Escape from Harrizel (7 page)

The trough wraps around the Castle with both
ends disappearing on either side as people climb in and out with
buckets. They empty some blue material into various piles while
others handle silvery domed objects that pour steam over the
mounds.

Jeb gestures to the trench.

“Gibb grows naturally under the soil. We
cultivate it each day to continue development of the upper floors.
You’re an Arrival so you’ll be on digging duty at first. The longer
you’re here, though, you’ll be able to choose your task. You can
dig or iron,” he gestures toward the small cluster of people
holding the silvery domed objects, and then to other groups
carrying long rectangular sheets to the far right side of the
Castle, “or you can transport. But at first, we’ll keep you on
digging seeing as it takes time to master the Gollop,” he indicates
again with a point to the round, ‘ironing’ devices.

I squint, trying to get a better view of
those rods. They look like iron. Strong, durable iron that could
hold me like a fly in a spider’s web if I can’t quite fit. I’m not
terribly large-chested, but they’ll definitely cause an issue,
especially
if I need to do this quick. And with everyone out
here, it’ll be difficult. But at least I’m out here. If anything,
I’ll wait for their dismissal and do it then.

They’ll go back inside and I’ll flee.

Suddenly, a loud commotion stirs on the left
bank of the trench, stealing Jeb’s attention. Someone screams and
all movement stops. Freezes. And then starts up again with two boys
going at it, throwing furious punches between the trough’s edge and
the silver domed objects. People burst forth from everywhere,
spilling out of the trenches and racing from the far side of the
castle to see the showdown.

This is my chance, especially since Jeb
charges the fight in a dead run, abandoning me completely. He
doesn’t stop in his pursuit—curious to see if I’ve tagged along—but
jets away, his yellow coat flapping behind him.

I eye the gate.

No one sees it. No one sees me. They’re all
focused on the bloody riot just up to the left bank where a sudden
mob of bodies has grown. This is my chance. Everyone is distracted.
I’m still a ways away but I can make it if I run. With my heart
thundering in my chest and my blood racing in my veins, I ready
myself.

And I take off.

I don’t get far.

I’m stopped immediately by a boy with a
perplexed frown, like he’s trying to decide if I’m really doing
what he thinks. He steps out in front of me, his tall, stocky build
blocking my way, especially as he hooks his hands to his hips.

“Don’t even think about it,” he shakes his
head, his tousled red mane shaking.

“What?” I glance to the left to find Jeb
reach the fight. I’m losing time. Whatever this guy’s deal is, he’s
ruining my chance and it might be the only one I get. It’s now or
never and I can’t do the latter. I have to keep going. I side step
but he’s right in front of me, shaking his head again.

“Whatever crazy-ass idea’s running through
your head,” he crosses his arms over his broad chest,
“
don’t
. You’ll be dead before you even try.”

Looking back to the fight, Jeb is pointing
back to the Castle, his yelling carrying on the wind toward us. But
I’m on the ground. I’ve made it this far. I can’t give up now. I
have to at least
try
.

“I’m serious,” his golden eyes narrow,
“there’s no point. You
can’t
.”

“Why not?”

“You just got here. It’s too soon to
die.”

I’m frozen, caught off by his ability to
speak so nonchalantly about my death. I want to ask him what he
means but a thousand thoughts are racing through my head. And I’m
still not ready to abort the fleeing plan. It’s all I’ve got. I
can’t acclimate to this world. I
won’t
. All I know, all
that’s familiar is out
there
, in the ruins. I need to get to
them but my legs move won’t move. They’re useless blocks beneath
me, pinning me to the ground.

“Fallon…” Jeb approaches with a curious
frown, “how’d you make it all the way over here?”

“I was telling her about the digging,” the
boy motions to the trench, “we’re just about to get some Senz so
she can start.”

Jeb’s eyes flicker between us. Slowly, his
head rolls into a nod of approval. “Very good. Sorry about the
interlude. It’s just the barbaric nature of your kind. Some
aggression still lingers. We try to curb it, but, as you see,” he
indicates to the dispersing crowd, “it can resurface. Walker, is
it?” he turns to the boy. “Explain the process and the Water Pole.
And whatever else she needs to know.”

