Chapter Six

The last week of training passed without incident. After the graduation ceremony, I changed into sweats and jogged from the training facility. Snow covered the ground. The cold December breeze cut through my clothes, but it did not take long to warm up. Footsteps crunched on the ice behind me. I peeked over my shoulder and saw Ari running up to me. I could not help but smile. Not that I wanted to hide my elation.

"You're not easy to catch up to," he said, slightly out of breath.

"I was not expecting anyone. How's your leg? Should you be running on it yet?"

"It's healing up. I did not have any trouble."

"You know you have two weeks to spend with your family or whoever you want, go where ever you want."

"I know. My father would not show up here even if I invited him. Besides, you are who I want to spend time with."

My stomach fluttered. I guessed he liked me too, so I tipped my head and smiled.

"Am I intruding? I don't want to be a bother," he said.

"You're not a bother. I volunteer at an orphanage, so I am going there for dinner. First, I have to pick up a few things. You're welcome to come with."

His face lit up. "Great. Where to first?"

"A little ways north of the city is a store called the Trading Post. They carry a lot of things which are otherwise hard to find around here."

We started walking.

"Are we going to walk there?"

"No." I laughed lightly. "There's a bus stop close by."

"Where are we now then?"

"This is where most of the Peacekeepers live."

As we crossed a street, we ran into Officer Johnson.

"Lieutenant Andrews! Good to see you," Johnson said. He bent over to me and whispered loudly. "I'm glad boot camp is over. We need you in headquarters."

I smacked him on the arm and pretended as if I did not pick up his last comment. In the corner of my eye, Ari turned to me with a blank expression. "Hey Johnson, how's your family?"

"Well, you know, Mother's health is failing. The medicine you got worked wonders. She can breathe much easier now."

"Good to hear. Ari, this is Officer Ray Johnson of the North-West beat. Ari graduated recruit training today."

They shook hands.

"Is that right? What branch did you pick?" Johnson asked.

"SIS."

"Oh, such a shame. We always need new people."

"There will be plenty of new trainees in two weeks," I said.

"Great! Well, I need to go. The Missus does not appreciate if I am late.  You see, she takes care of Mother while I am working," Johnson said.

"We won't keep you. Good to see you, take care."

"The feeling is mutual. And good to meet you, young Bennett." Johnson waved and trotted off.

Ari and I started moving again.

"So what is the North-West beat?" Ari asked.

"Officer assignments are for specific areas for day shifts. Once they start, they are usually stuck there. The night shift handles the entire city. Now they are a different breed. If they catch you out after curfew, they will not hesitate to use force. In fact, I think they enjoy it."

"I'll keep that in mind. So what do you do?"

"Police Force Intel. We keep track of what goes on in the city, where SIS is mostly concerned with the other cities."

"Is that how you got medicine for Johnson's mother?"

"Oh, no. I bought it from the Trading Post. It's not easy to get medicine unless you belong to the Church. And to make it worse, the viruses seem harder to shake than last year."

He furrowed his brows for a second. "Doesn't everyone belong to the Church here?"

"No." I paused. "I remember being told that too, growing up. Only the people who live south of the river belong to the Church."

As we walked through a neighborhood, I spotted an older woman carrying firewood. On second glance, I knew her. She had too much in her arms and wobbled on her feet. I ran to her. Why did her son not bring in firewood for her? I arrived as she attempted to go up the stairs. She fell backward into my arms.

"Oh, my goodness!" the woman exclaimed as she glanced up. "Miss Andrews! Here to save me again!"

"Why do you insist on doing this yourself, Mrs. Spencer? I'll bring some in."

Ari jogged up and took the firewood from her arms.

"You are a God sent!" Mrs. Spencer said.

With Ari's help, I brought in several loads in no time.

"I wish I could do something to thank you," Mrs. Spencer said when we finished. "You help me so much. How about I make you some tea?"

I waved her off. "No that is OK. I am glad you are not hurt. Do I need to call Kira and send Brian over here?"

She took my hands in her own. "No, no, don't worry them. Thank you so much dear."

"You're welcome. We need to get going."

We left her house and continued north.

"The tea would have been terrible, trust me." I turned my head and caught him looking at me. The butterflies flew back. His gorgeous blue eyes were an ocean; if I stared too long I could get lost. "What?"

