Burn Out (7 page)

A container in the room collected and sterilized urine before running it through a tube in the wall back to the W.A.R. unit. Even though it tasted like water again once it was recycled, drinking my own piss was one thing—I cringed at the thought of drinking theirs. I kept my gun lowered but refused to let my guard down, trying to
remember if there was anything in the bathroom Kale could use against me.
Not unless he gets really creative with the waterless toothpaste
. My shoulders relaxed a little when he came out empty-handed.

“Let’s all take a load off and sort this out,” said Markus, gesturing to the empty seats around him. He sounded genial but I caught the suspicious look he sent Kale’s way. Maybe Kale screwing him over could benefit me. I had a shortage of allies at the moment and could use someone on my side—even Markus.

Markus parked himself in Dad’s chair. I still couldn’t bring myself to sit in the ones that my mom and sister used. Let them sit. I’d stand. I waved my arm toward the table in mock hospitality.

The group jostled cautiously around me, joining Markus. Kale nodded at me as he moved past while scruffy boy averted his eyes, looking at some invisible spot on the floor. But not bird girl. No, Britta gave me a silent bitch slap with her eyes as she sat.

Tomblike silence filled the room, but the quiet from above was more disconcerting.

“Maybe they gave up?” Britta asked Kale.

“Not a chance. I think they’re rethinking their strategy.”

Markus frowned. “Or maybe they’ll cut the air line—not that it worked last time.”

I froze. I thought back to Markus’ first visit but was positive I hadn’t mentioned it. “How did you know the line was cut before?”

Markus looked sheepish, and seemed to weigh his options before giving his traditional shrug. “Look, I thought it would hurry your decision a bit if I made a tiny dent in the line. If you couldn’t fix it, you’d have to come with me.”

I slammed my hand against the wall. “And I’d have to give you my guns. You are such an asshole.”

Britta stared at the door above, ignoring my outburst. “Do you think they have other weapons? Something that could blast this place open?” She looked terrified and almost childlike. I would have felt sorry for her if she were someone else.

Kale glanced at me before answering. “No, they don’t have a weapon that powerful.”

“But she does,” Markus said, jerking his thumb at me. Could he be any more of a burner? “Which is why they want them so badly.”

“They?” I couldn’t help myself. “It’s why you want them so badly too—so you can make a buck.”

“I’m a simple businessman,” said Markus. “A guy’s gotta eat.”

“And drink,” added Britta. “Speaking of which, I’m dying of thirst. All our water’s on the ship.”

I checked the level on the W.A.R. and my stomach dropped. Even if we divided it five ways we’d have less than a quarter cup each. For the entire day. After being outside for several hours, I could chug two gallons in minutes, and the others had been out there longer than me. Not that I
planned to share. Even if everyone used the special piss machine, it wouldn’t make much difference. Sure, I could try to kill them all and keep the water for myself, but that wouldn’t make me any better than them. As it stood, we didn’t need to worry about shooting each other because we’d die of dehydration first.

Water, the great equalizer.

Maybe the government figured this out. Maybe that’s why they halted the air strike. They realized we’d eventually come out begging for mercy—and water. They didn’t need to attack. They could just wait.

T
HE CONTINUED QUIET ABOVE SEEMED MORE MENACING THAN
the assault had been. Everyone lapped up their measly water rations in seconds. I didn’t know it was possible to be so thirsty. My mouth still tasted like ash, my tongue thick and heavy. I had my reasons for sharing, mainly to gain their trust and make it look like I was a team player. In reality, I wanted to punch every one of them, but that would only make me thirstier.

We sat and eyed each other warily. The way Britta kept looking at me, I knew she saw an extra inch of water where my head should be. I wondered how long it would be before she’d try to take me out again.

“Any ideas on the H
₂
O situation?” Markus asked, tapping the butt of his gun on the table.

“We’ve got plenty of water on the ship. Or had anyway,” said Kale. “They might have gone aboard her by now, although I don’t know if they’d have thought to take the water. There’s so much water on Caelia, people are already forgetting how scarce it was here.”

