Chapter Twenty Nine

Rescue

The next morning, I completed my morning run and checked in for patrol duty. The other person was Frederick, one of Jefferson's friends. The man he relieved looked upon me with disdain. I tried to show it did not bother me. We made our way down a trail in silence. I wanted to ask about Ari but figured I would not receive a response anyway. The trail ended in a field covered in a layer of smoke. I rubbed my tickled nose. In moments, we arrived at the source.

Two garden rows smoldered and billowed smoke. They were destroying their own food.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Frederick put his hands on his hips. "Trying to stop the corruption."

Two others approached. One of them stuck a shotgun in my face. "What are you doing out here?"

My adrenaline spiked. I ripped the gun from his hands by the barrel. Without thinking, I swung the stock back and landed a blow on his chest. He stumbled and landed hard on the moist grass. My arms trembled.

Frederick plucked the gun from my hands and stepped between us. "Lester, it is OK. Dorothy told her to help with the patrol."

Lester narrowed his eyes. "It's OK? She just..."

"You threatened her without provocation. I'll meet you by shed after I show her what to do."

The other man with Lester assisted him to his feet. He snatched the gun from Frederick and stomped off. Frederick gestured with his head for me to follow him.

I gaped at Lester as I started to walk. "Are they going to tell Dorothy about that?"

"I'll make sure they don't."

"Why?"

"I have no quarrel with you. And I do not agree with how they treat you. Which is why I proposed your assignment to my patrol."

I stared, unblinking. He held his belly and laughed so hard he snorted.

"Why would someone so...educated be out here with these bumpkins?" I asked.

He leaned up against a tree and continued to laugh. I didn't understand what was so funny. After a couple minutes, he regained his composure and started down the trail.

"Ten years ago, my family was devastated by an attack from the Police Force. I was the only one to survive. Once I discovered what these folks are trying to accomplish, I reckoned I could help." We came up to an electrified fence. "This is why the patrol is out here."

I looked past the barrier. "Ginseng."

"Yep. I cannot give you a weapon, so if you see anything unusual, call me." He handed me a handheld radio. "I won't be far."

I nodded and took the radio from him. I still wasn't sure if I should believe him. For all I knew, they were just waiting for me to make a wrong move to take me out. The rest of the morning I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting to spot someone following me. Every noise in the woods produced the urge to run.

At midday, I was relieved of duty. It felt like I was out there all day. Exhausted, I went to search for Rose to learn what was next.

I wound up at the control room. Ari's name floated through the ajar door. I stopped outside and peered in. Inside, the feed from the collapsed entry streamed on the nearest monitor. Ari paced back and forth in the distance. Behind the door, Dorothy complained about the lack of two-way audio on the cameras. Candi popped into view and yelled for Ari. He ran toward her, demanding the truth. He thought he had gotten her into that mess, but now he blamed her. He said he apologized to her and she was not honest with him. Hooded figures rushed up behind him and tackled him.

I dashed off before anyone saw me. As fast as my implants could carry me, I ran. Down the steep cliffs, jumping from tree to tree when required. What would they do to him? The thought to save him saturated my mind. I stumbled upon a familiar trail, one of the Carvins Cove trails, and sprinted toward the city.

At the outskirts, a group of SIS agents in uniform pulled a cart. I raced towards them. I launched myself onto the roof of the closest building. I counted six agents. Hopping from roof to roof, I got ahead and dropped down in front of them.

"Hey, aren't you..." one of them started to say.

I pounced toward them and knocked them out one by one. Candi began to hyperventilate on the cart and opened her mouth to scream. I vaulted onto the cart, grabbed her mouth, and told her to shut up. Luckily, she fainted.

I pulled the tarp off the cart and revealed an unconscious Ari. What did they do to him? I hoisted him on my back. I recognized the neighborhood as the one with the hidden tunnel access. Sweat poured down my chest and back. I laid him down and scoured the houses. Eventually, I found the right one. It would have been too difficult in my current condition to carry him back myself, so I laid him down on the floor. Warmth spread at my bandaged injuries and sure enough, red spots soaked through the gauze.

Darkness descended early due to the cloud cover. I did not dare try to find a light. I hoped Dorothy was correct about the flashlights in the tunnel. When I found the entrance, rain engulfed the world. The house had several holes in the roof, so water dripped in all over. Thunder boomed far away.

I was antsy. I checked Ari often to make sure he was breathing. Every time he moved in his sleep, my body tensed. I didn't know how he would react toward me. He might blame me for what happened. Not that I would blame him. I hoped he would not want to run away again. Time crept by before he woke up.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud as he pushed himself up.

I jumped up and covered his mouth. "Shhh. We need to leave before they search these old houses," I whispered in a shaky voice.

He did a double take. "Lily?! What is going on?" he hissed. "Where are we?"

"We will talk once we are underground." I motioned for him to follow me.

