Sunset Rising (20 page)

I managed to finish two full carts of laundry before our lunch was brought in.
Madi gave us only fifteen minutes to eat today, probably because of my stupid move with Crystal, but I was grateful to have even that short time to drink some water. Di graciously shared her ration with me again, too. The room was unbearably hot.

The lunch break was over almost before it began
. I returned to work and managed to do two more carts of laundry before the
bong bongs
rang out. I still had clothes to fold. I glanced in Crystal’s direction to see if she was done, but she had a few things to finish up, too. Since I owed her an apology, I slowed my pace to match hers, so we would be done at the same time. I scanned out right behind her.

“I’m so sorry about today
, Crystal,” I said as we left the laundry room. She ignored me and continued down the stairs. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

She stopped
and looked at me. “What happened today isn’t your fault. Madi will find any excuse to beat a worker. She likes it.”

She continued down the stairs
, and I followed behind her.

“I’m still sorry
I provoked her.” We reached the fourth floor, and she turned in the same direction as my apartment. “You live this way too?”

She nodded.
“Hey, isn’t that your husband?” she asked, pointing in the direction of my apartment.

My heart leaped into my throat when I saw Jack sitting on the ground holding
his head in his hands, flanked by Raine and Mica. I broke into a run.

“What happened?” I picked up Jack’s head and looked into his eyes.
It looked like he was trying to focus on me. “Ja—Ben, can you hear me?” I hoped I corrected my mistake before Crystal heard me. She stopped to regard us for a moment, a hint of concern on her face, but continued on her way down the hall.

Mica laughed.
“Your boy here thought it would be fun to take on a few guards.”

“Yeah, Ben decided to clock one of the guards in the head
, and that’s when all hell broke loose. Three guards came at him all at once, and he flattened all three in less than a minute. Then two more came at him, and he just about had them put down when another guard came up behind him. That guard butted him in the back of the head with his rifle.”

I probed the back of his head for any bumps.
I found a big one. “What were you thinking?”

“I never saw anyone fight like that,” Raine said, smiling at
Jack. “Maybe I’ll let him teach me some moves if he still wants to. That is, if he doesn’t die of a brain haemorrhage tonight.”

“There’s a bunch of other guys interested too.
That was the coolest thing I ever saw,” Mica said.

“Can you h
elp me get him inside?” I waved my hand over the scanner and opened the door. Jack was able to stand up on his own, but Raine and Mica stayed on either side of him just in case he fell over. He didn’t look beaten up, just that huge bump on the back of his head. He made his way into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed.

“You better see about getting some ice for him,” Raine
said before he left.

“Reyes didn’t come with you?” I
wasn’t sure why I asked because I didn’t even care. It just seemed strange to have Raine and Mica around without Reyes.

“Reyes w
as impressed by your boy, too. He just didn’t want to admit it. Give him some time,” Raine said.

I nodded
. “Thanks for bringing him.”

I was grateful they didn’t just leave
Jack down there on his own. I returned to the bedroom to see how bad his injury was.

“Jack
, can you hear me?” I took his face in both my hands and tried to force him to look at me.

“I’m fine.
Just a little out of focus.” He shook his head as if that would clear his vision.

“No, you’re not fine.
What were you thinking? You don’t hit the guards back!”

“I’m just so fed up
.” His voice sounded tired. “But I guess on the bright side, I’m still alive and a bunch of guys are interested in joining your rebellion.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear them? They want me to teach them how to fight.”

“You didn’t
deliberately pick a fight to impress Reyes and his friends, did you?”

“
It wasn’t the reason I started the fight, but once I got going I realized I had their attention. I counted all the guards, but it’s really dark down there, and I missed one.”

“
You could’ve been killed. What you did was dangerous.”

“
Did you think starting a rebellion wasn’t going to be dangerous? I teach a couple of guys a few moves and the most they’ll get out of it is what I got today or probably worse. If you want things to change down here, you need to teach an army how to fight. And if I’m not willing to take the risk of fighting back, don’t expect them to listen to anything you want me to tell them. You have to lead by example, and now I have their attention.”

The last time Jack had
spoken to me like that was in his apartment before the wedding, back when he was about to become the president-in-waiting. He was using the same authoritative, matter-of-fact tone. I didn’t like this Jack, even though I knew he was right. And what he was proposing—raising an army—was a far bigger plan than anything I ever had in mind. I just wanted the violence to stop. I wanted every person down there capable of fighting back every time a guard or supervisor raised his hand to strike. I wanted to empower them.

“I have to get some ice
.” I turned to leave.

“Sunny,” Jack said
softly. I stopped at the bedroom door. “I’m sorry. That was harsh.”

“No.
It was right,” I said, and left the apartment.

I decided to go down to the sixth level to get the ice because I was more at home there.
I knew the people working behind the counter would give it to me with no questions asked, although I really didn’t want to run into Reyes. He would probably start another argument, and I didn’t need that tonight.

