Текст книги "Sunset Rising"

Автор книги: S. McEachern

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

Chapter Twelve

It wasn’t the sound of the bong bongs going off that startled me awake but the reaction of the person in the next room. I sat up, eyes wide open.

“What the hell is that?” Jack asked, as he raced into the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Aren’t there any windows in here? What’s going on out there?”

“Relax. It’s just the morning call to work. The lockdown must be over. That’s why no one came to check us in again during the night.”

“Morning call to work?” He looked confused.

“Happens every morning down here in the Pit. We have about fifteen minutes to get to the common room for breakfast. Exactly one hour from now, we need to scan in at our place of work. And we can’t be late or we’ll lose our jobs, and Benjamin and Autumn will be homeless and no better off than Jack and Sunny.”

I got out of bed. I realized I still had the bulletproof vest on, and it was beginning to feel like a dead weight. “I have to take this thing off.”

“Leave it on if you can stand it. It makes you look heavier—less like Sunny.”

He was probably right. Plus the added protection against bullets might come in handy if I was caught.

We went out into the living room. Jack donned his hat and threw mine at me. Hats weren’t very popular in the Pit, but there were a few people who wore them, so we shouldn’t look too out of place.

I decided to go to the sixth-floor common room for breakfast. There was already a lot of traffic on the stairs—early risers hoping to be first in line for breakfast. Technically we were supposed to stay on our own level for meals, but the guards never bothered to enforce that rule. Mealtimes were about the only time throughout the day when we could socialize, and the guards didn’t mind, as long as we went about it peacefully.

We reached the sixth level, and I turned toward my home to get my dad to come to breakfast. I was hoping I could get him out of bed quickly, because I didn’t want to miss out on the food. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I last ate and it appeared that I would have to go and work a full day in the laundry room. As I rounded the corner in the hall, I could see Bron standing not far from my father’s apartment. She looked startled to see me and silently shook her head.

“Stop,” Jack said, grabbing my arm to prevent me from going any further. “Something’s wrong.”

I gave Bron a questioning look, and she mouthed the word “guards.” I didn’t know if she meant someone was at my father’s house right now or if they had been there. I wondered if my father was okay, or if the guards were there to kick him out of the apartment now that I was no longer there to support him.

“Turn around,” Jack said. “Take us to the common room. There’ll be a bigger crowd there to get lost in.”

Since I had no choice, I did as he asked. I had to trust that Bron wouldn’t let anything happen to my father. At least I’d been able to get food and water into him the night before.

There was a long line of people already waiting for the common room to open its door. Meals weren’t served during a lockdown, so everyone was starving. I scanned the faces of the people in line hoping to see Summer or Reyes. I saw a lot of familiar faces, but not those two. I hoped no one would recognize me.

The doors to the common room opened, and everyone began to shuffle in to get their breakfast ration. Jack and I shuffled along with everyone else, keeping our heads down. When our turn came to enter the room, I saw the big television screen was lit up with the presidential seal, which could only mean that there was going to be an announcement. People were groaning at the sight, not wanting to sit through another lecture. So much of our day was spent working that meals were considered a special time to spend with friends and loved ones. No one liked being interrupted by President Holt.

“Again?” someone behind me complained loudly when he entered the room. “Does the president think we need more reminding of how lucky we are?”

“Yeah, we were all real lucky yesterday,” someone else chimed in.

“Don’t start another riot!” a third person said, his voice booming as he stepped out of line ahead of us. It was Reyes, his glare directed at the two in the back making all the complaints made even more impressive by his tall, muscular frame and crop of curly dark hair.

Even though I had been searching the crowd for him, his appearance was still a shock. All I could do was stand there and stare at him. Now that he was in front of me, what could I say to him? How could I explain everything that had happened? He scanned the line to see if anyone wanted to challenge him, and his eyes came to rest on me. I could tell by his shocked expression that he recognized me right away. I was afraid he might give me away, so I looked past him at the guard standing at the back of the room. His gaze followed mine, and he nodded in understanding. He made a slight motion with his head in the direction of the tables. He wanted me to join him.

“What are you doing, Autumn?” Jack asked when he noticed my exchange with Reyes.

“He’s a friend. I need to talk to him.”

“It’s risky.”

“Remember the only reason I came was to say goodbye to the people I love, and that’s what I’m doing.” There was no way I was going to let him cheat me out of saying goodbye.

