Redeemer (8 page)

Frowning, I follow her gaze. It's a flying transporter, several miles in the distance, and it's rising toward the sky. After a moment of hovering, it moves away—away from us and away from the rising sun. West.

“What do you think is happening?” I ask. “They shouldn't have a flyer so far from Greater City.”

“I don't know,” Isabel says. “But I know where we should start our search for help.”

I turn back to the place where the flyer took off. What lies there?

I'm so turned around I'm not sure where we might be. I don't even know how long we've been walking, I only know it's been an entire night. A yawn escapes and I reposition myself to lie down.

“Let's get some rest.”

Isabel nods. “Sounds good. We'll move out later this afternoon.”

In spite of everything she told me, and all the questions needing answers in my brain, it doesn't take long to fall asleep. Once I wake up, the sun is much farther west in the sky. My skin is an uncomfortable red, and my mouth feels like cotton.

Isabel stirs a few minutes later, and we share a small ration of food and water. Hope springs anew as we make our way down the road toward whatever is at the end. It takes the entire afternoon to reach the fence. The sky is turning from blue to a purplish color as the sun dips lower on the horizon.

“Where do you think we are?” I ask.

“I'm not sure. Let's hide out until dark then find a gate.”

Sounds like a good plan. We find a cluster of trees with a good view of the fenced walls, then we settle in to wait out the light.

“I wonder if anyone made it to Jesper last night.”

Isabel chuckles and shakes her head. “Probably not, but don't worry about them. They won't be punished.”

I stare at her a few moments longer, letting her words sink in. How can everything be so different from what I was always told? After all the lies, it's still a shock when I learn of a new one.

Apparently there are more lies, too.

I push thoughts of Isabel's story away. Reckoning may come, but right now I can't handle any more burdens.

“How do you think Jamie will do on her own?” I ask. Isabel has been helping her, and without a friend, Jamie will truly be alone.

Isabel scans the area silently, and she sighs. “Jamie is strong like you. She'll be just fine.”

Isabel's words make me smile. Jamie is like me. It's what Mom always said, and Keegan told me the same thing.

Apparently satisfied the area is safe, Isabel settles against a tree trunk and slides to the ground. “Jamie has other friends. They will help her. We really are like a family there.”

My mind goes back to the first night with Jamie. She said a man in her building stayed with baby Easton while Jamie got her allowances. The memory soothes me. Isabel is right. Jamie will be OK.

Darkness comes at last, and Isabel nods toward the wall. “You ready?”

I am more than ready.

We sneak out of our hiding place and race to the wall. Pressing against it, we scoot our way to the right. Nothing stirs in the night air, but my heart beats out a fast rhythm anyway. Danger is too close for comfort.

My eyes scan the area in a constant motion, never stopping to rest, never believing we're going to get away with this.

The wall, which is really more of a fence, comes to a corner and I glance at Isabel. “Should we turn it?”

Her nostrils flare. “I'm way too old for this.”

I actually chuckle. Turning slowly, I peek around the corner.

Guards.

Great.

“There are three of them, but it looks like we found the gate. I recognize it. It's Lesser 3.”

She takes in my information with perfect calm. “We need a plan to get in, but we'll have to get around those guards.”

I don't see how. They're going to have guards posted all night. “I wonder when they change guards.”

“That will be our best chance, but who knows when that will happen. We may have to wait them out.”

Double great.

Being this close to the guards who might catch me at any moment is surprisingly less upsetting than I would think. Maybe because, if Isabel is right, they wouldn't actually punish us anyway. Except I'm no ordinary Lesser, and I have a feeling Frost Moon wouldn't take lightly my attempted escape.

I study the fence. Coils of barbwire ring the top, exactly like the fences around the prison. But the gate itself has no barbwire.

“They'll have to relax at some point,” I say. “They won't be expecting us. We might be able to climb over.”

Isabel looks doubtful. “I can't climb as quick as I used to.”

