Taken (A Dystopian Novel) (The Taken Trilogy), page 25
Aubrey waves to me from where she and Nora are standing. They’re holding hands. It pains me to have to take her away from here now much more than it did before.
“I know you wrote it, but I can give the statement. You’ve done a lot this week,” Marco offers.
“I got punched in the face, not the vocal cords,” I say with a laugh. “You really have to stop stressing, but go for it. I need to see if Charlie is here is so we can talk about getting out of here.”
We are still without a solid plan, but we seem to be leaning toward having Erwin and Sasha, but hopefully Erwin’s wife, activate the machines once we settle on a date.
I wander through the crowd looking for Charlie. Usually, she finds me, and I’m surprised that she hasn’t sought me out yet, or at least, made it known that she is here. I need to take my mind off Brian’s arm which is currently draped around my girlfriend’s neck. I sweep through the crowd, greeting people as I go. Marco walks on stage and the music stops playing. There’s still no sign of Charlie anywhere so I go and stand with Nora and Aubrey.
“Hi, everybody. It’s really good to see you,” Marco says before his eyes fall to my words on the sheets. “As most of you know, Governor Richards has wonderful things planned for all of us when we all head to Tresling---” Cheers drown out his words. He waits for everyone to go silent again, as silent as they can be because a soft buzz of excitement remains. “We hope you know that your pleas and your concerns have always mattered. The governor has always cared about all of you, but improvements and the process of making things better often take a lot of time. While Tresling is not perfect, it presents an opportunity for a fresh start.”
“What’s Tresling?” Aubrey whispers to Nora.
“It’s a nice city…not too far from a beach,” Nora says.
“There is a beach?” she asks, raising her voice a bit. She has never been to one before. I shush her.
Charlie’s absence worries me, but I try to focus on the program. She promised me. In fact, there are no Resistance people here at all or anyone from The Clave. Sasha and Brian are still chatting, a little too closely, and I’m getting more irritated.
“It is the beginning of making Miranda the type of place we can be proud to be residents of,” Marco says. “The governor is counting on you and partnering with all of you as we work toward this common goal. All of you, right here, right now, you will be the architects of our future. Thank you!” We clap at the conclusion and the music lifts. With Brian’s back turned Sasha waves to get my attention. She mouths, “Great speech.” I smile, but it doesn’t last long as the two of them walk away. Great. He punches me in the face and then gets to hang out with my girlfriend.
Marco and I stay until the field clears so we can figure out where the last part of the dimension machine is. A few security officers linger. My phone’s signal is strongest right near the stage. Like we had suspected, the stage was most likely built over it to form the triangle where the dimensions open.
“I can’t believe how close we are to getting this done,” Marco says when we sit on the stage. “We should celebrate.”
“Getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we? We don’t even know if we can pull this off.”
“Which is even more reason to celebrate this small victory. Then after that, hopefully the next time we celebrate, it will be back in our own dimension.”
*****
Marco finally talks me into entertaining people at our house. We’re the popular guys now. We spend the morning after Community Day cleaning the whole house. Sasha is generous enough to bring over all the entertainment equipment and convince her chef to prepare food for everyone. Marco hopes the party will go late into the evening, but I know once the food runs out, so will everyone else. Though, Sasha reassures us that if we make a quick call to the compound, someone will bring more.
“What did you tell Brian?” I ask her while we’re standing in the kitchen.
“Just a little reminder of how much influence I have over my father, and how he is my oldest friend here.” She arranges four circular serving trays stacked with sandwiches and cubed meats stabbed with toothpicks along the counter top.
“That was it?”
“I can be pretty persuasive,” she says.
“But hopefully not too persuasive…”
“I’m keeping a few secrets of his that he would hate to get out.”
“So you blackmailed him,” I say, but she keeps quiet. After she pours drinks into the glasses, she surveys the room. I drink one when her back is turned and drain it quickly. I jump as a hand rests on my back.
“Are you guys going to open all the windows? Or just that one?” she asks. I swivel.
“Marco must’ve opened it. I’ll open the rest,” I promise before turning back around. She plants a kiss on my cheek, but then pulls back suddenly.
“Did you steal one of the drinks?”
“No, because you can’t steal stuff in your own house,” I reason. Before she speaks, I kiss her on the lips, and the kiss turns deep quickly. I want to get these in while I still can. I lift her and set her down on the counter.
She circles her legs around my waist. My breath quickens in anticipation of kissing her again. With her hands on the back of my neck, she pulls my mouth to hers. It’s all lust and love and yearning. My hands graze beneath her shirt, and she grabs for my hair. I hear Marco’s footsteps behind me. Sasha leans to side and waves, but her face turns red. She hops down. Marco walks to the kitchen and lifts one of the glasses. I walk around the room and start to slide the rest of the windows up.
“Hey, did we leave this window open all night? It was open this morning.”
“Really? Pretty sure I closed it.”
“I’ll see you guys later after the art fest.” Sasha blows me a kiss and darts out of the house.
“How has she not convinced you to stay?” Marco asks. Good question, I think to myself. Good question.