I was beginning to understand
now what Jack had been trying to tell me all along. Arming a few people with the skills to defend themselves was only going to get them killed. Jack’s injury was proof enough that the guards weren’t going to put up with an insolent urchin. But I didn’t see how we could raise an army and stay hidden from Holt as well.

Most people had eaten by
then, and the line-up for food was short. I looked around to see if Summer was there. She wasn’t. Reyes was there, though, so I kept my head down.

“I need some ice,” I
said when it was my turn. Ice wasn’t a usual commodity in the Pit, but it was available for emergencies.

“What do you need it for?”
asked the woman behind the counter.

“My husband may have a concussion.
I need ice for the swelling.” I hoped I looked pathetic enough for her to take pity on me.

She narrowed her eyes, studying me.
“Your husband the one that laid six guards on their backs in the mine today?”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll come personally to have a look at him for you
.”

“It’s okay.
I just need the ice. He seems fine.” Alarms were going off inside my head. If anyone examined Jack closely they would probably recognize him. He wasn’t hurt badly enough to take that chance. She ignored me and started rummaging through her things behind the counter to put a bag together.

“You two eat
yet?”

“Really, all I want is the ice
.”

She continued as if I’d never spoken
, placing two containers of food into her bag. “I have almost fifteen years of medical training behind me so I can tell you if it’s a concussion or not.” She came around from behind the counter and headed for the door. I had to run to catch up to her. “Might be I can’t do anything for him, but at least I should be able to tell if it’s serious or not. Which way?” she asked when we reached the hall.

“My husband’s really uncomfortable around strangers.
Please, if you could just give me some ice.” I realized I should never have sought out help. I was putting us in too much danger of being caught.

“I know who you are,” the woman said in a voice
so low only I would hear. “And I know who the man is you’re trying to protect. Now I don’t have much of a soft spot for the bourge, but when I hear a man kicked the snot out of six guards because they were pickin’ on a little kid, well I don’t mind helping out at all.”

All I could do was stare at her in shock.
My first instinct was to deny everything she said, but by the look on her face, my denials would fall on deaf ears.

“How do you know?” I asked
.

“You think you grew up in the Pit without anyone ever noticing you?
It’s hard not to notice a girl of your height who likes to put coal in her hair. That hat you wear isn’t hiding anything.” She laughed.

I started climbing the stairs.
“Does everyone know?” All this time I thought we had everyone fooled.

“Anyone who knew you before probably know
s you now, too. Not to mention just about everyone down here watched your wedding. You’re a famous couple.”

I left the stairs at the second level and went in the direction of our apartment.
I still wasn’t sure about this. I didn’t have to go to our apartment and give our location away. I could still mislead her. But Jack did need the ice, and it seemed like this was the only way to get it for him. I guessed she could’ve turned us in any time but she hadn’t, so I decided to take the risk, went to our apartment, and let her in.

She nodded toward the bedroom.

“Is he in there?”

“Yes.” I followed behind her.

Jack must have heard her voice because he was trying to stand when we went into the bedroom.
He leaned against the wall to steady himself.

“Woozy
, are you?” the woman asked.

“Who is this?”

“Just sit back down on the bed before you fall over and hurt yourself,” the woman said in a tone not to be argued with. Jack shot me a questioning look, but all I could do was shrug. He sat back down. “My name’s Dawn Reed. I already told your wife I have fifteen years of medical training. I’m not educated like the doctors you have upstairs, but I’ve managed to keep a few people alive in my day.” Jack was still staring at me, and his eyes widened at her admission.

“I’m sure my wife exaggerated my condition.
She worries about me like that. I’m fine,” he said brushing her hands away from him.

Dawn persisted
, though, intent on feeling his head for any wounds. She found the bump on his head. “Oh, that’s a good one. You’ll definitely need some ice on it to take down the swelling.” She rummaged through her bag and came up with a small flashlight. “Let’s take a look at your eyes.” She bent his head back. He tried to jerk away, but it was too late. “Wow, those eyes are bluer in person than they are on television. How have you been hiding them down here?”

“She knows
, Jack,” I said.

“And you
brought her here anyway?”

“She can turn us in whether she knows where we’r
e living or not.”

“She’s right,” Dawn
said. “A lot of people have figured out who you are. But no one is going to turn you in. Sunny is a hero down here, and as long as you’re with her, you’re safe, too… I think.”

“You’re saying the minute I’m not with her…”

“No one down here likes a bourge, and you’re high up on the food chain. I mean, you were pretty close to becoming president yourself, weren’t you?” She said it like it was a bad thing. “But if she says you’re okay, then we’ll let you stay down here. And it didn’t hurt that you helped that kid today in the mines either. No one’s ever taken on the guards before. Well, at least not six at once.”

“So, you’re not going to turn me in?
”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?
Now let me have a look at those gorgeous blue eyes of yours. Don’t get to see those too often in the Pit!” But Jack didn’t offer his eyes up for inspection.

“Jack, it can’t hurt.
Just let her have a look,” I said. I was rewarded with an angry glare, but he finally submitted.

