Rebels Page 2

  “To your room, Tym. Now!” a woman yelled.

  The volume of her voice put a hush over the crowd of people. Levi looked over the heads of the others. A woman stood in the doorway that led out of the room, clutching two girls, one to each leg. The girls looked to be five and ten. The woman was glaring at Zane and the young teen.

  “Obey your mother, Tym,” Ruston said.

  “Yes, sir.” And the young boy smiled at Zane then passed through an open door on the left wall, closing it softly behind him.

  “You must be Ruston’s wife,” Jemma said, hefting Carrie up her hip.

  Ruston squeezed through the crowd until he stood beside the woman and girls. “Yes, this is my wife, Tova, and my daughters, Resi and Luz. That was my son, Tym, who’s now in his room. And the new boys from the boarding school should be around here somewhere.”

  “They went to the park with Nash,” Tova said. But that’s all she said. No polite greeting or kind words. She simply stared at all of them like she wanted them to leave her house as soon as possible. She did eye baby Carrie though.

  Her youngest girl reached out and took hold of Carrie’s chubby fingers. “Hi, baby.”

  “Kids,” Carrie said, waving her other hand. “Hi, kids.”

  “This is Carrie,” Jemma said. “Her mommy is away right now, so I’m taking care of her. These are some of her brothers and sisters and their friends.”

  “None of them are yours?” Tova asked, frowning.

  “No, Levi and I have only been married a few months. No kids yet.” Jemma blushed, and Levi thought she was the most beautiful creature in the world.

  “Let’s get you to your new home, then,” Ruston said. “Dathan? Are you coming?”

  Dathan — Zane’s given name. Those who went into the Safe Lands all had aliases to protect themselves.

  Zane was still standing beside his mother, who was glaring at him as if she had just discovered that he had betrayed his people in the same way Omar had betrayed theirs. “Yep, I’m coming. Bye, Mom. Bye, Resi. Bye, Luz.” And he walked past them to where his father stood by another door.

  “Bye, Dathan,” the younger girl said.

  Tova took the girls by the arms and led them into the kitchen without a word to Zane.

  Odd.

  Ruston led Levi and his household out the door and into a narrow corridor that was similar to the one that led from the basement of Zane’s Safe Lands house to Ruston’s underground home, though this one had light bulbs hanging from the ceiling every five yards.

  They walked to the end of the corridor where it met a crossroads. Straight ahead was a little alcove and another door, but to the left and right, the corridor stretched out until it curved out of sight.

  They followed the left corridor for maybe two hundred yards, passing by two alcoves with doors before Ruston stopped and turned into another alcove. There was a number on the door: 16 – 1.

  “That one on the right we just passed leads to the library,” Ruston said.

  “Can we use the library?” Jemma asked, her voice so hopeful that Levi chuckled.

  “It’s always open, so feel free to go in and read books. If you take them to your home, try not to keep them too long. Straight through the library is the school. If you decide to send the kids, that’s the path they’d take. We have good teachers — all volunteers, of course. We all do our part down here. If any of you ladies see a place where you’d like to serve, speak up. I’m sure we’d all appreciate your help.”

  Levi wasn’t convinced. If the way Ruston’s wife had acted was any indication of how other Kindred might respond, Levi doubted anyone here would appreciate their help.

  Ruston opened the door and walked inside. It was a house similar to Ruston’s. It opened into a living room that was furnished with two cream-and-blue-plaid couches. The floor was worn brown carpet. Around a short wall, Levi found a tiny kitchen. There were four other rooms. Two doors behind the couches each led to a bedroom. And the two doors off the back of the kitchen led to another bedroom and a bathroom.

  “The front doors only lock from the inside,” Ruston said. “As you can tell, this place will be a tight squeeze.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Jemma said, setting Carrie on her feet. “Thank you.”

  Carrie toddled to the sofa at a near run and threw her face into the cushions, then looked up, smiling, and did it again.

  “It might be best if you ladies get everyone settled and I walk Levi around. He can take you all out later.”

