The room had succumbed to whispers, but squeaking boots behind us rose over the sound.
“What’d I miss?” Sean shook the water out of his hair with one hand. His other arm was still strapped in a sling, reminding me of Chase’s part in his assignment to the gardens.
“Tough crowd,” he said when we didn’t answer. “Great. Someone died, didn’t they?”
I tried to force the implications of the council’s orders from my mind, but I couldn’t. People would die—Three’s people. They’d be slaughtered; I’d seen the census numbers for the base yesterday in the radio room. Thousands against a couple of hundred. Though I wanted vengeance, an attack didn’t make sense. There were simply too many of them and too few of us.
“Quiet!” called DeWitt. “We’re taking volunteers—anyone nonessential to our daily operations here.” He paused, and Ms. Rita put a hand on his shoulder. “This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. You chose this life. You know the reasons that led you down our path. We’re asking you to remember those reasons now.”
My gaze turned to Panda unconsciously, drifting down the names listed on his forearm.
“This is suicide,” I said aloud. Those closest glared in my direction. I didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted. The Three I’d heard spoken of in whispered rumors, both worshipped and feared by the resistance, was invincible. They made smart decisions. They weren’t going to lead a revolution by becoming martyrs.
“We don’t know the whole plan,” said Rebecca. “Dr. DeWitt said the details are being kept a secret. Chase and his uncle probably know more.”
Her words calmed me a little. She was right. DeWitt had alluded there was more to this mission than just the attack. I was already heading for the exit when Sean grabbed my forearm.
“Wait,” he said. He removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket and shoved it into my hand. “Read it later.”
I placed it into my pocket, barely giving it a second thought. The only thing on my mind was finding Chase. As long as he hadn’t already left without me.
The mud splashed up my legs as I ran down the gravel road that disappeared into the woods. In the daylight, even with the drizzle, the fighters’ beige tents could be seen peeking through the brush and spindly gray branches, heavy with drooping moss.
Chase had to be there. He couldn’t have left without telling me. Even considering it made me sick.
As the road declined I glanced back and saw Rocklin in the distance emerging from the cafeteria with his hands on his hips. I didn’t wait to see if he followed.
This time I stuck to the dirt road that cut through the trees, avoiding the cemetery and the shed where I’d seen Billy. All at once, the woods opened to reveal the camp I’d seen only from a distance the previous night. The rain pinged off the metal tops of the storage units. The fires were now extinguished, but now the fields that stretched between the road and the parking lot of stolen MM cars were alive with movement. The fighters—both men and women—were in a state of controlled chaos. Some were crowded at tables beneath the lean-tos, assembling weapons. Others were in lines for haircuts, given beneath a striped tent. Many of the women already wore Sisters of Salvation outfits, while the men were in various combinations of MM uniforms. Still others were dressed in street clothes. One guy jogged by in a navy flack jacket with his cropped Endurance pants beneath. He didn’t seem to notice me.
It hit me then, in a way DeWitt’s words couldn’t. This was really happening. Three was preparing for war, and Chase was preparing with them.
A cold panic dripped down my spine. I took a deep breath and scanned the crowd for Chase, Billy, Jesse, anyone I might recognize, suddenly aware that I was an outsider here. Everyone seemed to have a job, a purpose, but even in the north wing, I was held at an arm’s length and watched with suspicion. That wasn’t the case here. Everyone was in a constant state of movement but me, like I was standing in the eye of a hurricane.
Near the weapons tent I caught a flash of short black hair a head above the rest. Without another thought I ran after him, sloshing through the puddles and slipping through the bodies that grew denser as we neared the heart of the camp.
He ducked behind a group of fake Sisters, and I circled around them, finally catching the back of his sleeve.
“Chase!”
But it was Jesse that turned around. He looked different with short hair. Younger, more serious. Just as dangerous—that sharp look was still in his dark eyes—but not as shifty as before. My gaze flicked to the tattoo on his neck.
“Sorry to disappoint, neighbor,” he said with a fake smile.
“Where is he?” I asked.
Jesse scratched a hand through his short hair. “Last I saw he was getting a little taken off the top.”
So he was still here. At least for now.
“I need to talk to him.”
He held his arms out. “As you can see, we’re all a little busy at the moment.”
“Since when did you care so much about all this?” I nearly spit the words.
“All this…” He smiled like he didn’t understand what I meant.
“The cause.”
“Ah,” he said. “I’m a fast learner.”
A whistle cut through the rain, and the closest fighters immediately began heading to where the cars were parked, leaving Jesse and I standing alone.
“Dr. DeWitt told us what’s happening.” He blocked my view when I leaned around him. “Are they really sending Chase out?”
Jesse gave me a confused look. “They’re sending everyone who isn’t injured or essential to running this place. Or short.” He measured my height with one hand. “The kids, for example. They’ll stay behind.”
I narrowed my gaze, swiping away the water that had gathered in my hair.
“Why?” I whispered, more to myself than to him. Rebecca had reminded me that those who went would receive more specific orders in the field, but the numbers I’d seen in the north wing were still embedded in my mind. Too many soldiers, not enough resistance.
“Because,” said Jesse. “When a government becomes destructive, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government.”
I peeked out at him through the fingers that had covered my face. “Did you just make that up?” It didn’t sound like anything he’d normally say. Not that I knew him well enough to know.
He laughed, and it struck me as odd that he spoke of such patriotism while in no apparent rush to join the others.
“Believe it or not, someone even older than me did. But that doesn’t make it less true.” He took a step back, turned away. “If I see my nephew, I’ll tell him you came by,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
I stared at his back, aware of the encroaching footsteps that came up behind me. I knew who it would be, and wasn’t in the mood to be babysat.
“The doc is looking for you,” Rocklin said bluntly. “We got a message from your friend.”
THE radio room in the north wing was still bustling with people when Rocklin and I arrived. This time the guards didn’t block my way; they stood aside as if expecting me, and allowed me to enter the tight, dimly lit quarters. A wall of heat drew the sweat to my skin as I stepped over the threshold, and I found myself wishing for an open window.
“Hope your break was worth it.” I spun around to face DeWitt, standing before the wall that had held the picture of Chase and I in the hospital. “You missed a call from your friend.”
It took a beat to register what he meant. Tucker.
“He’s still alive?”
The muscles beside DeWitt’s mouth ticked, and his scarred jaw was gray with stubble. My throat worked to swallow. Besides learning that Chase had not been sent out for our injured, I had accomplished nothing, and now I’d missed something important. Something that affected more lives than just my own.