Jeb glances between the two of us, offering
up a plastic smile and then, cupping his hands behind his back,
retreats for the portcullis. When he disappears behind it, Walker
pulls something black hanging from his hip.

“I’m steaming today so you can use my Senz,”
he offers me what appears to be a set of black clams. “They’re your
hand shovels for digging. Come on,” he shakes them, “we need to
make this fast.”

With a deep exhale, I slip them on and
follow as he leads us toward the right bank of the trench.

“Each morning you’ll grab a pair and—”

“Save it. I don’t plan on being here
long.”

“Yeah, you and me both, sweetheart.”

“I’m serious.”

“Look,” he spins, “it’s either here or dead.
Out there,” he barely motions past the gate, “is not an
option.”

“For you.”

The first real smile sweeps his lips as his
face lights up with dimples I’m sure gets him anything he wants. He
gestures to a giant metal pole in the center of the area that
towers close to the same height as the Castle. “That’s the Water
Pole. You need a drink during the day… hell, just a break,” he
shrugs, “you got yourself a five, ten minute escape.”

The plan was to get on the ground. And I’ve
made it. Now all I have to do is let this guy go on and have him
believe I’m listening. But once he leaves, I’m reverting to the
original plan—fleeing at dismissal.

“Over here,” Walker heads for the trenches,
“you’ve got your digging. You’re an Arrival so you’ll be using your
Senz,” he indicates to the black hand-tools, “to dig out the gibb.
Get’s extremely monotonous, so heads up. Hey—you listening?”

“Yeah.”

He raises a brow but continues walking,
“when the gibb is dried, it’s used to make walls. And that’s what
those,” he indicates the silvery giant domes, “are for.”

We stop in front of them—devices that look
like hundred year old tortoise shells with all legs still attached.
Four boys hold a handle as the dome hovers above the ground, steam
escaping and pouring down on the light blue gibb below. The gibb
slowly erodes back on itself, ultimately flattening into the large
sheets of plum-black marble being carried around me.

“What are they?”

“They’re Gollops,” he hooks his hands on his
hips. “Cooks the gibb into hard, flat sheets. Once they’re ready,
we have them transported upstairs. Now,” he turns to me, “there are
three basic jobs. Digging, using the Gollop—we call them
Steamers—and Transporting. Most Arrivals stick to Digging but if it
gets boring—and it will—you can always try your hand as a Steamer
or in Transporting.”

I nod.

“You’ll be over here,” he leads us back to
the right curve of the trench lip. As we peer over, it’s deeper
than I realized. People are fully inside it, the small black clamps
cusped in each hand as they claw into the light blue walls. Giant
buckets sit between each person, a dispenser for all the gibb
collected. “Just find whatever bucket’s available, fill it and
bring it to the Steamers. Keep going until dismissal.”

Just leave so I can make another run for
it.

“We good?”

I nod again, avoiding his eye.

“Seriously,” he leans in, “don’t even think
about it. There’s no point in getting yourself killed.” His golden
eyes shift between mine before he heads back for the Gollops and
toward the middle of the lot.

I can still do it. At the end of this, when
everyone’s heading back inside, I can flee. It won’t be as great a
distraction as the fight was, but it’s
something
. I climb
down an unsteady ladder propped against the trench wall. Once I’m
in, and the blue reaches above my head by a few feet, I look
around.

I’m surrounded by two endless rows of people
clawing at the powder blue substance on either side of the trough.
A narrow space separates the lines but large metal buckets sit
between each person, filled with the collected gibb. Everyone’s
shoulder to shoulder so I walk for a minute, finally spotting a few
empty buckets up on the right.

Just a little while longer and you’ll be out
of here.

With another deep inhale I start clawing
into the blue wall just like everyone else. I’m not really
working—just biding my time. Waiting it out. Trying to decide the
best course of action when the next opportunity arrives. I’ll have
to move further down the trench, getting myself as close to the
gate as possible. I’ll pretend to leave with everyone else, and
then stay in here until they’ve all gone inside. I peek up, finding
the point in the curving trough that’s the shortest distance from
the gate.

“Keep your head down.”

