Numbers Ignite (13 page)

Time to go where I could never hurt anyone else again.

Three days later my mother still hadn’t shown up. I’d have some serious words with her when she did come. The thought of my mom dating again was bad enough. But of all the men in this settlement, she’d chosen that snake, Mills.

I’d almost prefer Ju-Long. At least he did his own fighting.

Near the end of the third day Mills and Ju-Long came by, bringing no less than a half dozen guards with them. Anton was among them. His usual loose T-shirt had been replaced with a dark gray guard uniform. Of course he’d sold us out the moment he got here. And somehow
I
was the traitor.

Mills stopped and examined me as I lay on my bed, one pillow supporting my injured side, cleaning dirt out from beneath my fingernails. “Stand up, Hawking. Or do you need to be carried like a sleepy toddler?”

“Kinda busy here,” I said. “Make an appointment with my secretary outside.”

Ju-Long clicked the lock and swung the door open. “You are being relocated. Grab whatever belongings you need and follow us immediately.”

A guard grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. I shoved him away, holding back the gasp that threatened to escape as the pain hit. The other guards stepped forward. Most had the same Asian features as Ju-Long, but one of them was all too familiar. Anton. He smiled wickedly.

“My new place better be near the rim,” I said through clenched teeth. “I always did like a good view.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about the view,” Mills said. “Cuff him, then surround him on all sides. Let’s show the boy his new home.”

It was basically a bird cage situated on the shore of the swampy lake—square at the bottom but tapered at the top. Shaped to fit a head and shoulders and not much else. It looked like a medieval torture device.

“Home sweet home,” Anton said in a singsong voice.

I stared at it, then at Mills. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Keeping you hidden away is no longer in our best interest,” Mills said. “The people want to see you, to confirm in their minds that you are indeed the violent, bloodthirsty man they imagine.”

“That idea certainly fits your agenda.” My mottled face and bandages wouldn’t help much. “And your assembly approved this.”

“Our laws require you to be locked up, but they don’t say where. The assembly cannot object.” He smiled triumphantly. The guy had probably discovered that loophole in the law this morning. “You represent so much, young Hawking. This is far beyond you and your crimes. This cage is small, its metal bars tight and thinly spaced, you’ll notice. But it is enough to contain even you. We are greater than any force that presumes to remove our freedom.”

“I’m trying to take your freedom now?” I said. “That’s a new one.”

Ju-Long shoved me in. As I turned around to face him, he locked the door. I immediately saw why it had been shaped that way. It would be almost impossible to lie down. I’d have to curl up like a dog and sleep in a ball or simply sleep sitting up.

Neither way was physician-approved. I suspected that my painkillers and healing stimulants had come to an end as well.

“It’s escape-proof, so don’t even try,” Anton said. “I designed it myself. Nothing but the best for my pal Vance.”

“Nielsen,” Mills said. “You stay behind. You’ll be relieved at midnight.”

“Yes, sir,” Nielsen said.

“I’m happy to take the first shift, sir,” Anton said.

Mills whirled on him. “I know you brought Hawking here, soldier, but that doesn’t make you special. I will choose who I see fit, and that’s the end of it. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Anton’s face went red.

Nielsen stood rigidly as the others left, including Anton. As soon as the group had climbed back up the trail, he let his stance relax. He pulled the front of his shirt up and over his nose, probably to filter the smell.

“Take a deep breath,” I told him. “It’s just you, me, and the swamp now. At least until people realize I’m here and close in for the kill.”

He didn’t answer, but the stiffness in his shoulders said he’d heard.

It wasn’t as busy out here as I’d expected. People walked by occasionally, but they didn’t stop to gawk. They seemed uncomfortable with my presence, actually. I caught a glimpse of the iron-belt symbol painted on a couple of makeshift tents. Cattle and goat droppings filled the road, and I saw the muddy figures of grazing sheep not far off. There were no fences between the humans and the animals. Soon curious heads peeked out of the makeshift shelters along the trail. Children.

One of them emerged from a shelter, looked both ways, then approached with a confident air. He was probably about five, with shaggy brown hair and no shoes. He held an open water packet in his hand. “Are you the terrorist?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said, holding back a smile. “That would be Mills.”

“Hold your tongue, Hawking,” the guard snapped.

“Or what?” I asked. “It was so kind of Mills to move me here. It’s almost as if he was begging me to tell people the truth. Don’t you agree?”

