Redeemer (26 page)

I stumble to my feet and begin pushing through the people. Keegan isn't at my side, so we must have been blown apart. He's here somewhere. I find him sitting near two children, speaking to them even though I can't tell what he says. The children are alone, but they're comfortable around Keegan. He's helping them.

His safety is good enough for me. No matter how angry his relationship with Lilith makes me, how it hurts me, I am glad he is safe.

The flyer didn't crash directly over the skyscraper or the surrounding area. Guard Nev and the others working the cannons should be safe, but seeing for myself is the only thing that will satisfy me.

Wading through the sea of people, I make my way back to the skyscraper. I pause and gag when I turn the corner to make it onto the street. The guards who were shot down by the flyer lie dead in the streets, most mutilated beyond any human condition I have ever seen.

Tears choke me, and I stumble toward the front of the building and the cannons. A few men and women limp around, some bloody, others not bloody but clearly hurt. Two buildings have collapsed, whether from the crash of the flyer or the boom of the cannon, I can't tell. One thing I do know is there were people in every single building.

How many are lost?

I spot Guard Nev right away. He's helping to pull rubble off someone in the street. The color red stands out in the massive gray debris lining everything else.

Red. The color of blood.

Something moves from under a pile of rubble. It pulls me closer slowly, like a mosquito to light. And then I run.

“Isabel!”

“She was helping get people out,” Guard Rok says. He follows me to the heap.

I fall to the ground beside Isabel, doing my best to pull the huge chunks of concrete from her body. “Isabel!”

Guard Nev puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hana.”

“We have to get her out!” Tears run down both cheeks, and I can barely see straight. “We have to help her.”

“Hana, it's too late. We have to move!”

I don't listen to him. I have to help her. Get her out. Make sure she's not—

Someone screams a blood-chilling scream, then there is another explosion. Pain erupts in every bone in my body, and soon I know nothing.

 

 

 

 

35

 

“She's coming around.” I don't recognize the voice, but I know it's talking about me.

My mind focuses on waking up, coming out of the hazy mist it's in. Fog clears. My eyes open. Everything is gray, including the people hovering over me.

“What happened?”

I know that voice, and it's Fischer. Fischer.

“Someone reloaded a cannon, and it exploded in the chute. You're OK, though. No blood.” Finally, I place the voice. It's Miriam, leader of the Free.

I struggle to sit up, but Guard Nev places a hand on my shoulder. “Whoa. Take it easy for a few minutes. Let your mind adjust.”

Dizziness washes over me and I think I'm going to throw up. I quickly lie back down.

After a moment, bits and pieces come back to me. Frost Moon outside of the manhole. The mother country shot down.

Isabel.

I moan and roll to my side to hide my face. “Is she gone?” I choke out.

Sorrow overwhelms me, and I vomit into the ground.

Guard Nev is there to scoop me up and move me to a bench someone managed to clear. “It's OK,” he soothes. “You're OK.”

It's not me I'm worried about. It's Isabel's soft, kind face lying trapped in the rubble. I will never be able to see her smile again. I will never be able to go to her for wisdom. I won't be able to look up to her like a mom ever again.

Guard Nev whispers something and I make an effort to turn toward him. He's not speaking to me, though. He speaks to Fischer.

Fischer's face changes, and he nods and hurries away.

Now Guard Nev is delivering the terrible news to others. This can't be real.

Fischer returns to me and kneels. Blood stains his shirt, but it doesn't seem to be coming from his body. “It's over now.” He smooths hair from my forehead. “Just rest.”

I shake my head, my tears starting fresh. I can't ever rest.

“They found Frost Moon's body in the field. It looks like he was shot through.”

I choke on the tears and attempt to speak. “The flyer's bullets weren't pointed that way.”

Fischer shakes his head. “It appears his own guards shot him. Who knows what he said to them.”

It seems odd, but Frost Moon's death brings no closure to my spirit. I am a deep hole, full of sorrow and death. It would have been better if I'd never been born.

“Hana.” Fischer takes my hand and squeezes. “Isabel wouldn't want you to weep. She was happy with the choice she made to come along. She is with God now.”

The words sound like they come from Isabel herself. Still, tears choke me again and I begin to sob.

Fischer takes me in his arms and lets me cry. He doesn't try to stop me even once.

Minutes pass. Hours. Days. Over time we herd everyone back into the buildings that are still standing.

Fischer begins working with the injured, and I begin to realize the relief washing over me. Fischer is OK. He made it through the attacks.

Moving closer to him, my mind runs through a dozen things to tell him. I'm so glad he's alive. Relieved he's whole and able to help.

In a moment of clarity I realize, I choose him.

But as I near him, he turns away and begins helping the next patient. I stop, and my eyes travel down the corridor of the injured. Bodies line the hall, many moaning and bleeding.

Fischer is working.

Now is not the time for rest, and I begin helping him.

Guard Nev approaches us on the first floor. “We need your help with something. We have to move into the city, and fast. If someone doesn't take over now, Frost Moon's people will try and set up rule. We need to get the truth out to the people and let them choose for themselves.”

I glance around me at all the people injured or dying. Three quarters of the rebel camp live. Fischer works tirelessly.

“We've done all this work,” Keegan says. Blood stains his shirt, and he barely looks me in the eye, but at least he's OK. “We don't want it to go to waste.”

He's right. I glance around at the people waiting for me to make a decision.

“Fine.” I swallow hard. “But I want to see Isabel buried when we get back.”

Keegan's eyes show his sorrow. He takes my hands and squeezes them. “We will honor her the way she deserves to be honored.”

A group of us make our way through the now-open gates of Middle City 1. Keegan, Guards Nev and Rok, Miriam, and several more of the Free. Middles weep openly in the streets, but no one attempts to stop us. After all, most of the city guards died in the attack.