Dawn held open one of his eyelids and flashed the light at
it a few times. She repeated the process with his other eye. “When you stood up earlier, were you dizzy or just off balance?”

“Dizzy.”

“Any ringing in your ears?”

“No.”

“Bad taste in your mouth?”

“No.”

“Can you touch your right index finger to your nose?” she asked. He did it. “Can you touch your left index finger to your nose?” He did but made it obvious he felt like an idiot.

Dawn took a pin out of her bag and began to prick down his left arm.
Jack kept jerking his arm away from her, and she seemed satisfied with his reaction. Then she tried his right arm. She began to take his pulse. “Is your vision okay?”

“It is now
.”

“But it
was blurry earlier?”

“I
had a little trouble focusing.”

“His heart rate is okay,” she
said. “With dizziness and blurred vision he might have a mild concussion, but I don’t think it’s anything too serious. He’s got all the feeling in his arms.” She pulled out a bag of ice and handed it to me. “Put this over the bump on his head, and keep it there as long as he can stand it. The cold will bring the swelling down. I don’t want him going to sleep right away, but if he makes it through the next few hours without any vomiting or delirium of any kind then let him sleep. He vomits or acts crazy, you come get me.”

Dawn wrote down
her apartment number on the sixth level. Then she remembered the containers of food she brought for us and put them on the table.

“Thank you,” I said awkwardly.
“Thank you for everything—for the advice and for keeping our secret.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to her.
I felt vulnerable with this stranger who knew our identities. All I could do was hope she was trustworthy. I walked her to the door and watched her leave.

I threw my hat on the table and took off my heavy vest once she was gone.
I filled two glasses with water and then decided to use some of our water ration for washing. Jack wouldn’t be able to get to the bath tonight, and I knew how much he liked to be clean. I filled a basin with water and quickly washed myself. When I went back into the bedroom, Jack was already asleep.

“Wake up,” I said, coming to sit on the bed.
I laid the bag of ice on the back of his head.

“That’s cold!
I’m tired and my head is pounding. I just want to sleep.”

“I brought you some water and a towel.
I’ll give you a few minutes to wash up then I’ll come back and sit with you.”

I went back out into the
living room until he called out that he was done. When I returned to the bedroom, he was lying face down on the bed with his shirt off and already asleep.

“You heard her
,” I said loudly. “You have to stay awake for a few hours.” I pushed him farther onto the bed to make room for myself, put one of the pillows against the wall, and leaned back on it. Jack propped himself up on his elbows and gave me an inquisitive look.

“What?
If I’m going to be here keeping you awake, I’m going to be comfortable.” I held the glass out to him. “Water?”

He drained the glass and passed it back.
I opened one of the containers of food and took a bite. “It’s still warm. Do you want some?”

He wrinkled his nose at the smell.
“Is it still grey?”

“Yes it is
.”

“Maybe later
.” He laid his head back down, and I put the ice on it.

“So you didn’t tell me there was a kid involved today.
What happened?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as you tell me how you got that bruise on the side of your head,” he said without looking up at me.

I touched my head and realized there was a tender spot just above my eye. Madi must have been wearing a ring. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it with Jack. He beat up six guards in order to help a kid, and I just stood by and watched Crystal get hit. Knowing that I was the reason Madi had struck her didn’t help my guilt or humiliation.

“My supervisor is a bit of a hot head
.” I hoped to leave it at that.

“Then keep your head down at your job
, and don’t do anything to provoke her.”

“Supervisors like her don’t need to be provok
ed. She was born mean. Now it’s your turn. What happened?”

“A guard started pushing a twelve
-year-old kid around because he wasn’t doing something right, and I told him to back off. Another guard came over and started pushing me around. That’s when I lost my temper. I mean, what the hell is a twelve-year-old kid doing working in the mines? He should be in school.”

“Down here, you’re an adult at twelve and have to find a job.
Freeloaders aren’t tolerated. Those are the rules you bourge force on us. We have no choice.”

“I understand why the witch doctor lumped me in with them, but I would hope by now you would know bet
ter.”

I knew that Jack had a good heart, but he was still a bourge.
He was used to being in charge. He hated our food and missed having hot showers every day. Although I admired him for wanting to help us in the Pit, it didn’t make him one of us. But I would never say any of this to him. I could only imagine what it must be like to be hunted by your own people and barely tolerated by mine.

“So tell me what it was like growing
up as Jack Kenner,” I said.

“I just want to go to sleep
, Sunny.” I could tell his head was hurting him a lot.

“Put your head in my lap
.”

He hesitated a moment, then
laid his head in my lap. I held the ice against his bump and used my other hand to run through his hair, gently massaging his scalp and the back of his neck. My mother had always done this for me whenever I had a headache.

“That feels nice,” he said.
He wrapped an arm around the top of my legs and snuggled his head into me. I thought that felt nice, too.

“Now
tell me your life story—and don’t back out of it. You have to stay awake so you might as well entertain me.”

“What do you w
ant to know?”