The guard turned to look at the boy, then turned away, muttering, “They won’t believe you anyway.”

The boy came closer and handed me his water packet. There wasn’t much left. I nearly refused it, but he grinned and sat cross-legged in front of my cage. I took a swig, noting that his feet were black from dirt.

The boy examined the bruises on my face. “My brother says you’re a good fighter, but I saw some people beat you up. I don’t think you’re that good.”

I choked and nearly spit the water back out. “That’s because I didn’t fight. I gave them permission to hit me.” Twenty-two men and seven women had taken me up on it. At least that’s what I remembered. The anger simmering below the surface as they approached had gradually turned to disgust and guilt when they’d left me on the ground.

“Why?” the boy asked with wide eyes.

“Because I hurt them, so it was their turn to hurt me back.”

“So now it’s your turn again?”

I chuckled. Two more children made their way over, stepping with care as they watched me warily. “Nah, I don’t want anybody to be hurt.”

“They hurt me sometimes,” the boy said. “When I knock on their door to ask for food.”

“Who does?”

“The people with nice clothes. They hit my face and tell me to go back where I came from. But my mom says we can’t go back because we have nowhere else to go.”

I studied the boy. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place what. “Is your mother around?”

“She works in the water plant.” He pointed to a massive building on the other side of the swamp. “My mom doesn’t come back until nighttime.”

“My mom watches him,” a girl said. When I turned to her, she blushed but plunged on. “Mom says that if we came from somewhere else we’d be fine, but since we came from Iron Belt’s clan, we’re the feeted.”

I gave her a sideways look. “The feeted?”

“You know. When somebody loses?”

“Ah.” Defeated. I gritted my teeth and let my gaze sweep over the shelters lining the lake. The assembly and Mills pretended to have a grip on things here, but it was obvious they hadn’t known what to do with so many new refugees. It wasn’t that there were no resources, either. Some of the structures near the rim were a decent size.

The children moved aside for a group of men coming home from work. They were covered in black grime from their boots to their ears, and they muttered good-bye to each other as the road split off. One guy, his blackened face giving his white eyes an eerie look, glared at me. He whispered something to the man next to him. Great. This was exactly what Mills had hoped for—he’d placed a rabbit in a den of foxes.

“Time to go,” I told the kids. “Thanks for the water, but run home now.”

The children fought over the empty water pouch as they ran across the trail, cutting off the group returning from work. I straightened as the men approached. The cage would make things difficult but not impossible.

The two men gave me a respectful nod and continued on their way.

I watched them go. Was it possible that they considered my debt paid? Edyn hadn’t thought so, but maybe my clan did. Even in this strange new place, our clan followed the old laws. We always would.

Rutner should’ve known better. This was no refuge. This was slavery in its truest form. If people here thought we were defeated because we’d come from NORA, they were dead wrong. We’d been scattered for a while, but we were back now, stronger and angrier than ever. You couldn’t take everything away from a person without changing him forever.

I could see it now. The way my people moved—they weren’t defeated at all. They were determined. Not beaten but biding their time. Waiting. Sure, there were a few sell-outs like Anton and Rutner, but for the most part, our clan was as proud as ever.

I watched the shaggy-haired boy disappear into the shelter with his friends. The trial was a sham. I already knew what the outcome would be. But I wasn’t gone yet.

Maybe it wasn’t too late to do something about it.

“I still think you’re lying about that buck,” Anton grumbled.

We were fifteen. Our parents had been letting us hunt alone for about two years. We knelt behind some forest brush with our rifles, facing each other, neither willing to be the first to scratch our legs where the itchy plants met flesh. It was a no-scratching contest, a game we’d played since childhood. That night I would go home and scratch every inch of my body, but for now, I couldn’t yield and admit defeat.

“You saw the buck yourself. You even ate some of it,” I said, keeping my hands clasped together so I wouldn’t accidentally lose the game.

“Oh, I believe that a buck existed. I just don’t think you’re the one who shot it.”

“Just ask my dad.” That day was the reason my father allowed us to go on hunting expeditions alone. It was the first time my dad decided I was worthy of his trust.

“Your dad would agree just to protect your reputation. He doesn’t want you to look bad.”

I snorted. “You don’t know my dad very well. He punishes me for every little thing.”

“See, now you’re lying again. I’ve seen what he does. He just tilts his head, like this, and taps his foot. Then he says, ‘We’ll talk about this later.’ My dad pulls out his belt and takes care of business right then and there.”