“Maybe there are other, smaller gates. Like the ones around Lesser 4. Surely we can find one without guards.”

“Yeah, I like that plan better.”

We turn the other way but I trip over Isabel's foot and fall into the fence. Pain shoots up my arm, and I realize I sliced it open on a wayward chain. The chain links clatter and I freeze.

“Did you hear that?” someone shouts.

I turn to Isabel's widened eyes. “Should we run?”

She doesn't answer, but takes off. I bolt after her, racing through the mixture of grass and rock around the fence. The guards chase us, their footsteps pounding behind me. But we got a head start, and outrunning them shouldn't be an issue.

Except they know the area and we don't.

We dart around a set of trees and Isabel smacks into a man's huge chest. The guard grabs her at the nape of her neck and reaches his other hand toward me. I duck away from him, but he's quicker than he looks.

“Tucker got them!” a different guard calls out.

Tucker definitely doesn't fit this guy. I would think something else. Maybe
The Transporter
.

Isabel isn't putting up a fight, so I figure it's pretty useless to try getting away. I force my shoulders to relax, in spite of the pain shooting through them at Tucker's squeeze and the blood running down my arm from my cut.

“Who are you?” the other guard demands.

I keep my mouth shut. Nothing I say would get me off easier. I'm outside of the walls.

“I said who are you?” He steps closer, his words lower, more menacing.

“We're runaways,” Isabel says.

The guard pauses, like he's surprised to hear us admit it.

“Lesser 4 reported a breakout attempt,” Tucker says.

The first guard turns to us slowly, his eyes boring into us—like that's going to scare me.

“Bring them inside.”

Tucker grins and walks toward the gate, dragging us behind him. I scramble to keep up, but he's so huge it's work. Isabel fares much worse, being shorter than me. She stumbles multiple times and ends up literally dragging behind Tucker.

The gate is opened and we're led inside. More guards meet us.

Too bad Guard Nev isn't around.

“Hold out your arms,” one of them says. He scans our arms and reads whatever his comp tells him.

“Hana Norfolk and Isabel Crane. Is this correct?”

I'm not sure who he's directing the question to, but I nod.

“Bring them to the transport holding station.”

Tucker resumes his dragging.

“Where did you think you were getting away to?” the guard with the scanner asks. “There's nowhere to go outside of the cities.” He's small but very sure of himself. He carries himself with pride, and he's clean and put together. What's worse than being caught is that he sounds like he actually believes his words, which is sad because there is so much out there besides the cities.

He glances at my arm and pauses. “No one said they were hurt.”

Tucker shrugs. “Not my problem.”

The other guard sighs. “Take them to the hospital first, but then straight to the transport holding station.”

Tucker frowns. Obviously he doesn't think we deserve the medical attention—or he doesn't think I deserve it. Isabel isn't hurt, but I'm not about to point that out to them.

We change directions and Tucker shoves us into what I think used to be called a truck—only it looks different than the transport trucks. This one's back is open, which is where he puts us. Using rope, he ties us up. I try to keep in my grunt when he tugs at my bleeding skin.

Finally, he hops in the driver's seat and starts down the deserted street.

Lesser City 3 looks so different than Lesser 4 I almost can't reconcile the change. Buildings rise toward the sky, and most of them are in good repair. The streets are mostly clean even though they're used as large walkways instead of for cars. No one roams the streets as the curfew is active at dark, but still, things are much improved over the city we escaped from.

I remember noticing how nice Lesser 3 was compared to 1 and 2 when I travelled to this city with Professor Higgins during my training in Greater City. It isn't a bad city to live in, if one must be Lesser.

“What's going to happen to us?” I lean toward Isabel.

Isabel shakes her head. “It's hard to tell. We'll probably be taken back at first light. Who knows how they'll punish us. Make us go without allowances for a month or two?”

It's the first she's spoken since we were captured, and her fear shows through. She didn't want to escape. She only did it for me.

This is my fault. I wanted out of my prison and I went after it at any cost, even the cost of Isabel's life.

