The camp seems oddly quiet tonight. People aren’t even whispering; they’re sleeping, or staring at the walls with uncertain looks on their faces. In the Surface camp, if we’d heard that someone set off explosives in the quarantine facility, we would’ve cheered.
I can only assume the submission serum is the reason no one here seems to care. Their eyes don’t seem muddled or lifeless, like the eyes of most of the subdued I’ve seen, but there’s clearly something different about them. Maybe the effects are taking longer to set in, because there’s something different about the injections they were given.
In the shadows, I lean against the wall hugging my knees to my chest. It’s been hours since the explosion. I couldn’t stay near the building to watch the rescue teams, because of Sam, so I don’t know if they’re still trying to get people out. I don’t know where Hector or Evie or Arthur is. Hopefully not trapped in the facility—hopefully they’re somewhere in one of these crowded rooms. I haven’t exactly been looking for them. Chances are they were given the injection, so they’re probably silent like all the rest of these people. But Skylar’s right—there must be a few people in the camp, at least, whose bodies have rejected the serum. There must even be a few who didn’t get the shot at all, since the bomb went off in the middle of the inspections. If they aren’t subdued like all the others, they must be aware that something is wrong. Maybe they would believe me if I told them what I know. But how can I pick them out from all the rest?
If only Logan were here. Maybe he’d be subdued like everyone else, but at least he’d be with me. Most of the time, things make more sense with him around.
When we first arrived at the KIMO facility, he hardly left my side. We’d been apart for so long since I left for the Core—even when we were reunited, it was in the midst of a fight we almost didn’t survive—and both of us were afraid of losing each other again.
The first night in the compound, we’d been assigned separate bunk rooms, and I resigned myself to the fact that we’d have to spend our nights apart. But Logan had a different idea. He told me to wait until everyone else in my room was asleep, slip out of bed, and meet him in one of the training rooms. When I found him, he’d set up a makeshift bed with blankets on the floor mat, in a corner.
“I figured it’s still better than where we used to sleep, back in the camp,” Logan said with a sheepish smile.
“It’s perfect,” I said, dropping onto the mat and pulling one of the blankets over me. “Even if people can see us on the security cameras.”
“It’s dark. Anyway, I doubt the techs pay much attention during the night.”
“Hopefully not.”
Logan slid an arm around my waist. “I missed you,” he said softly.
His words were soft and simple, but they sent an ache straight through me, because a few days before, they’d meant so much more.
I leaned my forehead against his. “I’m here now,” I reminded him.
“Good,” he whispered, and kissed me. His lips were soft and tasted sweet. I melted into him, pushing off the blanket so it wouldn’t be between us. He responded by shifting his body closer to mine. Nervousness trickled down my spine, but I didn’t stop him.
All those days I was separated from him, and finally he was right there beside me.
He kissed me again and again, each kiss deeper than the last. My fingers drifted under his shirt and traced lines above the hem of his pants. Logan made a low, guttural sound in his throat. His mouth moved to my neck, while his hands slipped underneath my shirt.
He was kissing me faster now, pressing his lips against my skin once, twice, a hundred times. I fell apart, unraveling at his fingertips. Every breath for him, every touch for him.
He pulled away from me abruptly, wincing.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“Nothing,” he said. But when he leaned in to kiss me, whatever it was made him stop again. He groaned.
“Is it your leg?” I asked.
His face tightened with pain. “It’s been acting up lately.”
I helped him lower onto his side on the mat, to take his weight off his bad leg. Laying beside him, I pulled the blanket over both of us.
“Thanks,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to mess this up.”
“You don’t have to apologize. This was perfect.” I wrapped my arms around him, and he snuggled me back with a sigh.
In the darkness, there was nothing else, only the comfort of his body close to mine. I let exhaustion creep over me and carry me away.
Before I drifted off to sleep, I heard Logan whisper, “I’m glad you didn’t forget me.”
If I’d been awake enough to answer, I would’ve assured him I could never forget him, not in a million years, no matter how long we were apart.
The ceiling lamp flickers off overhead, drenching the cave room in darkness. It keeps doing this. Whoever manages the camp’s electricity must not care if it’s in perfect working condition, as long as the lamps occasionally give off light.
A couple seconds later, the lamp flickers back on. I push off the ground and move toward the door. I can’t keep sitting here. I’d might as well check out the quarantine facility again. At this point, I almost don’t even care if Sam sees me—but I won’t let him.
