Compliance (16 page)

I grit my teeth to absorb his dig and let it slide off me. “I spotted a new security camera in this alley. I’m not certain it works, but be careful on your way out.”

“You think I’m afraid of a camera?”

“Burn”—I step forward—“you’re wanted for kidnapping. They know what you look like.” I don’t mention the SIM avatar based on his likeness.

He rolls his eyes. “Let me worry about that. I certainly don’t need your protection.” His voice sounds the same, dark and thick, but he’s changed so much in the months we’ve been apart. I refuse to tolerate his insulting behavior.

Whatever was between us is over. Clearly. My heart is cracked, maybe broken, but at least now I can stop thinking about him, which might eventually take one layer off my guilt for betraying Cal.

I will no longer make any concessions or allowances for Burn. He’s had a tough life, but so have I, and I won’t try to second-guess his behavior. He’s not worth it. He’s just an FA soldier I have to deal with to do my job.

I plant my feet solidly and straighten my back. “I found her.”

“Who?”

“Adele Parry.”

His shoulders twitch.

I try to restrain a smirk. “You didn’t expect me to pull it off, did you?”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” He glares and waits for what feels like a full minute. “So, where is she? I don’t have all night.”

“You think I do?” I stomp forward. “Do you have any idea how much I risk by meeting here? You’re not the only one taking risks, you know.” I hate that he’s gotten the better of me. I’ve lost patience. I can’t believe I ever cared for this guy.

He grunts. “Bring her here, then. Night after next. Two-thirty.”

“Actually…” I try to figure out a good way to say this, but there isn’t one. “She wants to meet in the laundry. Tomorrow. Midnight.”

He shakes his head. “Who does she think she is, making conditions?”

“She’s stubborn.”

“And you’re incompetent. Dangerous to others. Worse than your father.”

My heart skips a beat. “My father?”

“You have no idea, do you?” Covering the space in two strides, Burn’s in front of me, his face close to mine, and angry. “When your father was exed, people died. Good people.”

I fight to stay calm. “You told me. That was the first time you changed into…” After turning into the monster he becomes, Burn killed a member of his own team, as well as the Shredders who were attacking my father.

Surprise flashes on his face. Did he forget he told me?

I lift my chin. “I’m going to meet Adele Parry in the laundry tomorrow. If you want to extract her, I suggest you come too.”

He grunts and storms out, leaving me with no idea whether or not he plans to show up tomorrow night to meet Adele.

T
HE LAUNDRY IS
quiet. The last shift ended hours ago and it’s not as steamy as last night, but I hate this place.

I wanted to arrive early to check every space in here for danger, but Stacy took ages to fall asleep tonight and now I’ve only got five minutes until my scheduled meeting with Adele. With such a short time, it’s impossible to walk the floor and check behind every vat.

Formulating a Plan B, I climb up a winding metal staircase at the side that leads to a catwalk.

The iron-barred door between the stairs and the catwalk is locked, but at least I’ve secured a better view and I don’t see anyone on the floor below. It doesn’t ease my fears. The laundry’s full of shadows and large pieces of equipment, and there’s no knowing what or who could be lurking. All I’m sure of is that I don’t see Adele and I don’t see Burn.

I hope he shows up.

“So, where is he?” Adele’s voice echoes through the room, and I lean from the side of the stairs. She’s standing in an open area in the middle of the room not visible from where I was standing.

I scramble down the stairs and out to meet her, deciding on the way that it’s best to pretend that I’ve got a plan, that I’ve got everything under control. Even if Burn is gone from my life forever, I’ll get word to Rolph somehow and he’ll assign me a new Extractor. He has to.

“You’ll meet my contact tomorrow night,” I tell Adele. “At the originally scheduled time. If you want to live, you need to trust him.”

“Trust him? I don’t trust you.” She pokes me in the chest, pushing me back a step.

I square my shoulders. “I guess you’d rather be discovered by the Comps and exed, then.”

She grabs my arm.

My combat training kicks in. I twist and bend, taking advantage of her grip on me and pulling her forward. The much larger woman flips over me and lands on the cement floor with a thud. Cursing, she rolls over and slowly pulls herself up to her knees. “You little bitch.”

“I want to help you.”