“You’re right. I lost sight of our goal here. So is that your boyfriend? The guy your father thought you ran off and married?”

“Does it matter?” I snapped. Reyes was none of his business.

“Yeah, it matters. Look at the size of that guy, and I just married his girlfriend!”

I studied Jack’s expression for a moment to see if he was joking. I had seen him fight and knew Reyes wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

It was our turn to get breakfast, and we were each handed a sealed container with a spoon and a glass of water. I saw Reyes sitting with his friends, Raine and Mica, and for a second, I hesitated. I trusted Reyes, but not always his friends. Would one of them shout out my identity? I didn’t want to get caught so soon. My dad was probably in danger, and I hadn’t seen Summer yet.

Seeing me hesitate, Reyes motioned for me to join him again. He probably already told everyone we were here anyway. I went to sit with him, and Jack mutely followed behind me.

“This is Benjamin and I’m Autumn,” I said in a firm voice. I couldn’t believe those were the first words out of my mouth, but I was afraid Reyes or someone else would use our real names.

I took the empty chair beside Reyes and Jack sat across from us. Reyes gave him a murderous glare before he turned his chair to face me. He put his head close to mine and talked in a low voice.

“What happened?” His voice cracked with emotion. “I waited and waited for you to come back from that bachelor party and you never did. The next thing I know you’re on television in a wedding dress marrying that… bourge!”

“It was all a mistake.” I didn’t know where to begin. “I know what it looked like on television, but that’s not the way it happened. Leisel lied to everyone.”

“If you’re not in love with him, then why did you bring him here?”

“He helped me escape. I owe him.” I hadn’t quite realized it until then, but strangely I did feel responsible for Jack. I knew I shouldn’t. It was partly his fault that I was in this predicament. I glanced over at Jack. He was busy taking the lid off his container and sniffing the contents. His nose crinkled in distaste, but he tried it anyway. Then he put the bowl down and replaced the lid.

Raine and Mica were staring at him too, not sure what to say or how to treat him. We didn’t tend to get a lot of bourge down here dining with us, particularly famous ones.

“What the hell happened, Sunny? Do you know what it did to me to see you up there on the screen with him? The president’s daughter saying he jilted her because the two of you are in love? When the guards dragged you off, I thought they killed you.”

The pain I had caused Reyes was clearly written on his face and a stab of guilt went through me. “I think the president wanted to kill me, but he couldn’t because we were being televised. Then the guards came and took him to safety because of the riot down here.” I was babbling, not answering his question.

“Why did you do it?” He grabbed me by both my arms. His fingers bit into my flesh, and I winced.

“Because the president’s daughter conned me into it!” At my answer he finally released me. Even though I was used to Reyes being rough with me, I rubbed my arms to assess the damage. It wasn’t bad. “Have you seen Summer? Did she tell you anything?”

“Summer told me about the president’s daughter and how she invited you to his place, but then you never came back. I went nuts trying to find out what happened to you, and then I saw you on television marrying him.” Reyes narrowed his eyes, casting an accusatory glare at Jack. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or sad, so I didn’t know what to say or how to make it right. “What the president’s daughter said—about you and him falling in love and trying to get rid of her—made sense at that moment. What other reason could there be?”

“Leisel manipulated me into taking her place at the wedding. She caught Summer stealing food after the bachelor party and threatened to tell the authorities. She also gave me a story about an assassination plot planned against her for her wedding day and wanted me to take her place wearing a bulletproof vest. She convinced me that when she and Jack took control of the president’s office, things in the Pit would get better. So I played the decoy bride. I did it to save Summer. I did it because I believed her when she said she wanted to make things better down here. But in the end, she used us. The whole thing was a plan to convince her father to let her succeed him as president.”

“So you’re not in love with him?”

I shook my head, sorry to be the cause of so much heartache.

His pained expression transformed into one of anger. “If you had just let me protect you in the first place, none of this would have happened. But you’re always so worried about protecting everybody else!”

I pulled my chair away from his, putting a little distance between us. Reyes had a habit of being hurtful when he was angry. Not that I didn’t deserve his anger, but having a conversation with him right then would be pointless. I turned to Raine and Mica. “So what happened here? Why was there a riot?”

