anyone well enough.
“Who
can I trust?” Like Dory says in her letter, I need to find someone on my side.
The
door creaks open, but no one is there. I blow out the candle. I get up and walk
over to close the door all the way, but think twice. I step outside my room. No
one’s around, except for something behind the fountain.
My
footsteps make soft shushing sounds on the dirt floor. I lift them higher, but
it slows me down.
As
I approach the fountain, I don’t hear anything but running water and the sound
of my own heartbeat in my ears. I almost don’t see anything until I get closer.
A shadow from behind the fountain moves slightly. Enough for me to notice its
size.
“Ezekiel?
What’re you doing?”
Ezekiel
drops his arm, but I think he’s finished transmitting whatever it is he was
entering into his implanted computer.
“Are
you sending something? I didn’t think that was okay. Will the Imperial Bead
catch you? Will they find out we’re here?” I’m nervous and confused. Isn’t
it really bad if we get caught?
“Keep
it down, keep it down.” Ezekiel pulls on his long sleeves. I hadn’t noticed the
extent of the tattoos on his dark skin before. They completely cover his upper
arms. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“Well,
what were you doing then?” I accuse. “You’ll get us caught,” I say, though I
don’t know what this means or how it could happen. Still, I feel empowered like
I have some sort of right.
“So
what? What happens to you if we get caught? You go back to your affluent life. The
life you had before.”
“I
– I –” I wasn’t expecting this.
“And
if your organs get replaced?”
“But
you know that won’t happen. Not now,” I say. He’s scaring me.
Ezekiel
ignores me. He doesn’t even look at me. “You’ll get to live even longer. The
rest of us here don’t have that option, don’t have that money, the resources,
or family connections.”
“Why’re
you talking about this?” The room spins. Or is it me that’s dizzy?
“Because
you can stand to hear it. You need to hear it,” he says, taking a breath.
No
I can’t. I
gasp for air.
“You
leave here and your life goes back to normal. I leave here and I have nothing.”
“What?”
My mind races to Pike. “How could you have nothing?”
Ezekiel
turns on me. “If I get sick, I don’t heal like you do. None of us here do.”
“But
you can be made comfortable here. If you’re ill,” I sound naïve and I know it. I
understand somewhat, I think.
“We’ve
all been exposed to so many neurotoxins that our tissue can’t repair or
regenerate any longer. The Imperial Bead doesn’t care about us out there. In
here, we have each other. If we get caught, we lose all of that. See, Rose–”
It’s
the first time he’s called me by my name.
“–we’re
not like you. We don’t want to be like you.”
His
words sting. I haven’t felt this before. Hurt. I may cry.
“Why
don’t you get AR’d then?” I don’t know what to say, so I say something stupid.
He
doesn’t answer. I shouldn’t have asked.
“I
haven’t done anything,” I say after a minute. “You’re transmitting messages.”
“You’re
the reason I’m transmitting messages, Rose! Who do you think tells your sister
you’re okay?”
“You
transmit to Dory? How do you know my sister?” I don’t know what I feel about
this or how I should feel. How does Dory know anyone from outside?
He
pushes me out of the way and I’m angry. I want to push him back, but think
better of it. I turn and stomp up the two flights of stairs to Pike’s room. As
I walk down the hallway, my anger diffuses and I stop a few doors down from his
room. Hara closes Pike’s door as she exits. She doesn’t notice me as she walks
off in the opposite direction. I change my mind and turn to go back down the
way I came.
“Rose,
can we talk?” JJ stands a few feet down in his open doorway. This time he is
fully clothed. Still, I’m startled and