The first wave brings mostly co-workers, including James, and they actually bring food from their rations boxes. The rest of the arrivals are from the high school, and people I have seen around town. Soon the music is fighting to be heard over the conversation. The house is packed with people, and the air is filled with excitement about moving to Tresling.
“Monroe is so into you,” Marco says when he joins me in the corner of the room. From her perch on the counter, Monroe flashes a one-sided, lip-biting smile when I look up.
“She’s pretty, but…”
“Yeah.” He says with an eye roll. “I know. Sasha…not that she’s not hot, but Monroe looks like she’s more my type.”
“Female?” I joke with a nudge.
“Exactly,” he says. “Maybe I can put in…” My whole body seizes up when a security officer car pulls alongside our curb and Brian steps out with Roger, but I clamp my mouth down to finish my sentence. “A good word for you.”
Brian pushes our front door open with more force than necessary, and it collides with a few people standing near it. His smile spreads wide as he looks at me. I swallow hard. Maybe I was too confident about Sasha’s ability to handle things. I start to move toward him, but he moves past me and slams Marco to the ground, pressing his face into the carpet. The pleasant conversations become horrified murmurs. Brian relishes the attention. Roger is apologetic when he looks at me.
“Geez, Brian, is that really necessary?” I reach out as if to grab him, but Roger’s disapproving look changes my mind.
“I’m authorized to use whatever force is necessary to facilitate the detention of known enemies,” Brian says.
“Known enemies? Come on, Brian. You and I know what this is really about. Take me, instead. I’m the one you really want, anyway,” I say. “I’ll go with you willingly.”
The voices around us have gone completely silent. Brian yanks Marco up by the scruff of his shirt and drags him out of the house. He is disinterested in what I have to say. The methodical expression on his face angers me.
“Can you at least tell me what he did?” I say as I follow them out. The crowd does the same, spilling out to our lawn. Brian tosses Marco into the back seat of his car. Marco sits up and looks at me stoically. I can only mouth an apology.
“We had an unauthorized entry at the compound yesterday,” Roger says.
“We work there. We don’t need to break in,” I argue. “We were at Community Day until it ended, we came straight here afterward. I’m his alibi.”
“We have proof,” he counters. He slides into the passenger seat as Brian starts the engine. Marco is terrified, but he flashes a comforting look at me. I feel selfish for being the one who needs it.
“What kind of proof?”
“His ID…” Roger’s voice trails off as Brian clears his throat. The officer turns to look at him, and Brian shakes his head.
“He’d commit a crime and leave his ID behind?”
“My ID is in our house. I’m sure of it. Find it, Jackson, please,” Marco shouts. “I always keep it on the dresser.”
“Sit back!” Brian demands. He looks like his patience is fraying as he turns around to him, glaring through the cage. Marco flinches and sits back.
“Look, son, you might’ve dropped it or maybe you gave it to someone.” Roger shrugs at me. “I can’t plead his case for him.”
“Jackson, stay the course,” Marco says. “No matter what.”
I shake my head. I won’t go through with the plan without him.
“No matter what,” he repeats.
“Where are you taking him?” I say, leaning into the passenger side window. Brian inches the car forward threateningly. I jump back.
“Can’t say, son,” Roger says before they drive off.
20
You’re a Knockout
Monroe helps me clear everyone out of the house after the officers take Marco away, and I am at a loss for words. I ravage his room, searching for his ID, but it’s gone. Someone must’ve taken it, but we haven’t had anyone out of the ordinary over before today. I check the windows in Marco’s room. All of them are locked. I check the ones in mine and then the living room. All of them lock...except for one, the one that was open earlier. In fact, the window has been tampered with. It doesn’t close all the way because something has been wedged into the bottom.
“Are you okay?” Monroe asks. She is refrigerating the leftover food.
“I think someone broke in,” I say before I walk outside and round the house until I reach the window. From the outside, I can simply slide it up, which I do, and then I climb in.
“You guys don’t lock your windows?” Monroe asks.
“We do, but apparently, someone made it so that we couldn’t lock this one.” I pluck a pebble from the window and push the window closed. Monroe’s hand slides down my back. I step away. “I need to call Sasha and see if she knows what’s going on.”
Fearing she won’t take the hint, I walk her to the door. After I call Sasha, she comes over within minutes and tells me that she was completely unaware that Brian was planning to come here.
“Do you know where they’re taking him?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, but there’s no jail in Wicker Farm. There isn’t one in Tresling either. It could be anywhere.”
She hugs me. We hurry to the compound. It is buzzing with people participating in the arts fest, which involves stations where kids are drawing and painting and learning to use cameras with instructors. I don’t have time to find Aubrey, but I see some of her photos being displayed as we dash to Building 2, the actual security building, to find out where Brian is. They let Sasha in without any questions, and we goes straight to Daniels’ office.
“Building 3 is security management, but this where the actual security officers work and live,” Sasha explains. Security officers take note of us as we bustle through the building. Daniels is just sitting in his office like he is expecting us. As we enter the office, I catch a glimpse of Chad, dressed in a security officer uniform with “In-Training” written across the back, walking with some other young officers. I want to go after him, but I need to find Marco.