He blushed. "Nothing, you're so different outside of training. You are not the mean hard-a*s who yelled all the time. I was starting to think that you must have changed."

One side of my mouth turned up a smile. "I cannot be nice during boot camp. Not if I want any respect."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"But you still talked to me."

"Well, you weren't cold to me. It did not fit what they say about you."

"Something like Ice Queen, right? Because I am so cold hearted."

His cheeks flushed again. "Yeah."

"Well, don't go telling anyone any differently. I worked hard for that reputation."

He tipped is head to one side. Then we both started laughing. I heard Ari's stomach growl. One arm came up and rested on his belly.

"Are you hungry? We're coming up on a place that makes an excellent chicken and dumplings," I said. "Fortunately, it is right next to the bus stop."

"Oh, yeah. That sounds wonderful."

We arrived at the Riverside Inn, a white bed and breakfast in desperate need of work. Shingles were missing in several places. A small VACANCY sign hung above the door. We walked around the wraparound porch until a door appeared with a handwritten sign, RESTERAUNT. Ari stared in disbelief.

"They can't spell, but they can cook," I assured him.

I opened the door and headed downstairs. Thankfully, we were sat at a straight table with straight chairs.

Frequent visitors to the table dominated my time. Everyone had stories to tell; pictures to show me of their kids. The proprietor brought our food. Ari sat quietly and watched it all unfold. The light over our table flickered periodically; the bulb threatened to blow any minute. The dim lighting made it difficult to gauge his reactions. We left about an hour later.

"Sorry about that," I said when we walked out. "During boot camp, I don't have much time to visit, so they are always excited when I come back around."

"No worries. It was an interesting lunch. You have a lot of friends."

"Yeah, I suppose I do. Since my job is to know what is going on in the city, I try to befriend as many people as I can. There is an inherent distrust of the PF. But it is slowly getting better."

"PF is police force?"

"Yep."

The bus arrived. The doors opened and a payment terminal slid out. I put my hand on it. A bell chimed and 'THANK YOU' appeared on the screen.

I turned to Ari. "You should be in the system. Peacekeepers ride free."

He mimicked me and the same bell chimed. No one else riding at the time. We made our way to the back. Ari sat with our shoulders touching. His cologne was intoxicating. Warmth flooded my body as a fluttering filled my belly. I watched out of the window to calm my nerves.

"So my curiosity is killing me. Is now a good time to hear your story? Did you come here when you left town? And why did you change your name?" he asked.

"The women who join the Thorns change their names to flowers." I stopped. My heart thumped heavily.

Did I really just say that? It rolled off my tongue without a second thought. I had a story to tell if I met anyone that knew me. Instead, I started telling the truth. What was wrong with me? Too late to go back. Better to stay with the truth.

I turned and looked at him in the eyes, took a deep breath, and cleared my throat. "To make a long story short, I was literally thrown out of the house the night I left. I ran into the leader who invited me to join them. I traveled with them across the continent for a couple years. They were the ones who taught me how to fight, among other things."

He ran his fingers through his hair and averted his eyes. Then he crossed his arms across his chest. That look on his face, he did not believe me.

"Traveled across the continent? There is dangerous wasteland outside the territory and you didn't catch the Revelation Virus."

"That's what I thought too until I went. Those stories keep people from leaving, but a lot of things aren't quite as we were led to believe."

He shifted in his seat. "Wait a minute, the Thorns? That name sounds familiar. You're telling me you joined the infamous group of bandits and murderers?"

"They aren't bandits or murderers," I snapped. "In fact, they do a lot of the trading business that brings outside items here. City officials won't officially recognize their efforts, even though they use their services."

He leaned away from me. My heart dropped.

My voice cracked. "Again, things are quite as they taught us. I guess someone has to be the bad guy to hide what is going on."

"Well, I won't tell anyone. They might think I am crazy."

"You think I am crazy? Or I made it all up?"

"Uh, no, I don't think you're crazy. It is just hard to believe that everything I learned growing up is wrong."

I leaned on the arm rest by the window. We sat in silence, watching the run down neighborhoods pass by. I probably overreacted. I would never forget how they laughed at me when I reacted the same way. Of course, I would get mad. They were like family to me. I knew he was only going off what he heard. It was difficult to change the preconceived notions of the world. I wanted to change the subject. I hoped he did not think I was crazy.

