Chapter Eleven: The Code and the Quail

Ynkeri finds a way back and lands in more trouble than she bargained for

Ynkeri slept fitfully under an overhang that night, her knees hugged to her chest to keep warm. When she woke, it was raining again and though it hurt she pulled off her jacket and then the torn shirt beneath. Holding it out past the overhang where the water fell in cold sheets, she rubbed the fabric together to work out the filth with a cold anger. The blood from the previous day had turned the shirt a splotchy dark brown, but when she was done it looked tan- like nothing had ever happened. She laid it out to dry beside her and then washed her hands, the cold water making her teeth chatter.

            Next, she washed her face, rubbing her cheeks with her hands until they came away clean. Looking down at her flat chest, she could see a dark bruise just above her belly button where the baker’s son punched her. She slowly cleaned the grime off her arms and chest, working gently where the bruising made her wince. He’s dead. I killed him.

She didn’t want to take her pants off even though they were stained with the boy’s blood, so she put her jacket back on, and eased down the wall slowly. Ynkeri tried to think of what to do next, but nothing good would come. Instead, she kept seeing the baker’s son as he choked on his own blood trying to say something. What had he been trying to say, she asked herself over and over until she fell back into a fitful sleep.

            Ynkeri woke again, feeling too weak to move. Her head throbbed painfully and her stomach was a hollow part of her she couldn’t imagine finding the strength to fill again. She contemplated what it would be like to die where she sat. Would anyone find her bones? Would anyone cry? Maybe Lukas would, if he knew, but there was little chance of that now. All that energy wasted on a plan that was a failure from the start.

            And then she had a thought so simple and so brilliant that she laughed. It came from a place inside her she’d never known before, so hysterical it bordered insanity. She laughed until she cried and then she cried until, exhausted, she fell asleep again.

∞

            The third time she awoke, this time in the dark, she had a renewed sense of purpose. There was a weakness in her body she hadn’t experienced before that scared her, but she could push through it, she was sure. She would need to be extra careful and it would take more time to do everything, but this idea would work. It had to work.

            Ynkeri picked herself up and stood. She ached everywhere and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but she forced herself to put her torn shirt back on. Looking down at the mess it was, she pulled it back off. She could wear it backwards, maybe, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Shrugging back into the jacket and zipping it up to her chin, she inched her way towards the ledge and looked down to find herself only three floors from the street.

            Below, the street lights were a bright blue tint that reminded her of Medenhall Drive. A drain pipe made her descent much easier than she dared hope and when she reached the bottom, she breathed in the cold air with a sense of relief.

            She surveyed the street and saw that her original assessment was correct. The rows of homes were nicer than the ones on her old street. If the baker’s son used coordinates to deliver bread, the houses would have to have their coordinates listed somewhere, she surmised. The question was: how accurate were the messages Lukas left for the runners? She would just have to take a chance.

            She saw the lights were on in the windows to either side of the first door she came to. She backed away from the stoop and crossed the alley to the home on the right. Its windows were darkened so she made her way up the stairs and searched for anything that might list a series of numbers. The mail slot ended up being what she was looking for. The numbers were imprinted rather than painted, so she ran her fingers over them slowly, memorizing every number until she could recite them frontwards and backwards. It took a little while longer than she wanted, but every sound made her jump and scan the streets for people.

            By the time the sun was up, she was back on the roof, dozing off. She would sleep a little and then she would go searching for something to write with. If she couldn’t find Lukas, maybe she could make him come to her.

∞

            Of all the things she had to do, finding chalk turned out to be the most difficult. It was important that it was written in chalk since that was the only thing she’d ever seen Lukas use. Anything else and it might raise suspicion or, worse, make them change their tactics. It took several weeks for her to find exactly what she was looking for. Her searches weren’t wholly futile, however. She found more scrap metal for a new lean-to only a street or two away from where she’d been sleeping and the housing district proved to be full of re-usable trash. There were blankets far warmer than any she’d found before and candles that were only half used as opposed to nubs that lasted only a few minutes before they burnt the last shred of wicking.

            But Ynkeri did not grow attached to her new home or the things she collected. She grew stronger, scavenging food with a bit more success, but as she did, she continued to search for the remaining pieces that would lead her back to Lukas.