There’s a croacher nest on the ground between the cave rooms. I hop over it, grimacing.
“Clementine,” someone says, ahead of me.
I stiffen, my eyes still on the ground. Maybe they’re not talking to me—maybe someone else in here has that name. But I’m pretty sure I know that voice. I’m pretty sure she knows exactly who I am.
I slowly lift my head. Nellie stands a few feet away from me, smirking.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“So you answer to your real name too,” Nellie says, taking a step closer. “I was starting to wonder if you had a twin, but it seemed unlikely the Developers would let two identical idiots live past age two or three. If there’s just one of you, it’s easier to believe they didn’t notice.”
“What do you want, Nellie?” I ask again, louder.
She keeps smirking, like she loves making me mad. But her eyes shift past me and I notice something harder in them. Almost fear. She takes a step to the side of me, keeping her gaze on the room behind me.
“I need to talk to you about what you’re doing here,” she says quietly. “About why you aren’t in the Core. Can you meet me near the latrine station?”
Her voice is entirely different than it was a moment ago, no longer accusing. Maybe she’s playing some joke on me, but I think her nervousness is real. I search her face for any signs that she might be subdued. As with all the others in the camp, there aren’t any. But she’s not acting like them anyway.
“Did you go to inspection today?” I ask. “Did the doctors give you a shot?”
“Yes.” She looks confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just curious.”
Either the serum hasn’t worked its way into her bloodstream yet, or it didn’t work on her for some reason. Maybe she’s allergic to it like I am, but in a less extreme way. Maybe she’s too strong willed for Charlie’s medicine. Maybe that was clear during her test on Extraction day, and that’s why she wasn’t picked.
“So, will you meet me or not?” Nellie asks.
“Why should I? You tried to kill me the last time I saw you. Did you think I’d forgotten?”
“I know,” she says stiffly. “I know I did, and of course you don’t owe me any favors. But I heard what you said the other day, and I know you’re hiding something. Also, I’m pretty sure you don’t want anyone to know you’re here. Maybe I’ll mention your real name to the guards if you won’t explain everything.”
I flex my hands and tighten them, considering breaking her nose. It’s ugly already, but I’m sure I could make it uglier.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll meet you by the latrines. But if you tell a single person—”
“I won’t unless you don’t show up. Meet you in ten.”
She slips away into the shadows of the room I was on my way out of. I watch her until she’s gone, then head in the opposite direction, letting out a hiss of frustration. Nellie is the last person in the camp I want to trust—and really, how can I trust her? She doesn’t care about me, or anyone. She puts her own survival above everything.
But she’s the only person here who knows I don’t belong, and she hasn’t told anyone. If she cares about her survival, my story about Charlie’s bomb will make her want to fight him, before he can do something that will result in her death.
I hope I’m right. It would be nice to have an ally.
* * *
We meet beside the latrine station, in a small space between the flimsy building and the wall of the cave. No one’s around at this hour, and the nearest cam-bot is in the adjacent room, so there isn’t much of a risk of being overheard. Still, we talk in whispers.
I tell Nellie everything: How I showed up in the Core and realized the testing wasn’t over. How I had to kill someone and become stronger, faster, smarter to prove I had high Promise. How after the final test, we were all given injections, which turned everyone into smiling puppets and made people believe Charlie when he told lies about moonshine growing stronger, making it necessary for some of us to fly away. How I still had control of my mind, so I didn’t believe him. How I tried to destroy his bomb before he could use it, but he caught me.
I tell her about Karum and the things I learned from Fred about Marden. I tell her how Beechy broke me out, and how we hijacked Charlie’s bomb and used it to destroy the acid generator—but too late, because Charlie had taken the shield down. I tell her how I’ve been working with the Alliance ever since, how we came here to launch a coup against him and the other Developers because we know he hasn’t given up.
Nellie doesn’t interrupt me, but she looks more and more worried the longer I talk. When I’m finished, she slides down the wall until she’s sitting, and stares at her hands.
“The doctors gave us that injection you talked about today, didn’t they?” she says.
I rub my temple with two fingers. It’s still a bit sore from my injury earlier. “I think it’s a modified version, yes.”
“But I don’t feel any different.”
