chapter 17
Even though it’s still dark and my body’s stiff and exhausted, I need to get moving. Knowing I was in first place last night, and unsure if anyone has surpassed me in the night, I pack up my bag and take off.
I eat the apple while I walk and when my legs are warmed up, I begin to jog. Though I couldn’t tell last night in the darkness, this area looks familiar. I’ve been here before. I push myself ahead, though my legs do little more than shuffle along.
I jog into the field surrounding the compound just as dawn is breaking. O’Donovan and an unfamiliar man in a black trench coat are waiting for me. I know I must look crazy as I half-jog, half-limp up to them. They wait calmly for me to approach, like they’re expecting me.
When I get close, they stop talking and just watch me hobble over the last few steps. “Eve Sterling, the wonder girl,” O’Donovan says with heavy sarcasm. “Always undermining our expectations.”
“This is her?” the other man asks, his voice gravelly.
“The one and only,” O’Donovan says. They both eye me cautiously. I feel like an animal escaped from the zoo.
“Am I the first one back?” I ask.
“You are. And according to the radar, by a long margin,” O’Donovan says. “Why don’t you go hit the showers?”
There are no congratulations offered for winning the challenge, no compliments on a job well done and no apologies for unleashing a hungry wolf on me. I slink into the building, too tired to feel as angry as I should.
***
It’s strangely quiet with the challenge still underway, so after showering, I decide that I need to use this rare free time to find Rena.
I walk through the open hallways and see a light glowing ahead – the supply room. I stop at the desk and ask the woman working if she knows where I might find Rena.
She looks me over, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“I’m supposed to find her. Something about needing additional help with the knives.” I hold up my cut hand.
She winces. “You certainly do.” She directs me down the hall to the administrator’s wing and to Rena’s room.
A few minutes later, I’m knocking on the door to Rena’s dorm room. I know Will’s is around here somewhere, but I can’t be distracted by thoughts of him right now. When Rena opens the door, I hold up my injured hand, hoping the line will work on her, too. “I guess I need some remedial training with the knives.” I smile.
“That’s not why you’re here, and we both know it,” her voice is sharp. She looks past me, down the hall. It’s empty. “Come inside.” She closes the door behind me. Her room is just like Will’s – a narrow bed, single locker and no personal effects.
“What did I tell you?” she asks.
I don’t answer.
“To be careful,” she says slowly. “And instead, you’re the talk of the capital.”
At this, I tilt my head.
“I know you won the challenge this morning – everyone does. You must do a better job at blending in. You’re flaunting their failure with you right in their faces. And trust me, people are noticing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I want so badly to prove to myself and to them that I could do this, that I could become a soldier, but now it seems I’ve done the wrong thing. Again.
She takes my hand and looks over the wound, letting out a tsk sound. She pulls me over to her locker and begins cleaning and bandaging my hand. She has a well-stocked first-aid kit. I guess that goes with the territory when you work with weapons like she does.
“Rena, I need to talk to you.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” she snaps, even as she gently wraps my hand.
I pull my hand back before she finishes. “I need information. Will you help me or not?”
She takes my hand again. “What is it?” Her voice is softer this time.
I take a deep breath. “I need to know what’s going on, why they’re out for me, who my parents are, why I failed the mindscan.” Though I didn’t mean to, all the questions tumble from my mouth at once.
She holds up one hand, as if to stop me. “I’ll help you – but I’m afraid you’re asking about things I don’t know.” She finishes bandaging my hand and lets it fall to my side. “I don’t know why you failed the mindscan. Something in you refused to submit – refused to give in to their will. Most people don’t think like that anymore.”
Maybe I’m more like my mother than I realized.
“Listen,” she continues, rubbing the back of her neck. “The talk in the capital is changing. People are questioning the mindscan process, wanting to know more about how it works, why its side effect is the calm, peaceful attitude. The government won’t provide any answers. And this talk, coupled with your refusal to give in, it’s not good, Eve.” She sits down on the edge of her bed, but still poised for something to happen. “What I’m trying to say is, it could be very dangerous for you.” Her voice lowers. “They’ll kill you if you make them.”
