“We don’t know how many are on the carriage,” he says. “Or what we will face when we get out. It will be hard to surprise them,” he continues. “They can easily pin us inside.”
“We’ll need a distraction,” Levi says.
“I am certain I can work up a good cry and faint,” Jilly says. “Just let the ladies out first.”
I peer over Pace’s shoulder out the window. Of all of us, we are the only two who know the streets of the dome. I recognize the street we are on and Pace nods in agreement. We are headed toward the building that has replaced the burnt warehouse. We are going outside the dome.
The only question that remains is are we going to our freedom or to our deaths?
13
I am suddenly so cold that I shiver. I know it is fear and apprehension that has a hold on me. Pace puts his arms around me, and I am grateful for his warmth. Levi has his head together with the shiners, telling them what to do when we stop. I marvel at the trust they show him. I know it is because leadership comes naturally to Levi. If we had known someone like him inside, someone who could really lead us, instead of me and my many mistakes, then perhaps we would not be in this predicament now.
I also wonder again what has happened to Lyon and why he hasn’t rescued us. What if we escape the dome and find that everything we fought for is gone? I do not think I could stand to see the look on Colm’s face if we fight to get away, only to find that Rosalyn and Stella are not there. Or the look on Levi’s face if his family has deserted him. Surely they haven’t, but I am beginning to run out of excuses as to why Lyon has not helped us.
I look out the window. We are on the street where I was first taken by the filchers. It is deserted, as there is no reason for anyone to be in this part of the dome now that the fans are gone. Light fills the dome now and I can actually see a slight shadow of the carriage, along with shadows on the side. The air above must be clearing, at last.
“There are more guards than we thought,” I say to Levi. “Some are walking beside us.”
He leans over me to peer out the window. “They are carrying rifles,” he adds. I look and see the long silhouettes of guns. The odds are definitely not in our favor.
“Wren, you go first,” Levi instructs. “Jilly, give her time to evaluate the situation before you react. It could be that we will be setting ourselves up for useless violence.”
“Do you think they could simply be letting us go?” Jilly asks.
“I always hope for the best,” Levi replies with a very sweet smile. He looks past Jilly, and I know his message is intended for me.
We keep going and I can see the empty ruin where the warehouse was. The only place we could be going is outside. The carriage pulls up, then backs up to the hastily constructed building that covers the exit to the outside, and finally rolls to a stop. We all still have our bindings around our wrists and disguise them by holding the cut ends in our palms. When the door is opened I wait for one of the bluecoats to help me down. I have no place to go but ahead into the building, as the way is lined with bluecoats with guns. To try anything now would be suicide. I like our chances better when we are outside. I turn to look at Jilly before I go inside. She nods quickly in understanding. She is to do nothing.
The building is full of scarabs. They are shoved into what looks like stalls, men, women, and children all locked behind a fence made of wire. There are so many of them in such a small space, and the smell of their bodies and their fear sends me staggering in shock. They stare at me, some with hatred and others with pity. A few stick their hands out as I go by, pushed on by my guard, silently imploring me to help. I can tell by their gaunt faces that they are starving and hope has long since left them. I hear Jilly’s gasp of shock behind me. No royal, not even our so-called king, is worth the cost of this suffering. I am hurried along until we come to the steps that lead down to the tunnel that leads outside, where my father and Findley are waiting.
“How you can look at yourself in the mirror each morning is a mystery to me,” I say to my father.
“Such hateful words, and after I’ve come to see you off,” he replies.
“Hopefully for the last time,” I grind out from between clenched teeth. Just when I thought I could not get any angrier or hate him any more, I discover something else happening that astounds me. The innocent are suffering and he is the cause and he feels no guilt about it. All because of his precious royals. But maybe now, since Jilly is with us, it will be the thing that makes them step up and say “enough.”
I can only pray that it happens in time to save all of us. My father jerks his head forward to the tunnel. Findley precedes me and my father falls in behind me. Jilly comes behind him with another bluecoat behind her. They are not taking any chances with our causing a problem in front of the scarabs. If only there was something we could do, some way to free them and us, but I know any move we make in here will result in more senseless deaths. I follow Findley into the tunnel. I hear the footsteps of my friends behind me and the heavy coughing of Bill. He won’t survive the transition. I know he won’t, but there is nothing I can do about it. He will die, whatever happens, and I cannot sacrifice the rest of us for him. I concentrate on keeping my hands together as if they are still tied. I do not want to jeopardize this escape any more than my father wants me to stay inside the dome. We will both be well rid of each other as far as I am concerned.
There are guards at the tunnel door and they quickly salute as one opens the door. I turn my face to the warm stale air that greets me. If I am to die today, at least it will be in the fresh air of outside. I can tell by the brightness of the light that it will be a sunny day. Poor Jilly and the shiners will have a time of it with the sun, if we last that long. I hear Jilly’s gasp of wonder as she enters the tunnel behind my father.
Findley reaches the door. The bar across it is thick and strong so no one could break through from the outside. I notice it is on some type of hinge so Findley can lift it easily. Poor Alex. He was so close to being free. Perhaps he would have been if he had not decided to come back in for Lucy, who is now outside.
I can only pray that Alex’s fate does not await us. The door opens and with it comes the rush of fresh air from outside. My ears pop with the change in pressure, and Findley steps to the side as I walk gratefully into the morning light and find Ellen gagged and tied to a post. Several more posts form a line across from the entrance. Three of them hold blackened and rotting bodies. They have been there long enough that it is impossible to tell who they were, or even if they were men, women, or a mixture of both. Two bluecoats stand guard with rifles. Behind the posts is a stand of young trees that carry down a slope. The distant sea glints between them.
The sight of Ellen startles me and I stop in my tracks. All the hope I felt as I walked through the tunnels slides into my stomach, and I choke back the bile that threatens to rise in my throat. This is not good, this it not good at all. My father puts a hand on my back and nudges me forward and to the side so the rest of us can file out.
Jilly looks around in disbelief and gasps at the sight of the bodies. “Don’t look at the sun,” I warn her. I should have warned everyone. Another bluecoat comes behind Jilly, then Levi, then another bluecoat, and then Pace.
“What are you doing to her?” Pace snarls at my father as soon as he sees his mother. In his anger, he forgets that his hands are supposed to be tied. Levi reacts as soon as Pace drops his hands to run to his mother, and I am close behind him. I jump on the back of the bluecoat who follows Pace while Levi tackles one of the bluecoats with the rifles. Colm is quick to react also. He turns to attack the bluecoat who follows him.