Uncitizen, page 13
“She’s right.” Marcus agreed. “I can get her on the bus without a problem. We just have to figure out a way to get her and Magdalena off the bus without alerting the guards to an escape…or either of them getting shot.”
“Makes sense.”
Marcus continued, “Both of you need to be at work or somewhere else very public so that you’ll have plenty of witnesses proving you didn’t help. Just in case you’re questioned.”
Weldon looked at Trisha. “He’s right. You need to stay out of it.”
“Me? He said both of us.”
“They did, but I have other plans for me.”
“Like what?” Gnat asked, eyebrows raised.
“I’m going with you and Magdalena.”
“You’re leaving NewAm?” Marcus asked. “Are you sure about this?”
“Very sure. I’m not letting them wander around the Empty Lands alone. It’s not safe.”
Gnat couldn’t believe it. “But you’ll have to give up everything, Weldon. Your assignment, your status, your rewards. We have no idea what it’s like in the Empty Lands.”
“I don’t care about any of that. What I care about is being free to worship God without being afraid.” He winked at Gnat. “And being with Magdalena.”
She grinned. “Well that goes without saying, but this isn’t something to be done lightly, Weldon. You need to really think about it.”
“You mean like going into hiding and then running into buildings to share God’s message?” Weldon raised his brows in query.
“I had to do what I thought God wanted me to do.”
“Same here.”
“Count me in,” Trisha said.
“Count you in to what?” Weldon stared at her.
“I’m going with you.”
“Why? You’re not even a believer.”
“I’m tired of The Guardians having complete control over my life. I want to be free to make my own decisions and my own mistakes.”
Gnat put her head in her hands. “I have to leave or be killed. You both have good lives here. There’s no reason for either of you to leave NewAm.”
“I’ve made up my mind,” Weldon said.
“I’ve made up my mind,” Trisha echoed.
Marcus looked at them. “I can’t sneak all of you out on the bus. You two will have to find your own way and meet them outside the walls later. Can you do that?”
Trisha looked at Weldon. “I guess we’re going for a swim.”
35
The next night, Weldon paced around the private room at a different bar. They didn’t want to risk going back to Anything Goes two nights in a row. He expected the others soon.
Gnat arrived and they hugged.
Weldon shook his head. “I can’t believe how good you are at getting around without getting caught.”
“It’s not me. It’s a God thing.”
“It has to be.” Peace filled his heart, despite their circumstances.
“So are you having second thoughts about leaving?” Gnat asked.
“Nope. I’m excited about it. If we’re successful, I’ll have a life with Magdalena. How could I have second thoughts about that?”
“Excited to be leaving everything you’ve ever known? Excited to be leaving civilization to go live among the exiles in the Empty Lands? Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
He shrugged. “I do and yet, it’s true.”
She grinned. “Me, too. I’ve had enough of The Guardians.”
Trisha walked in and held up a hand. “Don’t ask me if I’ve changed my mind because I haven’t.”
Weldon and Gnat laughed.
“We wouldn’t think to ask such a question,” Gnat said.
“Good.”
“Did you tell anyone?” Weldon asked.
“Of course not. Let’s go over the plan.”
“Let’s wait for Marcus. No reason to go over it twice.” Gnat grinned. “But I’d love it if someone ordered some food.”
“Chicken wings again?”
She shook her head. “Make it a burger—a triple burger with cheese and all the fixings. Don’t look at me that way. And I’d suggest you both eat, too. Once we’re out of here, food could get very sparse.”
“I’ll go down and order for us.” Weldon held up his wrist. “Might as well use my perks one last time.” He returned a few minutes later. “I ordered a ton of food and even ordered dessert.”
“Sounds good.” Gnat was pleased.
A waiter brought the food to them after a bit.
Marcus walked in with a gorgeous woman. She was almost as tall as Marcus, slender but not frail. Her body language exuded strength and determination.
“This is Adrianna, my mate.” Marcus introduced them. “We’ve decided we’re leaving, too.”
Weldon finally found his voice. “I didn’t see that coming.”
Marcus grinned. “I listened to all of you talking about being free from The Guardians. I realized I wanted the same thing, but I didn’t say anything then because I wanted to talk with Adrianna. I wouldn’t go anywhere without her.”
Weldon could understand that. “Welcome, Adrianna.”
Gnat stepped toward the woman with open arms and a smile. “Give me a hug.”
Adrianna bent down and enveloped Gnat. “When Marcus said you were a tiny thing, he wasn’t exaggerating.”
“Are you really sure about this?” Gnat asked as they stepped back from the embrace. “Because we have no idea what will happen when we get to the Empty Lands. We’ve all been told how dangerous it is out there.”
“Marcus and I talked about it. We understand the dangers and that we may die a lot sooner out there then we would here. But we’re tired of hiding our faith. I want to be able to teach our child about God.” She touched her stomach.
“You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “I want our child to be born in freedom.”
“I might just cry.” Gnat looked at Weldon. “That’s good enough for me. This is…like amazing. We’ll all be together and can worship God out in the open.”
Marcus pointed at the food covering the table. “What’s this?”