I release a slow breath I didn’t know I was holding. My mind can barely process what she says. I am one inconsequential sixteen-year-old girl, why would the capital care about me? But after I’ve seen the interest they take in me here at the compound, maybe it’s not so hard to believe. I know I don’t have long with Rena, and I have many more questions. “What do you know about my father?”
“He was handsome, young, brilliant and kind.” She smiles lightly. “He never had a mindscan, you know. His research was cutting edge, and he showed such promise from a young age – they didn’t want to do anything to his brain that might interfere with that.”
Now I’m completely confused. I didn’t know such a thing was possible. Everyone is given a mindscan.
Her voice gets quieter. “Some of the government officials aren’t submitted to them either. Something else they don’t want you to know.”
Her words stun me, but I press on. “Rena, what became of my father?”
She looks down. “He disappeared. I’m sorry, that’s all I know. I don’t know if he was killed or if he truly got away.”
“Got away? But where would he go?”
“Beyond the fence,” she says in a whisper.
Her words are still ringing in my head when she pushes me from the room saying I can’t be seen here.
***
When I make it back outside, Drew, Bryce and Jake are all back, standing around trading stories, being congratulated by O’Donovan. I’m relieved to see trench coat guy is gone. I stand off to the side, hoping to not attract much attention, and watch for the next hour as a few others filter in through the field. Sam and Alex are amongst them. Sam’s smile beams out at me from a quarter mile away, and I eagerly wait as she approaches.
“Well, imagine finding you here.” Sam pulls me into a one-armed hug and leans on me for support. I can tell she’s exhausted. She fingers my wet hair and gives it a sniff. “Why are you so clean?” I take a step back, and her stare deepens, her lips curling up in the corners. “So who won, Eve?”
I look down and toe the dirt. “Um, I did.”
“What? That’s amazing!” She pulls me in for a hug. “Alex, get over here. It’s just like we thought.” She points a finger over my head. “We got us a badass in the making over here.”
Alex limps over. I can tell he’s hurt, but doesn’t want to call attention to it, especially in the presence of someone who just beat him. “Wow – that’s amazing, Eve.” He gives me a fist bump.
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” I say.
“Not a big deal?” her voice gets louder. “If you look up ‘big deal’ in the dictionary – there would be a picture of Eve and the caption would read, ‘yes folks, she’s kind of a big deal’.” Sam gives a playful slug to my shoulder, trying to get me to crack a smile. I can see some of the others are looking in our direction now, too. Somehow, word seems to have spread about the wolf, and whispers and looks of awe are being directed my way. O’Donovan looks anything but pleased. That’s the last thing I need.
“You guys probably want to go shower, get some breakfast. Come on.” I turn for the doors without waiting for them to follow.
“What’s going on, Eve? Why are you being so weird?” Sam asks as soon as we’re inside the door.
I motion for them to keep following me. It’s not safe to talk yet. We bring Alex into the girls’ dorm with us. Once we’re inside, I turn to face them. “It’s not just O’Donovan and Kane out to get me. Rena told me that they’re talking in the capital about the girl who failed the mindscan and seems to be doing so well here.” I can tell this is a lot for them to take in, and they’re running on empty. I am too. “Look, let’s get some food, and we’ll talk about it – I just didn’t want you making a big deal out of my win out there.”
“Okay,” Sam says. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out together.”
I nod.
“Yeah, together, what she said,” Alex mumbles. He’s pale and sweaty.
“Alex, are you okay?”
“No. I hurt my leg.” He pulls up the pant leg and his shin is raw. Thick blood oozes from the long gash.
We help him hobble over to Sam’s bed, and he lays back while Sam rummages through the lockers, locking for bandages and something to clean it with.
“How’d this happen?” I ask.
“There was a trap set up – a deep hole dug into the ground and covered by a tarp – meant to look like leaves.”
“They say everyone gets different obstacles,” I say, holding his pant leg up.
Sam looks up from dressing his wound. “Was it true that yours was the wolf?”
After a moment, I nod. They stare at me for too long, with curiosity and interest in their eyes. I wish everyone would stop looking at me like that.