Z 2135 (23 page)

“That’s my regular spot,” the woman explained.

They walked for another few minutes, past the hangars, to
another long building with many doors, each about 20 feet apart. The woman took
the same small black box from her pocket and pointed it at the wall between two
of the doors. Jonah found this odd; all was explained, though, when she pressed
a button and the wall split at a seam. A door appeared, which rolled up from
the floor. A sudden bright light illuminated the interior of what appeared to
be a small garage with a smaller version of the supply trucks that typically
worked between cities. It was old and dusty from what looked like a million
miles of use.

The woman stepped inside the garage, and Jonah followed her.
The door closed automatically behind them.

“My name’s Maya,” the woman said. “And you’re Jonah
Lovecraft.”

“Yes.”

“If you get caught, Jonah Lovecraft, find a way to kill
yourself. They’ll torture you until you wish you’d killed yourself.”

He asked, “You live here, in City 1?”

“I do.”

“What’s it like?”

“Better than you think.”

“Paradise?”

“Nicer.”

“So why are you helping?”

“Maybe one day the world will get to a place in which I’ll
want to hear reasons for things you do, and I’ll have the time to tell you
mine. For now, we need to get you into the city proper.”

“I’m ready,” Jonah said, trying not to be insulted.
“Sutherland said you had a secret way to get inside.

Maya laughed. “He said I had a secret way, did he?”

Jonah thought. “Well, no, I guess he didn’t. I guess he said
you had
a way.
”

“That sounds more like it.”

Without another word, Maya turned from Jonah, went to the
truck’s cabin, then opened the door and pulled out a change of clothes from the
driver’s seat. With no regard to Jonah, she started undressing, removing her
white shirt and khakis, and replacing them with an all-brown jumpsuit with a
City courier insignia on the left breast.

Maya finished dressing, reached inside the truck, then
tossed Jonah a matching uniform.

Jonah started dressing, filling the moment with chatter.

“So, what’re the odds of you getting me inside The City? As
easy as getting this far?”

“We just need to go through two gated checkpoints, but it
shouldn’t be difficult with our credentials. City Watch here isn’t used to
being on high alert, so once we’re past the gates you should be good.”

“And what about orbs and such?”

“We don’t have many orbs here. A few for emergencies, but
for the most part, the City Watch blends in more than it lords over. Most of
the citizens here live with blinders on, thinking nobody would ever wish them
harm. The only way anyone could ever hurt them is if people like me are willing
to help.”

She met his eyes and smiled. “And people like me don’t
exist.”

She said, “Get in.”

Jonah went to the passenger side and got in. Maya got into
the driver’s seat, backed out, and the garage door closed behind them. A minute
later they were driving on a concrete road heading for the front gates.

Maya said, “If they’re suspicious of you at all, it will be
now, when we’re trying to pass through the main gates.”

“Great,” Jonah said, trying not to appear as nervous as he
felt.

Adam stared at Michael, too shocked to stutter.

 Michael asked, “So, did you rat on us to your buddy,
Keller?”

 Adam wished Cadets were allowed to carry shock sticks in
the street so he could belt Michael on the head.

“No! Why would you think that?”

“Are you kidding?” Michael peered down at Adam. “You left in
a huff, angry and yelling. Like
we
were the bad guys.”

“But you
are
the bad guys!”

 Michael wasn’t getting it. Most of City Watch’s tasks
revolved around monitoring, anticipating and ending Underground activity. Maybe
there would be more chances to fix things in The Dark Quarters if there weren’t
so much time wasted stopping people in The City’s way.

Michael shook his head at Adam, practically wagging his
finger. “No,
you
still
don’t get it. They’ve blinded you.”

The Chief had already told him to anticipate this, to be
wary of Michael’s tactics. He had warned him that his old friend would use all
the words he was using right now. It was the way of the serpent, to confuse you
until you were suddenly acting on its behalf.

Adam wished he
had
ratted Michael out when given the chance. But he had chosen friendship over
allegiance to The State. Friendship with a terrorist.

“Whatever,” Adam said, turning from Michael, not wanting to
fight. He started walking away.

From behind Michael said, “You know I’m right.”

Adam spun back around. “No, I
don’t
know you’re right, Michael. All I know is that
you
don’t get it. From ratting on my sister to hanging out with The Underground,
you’re obviously the one who’s confused, not me. I know up from down and right
from wrong. I know Municipal from The Edge.”

Michael looked back at Adam, surprised. His body swayed back
as if Adam’s words hung with weight on his body.

Adam said, “I can’t even pretend to get why you think The
City’s persecuting you, but I don’t think you and I will ever see things the
same. I don’t want to get you into trouble, so … so I don’t think we can be
friends anymore.”

“I can change your mind.”

“How?” Adam asked.

“I need you to come with me.”

Adam didn’t like that.