            She found what she was looking for several blocks away at a construction site. The pieces of chalk were in a little metal box next to stacks of grey-brown bricks, shielded from the rain. There were at least ten pieces of chalk, but Ynkeri judged she would only need two, based on their size. And anyway, if she needed more, she knew where to look. She pocketed them and scampered up a drain pipe, the sound of a scanner tipping her off to danger. While the hovering, genetic computer made its slow way down the street, she remained perfectly still. As she waited for the distinct hum to pass her by, she began planning where she would start writing her first coded messages.

∞

            Ynkeri watched the streets from the edge of her rooftop, unblinking, for an entire day after she wrote her code on the first round of walls. She didn’t expect it to work right away, but knowing that didn’t make the failure less disappointing. Sitting in her lean-to on the roof, but no matter how sad she felt, tears would not come. A determination took the place of sadness and she focused her energies on deciding what she would do next. Would she stay one more day and watch or try another set of buildings?  

In the end, she decided to stay. Ynkeri didn’t know exactly how long it would take for Heli’s runners to see her code and the thought of missing them made her feel queasy. One more day…

Ynkeri didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she jerked awake to the sound of scuffling shoes on the roof. By the sound, she guessed there were at least two. She immediately went for her boot and the knife she’d made- the one she’d killed the baker’s son with- but when they appeared at the lean-to’s entrance it was clear they expected her next move, disarming her almost instantly. Yelling would only draw unwanted attention, so she kicked at them until someone struck her over the head. A sharp, dizzying pain across her temple was the last thing she felt before her vision went to black.

The next time she opened her eyes, darkness greeted her. For a moment she thought she’d dreamed about the struggle, but when she tried to sit up, she found her wrists and ankles were bound tight. She swiveled her head around, listening to drops of water hitting a cement floor. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she could make out the shapes of two people- probably the ones who had kidnapped her- leaned against a wall not twenty feet from where she lay tied up.

“She’s awake,” a voice said tonelessly from the closest, shadowed figure. A grunt was the only reply from the other shade who pushed off the wall with a foot and walked towards her, the sound of the footsteps echoing off the bare walls. Panicked, Ynkeri tried not to whimper as she picked her head off the ground and sat up.

The shade turned into a thin-face man as he sat in front of her, crossing his legs under him like a school kid.

“Who do you work for?” he asked calmly.

“No one. I live by myself.” Ynkeri replied, crinkling her nose. “Who do you work for?” she asked, almost as an afterthought.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the man said, a smirk in his voice. “Who taught you how to use the cipher?” Ynkeri sighed, relieved. Her plan had worked- just not quite the way she’d expected it to.

“You’re both runners?” she asked, excited. The shadow stood up straighter against the wall and she could hear them both take in a sharp breath.

“Who taught you how to use the cipher?” The thin-faced man asked again, this time in a measured way that made Ynkeri a little afraid.

“No one. I figured it out,” she stammered out quickly.

“Bullshit,” the shadow exclaimed. The thin-faced man held up a hand as if to silence him, but he continued aghast. “Jennicks, seriously? There’s no way this starving little rat is smart enough to do much of anything. Look at her! She’s a plant. We ought to kill her and leave right now.”

“Shut. Up.” The thin-faced man named Jennicks said, his voice quiet and even. The shadow stopped talking. Ynkeri felt her heart racing as Jennicks turned his attention back to her.

“Who taught you to use the cipher?” He asked a third time. Ynkeri swallowed hard. She would have to be very careful if she was going to get out of this alive. Getting caught in a lie could be fatal so she would have to tell the truth. But how did she know these men weren’t plants just like the shadowed man accused her of being? If she said the wrong thing, she would get everyone killed, just like Heli had predicted all those months ago. The truth was just as dangerous as a lie, only in different ways.

“The Wise Quail taught me the cipher.” Ynkeri hedged. It was nonsense if they weren’t who they said they were. It might be nonsense even if they were Heli’s men, but it was all she was willing to risk. She had come so far, but Heli would never take her back if she gave up anything of value.

“Who the f--,” the shadowed man started to say, but Jennicks stood abruptly, startling both partner and captive.

“Stay here and don’t let her out of your sight,” he commanded, striding towards the middle of a wall. Ynkeri heard the click of a lock and daylight poured in for a brief second until the door closed with an echoing slam.

“S**t.” The man said, stunned.  

Author's Note

Please feel free to comment on style, flow, character development, grammar, etc... all educated opinions welcome, examples from the text preferred.