Downstairs, I found two flashlights then secured the passage door behind us. I clutched my flashlight and moved forward at brisk pace. My stomach quivered with every footstep. I kept trying to wet my dry mouth. Where do I start explaining?

He piped up first. "What happened? I was in the woods. Some SIS agents appeared then everything went black."

"The Peacekeepers exploited that girl to flush you out. I couldn't let you be imprisoned by them," I replied. I hated that I could not gauge his reaction.

"Why did you come? After what I said to you..."

I did not answer right away. What could I say except the truth?

"I did not think of anything except getting to you," I answered. A lump grew in my throat. I wanted to tell him that I overheard what Charles Payne said, but my words escaped me.

"That is the third time."

"Third time for what?"

"That you've helped me out of trouble."

We walked in silence. Every step resounded in my ears. I wished time would speed up.  How much further until the exit?

After an undetermined amount of time, he cleared his throat. "How did you find me? The tunnel entrance was destroyed."

"They needed to prevent the village location from being uncovered and were watching the perimeter cameras. Dorothy was about to send someone to pick you up when the Peacekeepers arrived."

"How did you catch up? "

Tell him the truth. "Do you remember those scars you asked me about?"

"Sure, yeah. What does that have to do with it?"

"When I was in Yabacon, I had cyber-enhancement surgery. Not the brain enhancements, only muscles and joints which improve your physical condition. Therefore, the stronger and faster you are, the greater the enhancement, up to three times the original strength."

"So that is why you are always training."

"Yes, that is why."

He sighed heavily. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I did not think you would believe me."

"Oh." He paused. "Why didn't you use that to escape?" There was the trillion-dollar question. "Why did you allow yourself to be captured?"

A slight chill snaked down my back. "When the band on my arm is removed, the implants switch off. Rose had it all this time." Every heartbeat thumped in my ears. "The thought crossed my mind, but I would not have been able to contact you and you would not have known what happened. Plus, I did not think SIS would stop looking for me. I knew they were not going to find the drug on the train. When they did not find it, I thought they would just interrogate me. It seemed like the best option at the time. I did not know they would fake my death." My voice cracked slightly on the last sentence.

"I don't know what to say."

A dim light appeared in the distance. A bead of sweat developed on my hairline. "We must be almost at the end. Time to face the consequences."

"Why do you say that?"

"I agreed to not to go off on my own. Well, I ran off on my own to save you."

"Then why are we going back? Why are you helping them after all that's happened?"

"It is the only reason I'm out of those shackles and I respect Rose too much not to. She is the one who took me when my parents cast me aside. And besides, things are worse in this territory, worse than we ever imagined."

We walked in silence again for a little while, and then I resumed.

"Rose finally told me why she disbanded the Thorns. Her grandfather died and left her Charles Payne's scientific journal. She didn't explain back then because it disturbed her so much she decided to go on a fact-finding journey by herself."

"Why is that disturbing?"

I clenched my jaw. Could he let me finish? "He was part of a virus research team. They created the Revelation Virus and utilized themselves to spread it all over the world."

Ari's flashlight banged on the ground, flashing light up and down a couple times before extinguishing . "No, that can't be true."

I stopped and turned around, careful to aim the light down. "She showed me the journal. They put the anti-virus in the communion wine, so the Church followers did not contract it. Charles remained alive to lead the survivors and used his drug to manipulate people into living a virtuous life." I paused for a minute and waited for him to digest the information. "These villagers, they say they have someone working on the inside. They want to stop him before the drug is dispersed to the other cities. Come on, we need to keep moving. "

I shoved the door open into the village prison. In the corner of the room, a camera aimed at the entry. A sour taste rose from the back of my throat. I did not have much time.

Ari's arms created a barrier across his chest. Over and over, he muttered, "I just can't believe it."

Sure enough, Rose waited outside. Her whip wrapped me up and my knees crashed onto the cement.

"Hey," Ari snapped. "Let her go."

"No can do. She violated the conditions of her release. Didn't even make it two days and you run off," Rose said.

He stepped between us. "Are you kidding? She saved me and came back..."

"My hands are tied. My working relationship with Dorothy is flimsy at best. They cannot think I will not keep my word. Take it up with her." Rose tugged on the whip. "Let's go, they already have your cell prepared."

"I don't believe this," Ari muttered.

My cell, as though it belonged to me. Dorothy had to twist the knife in my back. I climbed to my feet slowly and followed her. I glanced back over my shoulder at Ari, who stared openly as we retreated.

"The whip is unnecessary," I said once we re-entered the prison.

"I know," she said in a pained voice. "I tried to convince her this is not necessary. Give me some time. You won't be here long."

Give her some time. My pulse elevated when I heard that phrase. The whip released only when I entered the cell.

She slammed the door shut. "I'm sorry," she said with her head down and disappeared from sight.