“It works best on people who have weak, malleable minds—people who can be persuaded easily to begin with. People with stronger minds can sometimes fight it. At least, that’s what Beechy told me.”
“That must be part of what they look for in the Extraction tests—weak minds.” Nellie laughs softly. “Makes me feel better, actually. But I guess that means they made a mistake with you.” She lifts her head, and one side of her mouth curves upward in a smile. Not a mean smile or a jealous smile, but a kind one. It looks strange, coming from her.
“Yeah, I guess they did,” I say with a short laugh.
“Serves them right.” Straightening up, Nellie wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “So what do we do now? Your rebels are the ones who took care of the quarantine facility earlier, I assume. What’s the next step of their plan?”
The sound of feet squishing through mud catches my ears. Someone must be using the latrine station. I hear a cough, and then a door closes behind me, on the other side of the wall.
“I don’t know,” I say, lowering my voice. “That’s the problem. The others stuck me in here and told me to recruit people for the uprising, but they haven’t told me all the plans. They’re too afraid I’m going to get caught and ruin things.”
“There’s gotta be something we can do,” Nellie says. “Blowing up the quarantine facility won’t stop Charlie from blowing up half the world again, if that’s his plan.”
“I don’t think it is. But I know, you’re right. I—” I pause. When Skylar and the others blew up the quarantine facility, all they needed was explosives and people to sneak them in.
We have access to explosives. I look up at the ceiling, at the spot on the other side of the station where the entrance to the maintenance corridor is hidden. It would take us to the room full of bombs in Camp B.
It also leads to the security hub, the main control room for the entire sector. The hub houses the power generators, the security camera monitors, the communication systems—everything. Skylar might be organizing a way to destroy it already, but maybe Nellie and I can do it first.
“I have an idea,” I whisper, and Nellie’s eyes light up. “It’ll be dangerous, though. We’re going to have to climb to some high places.”
“Whatever it is, I’m game,” she says.
I quickly explain what I’m thinking. She offers suggestions, and slowly our plan comes together.
A loud siren cuts us off. It screeches from the walls, from speakers I didn’t even know existed, and I slap my hands over my ears to drown out the noise. Nellie says something, but I can’t hear her.
I don’t know what’s happening, but the sound reminds me of the emergency sirens back at the KIMO facility when we thought Charlie’s army had found us. The day I slipped up when I was using the fighter jet guns. The day Cady died.
The siren shuts off, leaving my ears ringing. I wait for it to start again.
Instead, a loud voice crackles through the speakers.
“Attention, all workers in the camp. This is Lieutenant Sam of the Core Special Security squad.”
My muscles tense.
“As you may know, earlier today we were attacked by fugitives from the Surface,” Sam says. “They snuck into the quarantine facility and set off explosives while inspections were under way. Many people were trapped inside. Many didn’t survive. We believe the intention of the insurgents was to kill many more of you, but luckily we were able to prevent that from happening.”
“Yes, that was their intention.” Nellie snorts.
I don’t laugh. We already know what happened, so Sam must have a reason for saying all this over the loudspeaker. It can’t be good.
“Tonight, we’ve placed extra patrols throughout the camp,” Sam says. “They are there to keep you safe. But we need your help in order to prevent such an attack from happening again. If anyone has information regarding the bombers—if you’ve overhead or seen anything suspicious lately, such as people spreading falsities about the Developers or others who protect you, please tell a patrol right away.”
This is how he’ll turn everyone against me. “All those who provide substantial information will be offered a once-in-a-lifetime reward—a chance to be picked for a special Extraction in two days’ time. You don’t need to be sixteen years of age to be eligible, and you may have already participated in an Extraction ceremony.”
I’ve told Nellie all my secrets, and now she could give me up if she wanted, for a ticket to safety in the Core. This could be exactly what she meant to do all along.
“Again, please convey any information you have regarding the fugitive attack to a guard as soon as possible. The Developers, especially Commander Charlie, our righteous leader, thank you for your assistance.”
There’s a crackle from the speaker, then silence. Long silence, in which I’m terrified to speak.
“Well,” Nellie says briskly. “We’d better hurry up and get going.”
“You’re still in?” I ask.
“Of course.” She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Sam’s a liar. Did you think I wouldn’t get that, after everything you said?”
No, I wasn’t sure at all. “I’m glad you did.”
“Good.” Nellie grins. “Ready to go blow up the security hub?”
“Been ready all my life.”