Pace takes my fingers into his, the closest he can come to a handclasp with our bonds. “I guess things didn’t turn out how we planned.”
“It has been pointed out to me that my lack of planning is what gets us into these predicaments.”
He grins. “I’m not giving up. How about you?”
“That’s about the only plan I have at the moment.” I look into his beautiful blue eyes and I know he wants to kiss me. It would be so wonderful just to do so. To lean into Pace and have him wrap his arms around me and have him tell me that things will be fine, as long as we are together. Instead I have to settle for a quick squeeze of fingers before Ellen speaks.
“Stay away from my son.”
“Mother,” Pace says patiently. “What more has to happen before you realize that Wren is not the enemy?”
“Don’t,” I say. “There’s no need.”
“No,” he replies. “There is.” Pace kneels next to his mother. “Without Wren I would be dead. She saved my life. I love her. Not because she saved my life, but because she is strong and courageous and she believes and feels things deeply. Because she is beautiful and she sees the best in everyone.” Pace looks up at me and smiles, and I cannot help but wistfully smile back even though I feel shame at how I’ve treated him. At how I’ve hurt him.
“The world as you knew it is ending,” Pace says. “Whether you want it to or not. I have plans to fight for this beautiful new world because I believe in it. I would hope that you would join us.”
“Do I have a choice?” she asks. “How are we to fight?” Her blue eyes are earnest, and without the hatred she felt for me shadowing them I see a stronger resemblance. Pace must be the image of his father, but he has his mother’s eyes.
“As long as we keep hope, we are fighting,” Pace says. “Are you finished?” he asks about the water.
She takes another drink and hands it to Pace who then hands it to me. “Drink,” he says. I do, because I know he won’t until he knows I am taken care of. The water is warm and tepid but it is also necessary so I swallow it gratefully. Pace drinks and hands it back to me. “You should see to your friends.”
“Colm is Rosalyn’s husband.”
“Good,” he smiles. “Here’s hoping we have a reunion soon.” I hurry to Colm and Tobias.
“What is happening?” Colm asks while Tobias drinks. “Where are Rosalyn and Stella?”
“I don’t know where they are,” I confess. “The last time we saw them they were at the catwalk.”
“The contraption by the sea?” Colm asks.
“That’s something I thought I would never see,” Tobias comments.
“I’m sure they are safe. As long as they are with Levi’s uncle.”
“Is there a chance these bastards have them?” Colm asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. I don’t add that I hope not.
“What happened to us? What killed Bill and the others?” Tobias asks.
“The clean air purged your lungs of the coal dust,” I explain. “We all went through it, some more than others.”
“Get up,” the lead rover barks.
“Be ready for anything,” I advise them before I rush back to Levi. He is yet to drink. “Do you still have the knife?” I ask. He nods and then he drinks deeply from the skin as I help Jilly to her feet. I’m not sure the rest has done her much good. She is much more unsteady on her feet, and she limps badly when her guard takes her rope once more.
I take the skin back to the leader. He studies me for a moment as he takes it. “I am Ragnor,” he says. He jerks his head at the woman. “My wife, Janna.”
I don’t know what to do. Saying I am happy to meet them would be strange, and introducing them to my friends stranger still. Still, the fact that he told me his name and introduced the woman as his wife gives me an odd sense of comfort to think that they do have some civility. And they did give us water, even if it was nothing more than to protect their investment, whatever that is.
“Thank you for the water,” is all I can come up with to say as my captor jerks me back into line.
We walk on. It seems like it is taking forever to walk the distance Levi and I rode on the steam cycle in less than an hour when we went to rescue Lyon, Pace, and Dr. Stewart. My neck and wrists burn from the constant rubbing of the rope. I am exhausted, I am hungry, and my nerves are on edge because every sound I hear in the forest makes me think Lyon is coming to rescue us and when he doesn’t it just adds to my fear that he is never coming.
We should be coming to a field soon. A large open area with one lonely tree and the ruins of a castle in the distance. Perhaps he will make his move there.
We go off the trail. When I think we will continue on straight, we are led off to the left on a path that is only wide enough for one. My captor puts the rope over his shoulder and leads me. It is more awkward because it holds my hands at a strange angle for walking and the way is treacherous with tree roots and rocks while the path meanders up and down. Jilly is limping badly and the distance between the prisoners spreads. Colm and Tobias keep pace with the leader. Jilly has slowed her guards down. Levi and I come behind her and Pace and his mother are behind me. Ellen is having trouble keeping up, and Pace slows to stay with her.
Our guards become frustrated, especially Jilly’s. She falls again and he does not stop, instead he drags her by the rope. Levi and I both stop in our tracks and yell as Jilly cries out in pain.
“I’ll carry her,” Levi yells. “Just stop.” The rope tightening around his neck cuts off his yell. I try to pry my fingers beneath mine because of the pressure. I see my guard grin. He’s happy to get his revenge on me; still he backs off on the rope so I can breathe.
Pace’s group has caught up with us, and Ragnor walks back to us. “Ye’re all ah-daft,” he says to the rovers. “Their’n no good to us ah-dead.” He looks at Levi. “Ye want to ah-carry her, then do it. Take the rope off his ah-hands but leave it on his ah-neck.”
The rovers do his bidding. All I can do is watch as Levi gathers Jilly into his arms. “I’m going to put you on my back,” he explains. “You’ll have to hang on.” Jilly nods. Her foot is bleeding again, along with her wrists and neck. They leave her rope on. It would be too generous of them to take if off and give her tender skin some relief. Levi stands her up and then turns and bends. Jilly climbs on his back, and he wraps her legs around his waist as she puts her arm around his neck. He adjusts her weight and then nods, and we take off again.
The sun is behind us now. My weeks of inactivity in my room have weakened me. I used to walk for twelve hours at a time when I worked my shift in the mines. Now I feel as if we have walked forever and this trip will never end. The trail is much harder than the flat road we left. We go up only to come down again. We have to be getting close. The area reminds me of the place where Lyon and Pace were ambushed. They weren’t that far from the rovers’ camp when it happened. It seems like a lifetime ago.
I trip and stumble forward. The jerk of the rope on my neck twists me around. I feel as if I’d fallen asleep on my feet, and it takes me a moment to recognize where I am. I see Pace’s face. The worry and anger twisted together.
“I’m okay,” I say, using Levi’s word. I concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other so I don’t drift off again. I focus on Levi’s back and on Jilly, who clings to him. Her cheek lies against his shoulder and her eyes are closed. How does he hang on? He has to be weak after his days in the cell. I know that he has more strength than he shows. He has the scars from the sun dance ceremony to show it. He survived it. I can survive this. I have to. We all do, or everything we’ve done and the people we lost were for nothing.
Would that be a tragedy to the world we left? Would we all fade from memory, nothing more than a minor event in the history of the dome? There was an uprising, and they all died or disappeared, and we don’t even recall their names.