“Oh, you’re going to help me all right.” She raises a hand and twists her wrist.

At least twenty other people step out from behind laundry vats and storage bins. I’m surrounded. Ambushed.

My heart rate triples in an instant—I was right to suspect
this location—but I fight to stay calm, to survey the situation and make a new plan. More than half of the people she summoned are teens, like me, but many are clearly older, and at least two are little kids. Keeping my head high, I plant my feet solidly, taking the stance learned in COT. “Who are these people?” I ask.

Adele steps toward me and tips her head to the side. Her neck cracks. “I’ll ask the questions.”

I cross my arms over my chest.

“Not so brave now you’re outnumbered, are you?” She pushes me again, but I’m standing so strongly, I barely budge.

“Stop it, Adele.” A boy steps from the ring of people surrounding me. “This isn’t the way.” He stands beside Adele and his light brown skin contrasts with her pallor. “This girl has information we need.”

“Who are you?” I ask him. He’s my age, maybe a year older, and so skinny he looks malnourished. But his expression seems kind. Compared to Adele, anyway.

He reaches his hand forward to shake mine. “Name’s Joshua. Nice to meet you, Glory.” I take his hand.

An electric shock zaps through me and I pull my tingling hand back. Everyone laughs and my cheeks burn.

“Sorry about that,” he smiles and his brown eyes flash with what seems like friendly humor, not distrust. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

I shake my head.

“Good. I was only letting you see what I am.” He gestures around. “What we all are. This way our cards are on the table.”

“You’re all Deviants?”

“Wow, you’re really smart,” Adele says.

“And you’re really sarcastic,” I shoot back.

“Adele,” Joshua says. “I’ll take it from here.”

She narrows her eyes. “I don’t trust this girl. Not at all. Something’s fishy. She’s lying, and whatever you do, don’t look into her eyes.”

Joshua turns back to me and looks straight into my eyes. “You won’t hurt me, will you?”

“Depends.” I raise my chin.

He holds up his hands. “I think we all have the same interests here.”

“Maybe.” As apprehensive as I feel, this could be huge. I’ve found a few dozen Deviants who all need to be extracted from Haven to the Settlement. If she gathered these others together for me to help, maybe Adele trusts me more than I thought. With or without Burn’s help, I need to find a way to get all of them out of Haven.

“Adele says you’ve been Outside,” Joshua says.

I tighten my jaw. “I didn’t say that.” Although I suppose I implied it.

“But it’s true.”

I shift my stance, not answering.

Joshua steps toward me. “Can you put us in touch with your contacts Outside? The ones who want to overthrow Management?”

I fight to keep my expression neutral. This is treading onto very dangerous ground, and I’m not sure what I should tell this boy—a boy who I’m pretty sure could fatally electrocute me if he wanted. Plus, I never said anything to Adele
about overturning Management. I keep my mouth shut.

“Why don’t I go first?” He smiles.

I nod.

“We’re rebels,” he says. “We’re working to overthrow Management. We have a plan to stop them from expunging Deviants and torturing us in that damned Hospital.”

I lean forward. “How do you know what happens in the Hospital?”

A small boy steps forward. “I’ve been in the Hospital.”

My eyes widen. If this boy’s alive, then Mrs. Kalin wasn’t lying. Some people do come out. “What happened to you in the Hospital?”

“I wasn’t in for long,” he answers. “But I heard the screams. It was awful.” He’s shaking.

“But you were released.”

“Not exactly.” He shakes his head. “The third day I was there, they marched eight of us through the halls—naked. A door opened and I escaped.”

“Just like that?”

“Like this.” The small boy fades from view, except for his clothes that remain suspended in mid air.

My breath catches. “You’re invisible.”

He reappears. “My Deviance got me in there. My Deviance saved me.”

I turn back to Joshua. “You called your group rebels. What exactly do you want from me?”

“For a long time, we’ve suspected that there were others like us working Outside, but we’ve been unable to make contact, and some of us”—he shrugs—“let’s just say that
the idea of working with anyone who could survive in the dust isn’t very palatable.”

“So what are you doing to rebel?” I ask, and my skin crawls with the suspicion that this group could be connected to the terrorists. As much as I want to save every Deviant, and as much as I want to see Management’s hold on Haven broken, what the terrorists do—setting bombs, killing innocent people—isn’t the answer.