  “That sounds great,” Jemma said.

  “I’ll be back later.” Levi kissed Jemma good-bye and left with Ruston and Zane, back out into the corridor. “I don’t understand these tunnels. They’re higher than the storm drains?”

  “Yes,” Ruston said.

  “So, these houses are actual basements of houses in the Safe Lands?”

  “That’s right. But we’ve closed them off. Not us, really, but our ancestors. My grandfather. Back then, things weren’t what they are now. They lived in the houses above ground. But when the government threatened to take their children away, this was how my grandfather and his friends fought back. It took time, granted, to build all this . . .”

  “But once the houses above were abandoned, no one found the secret doors to the basements?” Levi asked.

  “There are no secret doors, not in most houses. They built walls, closed off the basements entirely. The seven gateways are all in safe aboveground locations.”

  “Some got caught, though,” Zane said. “There was one story of a basement home that was found when the property was demolished to build an apartment building. Thankfully, the Kindred who lived there at the time were able to destroy the tunnel leading off from the basement house.”

  “And that’s another reason we’ve expanded under the warehouse district, away from downtown where they’re always digging deep and building more apartment buildings,” Ruston said. “Someday they’ll likely stumble upon one of our houses again, but it’s my hope we won’t be here then.”

  “You want to leave too?” Levi asked.

  “Of course. Most of us — the women, especially — have gotten used to life as is. But your being here is forcing everyone to remember our long-term goal of getting out. It’s a good thing, even if everyone doesn’t understand that yet.”

  The corridors were mostly in a grid that followed the city streets above — there were even graffitied street names on the wall, marking the routes overhead. Occasionally a corridor took a sharp curve, cutting across the middles of city blocks above. Every few yards, alcoves jutted off to one side or the other, leading to doors of houses or other locations.

  “There are sixty-three basement houses down here that are habitable,” Ruston said. “The basements exist under seventeen square city blocks. Besides the houses, library, and school, we also have a park, a gymnasium, a public square, a meeting hall, greenhouses, the powerhouse, and the trash dumpster area.”

  “What do you do with the trash?” Levi asked.

  “Ever been to Bender’s old warehouse on Fifth and Sopris? We have a freight elevator that goes up into there. We raise dumpsters to the surface, inside the warehouse, of course, and trade them with empty dumpsters.”

  Levi saw no other person until they reached what he was told was Kindred Park. It was as if someone had built a park in a cave. The way the lampposts lit the area with bright white light reminded Levi of the Safe Lands’ Champion Park at night. The grass was green and bright, and it filled the space of a whole city block. Dirt paths weaved around the park, connecting to corridors on all four walls. There were bushes and flowers around the perimeter and a playground with two slides, a swing set, and various bars and steps for children to climb.

  Some children were climbing them now. A man and woman stood watching them, but their heads turned when Ruston, Levi, and Zane entered.

  The woman walked forward and to the side until she stood between her children and Levi’s view. She crossed her arms, eyes wa
ry and sharp.

  “Hello, Ruston,” the man said, lifting a hand in a wave.

  “Kirkland, Olivia,” Ruston said.

  “Dathan.” The man nodded at Zane. “How are you?”

  “Still alive, much to my mother’s dismay,” Zane said.

  The woman rolled her eyes and turned her back to them. The man chuckled nervously, as if he wasn’t sure if he should laugh at the joke.

  “This is Levi of the tribe Elias,” Ruston said. “He’s Elias McShane’s great-grandson.”

  “That so?” Kirkland said, casting his gaze on Levi. “Pleased to know you.”

  Levi nodded at the man. “You’ve got quite a place down here.”

  “Yes, it suits our needs,” Kirkland said.

  “Kirkland.” The woman had gathered her children and held them by the hand, a boy and a girl. “We should go.”

  “When I’m finished,” Kirkland said, as if trying to prove who was boss. Yet he said to Ruston, “I should go. I’m sorry the women are, well . . .” He gestured to Zane. “I’m sorry.”

  “Keep working on them,” Ruston said.