“I'm sorry, Isabel.”

She manages a true smile. “It's no biggie, sugar. Really, I've been through much worse.”

Hints at her past remind me we have unresolved issues, but they'll have to wait. Tucker pulls to a stop in front of the hospital I remember visiting on my trip with Professor Higgins. The same hospital where I met Fischer's father, Ricardo, and the same hospital where Mom died. She's buried in the field out back, under a small wooden cross.

My heart lurches and I hold back burning tears. What secrets did she take to her grave?

Tucker unties our feet but leaves our hands roped as he leads us inside. “We need to get them cleaned up,” he tells the medic on duty.

The girl frowns and nods, scurrying away. She returns a moment later with a doctor who leads us to an empty exam room down the hall. The doctor asks Tucker a few questions, then turns to me and looks at my arm. “How'd that happen?”

He looks nice enough, like he doesn't give half an allowance whether I'm a criminal or not.

“I fell into the chain link fence around the city. A stray chain sliced it open.”

He winces and sucks in a breath. “Ouch. That fence is pretty rusty. We need to get it cleaned out. Let me grab the medic and we'll get you stitched up.”

“It won't take long will it?” Tucker growls.

The doctor smiles tightly and shakes his head. “Not at all. Excuse me.”

We sit silently, waiting for the doctor to return with the girl from earlier, except he doesn't.

 

 

 

 

11

 

My breath catches and my blood freezes when Fischer steps into the room behind the doctor. His eyes are swollen and ringed with black. I'm not sure, but I think his nose is slightly crooked. His left arm is bandaged from wrist to elbow.

I shouldn't be surprised to see him here since it's where he came from, but I haven't seen him since I left him behind at the prison outside of Greater City. What happened to him there? By the looks of him, it wasn't anything good.

Looking down, I clasp my hands in my lap in an attempt to hide the fact we know each other. The doctor doesn't know it. Isabel doesn't know it. And Tucker sure doesn't need to know it.

“If you'll get her fixed up, I'll write up the paperwork,” the doctor says.

Fischer nods and moves to do his work. I peek at him but he hasn't made any indication he even knows I'm alive. He is good at keeping composure, but this detachment is different. He seems—cold, somehow.

His hands are as gentle as ever, though. He wipes as much blood away as he can, while holding a towel against the cut on my arm.

“Dr. Hines said you cut it on a rusty fence?” His voice is quiet and concentrated.

I swallow, my throat suddenly swollen. “Yes, that's right.”

He turns and pulls a brown bottle from a cabinet. This hospital is sparsely stocked compared to the hospital in Middle City 3, but it appears clean. I don't remember what it looked like when I visited with Professor Higgins. I was never deep enough inside to pay attention.

I do remember what Fischer looked like the last time I saw him, though. He looked mostly healthy and in good condition, and now it's obvious he took a pounding. Was it the prisoners? Did they catch him during the riot? Or did the guards do this once he was captured?

Regardless, he ended up demoted and in terrible condition.

And it's all my fault.

I swallow again. Stupid tears clogging up my head. Is he here because of me? If I hadn't tried to get inside the prison, I would still be in Greater City furthering the cause, and he would still be a medic at the prison, alive and well.

No wonder he won't look me in the eye. That and the fact I left him behind.

He removes the towel and a gaping wound stares back at me. Isabel gasps and turns around, but the thud surprises us all.

Tucker lies on the ground, moaning, and Dr. Hines moves from his seat where he'd been writing out a report. “Let's get you out of here,” he says.

Tucker struggles to his feet and Dr. Hines manages to get the giant out of the room.

I can't help giggling, but Isabel is still wincing and looking away.

“I'm going to have to put in stitches,” Fischer says, “but I don't have any numbing medication.”

“That's OK,” I say.

At last, he meets my eyes. “It's going to hurt.”

“I've gathered that.”

He nods and moves to collect whatever supplies he'll need, and I glance at Isabel. “You can sit in the doctor's chair.”