“We protect each other,” Joshua says. “We hide the ones who need hiding.” He gestures to the side, and a girl, whose skin is covered in fur, steps forward and nods.

“Is that all?”

Joshua’s chin rises. “I’ve told you who we are. How about you tell me about your people. How do they survive Outside? How do they breathe in the dust? Where do they live?”

“I… I’m not authorized to say more.” I draw my feet together and clamp my arms against the sides of my body in my best soldier stance. “I’ll talk to my contacts and we’ll get you all to safety. One by one. I promise.”

“What good is your promise?” Adele steps forward. “I don’t trust this girl. And after we bomb the Hub—”

“Quiet.” Joshua cuts Adele off.

My chest freezes. “
You’re
bombing the Hub?” I can’t hide my shock, my revulsion. Adele just confirmed my worst fear; these people are the terrorists. Fury fires inside me. “No. Don’t do it. That’s not the way.”

“Management must be stopped,” Joshua says, and the group moves in more tightly around me. “Whose side are you on?”

“If you bomb the Hub”—pressure builds inside my head, my chest—“you’ll be hurting more than just Management. Bombs, violence, hurting innocent people. That isn’t the way. I can help you get Outside.”

“All of us?” Adele says. “Every employee in Haven? You think Management’s going to just sit back and let that happen?” Her forehead and nose wrinkle and she shakes her head. “I don’t trust her.” She beckons to the side and a large man advances.

Will I even make it out of here alive?

Searching for escape routes and assessing the situation, I glance back up to the catwalk.

I gasp. There’s a Comp up there. I can’t make out his face but the uniform’s unmistakable. Trying not to react, I step up to Joshua and lean forward. “There’s a Comp on the catwalk.”

We look back, but the catwalk’s empty.

“Check her.” Adele grabs my wrist and the tall man she beckoned shines an ultraviolet light on my inner arm, revealing my COT mark.

“I knew it,” Adele yells. “She’s in COT. Probably one of those Jecs kids. This is a trap.”

“No”—panic rises inside me—“I can explain.” Do they think I brought the Comp?

The group scatters like rats—even Adele and Joshua—and I’m left standing alone. I need to think this through. I need to figure out a way to stop them from bombing the Hub.

A dark shadow moves on the catwalk. I spin and brace myself. How will I explain myself to a Comp? But the shadow vanishes. The Comp’s gone.

K
EEPING TO THE
shadows on my route home, I replay the night’s events. Joshua didn’t seem shocked when I told him about the Comp. Is he working with them? If so, Belando was right. Not only are the so-called rebels planning to bomb the Hub; they’ve got a Comp on their side.

And I need a plan.

I could report them all to Mr. Belando, but some of those Deviants deserve to be saved—especially the kids—and how can I know which ones are guilty? Even the ones who are, if they’re fighting for their freedom from Management—a group who wants to kill them—do the ends justify their means?

I’m one to talk, after the things I’ve done.

Mrs. Kalin might help me sort this out. Of anyone I’ve come across in Management, she seems the most openminded,
the most willing to see things from more than one side; but I’m still not convinced I can trust her. Not with these people’s lives. And how could I explain to her what I was doing at the laundry? Or how I met Adele?

Talking to her isn’t an option. Neither is going to Belando. Either choice would betray fellow Deviants. My loyalties have never felt so torn.

I wish I could discuss this with Cal. Always so calm and reasoned, he’d help me see what’s right, but telling Cal any more than I already have will put him in danger.

What I need to do is meet with Joshua again. He seemed to be their leader, in spite of his youth. I’ll convince him that they don’t need to resort to terrorism. Once I connect Joshua with the FA, he’ll follow Rolph’s orders. Rolph didn’t share details during the short time I was doing FA training, but I know the FA has a plan to overthrow Management.

I turn the corner and Burn’s in my path.

Jumping back, I check the street for cameras, for Comps—for anyone. Burn’s face is well known inside Haven and I don’t understand how he’s getting around undetected. “What are you doing out in the open?” I whisper. “You’re being careless.”

“
I’m
being careless? That’s rich.” He tips his head back and laughs. “I saw your little meeting.”