Britta scoffed. “Like we could make it to the ship anyway. They’d torch us as soon as we got outside this door.”

Scruffy boy remained silent as usual, not looking at anyone in particular. For some reason, this was getting under my skin. “Are you always this mute?”

He gazed right at me, responding calmly. “Unless I have something to say.”

I glared back at him. “We could die here and you’ve got nothing to contribute?”

He looked away, which only infuriated me more. After a minute of silence, he cleared his throat and looked to Kale. “What about at night? We might have a shot of making it then if we can stay out of sight … and survive the night storms.”

I jumped in before Kale could respond. “Wow … two whole sentences. You’re making progress.” I knew I was being a bitch—guess living in an isolated environment for most of my life hadn’t done wonders for my social skills. “Also, I hate to be a negative Nellie, but going out at night is suicide. There is no surviving the night storms … the winds would shred us alive.”

His hazel eyes glared into mine before he looked away again.

“You’re as sweet as ever, Tora. And you wonder why I left you here.” Markus wore a smug expression. I really wanted to knock it off him. “Besides, we might be able to make it at night … if we go really, really fast.”

Kale drummed his fingers on the table. “Good idea, James. That might be our best shot.”

James. Scruffy sort-of-cute boy was James. It was a total downer that the cutest boy I’d seen in my short life had tried to kill me. I stared at him, then tightened my grip on the gun.

Kale did most of the talking; Britta did most of the whining. Markus tried to catch my eye a few times, but I refused to look at him. I was too mad about the air line to want him on my side at the moment. James threw in an occasional comment or question but otherwise kept silent, watching everyone. Including me. I stayed ten feet back from the table, waiting to see how their plans included me so I could then tell them to go to hell. It was their ship over the horizon, not mine. Let them go out and get killed by the Consulate. What did I care?

James looked up and our eyes met. My stomach fluttered in a way it hadn’t before. Apparently I did care. I made a mental note to ignore my stomach.

“If they kill us out there, they’ll come for you next. They won’t kill you, but they won’t stop until they have the guns.” James continued to stare at me, which caused my stomach to go all weird again. “Your weapons are powerful, but it’s not like one person can use them all at once.”

I’d only need one weapon if I used my very special one, not that I’d tell him that.

I thought about all the time my father had invested in my weapons training—though I’d never even used the deadliest one of all. Getting the guns here in the first place had taken some doing. He’d had a crew of similar-minded antigovernment folks bring in the materials and help him construct the bunker, far from the prying eyes of the Consulate. Due to the amount of help he had, it took just a few months. We continued living at our house in the pod city, so the Consulate never knew what my dad was up to. He showed up at work every day, perfecting the guns, only traveling to our shelter-in-progress on the weekends. He had to get the guns to a secret location before the specified delivery date.

Luckily for us, people were dropping like flies at that point. The state of the global emergency, which grew exponentially worse with each passing month, had distracted the leaders from the fact that my father’s promised weapons had vanished from under their noses. Yet now, they knew exactly where they were. They’d never stop. James was right that I couldn’t take them all out with one regular gun, but T.O. would do the trick. I shook the thought away. T.O. would take everyone out—except me.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if we just gave Tora over to them? Maybe they’d let us go,” Britta asked, disappointment in her voice. Britta the bitch. So many possible nicknames to choose from.

Kale shook his head impatiently. “No, she stays. What is it you’re suggesting, James?”

James looked steadily at Kale. “I’m suggesting she come with us.”

Hell, no. But I bit my tongue and hoped he’d elaborate.

“Are you kidding me?” Britta wailed.

“James never kids,” said Kale, still tapping his fingers.

Markus shot me a hopeful look, like he suddenly cared what happened to me. I ignored him.

Kale acted as if a sudden revelation dawned on him. “Ah yes, the safety in numbers thing. If something happened to us, you’d be here alone. You against the Consulate.”

I wanted to laugh. Being alone meant I could lock their lame asses out of the bunker and be done with them. Their attempt at pretending to care about my well-being was insulting. I knew exactly what they were thinking. That since I was the one with the super-guns, and the only one who could fire them, their odds of getting their water were much better with me than without me. No way was I getting those guns out of the safe.