He had just told Michael that they couldn’t be friends, and
now Michael wanted him to go somewhere, away from the street? If The
Underground was willing to kill kids—which they were known to do—and of course
they were willing to murder Watchers, maybe they would be willing to off a
Cadet like Adam. A Cadet who knew at least a few of their faces.

Adam had endangered himself by going to the first meeting.
No way he was willing to go again.

While Adam wasn’t convinced that Michael would try to hurt
him, he had zero doubt that others in The Underground would do something to
punish a Whitewasher.

“I won’t go to a meeting,” he said. “I can’t. I don’t want
to be around you people any more. And I won’t lie to my superiors. It’s best if
you and I just stop talking right now.”

“Come back to my apartment, Adam. Not for long. I just want
to show you something. You’ll thank me. I promise.”

Adam didn’t trust Michael, but he also knew he shouldn’t say
no. If Michael
was
a bad
guy, Adam could stay aware like he was taught in Survival, and defend himself.
Watchers sometimes had to put themselves in danger. That was the job, and the
task the Chief had assigned him.

Keller said that sometimes you had to be around bad people
to do the right thing.

If he went back with Michael, he could find out more about
what was happening, then report it to the Chief and make up for everything he
failed to say earlier. If Michael wasn’t a bad guy and really
did
have something
important to show Adam, then Adam could be open-minded enough to listen to his
friend.

“OK,” Adam said. “But if anything bad happens, we can’t be
friends anymore.”

If
anything bad happens, he doesn’t want to be friends.

They began walking the few miles or so to Michael’s one
bedroom in The Back.

There was nothing terribly bad about The Back, but there was
nothing good either. The clustered apartments weren’t as old as those at The
Edge or as rundown, but they were on their way to forgotten, only around
two-thirds occupied as The State neatened its ratios and built out better parts
of The City. Even with its reduced population, the apartments in The Back were
small and crammed together.

As they passed under an arch that opened into a courtyard
behind the 14-story building where Michael lived, an orb floated by. Adam made
sure to look and make eye contact.

I hope
someone’s watching, just in case things go bad. They can come save me.

They walked through the rear entrance of the building,
climbed seven floors, and stopped just outside of Michael’s apartment in the
dimly lit hallway.

Michael put his hand on Adam’s chest and whispered, “I’ll go
to the bathroom first. Soon as I come out, you go in after me. Turn on the pad
inside—I’ll leave it on the sink. Whatever you do,
do not
talk about what you see when you get
back in the living room. TVs have eyes, and I mean it.
They watch us
.”

Adam’s heart was racing. Something in Michael’s tone said he
was telling the truth. Or at least he believed he was.

“Who watches us?” Adam asked.

“City Watch. How can you not know that, Adam? You’re
inside
. Don’t they tell you
the extent of their surveillance? How can you be a part of the system and not
know what they’re doing? Don’t you see how much worse that makes it?”

Michael’s voice had risen well above a whisper. Adam felt
like someone might hear them.

Still, he had to know more. Adam whispered, “What is it you
think they’re doing?”

“Like I said, Adam, they watch us, and I mean
watch us.
There are rooms
under The City, large ones, filled with people, all of them staring at feeds.
Their only job—all day long—is to keep on watching us.”

That’s
impossible.

“How would you know this?” Adam asked.

“I just know,” Michael said, hardly a good answer.

If that was really happening at City Watch, Adam would know.
Rooms like that would need lots of people. Where were all those people? They
sure weren’t sharing the dining hall with him and the other Cadets. Michael
might be right about some things, even a lot of things, but when he was wrong
and refused to admit he might be— like right now—he sounded crazy, and that
made it hard to believe him about anything.

“Fine,” Adam said, not wanting to argue. He had to get
inside Michael’s apartment, because that was the only way he could get back out
on the street, then to the Academy, where he could put the night behind him.

Inside, Michael went straight to the kitchen sink, leaving
Adam to close the front door behind them. He poured two cups of water, and
filled them with ice from the fridge. He handed one to Adam, drank from the
other until it was empty, then excused himself to the bathroom.

“Be right back,” he said.

Adam said, “OK,” then sipped from his glass as he looked
around Michael’s apartment—tiny, but neat.

Adam had been to Michael’s a few times, and always thought
the place seemed sad. Not just because he lived in a nearly empty building in
the partly abandoned Back, or because it was small, with only one room, a tiny
bathroom, a couch, a small kitchen table, and a long mat on the floor for a
bed, with a trunk at its foot. No books, games, plants, or any of the things
that proved someone lived there.

Michael
did
have a Boxie, and the Boxie made Adam gasp. They weren’t technically illegal,
but officially, Boxies didn’t exist. He’d heard of them plenty. Everyone had.
They were small black boxes, preloaded with hundreds and sometimes thousands of
movies. You never knew how many movies your Boxie would come with, or what kind
they would be. Adam didn’t know anyone who actually had one, but he had known
lots of people, even at Chimney Rock, who knew someone who knew someone who
did.