  And the man left, walking away with his children and his wife, who glared over her shoulder twice before they vanished into a corridor.

  “You have some enemies down here or what?” Levi said to Zane.

  “I’ve been exiled. That’s what the women’s council does to flakers like me.”

  “Your own mother?” Levi asked.

  “When I turned sixteen, I left the Kindred against the will of my parents and the councils. When that happened, the councils declared me a deserter and I was exiled.”

  “But you can still come down here?”

  “I can now. The men’s council voted to end my exile when I made peace with my father.”

  “The men’s council is more lenient,” Ruston said. “I vouched for his change of heart, and the men accepted that. But his mother still refuses him, and because of that, he has no one to appeal to the women’s council on his behalf. So he’s still officially exiled, though I can grant him asylum as long as he is in my presence.”

  Levi had taken Omar back despite his many transgressions. “Will she ever relent?”

  “I doubt it,” Zane said. “Even if she wanted to, doing so would make her look weak to the other women. So she’ll continue to deny me to please them.”

  “Why do they insist on denying you at all?”

  “Fear. You saw my mother yell at my brother for speaking to me. She’s afraid I’ll corrupt him. That when he turns sixteen he’ll leave the Kindred too and fall into sin like I did. You saw that woman glare at me just now. I’m a bad influence to the people here.”

  “Then why do you come back?” Levi asked.

  “Because this is home. My family is here. And I love my mother even though she will not admit that she loves me too.”

  When Levi returned to his home at number 16 – 1, Jordan was waiting inside. And from the scowl on his friend’s face, Levi knew something had happened.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I told the medic and her parents that they weren’t allowed to leave, and the parents freaked out. Yelled so loud they woke Harvey and the other baby. Then the medic said she wanted to speak to the man in charge, as if I were nothing more than a maggot that she could step on.”

  “Where are they now?” Levi asked.

  “At my place, probably driving Naomi nuts.”

  “Lead the way.”

  Jordan’s house was in the next block, around a big corner and right before one of the entrances to Kindred Park. 15 – 2. Levi found Ciddah and her parents inside, all sitting on the couch. Ciddah was holding baby Elyot with his head above her shoulder, bouncing him and patting his back. Her mother, Losira, sat beside her, arms crossed. Her posture and the glare on her face reminded Levi of the wary Kindred mother he’d seen in the park. Droe, the father, was asleep in an armchair.

  “What seems to be the problem?” Levi asked Ciddah.

  “He said we can’t leave this house!” Losira said. “Ever.”

  “No, I said until you hear differently,” Jordan said. “That’s doesn’t mean forever.”

  “The Kindred don’t allow just anyone to live down here,” Levi said. “My people were approved by both councils, but you three . . . Ruston had to fight to get you down here at all.”

  “What have we done to deserve this?” Losira asked.

  “It’s not what you’ve done or not done,” Levi said. “It’s just — ”

  “It’s me,” Ciddah said. “They don’t trust me. And that’s fair.”

  “Oh, it most certainly is not fair,” Losira said.

  “I’ve done some things I’m not proud of,” Ciddah said. “I’ll explain later.”

  “That’s my concern, I have to admit,” Levi said. “That you’re still working for Renzor and that you’re only here to be his spy.”

  “I’m not. I swear it on Elyot’s life. On Mason’s life.”

  The desperation in her tone gave Levi pause. He stared into those cold, blue eyes. His brother claimed to love this woman, had even mentioned marrying her. Levi didn’t get it. Not only was she a flaker, she was a flaker who’d been in a relationship with Lawten Renzor, a man who had approved the destruction of Glenrock. Why did Mason trust her?

  “It’s not only that, though,” Levi said. “It’s also you two.” He nodded to Losira and Droe. “Non-Kindred are rarely given access to the basements. Only when the rebels see someone’s loyalty and it’s necessary to hide them, then the Kindred vote to extend asylum. And sometimes that vote is a no.”

  “But they said yes?” Ciddah asked.

  “On the condition that you stay in this house. Unless accompanied by someone. One of us, one of them. And that has to be approved by me or Ruston.”