“Everyone’s bloody fed up with the bourge, that’s why,” Reyes said, staring at Jack. Jack glared back at him.

“He’s not wrong,” Mica said. “People started lining up for the so-called feast the night before the wedding. The guards didn’t care because no one was making trouble and the night had kind of a festive feel to it. After waiting all night, you know what the feast turned out to be? Bread. They gave us bread with our stew. Do you believe that?” Mica was clearly getting upset, which made me nervous. I didn’t want him to draw attention to our table. “So they’re showing us the wedding on the screen and the well-dressed guests taking their seats, but all we can see are tables heaped with food everywhere!” Mica shot Jack a look of disgust. “Did they actually think we wanted to see your stinkin’ wedding? We only came for the food!”

“Mica, keep it down,” Reyes said. The guards in the room remained oblivious to us. “You’ll start another riot, and yesterday’s was bad enough. Three people were killed, including a little kid. We don’t need to start killing each other too—there are enough bourge doing that for us.”

“He’s just saying what we all felt,” Raine said. “Everyone was just so… angry! So you can only imagine how much we enjoyed seeing the president’s daughter crying her fool head off. I mean we were confused at first because we thought she was the bride. But there she was, falling on the floor, crying and looking pathetic and humiliated. It was epic! We didn’t think it could get any better than that, but then someone tears off your veil.” Raine looked at me with a smile. “It was sweet, sweet revenge finding out that Leisel Holt was humiliated by one of us and you stole her husband! An urchin married the next president.”

“It’s true,” said Mica. “The entire Pit went nuts. Everyone was laughing and clapping and cheering for Sunny O’Donnell… except maybe Reyes.” He eyed his friend. Reyes stared at the floor, glowering. “Then the guards started telling us to keep it down, but why should we? We weren’t fighting—we were having a laugh is all. When we wouldn’t stop, they started getting rough, so people started fighting back. That’s when all hell broke loose. The president sent Domers down here and threatened to cut off our ventilation system. People got scared, grabbed their kids, and ran home. They put us on lockdown.”

“I’m sorry for everything,” Jack said. “I really am.”

“A bourge is apologizing to us?” Raine asked, his tone incredulous.

“I don’t like to be lumped in with the likes of Holt. He’s a tyrant. For what it’s worth, I was marrying Leisel to gain control of the Dome by becoming president. There are a lot of people who don’t like the way things are under his government. Unlike President Holt, we don’t think you’re very lucky down here at all. Things need to change.”

Reyes put on an expression of mock surprise. “You mean things should change for the better in the Pit? Isn’t that the same crap your fiancée fed Sunny? And look how much better off she is for it.”

Music filled the room, heralding President Holt’s announcement. A collective groan went through the crowd, but for the first time in my life, I was interested in what Holt had to say. By now he knew we had escaped.

“I bid you a good morning.” The president began his address in his usual tight-lipped manner. “The events of the past twenty-four hours have affected us all. My daughter’s wedding, which the entire Dome was anticipating with great excitement and happiness, has been the target of two malicious people intent on destroying the very fabric of our society. Jack Kenner, my daughter’s estranged fiancé, presented himself to me—and to every one of you—as a man who held great promise as the next president. I believe I speak on behalf of us all when I say my daughter’s marriage to him was supposed to be the very symbol of hope, progress, and success for the future of our society.

“Only her wedding day did not turn out to be the beginning of a bright future beside the man she loved. Instead, she was traumatized!” The president’s voice rose to a yell and his face turned red. I overheard a few people taking bets on when spit would fly out of his mouth. “Jack Kenner is a traitor! He tried to lead my Leisel down a path that would end in the destruction of our society, but she said no to him. My daughter is faithful to her people. She held the good of the people above her own love for her fiancé and above her own personal happiness, and that is why Jack Kenner inflicted pain and humiliation on her!” Holt was beginning to look a little crazed, and the spit was beginning to fly. I heard someone behind me being congratulated on winning the bet.

The president paused, trying to get himself under control. Then he looked directly into the camera. “Jack Kenner is a criminal, and he has escaped, with his new wife in tow. I want them found and brought before the tribunal to answer for their crimes of treason.”

His words caught the attention of the entire room. Everyone was sitting up and staring at the television with shocked expressions on their faces. A murmur went through the crowd, and I wanted to sink lower in my chair, but knew it would only draw attention to me. I glanced over at Jack, and his wide-eyed expression told me to stay calm.