Adam wondered why Michael’s house seemed so spare. The trunk
at the foot of his bed might have some of his stuff, but even that couldn’t
hold very much. Maybe he had his stuff hidden somewhere because he was afraid
someone might break into his place and steal stuff. Or maybe Michael was really
just a sad person who found his only joy in the arcade, and now, these days,
palling around with The Underground.

Adam set his glass on the counter and plopped down on the
couch. The TV came on automatically, as most TVs were programmed to do when
they detected someone.

Maybe
that’s the camera they use to watch us?

I can’t
see it, though. It would have to be very small.

The TV was recessed into the wall, the same kind that came
with every City apartment, exactly the same as the one in Adam’s apartment
growing up. Even the recesses in The Edge houses were the same size. The only
place Adam had ever seen them different was in the high apartments. Of course,
The City itself had massive screens everywhere, like at the Academy, pubs, and
arcades.

The Reels were broadcasting weather. Adam wondered if
Michael had weather set as his favorite channel. He could see him being that
boring.

Adam looked up at the screen, squinting as he wondered again
where the camera was. He couldn’t find it if there was one.

The weather report spilled into the day’s Darwin Games
report, perking Adam’s interest. He hadn’t been paying attention to the most
recent round at all, at least not live. Of course he couldn’t help but hear the
latest news amongst the Cadets. It was all some of them wanted to talk about.
Adam probably would have watched The Games more, if he wasn’t spending so much
time with Keller.

 He supposed he would have to make time for The Games, just
to keep up and be able to carry on conversations with others, but the true
magic of such a program was gone, and Adam suspected it would be forever. Ever
since Ana was thrown inside, and killed, he couldn’t find any interest in The
Games. They made him sick. He was good at pretending they didn’t, but they
always did. He held his eyes to the TV now, though, seeing if this time might
be any different.

The video showed an old man, he must’ve been at least 60,
running from three zombies, trying to reach a ladder leading to one of the
platforms spread throughout The Barrens.

Somehow, he managed to reach the ladder and climb to the
top. He was about to raise himself to the platform when a fat man with red hair
sat up on the platform, suddenly revealing himself. He stabbed the old man in
the head, then pushed him down to the zombies below.

The cameras cut to a studio audience reaction. People were
laughing—laughing at an old helpless man as he was eaten by zombies.

People can
be so cruel.

Kirk Kirkman’s voice piped over the replay, “Whoops, looks
like another player down thanks to sneaky Fat Matt who has somehow made the
Final Four! Anyone who bet large on Fat Matt is raking in the winnings. Could
he go all the way? Stay tuned, citizens!”

Adam stared at the screen, disgusted.

Michael came out of the bathroom, then went to the couch and
sat beside Adam, eyes on the TV. “Did I miss anything?” he asked as if he
cared.

“Yeah, it’s going to rain tomorrow,” Adam said, standing. “I
have to go to the bathroom,” he said.

Michael nodded, acting as if he was absorbed in The Darwins
recap. “Thanks for sharing.”

Adam stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. He
immediately saw the black tablet sitting on the sink. He recognized the kind—a
Nova, same kind the Cadets from the high apartments usually had. They cost more
than twice what the Omegas did, the kind Adam was issued. He wondered where
Michael got enough credits for a Nova. The device was worth as much as
everything else in his apartment added together … and multiplied twice.

Maybe that’s why Michael didn’t have anything else in his
place? Maybe he used all his credits to buy the best device for all of his
entertainment. Maybe he synced it with his Boxie and could see all those movies
wherever he went. Maybe Michael wasn’t as boring or sad as Adam thought.

Adam picked up the Nova. It made him nervous—he thought he
might break it and then not know what to do.

He stared at the screen for a half second, then pressed the
large circle on the Nova’s center—a sideways triangle that said PLAY.

The screen flickered and footage started to play. The
footage was recorded by an orb floating over the roof of a tall building where
a bunch of scary looking men were surrounding a guy and beating him with a
chain.

At first, Adam thought it was something from The Games, but
the setting didn’t look like The Barrens, or anywhere in or near City 6, not
even The Dark Quarters. The horizon was crammed with buildings, but they were
in horrible shape, the worst Adam had ever seen—crumbling and tilting like
something from one of the arcade box games.

The men were launching fists and feet into the fallen man
over and over, knocking his body hard enough to make it blur and lurch. Adam
couldn’t see who the person was or why Michael had insisted that he watch the
video. The footage was too grainy and blurry, until the orb dipped lower and
the camera became clearer.

Adam watched as the victim came into focus.

He gasped, nearly dropping the Nova.

Liam!

Adam stared, without any idea what he was seeing, heart
pounding for a man who couldn’t be in danger … because he was already dead.

Then Adam saw his sister, standing on the edge of the
building like she was going to jump.

When did
this happen?