“We decided we should use some of my perks before we leave. Help yourself. There’s plenty.”
After people filled their plates, Trisha took over the meeting. “OK, then let’s get started. Marcus, were you able to sabotage the transport?”
“No problem. I rescheduled it to leave on Sunday. I said that so the mechanics wouldn’t rush to fix it. I said I wanted it fixed right this time.”
“You sound like a tough boss.” Weldon laughed.
“The toughest.” Adrianna agreed with a smile.
“Sunday’s great. That means we have the weekend to get going. No one will miss us until Monday. So Weldon and I will leave tomorrow after our service assignments. We’ll go through the tunnels and swim across the river. Once we’re outside the wall, we’ll make our way south. How far is it from the rendezvous spot?”
“I’m not sure but you should be able to walk it in a day.”
“That gets us to the rendezvous area by Saturday night. Then we can find a good place to hide out after all of you get off the bus.”
Adrianna looked at Trisha. “I’ll go with you, if that’s all right?”
“Can you swim?” Trisha asked.
Adrianna nodded. “Like a fish.”
Marcus pulled out a map. “Follow the river. It will take you exactly where you need to go. I plan to stop the bus here.” He pointed. “You can’t get lost. There are abandoned houses and buildings nearby as well.”
Adrianna winked. “I’ll be with them. They won’t get lost. We’ll find a suitable building to hide out in until the fuss is over.”
“How long do you think that will be?” Gnat asked.
“A few days. Maybe a week.”
“But what if they find us?” Trisha asked.
“God will protect us.” Adrianna said, her voice firm. “I believe this is exactly what God wants us to do. He’ll keep us safe.”
Trisha’s eyes widened but she didn’t argue the point.
“That sounds easy enough.” Weldon looked up from the map. “That leaves Gnat. Should she come with us or out on the transport?”
Marcus laid down the burger he was eating. “I’ll need her with me to make my plan work.”
“I guess that means you came up with one. A plan?”
Marcus nodded. “The key is to make the guards believe that the bus is having mechanical issues and that it’s not an attack to help a prisoner escape. That way their focus will be on the bus and safety of the volunteers instead of the prisoners.”
“That makes sense.”
“About halfway there, I’ll have issues with the bus. That’s where Gnat comes in. She’ll be under the transport.”
“Under the bus?”
“You’ll be hiding in the luggage compartment. As we pick up the volunteers, I’ll put the luggage in, so no one sees you. After we leave the city, you’ll start hitting the roof of the compartment. I’ll make a point of saying something to the guards, so they’ll believe we’re having mechanical difficulties.”
“Good idea.”
“We’ll come to a wooded area about an hour after driving south. I’ll stop the bus. Just for a few seconds. I’ll get out and check out the situation. That’s when I’ll unlock the luggage compartment. That’s your signal to start making a lot more noise. I’ll stop again about ten minutes later. When I stop the bus the first time, you’ll set some papers that I’ll give you on fire. Sooner or later someone will notice the smoke and I’ll stop again. When the bus stops a second time, you’ll get out and puncture the gas tank.”
“That sounds awfully dangerous,” Gnat said.
Marcus looked at her. “It is dangerous. I thought we all knew that was the case.”
“I mean for the other passengers. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I’m quite sure that won’t happen. When I see the smoke, I’ll insist everyone get off the bus. For safety reasons. Things will happen quickly after that. Gnat you’ll set the gas that’s dripped out of the tank on fire. The bus will catch on fire. In all the confusion, I’ll grab Magdalena and we’ll all head into the woods.”
Weldon nodded. “And we’ll be waiting in the woods to lead you to the hiding place we plan to find.”
Trisha nodded. “That’s a good plan, Marcus. As long as the guards don’t catch on to what’s really happening.”
“I thought about that.” Marcus continued. “Even if they see us leave, they’ll have to make a decision. If they follow us, then they’ll be leaving the other prisoners unguarded. And they could escape. I’m hoping they decide it’s better to lose one prisoner than all of them.”
Gnat nodded. “It could work. And in all the confusion, they might not notice that Magdalena’s gone for a while.”
Trisha asked, “What if we make sure Magdalena is at the back of the bus. As everyone’s getting off, Gnat could open the emergency door. Magdalena can leave that way. The guards might not even notice she’s gone for a long time. That would only leave Marcus slipping off into the woods while the bus is on fire.”
Weldon thought about it. “Marcus, what do you think?”
“I like it. Even if the guards see me walk on the other side of the bus, they won’t think much about it. They’ll think I’m checking things out. It could take them a while to notice that a prisoner’s missing or that I’m not back.”
“Any other concerns or suggestions?”
Gnat held up her wrist, pointing to a scar. “You’ll all need to take out the LifeChips. But that might alert someone.”
“It would. We could take them out but carry them with us until we leave for good.”
“That would work?”
Trisha answered, “From what I know about the LifeChips, yes. They’ll keep tracking whether they’re in the body or out.”
Adrianna held up her hand. “I have a suggestion.”
“What?”
“I think we should leave while it’s dark. That way we can be far enough away by daylight that none of the Wall Watchers will see us. And that will give us extra time to get to the rendezvous point.”