However, as much as I wanted this fun little group out of my house, the thought of them dying out there and leaving me to fend off the government myself was not the smartest option. I’d have no way off the planet. Maybe Britta dying would be okay, but the thought of Markus dying didn’t sit right with me—though it probably should have. None of that mattered now anyway, because what I really, really wanted was to get my hands on some water.

The signs of early dehydration were already kicking in and I could almost taste the water on his ship.

I glanced at James, whose gaze had returned to me. “I’m in.”

Markus’ eyebrows raised in surprise. No doubt he’d been expecting a sarcastic tirade from me, telling them all to burn in hell.

“But I expect to get a cut of your water. And any other supplies you bring back.”

Markus smirked. “There’s the girl I know. You had me worried there for a minute.”

I had to stop myself from smiling—doing things just for my own personal gain was very Markus-like. No wonder he approved.

Britta stomped her foot on the floor, like a three-year-old who had just been told she couldn’t have a second glass of water. “No way in hell is she getting a drop of my H
₂
O!” She turned to Kale, the angular side of her nose looking somehow more beaklike. “Tell her, Kale!”

Kale exhaled deeply. “Calm down, Brit.”

Oh, a new one. Brit the twit.

“But it’s not fair—”

“Oh, for Caesar’s sake, I do believe that’s her water you drank there,” Kale said, tilting his head toward the empty cup in front of Britta. “She helps us get there, she gets water. Simple as that.”

Britta crossed her arms in front of her, glaring down at the table.

Oh, no, not the silent treatment. Anything but that. Maybe if I played my cards right, she’d be quiet forever.

Kale stretched. “We should probably try to get a little rest before nightfall.”

I thought of the small labyrinth of rooms surrounding us. My door had a lock, so I wasn’t worried about someone breaking in, and there was no way anyone was sharing my room with me. My room. It was actually my parents’ room, but after my father died, I moved in. I couldn’t stand the reminder of my sister’s death every night—her empty sleep pad taunting me from across our shared room. Plus, my parents’ room was the one closest to this front room. And closest to the exit. The sleep-chamber-for-two size was a bonus.

“Everyone walk that way. I’ll be right behind you.” No way was I going to walk in front of four people who just tried to kill me. Or incapacitate me. Whatever. “Oh, and all your guns stay with me.”

I swear I saw James’ mouth twitch. Did he find this amusing?

“No way in hell is she taking my gun. Who does she think she is?” Britta’s silent treatment didn’t last nearly as long as I would have liked.

“It’ll be fine. I know her. She’s not going to hurt us.” Markus went to his gun and tossed it across the floor to me, like it was no big deal. His eyes met mine and I gave him a short nod of gratitude. That’s all I was giving him.

“We’ll need these back tonight, you understand?” Kale asked.

“No problem. But there’s no reason to have them in here.” I flashed a smile at Britta as I scooped up the three other guns that Kale slid over. “Since when is it considered polite for houseguests to be armed?”

Britta looked like she was going to implode. “Then you need to get rid of yours too.”

I raised my laser and pointed it right between Britta’s eyes. Her startled gasp made me want to laugh. “Get this straight, little girl. I don’t need to do anything. I could take you all out right now.” I waved my finger over the pulsing blue square. “But I’m not going to do that because I have a semblance of a moral code.” My gaze fell on Markus. “Unlike you all.”

I gestured around me with Trigger, still holding their guns in my other arm. “This obviously is the kitchen and energy packets are locked in the cabinet there.” I wiggled my thumb at them. “And I’m the only one that can open it. Same with the button that operates the W.A.R., so you can forget about sneaking water.” Not that there was any to sneak. The container was dry as dirt.

I gestured for them to move down the hallway ahead of me. My room was the first on the right. I stopped and placed my thumb on the red square in the door. An audible click preceded my door swinging open, and I tossed their guns inside before locking it again.

“I couldn’t help noticing the double-sized chamber in there, Tora. I’m willing to share with you, if it’ll help.”

“In your dreams, Markus. Keep moving.”