“Earl, where’s Brian?” Sasha asks.
“Handling some security business,” he says. He looks from her to me. Sasha sits, but I stand in the doorway.
“I know he’s transporting someone, I just want to know where they’re going,” she says.
“I can’t disclose that information.” Again his eyes shift between us.
“Well, I know that something happened yesterday, can you at least tell me about that?”
“You or you and him?” He jerks his chin in my direction.
“Earl, please,” she says. He hesitates, but he signals for me to come in and shut the door. He moves to the front edge of the desk and sits.
“Only doing this because it’s you, Sasha,” he sighs. “We’ve been having a lot of issues lately with breaches. And we didn’t know if it was just nosey New Rezzies or actual Resistance members working with New Rezzies. Your name came up a few times, Mr. Smith.”
“My—My name—why?” I ask.
“Brian was so sure you’re one of them. Nothing we could actually substantiate beyond his word and circumstantial evidence. Then he abruptly stopped talking about you. So either he was wrong or you’re the luckiest guy in the world.
Anyway, we had a big break yesterday. Marco Flores used his ID to enter an area of Building 3 that he wasn’t supposed to be in. You all are new, we expect you to make mistakes, but the card swipes looked calculated.”
“He made the speech at Community Day. He couldn’t be in two places at once.”
“Well, then he gave his keycard to someone because he didn’t report it stolen.”
“It’s the weekend. He wouldn’t have noticed that it was missing right away,” I argue, which is precisely what whoever stole it wanted. “Look, I know that guy. He’s not the type to do that. Did you get him on camera?”
“A little snippet here and there, but he was smart enough to avoid them for the most part. He knew exactly where all of them were.”
“Did anyone see him?” I ask.
“No, but the workers who are occasionally exempt from Community Day were busy. We’re planning for the big move, handling how security will work so no one would’ve noticed.”
“But he wasn’t here!” I say. Daniels shrugs.
“The places his card was swiped seemed a little too calculated, like he was looking for something. That’s why it got flagged. There were too many swipes in a small time period. He was in a hurry, so guess he dropped it and got to Community Day and didn’t notice. We have to go through inventory to see what was taken. And if he didn’t do it, he’ll have an opportunity to respond to the accusations.”
“When will that be?” Sasha asks.
“I have no idea.” He stands and walks to the door, which he holds open for us. Sasha gives me an apologetic look as we leave and walk back outside.
“It was Brian. He set him up to get back at me,” I say. Sasha disagrees. Kids run past us happily.
“He swore to me that he would leave you alone for awhile,” she explains. “And he punched you in the face, why would he go after you in such underhanded fashion?”
She is right, but I know somehow my earlier actions precipitated all of this in one way or another. If not Brian, then who? Everyone else around us is so happy and care-free.
Sasha squeezes my hand. “Do you still want to go through with it?” she asks.
“He wants me to. He begged me when Brian came and got him, but I don’t know if I can.” My voice breaks. I feel the sting of tears in the corner of my eyes. Sasha wraps her arms around me.
“I’ll support you in whatever you want to do,” Sasha whispers. I hug her back and tell her I just need some time to figure out what to do. She tells me to call her later, and she goes back to the art event. As I’m leaving the compound, Erwin stops me and pulls me aside. He is volunteering at one of the booths with his wife and kids.
“I’m reporting you!” he jokes and shakes my shoulder jokingly. He’s covered in paint. I’m not much in the mood to joke around, and I fill him in on everything. After taking a moment to console me, he suggests that we still try to get out of here.
“Do it a few days after the party. It’s the best chance. Richards will expect everyone to be happy and comfortable and less likely to cause trouble. Remember he’s assuming that the people in The Clave still don’t know that there won’t be a Clave anymore.”
“We were thinking you could activate the one in his office. I have all the passwords. Sasha can handle the one at The Institute because she has a keycard and can have her thumb scanned.”
But he shakes his head. He is quiet for a moment and stares into the distance.
“The Institute would be better for me. I handle electricity and regularly inspect the buildings. I’ll put in a call and schedule a visit. It will look less suspicious and they’ll give me a temporarily activated card, and because I do a lot of maintenance, my thumbprint is saved in the system. Let Sasha handle her father’s office. How about the day before this week’s Community Day?”
“I don’t know, Erwin. I just need time to think.” I say and start to walk out of the compound. He calls after me. “Time is something you need, but you definitely don’t have it.”
****
Over the course of the next few days, I think about all of my options: first, we could go forward with the plan. Have everyone who wants to leave pile into safe houses, including mine, the night before we want to leave. Then have Erwin and Sasha activate the machines, and leave without Marco. In that case, the machines would be destroyed; second, we do all of the same things, but don’t destroy the machines, and at some point, they find Marco and get him out; and third, we postpone everything until we find out where Marco is. After discussing it with Sasha and Erwin, and after much argument, I agree to the second option. It will mean more people will end up in Wicker Farm, but it will provide an opportunity for Marco to still get out at some point.