I turned toward him. "Let's stop talking about me. What made you come to the city?"

"It was not long after you left that I made up my mind. I was fourteen, I guess. I looked at my father one day and saw him for what he really is- a broken, sickly, sad old man. Suddenly I was not afraid of him anymore. I focused all my time on soccer until the scouts took notice. My father was furious when he found out." A queer little smile took hold. "He thought I was working out so I could work in the coal fields if you can believe that. The last thing he said to me was, he disowned me."

"Didn’t you have a nickname?"

He grinned.  "You bet.  I was known as ‘The Animal.’ I start practice with the winter squad tomorrow."

We reached the end of the bus line. I took us to the end of the road, where turned to dirt. Ari stopped.

"Is it OK to keep going?" he asked.

I could not help but laugh. "Are you scared? It is only a couple minutes from here. You can wait here if you want."

"No, I'll come."

We continued. He kept looking around as if he thought something to jump out at us. Shortly, a store appeared in the distance. It resembled a log cabin with a porch circling it. A handwritten sign hung over the stairs, "Trading Post." There was no sign of life, except for the sound of rodents in the trashcan as we approached.

Inside was filled with brilliant light. To the right was food and to the left were knickknacks and appliances. I walked right down the middle, towards the counter in the back. I turned my head. "If you want to, look around a bit. I should only be a few minutes."

Ari nodded and stopped to examine an old toaster. I did not have one growing up and suspected he had never seen on in real life. Sliced bread was not common in the outer cities.

I arrived the register and handed the woman a list of ingredients I wanted. What I needed, they kept in the back.

A raspy voice spoke out behind me. "Can I help you find something?"

I turned around and spotted Alex, the proprietor, walk up to Ari. What was he going to say to him? He had a hard time with what I said. To make it worse, I couldn't see Ari's face behind Alex's salt and pepper hair.

He put the toaster down. "No, no..." he stammered. "I was just waiting for..."

"Waiting for Lily. You came in here with her." He pointed to a camera in the corner of the store. "I wanted to meet you for myself. I am Alex, the proprietor of this establishment." He extended his hand.

"Ari Bennett," he replied and shook Alex's outstretched hand. "Is it so strange for her to come here with anyone?"

I turned my attention back to wait for the cashier. They were close enough so I could overhear the conversation.

"Well, yes, this is the first time since she moved here. Not too many people venture this far. Most are afraid to leave the city."

"How long has that been?"

"I guess two years now. Didn't she tell you?"

"Well, she started to tell me, but it was an incredible story." He muttered something under his breath, but I could not make it out.

Alex's voice dropped too. What were they saying? It had to be something from our conversation earlier. The cashier came back and said she could not find a couple of the items. I yelled to Alex to come over.

"I know you have ginger and sesame oil in the back. Give up some of it," I said to Alex when he approached.

Alex stopped and his eyes lit up. "Are you going to make a stir-fry? Did Felix teach you how to make his stir-fry? It has been years..."

"Yes, he taught me. But I am not going to be able to if you don't give me the ingredients I need."

"Will you bring me some?"

"Depends. If there are leftovers, I'll see if the boys will bring some." The older orphanage boys worked for Alex a couple days a week.

"Okay. But you're killing me with the requests," Alex said and walked through the door to the back.

"Stop complaining, you always get paid." I sighed and leaned up against the counter to wait. Ari made his way to me. "Interesting place, huh? Alex was not trying to swindle money out of you was he?"

"Oh, no," Ari answered. "He just introduced himself."

There was more to it. He wouldn't make eye contact. What did Alex say?

Alex returned promptly with a paper bag and a piece of paper and placed both in front of me. I glanced in the bag, satisfied with the contents.

The paper was a request form for items acquired outside of the territory. I did not need anything else. I picked up a nearby pencil and wrote, "Nothing needed." My response also doubled as an indicator to my friend outside the city that I was OK. I slid the paper back to Alex and picked up the bag.

"Let's go," I said. We made our way back to the city, chatting more about the day-to-day lifestyle. I wanted to ask him about what Alex said. It must not have been too bad because he was not running for the hills. He did not bring it up, so neither did I.