Weldon looked at Trisha. “It’s OK with me. And it will give us more time to scout the area for a good hiding place.”
Everyone looked at everyone else.
Trisha nodded. “Let’s do this.”
36
Trisha stared at the open wound on her wrist. No turning back now. Removing one’s LifeChip was treason. No other evidence was needed to convict. She poured alcohol on the wound, and then bandaged it. She moved with quiet intent, careful not to wake up her new roommates.
Moving to the kitchen she filled a water bottle, and stuffed bread and peanut butter into her pack. The others were leaving because of some misguided belief that God was real. But she was leaving because she was tired of The Guardians. For years she thought she could help weaken The Guardians to the point of destroying their system. But that hadn’t happened and probably never would. It was time to give up that idea.
Life wouldn’t be easy in the Empty Lands, but she’d be free. And it was time to meet Weldon. She walked out of the apartment. Her life there was finished.
Weldon was waiting for her in the basement. He held up his bandaged wrist. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”
She held up her own arm. “No way. I couldn’t decide what to bring with me.”
“Yeah, I had that problem too. In the end, I followed Gnat’s example. Peanut butter and bread.”
“Me, too. Where’s your chip?”
“I left it in my apartment. How about you?”
“I left it in my RR. Hopefully, no one will be alerted to the fact I’m gone until Monday when I don’t show up for my service assignment.”
“Same here.”
“Where’s Adrianna?”
“Outside waiting for us.”
Trisha took a deep breath. “OK. Let’s do this.”
Adrianna was pacing back and forth in front of the building. “Let’s go. We need to be on our way before daylight. We don’t want the Wall Watchers to see us.”
They walked through the alleys in a western direction toward the river. When the decision was made to build the wall around the city, the river presented a unique problem. In the end, they’d only walled the eastern half of the city. Those on the western banks relocated to the east side or became exiles.
That abandoned part of the Old City still existed but was decaying. Soon nature would completely reclaim it. The Old City formed a natural border between the Empty Lands and the city.
Trisha hoped the Guardians were truthful about no one being in this area. She didn’t want to meet up with exiles in the middle of night.
Adrianna stopped walking and pointed at a manhole cover. “This is the place. Marcus showed me on the map. We don’t want to get to close to the wall. If they see or even hear something suspicious, they’ll come down to investigate.”
Weldon lifted the heavy manhole cover. Trisha and Adrianna climbed down first. Weldon handed them his backpack and climbed down a few steps before replacing the cover.
They stood in complete darkness.
“Hold on.” Adrianna said. “I brought a flashlight.”
“Good thinking.” Trisha grimaced. “I should have brought one.”
“We only need one. Let’s go.”
Finally, they came to the outlet that led to the river. Adrianna reached into her pack and pulled out a screwdriver.
“It’s a good thing you came with us,” Weldon said, his tone admiring.
“Marcus and I have thought about this for a while. We made up all kinds of plans, but never went through with it. But it gave us an idea of what we’d need to be successful.” Adrianna smiled. “We have to crawl through the tunnel and it will lead to the river.” She pulled out a rope. “But first we should each tie this rope around our waists. That way no one gets lost in the dark. It’s important to stay together.”
She was way more prepared than Trisha and Weldon. Trisha hadn’t thought about much beyond getting away. She’d have to do better in the Empty Lands because no one knew what they’d encounter there.
“We shouldn’t talk anymore because the sound might carry.” Adrianna’s voice brought Trisha back to their current situation. She handed Weldon and Trisha garbage bags. “Put your packs in these. It will help keep them dry. And it’s time to turn off the flashlight.”
Darkness enveloped them.
~*~
“Everyone ready?” Weldon whispered.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Weldon moved into the river. The frigid water shocked him back to a state of wakefulness.
The women followed with startled gasps. Neither said a word.
He sucked air between his teeth and swam, hoping the movement would warm his body. The moon gave off enough light to see the banks of the river on the other side. A few minutes later, his fingers dug into the oozing mud. He tugged on the rope to help the women in. The water was so cold he wasn’t sure they could swim the whole way.
Adrianna crawled out of the water. She helped pull Trisha in. “She stopped swimming. I think she swallowed a lot of water.” She leaned close. “She’s not breathing.”
Weldon moved to the women. “I’ve had training in resuscitation.”
Adrianna moved aside.
Weldon worked quickly.
Trisha coughed up water. She lay in the mud, gasping. “I…”
“Don’t talk. Just breathe.” Adrianna told her.
A few minutes later, the three of them sat shivering on the banks of the river.
“I’m soooo cold,” Trisha whispered. “I’m sorry. I thought was a strong enough swimmer to get across the river.”
“I’m sure you are. It was the cold. It contracted your muscles. Did the same to me.” Weldon explained. “But once again, Adrianna saved the day. She managed to get you and herself out of the water.”
Trisha leaned against Adrianna. “Thanks, girlfriend.”
“Not a problem, girlfriend.”
The lights from the wall gave a ghostly glow in the darkness. Somewhere over there were people watching out for the safety of the city. With guns. If the guards thought they were trying to get in the city, it wouldn’t end well.