  “I understand,” Ciddah said. “What are you doing to find Mason?”

  “I haven’t had time to think about Mason,” Levi said, “but there’s nothing I can do. Zane can still see through their contact lenses, however. They’re in the Rehabilitation Center. But we don’t have the connections Omar had when he got Jemma and me out of there. His old enforcer friends have been assigned new tasks in the Midlands. And Zane doesn’t know anyone who works in Surveillance.”

  “You can’t just let him be liberated,” Ciddah said. “He did everything you asked him to.”

  “Except rescue you. I asked him not to do that. And had he listened, he’d be here right now.”

  “Levi, that’s not fair,” Naomi said, walking out of a door in the back of the house. “Shaylinn wouldn’t be free either if it wasn’t for Mason and Omar.”

  He had no response to that. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck here. We all are. And you can take my word that I’m doing everything I can to get us out of here soon.” And he turned to leave.

  Jordan followed him into the corridor. “I don’t like those maggots in my house, Levi.”

  “It was the only way. And she is a medic. If anything goes wrong with Naomi or the baby . . .”

  “Well, you don’t have to live with her. Or her weird parents. I swear, if that woman doesn’t stop oohing and ahhing over everything . . . And Droe. All he talks about is teeth. It’s mad weird.”

  Levi slapped Jordan on the shoulder. “Do what you can to survive, brother. Rest tonight. Tomorrow we’ll meet with Ruston to talk about what to do next.”

  “We need to get out of here. What else is there to talk about?”

  “The Jack’s Peak women are still in the harem. Mason and Omar are in the RC. And we need to decide if we’re going to help Ruston and Zane with their rebel plot.”

  “I thought that was Bender’s deal.”

  “Not Operation Lynchpin.”

  “Omar’s idea? We’re actually going to take something he said seriously? His idea of fighting back was to wear an owl costume and spray paint threats on buildings.”

  “That’s not all he did, and you know it. Plus Ruston likes the idea. And Zane w
as on board from the start. Actually, we’re going to need us a new Owl.”

  “Well, count me out. I ain’t wearing that stretchy suit.”

  “I didn’t expect you would. But someone will have to.”

  The question was, Hoo?

  CHAPTER

  2

  Liberated without delay?” Mason glanced at his little brother, who was secured to the seat across from him in the back of the prisoner transport van. Both had their hands and ankles cuffed, and the ankle restraints had been clipped to a bolt on the floor. Their trial had just ended. They’d been sentenced to premature liberation by the Safe Lands Guild. Maybe that was where they were headed now. “So, without delay as opposed to being liberated with delay?”

  “It’s perfect.” A wide grin spread over Omar’s face, which was sweaty and pale. Strange to see him smiling, since he’d just received the worst sentencing the Safe Lands had to offer. “Lhogan and Zane will see everything. And Zane can broadcast it as the Owl.”

  The contacts. Mason had forgotten he was wearing them. A little thrill shot through him at what this might mean. The greatest mystery in the Safe Lands, foiled by two rebel outsiders and some incredible technology. He couldn’t help but return Omar’s smile. Things might be looking up after all.

  Omar waved at him. “Hello, Levi. Hello, Zane.”

  “They can’t hear you,” Mason said. “The contacts are visual only. No sound can be transferred.”

  “I know.” Omar groaned and clutched his stomach. “It hurts, Mase.”

  “I’m sorry.” It was all Mason could say, and he’d been repeating it for the last two days. Omar was suffering withdrawal from his chemical dependency to who knew what types of substances. Omar probably didn’t even know.

  To make matters worse, whenever Omar had screamed loud enough in the RC, the enforcers had come and administered what they called a “mercy vape.” No more than one mercy vape per prisoner per day, but such mercy was counterproductive to Omar’s recovery.

  Since they’d gone to trial early this morning, Omar had not yet been given a mercy vape, and he looked it. Plus, daily meds were administered during dinner, so Omar was also currently without whatever mystery stimulant might be included in his meds.