me, especially with that damn song. I wanted him to stop the harassment and give me a chance. I never wanted him hurt, let alone killed. I didn’t kill him.”
Covid nodded. “If he were here, I’d ask Lucian what he thought your fate should be, Varian. Would he accept your explanation? Would he forgive you? I don’t know. Obviously we can’t ask Lucian. But this decision shouldn’t rest with me; it should be up to the one who was closest to Lucian – his best friend, Tristan."
Tristan stepped forward. Varian dropped to his knees before him. “Please don’t send me out there,” he begged. “I didn’t want Lucian harmed. I thought Arlo and Nico would shove him around, scare him, and he’d drop the whole stupid song stuff. I wanted to be a good leader, to help everyone. But I made mistakes, I took advantage of my position. Lucian realized that before I did and tried to tell everyone. I should have listened to his words, seen what he thought I was becoming. But that’s not me, not really. I’m not a tyrant. I’m not a monster. I’m just a kid who wasn’t mature enough for the responsibility I assumed. That, and my poor judgment, cost Lucian his life and that’ll be on my conscience forever. I’m sorry I trusted Arlo and Nico. I’m sorry Lucian’s dead. I’d do anything to undo it if I could, Tristan. But the bunker has been my home all my life; these people are the only family I’ve ever known.” He looked at the hatch. “Out there… I have nothing.”
Tristan had stood impassively, giving Varian a hardened stare the whole time he was speaking. Varian gazed up at him with pleading eyes, realizing Tristan blamed him for his best friend’s death. Tristan took a step closer and spit in his face. He turned his back to Varian, as the spittle dripped down his face. Varian realized he wouldn’t be able to persuade Tristan to forgive him. “Tristan. I deserved that. I don’t blame you for banishing me. I’d probably have done the same in your place.” He paused, and added softly, “I know you won’t believe me now – maybe one day – but I am truly sorry they killed Lucian.”
Destine offered Varian her canteen. “Drink it sparingly. It gets hot out there.”
Covid and Kai each slipped an arm beneath Varian’s underarms and lifted him to his feet. “Corona, open the hatch,” Covid said.
His back still turned to Varian, Tristan said in a forceful monotone: “Let him stay.” Tristan’s laconic words delivered in an unexpressive tone stunned everyone in the social area, especially Varian. Covid and Kai released him, as he fell back to his knees. Emotionally spent, Varian crawled toward Tristan, and looked up at him. “Why?”
Tristan, facing Nessa and Fiona, still didn’t turn back. “Because I’m not you, Varian.” He looked at Nessa and Fiona, who gave him an approving smile, and walked out.