“We're going to the dome,” Guard Rok says. “It's where the Greaters are, and they need to hear this as much as everyone else.”

The Middles need to know who we are, too. Where we're headed. What message we're spreading.

I stop by a woman in the street. She kneels on the ground, crying as she clutches a small child. “We're meeting in the dome. Won't you come?”

She looks up at me with weary, wet eyes. “Only the Greaters area allowed in the dome.”

“Not anymore.”

She glances around, but she follows us. Soon, others follow as well, until we're a force to be reckoned with when we reach the dome. No one protests when Keegan uses his access card to get inside, and people file into the seats in the main arena.

Keegan has played on this stage multiple times, and knows exactly how to attach the wires to the speakers so all the citizens can hear. He works quickly, getting speakers in place.

Guard Rok steps into place. His presence commands attention, even in his tattered guard uniform. “My name is Guard Rok, and our country has been at war.”

A murmur moves through the crowd, but the war has become general knowledge from what Lilith said. Guard Rok continues.

“The war with the mother country is over, and we have been victorious. However, peace is not yet here. You see, many of us—many of you—have become unhappy with the Greater system. We have longed for change, and the time to make that change is now.”

Shouts erupt, and without guards to patrol the people there is no one to stop the chaos.

“Frost Moon is dead. I have seen his body with my own eyes.” Guard Rok's voice booms through the arena, and it quiets the people as they digest this information. “There are those of us with the ability to lead. Even among the Greaters right here in this arena, there are men and women willing to step up and take our society to a new level. But we will not do it without your approval. This is our country. It is your country. We should decide together.”

His words are spoken with such sincerity, it is hard to imagine anyone questioning his motives.

He continues his speech and brings Greaters on stage who would help lead the country. The people soak up his words, and a peace settles over me. This is actually happening. The Greater system is no more.

After several days of talks, we agree the other cities need to have a say in the negotiations. The message we take to the people is that Great Supreme Moon is dead. The reign of the Greaters has ended.

People cheer and mourn. They dance and cry.

And they come. People come from every city in every area of our country—even the outer cities. They come to discuss what the new government will look like. Guard Nev suggests a democracy like the country had in the Early Days when we were called America.

Guard Rok takes over putting together a military. He is shocked when he learns Les was feeding information to the Greaters all along, but Guard Nev steps up as his right hand man. Keegan helps them with traveling between cities and spreading the word. At one point I hear he has recruited Lilith to help him.

I don't want anything to do with our government, not anymore, in spite of my Test and training. Instead, I focus on working with the poor on their level. Teaching them to grow gardens. Helping Fischer tell them about God. I don't know what else to do.

 



 

“I want to go to Lesser City 4,” I say. It's been one month since the attack. We work out of the dome, handing out warmer clothes to the Lessers—to the poor—as winter approaches. “I want to find Jamie.”

Fischer takes my hand. It's something that's become natural over the last few weeks, but it still spreads jitters through me. “When do we leave?”

I tighten my fingers around his. “As soon as we can.”

“I'll make the plans,” he says. “When do you think they'll rename the cities?”

It's a question we've discussed a few times over the weeks, but no one ever has definitive answers. I sigh. “It's going to take a while to fully implement the changes we've made.”

He smiles and leans in to kiss my cheek. “I'll find you when I've made a few arrangements.”

I watch him go and my insides warm. I have never seen anyone so brave, and so willing to give of himself.

Nerves twist my stomach as I consider Keegan. We've barely seen each other in the last four weeks. We haven't spoken of the future—we've both been too busy. But I owe him the truth. My decision.

Glancing around, I see my work here is done for the day. Keegan works from an official's building in the center of the city. The thought of seeing him again fills me with anxiety, but my feet move toward him before my mind can change.

People bustle in and out of the building, but a man stops to help me. I guess I look a bit lost.

“I'm looking for Keegan Clem,” I say.

“Third floor,” the man replies.

I smile my thanks and move to the stairs. In spite of the former-Greaters agreeing to share the wealth, we still don't have enough electricity to waste on elevators.

Keegan sits behind a desk, piles of paper around him. He doesn't fit with desk work, and I smile at him as I approach. “Imagine seeing you here.”

He looks up, surprised, and smiles. “Hi there.” Then his face changes, almost like he realizes seeing me here isn't good.

I try for a brighter smile. The nerves are back. “I came to talk to you.”

His eyes are guarded as he nods and glances around. “We can talk in the conference room.” He leads me to a large, open room and shuts the door behind us. “What's going on?”

I look down, suddenly too scared to tell him what's on my mind. My heart. Finally, I look back to him. “I'm going away for a while. I want to find Jamie, in Lesser City 4.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

I swallow hard and nod again. “Yes. Fischer is going with me.” I watch him closely, studying to gauge his reaction.

Realization dawns on his face immediately. He nods. “He'll keep you safe.” The words are so soft. So reserved.

Tears burn my eyes and I step closer to him. “I'm sorry, Keegan. I owe so much to you. I love you.”

He manages a smile but shakes his head. “You don't owe anything to me.” He glances around before his gaze lands back on me. “I've actually been meaning to talk to you, too. I'm going away with Miriam, and Lilith.”

“Miriam?” I can't bring myself to recognize the mention of Lilith.

“Miriam says there are villages set up all over the country. Free villages. I'm going to travel with her and tell them about the new rule. I'll be an ambassador, of sorts.”

Now it's my turn to be surprised. “An ambassador?”

“Handpicked by Guard Rok.”

I take his hand. “I can't think of anyone better for the job.”

He gives me another uncomfortable smile and glances at the door. “I have a lot to get done before then, so I better go back.”

“Oh, right.” But I don't move out of the way. Is this it? “I don't want things to be strange between us, Keegan.”