It’s a whisper from my left. I didn’t even
notice someone start working next to me but she’s here—a beautiful
Indian girl with luscious dark features. She’s focused on digging
and for a second, I wonder if I imagined it.

“Why?” I ask.

“Sshh… quiet.”

“You’re serious about that no socializing
thing?”

“Not us,” she flashes me a look,
“
them
. They don’t want us talking.”

“Why?” I glance back toward the Castle,
searching for Jeb but he’s not there. I look back to the gate,
searching for the guards—Yerza and Norpe—but find it abandoned like
earlier. It’s like we’re out here alone.

“What’re you thinking?” she whispers,
risking another glance to me. “Didn’t Walker tell you? It’s
suicide.”

Think, girl, think. I might not be down here
again. I might not get another chance.

“What will happen?” I ask.

“You’ll be marked.”

“As?”

“A run away,” her voice is so soft, so quiet
it could break, “and they’ll take you.”

I feel the blood drain from my face. “Take
me where?”

She shrugs, “but you won’t come back.”

Chills race up my spine, freezing me as I
quickly recalculate. We need to revolt. Revolt or escape. And right
now, there doesn’t seem to be a plan in gear for the first. None
that I’m aware of at least. So it’s back to the original
plan—escape. Even if it’s not right now.

“And we work out here all day?” I whisper.
“Every day?”

She nods, focused on the wall.

“Just digging?”

“Sshh… we really can’t talk,” she gestures
me to keep clawing the gibb. A moment goes by. “I’m Raj by the
way.”

I want to give her my name but Fallon still
seems foreign. It’s familiar, but not right, like it’s missing
something. Something essential.

“You’re Fallon, right?” she keeps her voice
quiet.

I snap toward her. “How do you know?”

“Everyone knows.”

“What?”

“Later…” she motions to the wall again,
“after Rebuilding.”

That would mean I’d have to forgo my escape
plan. But we’re out here every day. I could do it tomorrow. I could
flee tomorrow if it meant just one more day here. And if anything,
I could learn the schedules better. Find out how we’re being
supervised if there are no Dofinikes around to see us.One day. I’ll
give it one day and I’m gone tomorrow.

I glance at Raj, so focused on not seeing
me. “When?”

“Leisure Time.”

SCCCRRREEAACCHH!!

“
Holy shit!
” I clamp the Senz to my
ears. “
What the hell is that?
”

I attempt to drown out the ungodly sound but
it’s permeating from the Castle’s walls, screaming all the way to
the jungle on the other side of the wrought-iron gate.

“Dismissal from Rebuilding,” Raj is calm
next to me. She’s heard this so many times it doesn’t even bother
her. Everyone else is the same. They drop their Senz into their
buckets and retreat on automatic, heading for the nearest ladder
and forming an orderly line out.

Even though I’ve decided to stay, I briefly
consider making a run for it again. Maybe it won’t be suicide now,
not in the middle of all this movement. Maybe Raj is wrong. How can
they know every person’s position? Someone could easily get lost in
all this.

As if hearing my thoughts, she beckons me
toward the ladder with the others. “They’ll know. Come on.”

I glance regretfully at the curve in the
trench—the point I’ve selected as the closest to the gate.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll dig there so when the dismissal rings, I’ll
get lost in everyone’s movement and flee. Tonight I’ll learn what I
need to know for tomorrow. One day. Just one more day.

Out of the trench, Raj and I head back for
the portcullis with the others. Once we’ve entered the Courtyard,
she leans in, “Now it’s dinner. And then Reminders. I’ll find you
at Leisure Time.” She scampers away before I have a chance to ask
where.

Everyone’s making their way up the
stairwells to their rooms. Arching back, I eye the fifteen floors
I’ll need to go, just to eat and then come right back down.

One more day.

I take off up the stairs and am completely
winded by the time I get there. Dragging myself to my crimson arch,
I punch the six symbols Jeb showed me and I head into my broom
closet of a room. With the sun setting, it’s darker in here and
only two babeebs light the tiny space, casting a minimal glow. I’m
about to throw myself on the bed and catch a moment of rest when I
notice a narrow shelf with a small black bowl protruding from the
wall. Curiosity has got the better of me so I make my way over,
peering inside.