“We have already made a preliminary search with no luck in finding them,” President Holt continued. “Therefore I appeal to all of you. Anyone with information leading to their arrest will be rewarded with four hundred credits. And anyone found hiding them will be considered a sympathizer to traitors and punished according to our laws. Death.”

The Presidential Seal flashed up on the screen, signalling the end of the address.

“Well, that’s it then,” Jack said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.

I knew he was right. It was just a matter of time before someone recognized us and collected the reward. The reward was enough to ensure an urchin would never be homeless, even if he lost his job. I looked around the table. I didn’t think Reyes wanted to collect the reward, but maybe one of his friends?

“What do you mean ‘That’s it’?” Reyes asked. “She’s a hero down here—no one’s going to turn her in.” The murmuring among the crowd was getting louder, and Reyes had to raise his voice to be heard above it. I was getting concerned someone would overhear him.

“Reyes, he’s right, that’s a huge reward. I won’t blame anyone who takes advantage of it,” I said, resting my hand on his arm to quiet him.

“I’ll blame them!” Suddenly he was on his feet, climbing up on his chair. I couldn’t believe he was doing it with Jack and me sitting right there. He might as well just turn us in himself.

“Everyone! Listen to me!” he yelled above the din of the crowd. The guards stepped forward in response to Reyes’s yelling, but the room started to quiet down. In the distance I could hear noise coming from the levels above and below us.

Now that he had the room’s attention, he lowered his voice, but only slightly. “Sunny O’Donnell took on the president and his darling little daughter when no one else has ever had the guts to do it! The bourge treat us worse than their livestock! Our food is their leftovers!” He kicked his food container off the table, sending it skidding across the floor. “Our lives are devoted to making their lives better, and what do we get for it? They kill us for being late, they kill us for not having a job, and they kill us for turning thirty-five!”

He paused and looked around the room. All eyes were on him. A guard was speaking into his communicator. He was probably looking for backup.

“Yesterday, for the first time, we saw the bourge humiliated. We saw what pain does to them. And that pain was inflicted on them by one of us. Sunny O’Donnell is not a traitor! She’s a goddamn hero! And anyone who turns her in to the bourge for that measly offer of four hundred credits will have me to deal with!” Reyes pounded his first into his palm.

Someone started shouting “Sunny O’Donnell” over and over, creating a chorus that went up among the crowd. People began to stand, throwing their fists in the air. I couldn’t believe what was happening. How could they see me as a hero? Leisel was the one who humiliated me, not the other way around. She used me to frame Jack as a traitor, and I went along with her plan. I wasn’t a hero—I was a naïve and stupid girl who was duped by a master manipulator.

Jack stood and joined the crowd, putting his fist in the air calling out my name. He was looking at me with that wide-eyed expression again, willing me to do something. Then I realized I was the only one in the room still seated and not shouting out my name. I stood and put my fist in the air too, yelling “Sunny O’Donnell.” I felt so stupid. I knew we would be put on lockdown again.

Just as the thought entered my mind, armed guards came rushing into the room. I saw someone at the front of the room get the butt of a gun against the side of his face, knocking him to the floor. Another guard pointed his gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger, and a loud bang reverberated through the room. I lowered my fist and gave everyone at our table a look that said, “Stop!” I did not want to be the cause of anyone being shot or hurt. Under my angry glare, Reyes stepped down off the chair and lowered his fist.

“Lockdown,” I said for Jack’s benefit.

“It won’t be for long,” he said.

“How would you know that?” Reyes asked.

“Because you were on lockdown all day yesterday. They need you to cook, clean, serve, work the mines and do all the things you do. When you don’t do them, life in the Dome comes to a halt. We’ll be off lockdown by lunch.”

As I listened to Jack, something inside me clicked, and I looked at him with new eyes. All along I had only thought of him as the famous bridegroom—as the man who would become president one day. But now I was seeing him in a whole new light. I flashed back to him at the wedding, dressed in the military uniform of a high-ranking officer. I remembered his comments about lockdowns to Bron—about how they were used to divide us. And he thought he knew when lockdown would be over.

It occurred to me that Jack possessed very valuable insight into the bourge and how they ran the Pit… insight that could come in handy if someone wanted to start a revolt.