SAFE (16 page)

“Camara,”
he replied.

Camara.
The one who granted us refuge in the Lowers and helped save James’ life.

“And
your dad?”

He
shrugged in response. “He died from an accidental explosion at the Academy when
I was young.”

“Wait
a minute. How was he at the Academy? Was he a guard?” I asked. From my
knowledge, I had never seen any Lowers work there before.

“Yes,
but not just him. My aunt and a few others. He was training her and something
happened. She touched the wrong switch or wire and a bomb went off in her
hands. My father and a few recruits were standing too close when it happened.
After that, the other three people there from our village were forced to leave
the Academy.” Lucan winced from the left side of his face and raised his one eyebrow.
“It was a long time ago. I don’t remember him much.” He tried taking a deep
breath, but the smoke became thicker around us, and he started coughing.

“Exactly
how long ago did what you’re talking about take place?” James asked, walking
closer to him.

“Um—”
Lucan counted with his good fingers. “—almost twelve years ago.”

“That’s
when my father died. But I didn’t hear the story like that. I was told you Lowers
infiltrated the Academy with means to kill many more people. That the bomb was
only the beginning,” his voice raised.

Lucan
took a step back, wincing with pain. “Look, if that were true, do you really
think they would’ve allowed us to live? Besides, us Lowers
have never
been an aggressive kind of people. You should know that by now. We saved your
life and we didn’t have to.”

It
took a few seconds, but James finally relaxed his shoulders and the veins
around his neck disappeared with the anger.

A
large crackle sounded and a group of trees fell over from the fire, thudding
against the ground, forcing our thoughts back to our current situation. I scratched
the dog’s body with my hands all over her back, and covered her snout with
kisses. “Can you take her with you?” I asked. Where we were attempting to go
was no place for the dog. She was much better off with Lucan.

“Of
course, Penny,” he replied with a smile and a hug. The two of them had come on
this crusade with me and I didn’t know if I would ever see them again. Lucan would
be okay, at least for now. If he said he could get back into the perimeter
undetected, then I believed him. But what lay ahead for everyone inside that
place was a mystery to me, and once we made it to the island with my sister, my
plans were to come back. Yet, realistically, I had to come to terms with the
fact that it may never happen. We barely escaped, so how were we supposed to
magically get back in? James and I would be wanted everywhere. Even if everyone
thought we were dead, stories about us would float around for years. We wouldn’t
be able to walk the streets without being noticed.

“Can
you get word to my parents, letting them know we’re alive?” That was a concern,
them not ever knowing what happened to me.

Lucan
nodded and patted his leg, signaling for the dog to come over. He gave me one
last look before they both hobbled out of sight.

“Now what?” I asked James.

“Climb
on my back and I’ll take us down the side.”

Before
today, this never would’ve been something I even remotely considered. However,
this was no ordinary day. I climbed onto his back and he walked over to the
edge.

“You
ready?” he asked, hollering over the fire, and the waves roaring below.

“Ready
as I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.” I held my arms tight under his and coiled my
legs around his waist, then closed my eyes, not wanting to see what was below.
His body turned over, slid down, and started the descent. Seconds passed. I
felt his legs one by one move side to side, stabilizing on each small ridge
protruding itself from the giant rock. I opened my eyes for a brief second to
see his hands clenched to the side. A handful of pebbles fell after his left hand
moved to the next spot. I closed my eyes again; the only thing I felt was my
fear accompanied with the skid noises of his boots. Moving. Gripping. Sliding.
Feet and hands finding their next spot.

I
breathed in slowly. It felt good to breathe. The air above had been thick with
smoke, now it was much fresher. I listened for the waves and heard them
splashing, but couldn’t feel the water yet. We were still far enough from the
bottom. I wondered how much longer it would be.

I
listened again. Loud and powerful water. I looked up, the sky was dark, the
rock even darker.

I
heard James’ voice. “I love you,” he said.

I
didn’t reply, I wanted too, but my heart was gripped with fear as death
lingered with every move. The very last thought on my mind was about him and
me, where we stood with that situation. The only thing I could do was grab
tighter around his body, holding onto the only thing keeping me from dying. I
swallowed and shut my eyes.

Water
began splattering my legs, the bottom becoming nearer. This time I was too scared
to open my eyes and focused on the repetitiveness of booming waves.

“We
have a few more minutes, and then we will have to swim,” he shouted.

“What!”
He wasn’t wet when he climbed back up top where we waited for him—minutes
before. I felt his clothes with my hands as they clasped around him, they were semi
dry, but not soaked from swimming.

“Look.”
He pointed to our right and a large, black hole greeted my eyes as we dangled backwards
from the rock. A cave. The water rushed wildly inside the mouth of it,
whirlpool like. It was strong and scary—the I’m-going-to-kill-you kind of
water.

“We
can’t go in there!” I screamed, simultaneous waves crashing everywhere.
Everywhere.

“We
have to! It’s the only way! It’s where everything is!”

I
took a second look. There was nothing there except a ginormous cave. No lights
inside, I couldn’t see a thing, especially some boat he dreamt of. “You’re
insane. We’ll both die!” I said. The thought of death had come and gone so many
times over the past couple of days, now it was a normal routine, stuck in my brain
on autopilot. My normal reaction to everything new.

“Do
you trust me?” His voice was loud and ferocious like the water below. “Do you
trust me?” he said again.

Thoughts
ran through my head, glimpses of every way I could’ve died already. “Yes!” I
hollered back. My hair was now drenched with the spray from the water and my
clothes too.

I
knew how to swim, but I had never been close to anything of this magnitude,
positive the power of churning water would pull me under as soon as we entered.

“Hold
on tight!” he warned.

Then
he plunged backwards, headed for the foamy death pool. I held my breath as he
cleared the jagged rocks to our left and landed directly in the middle of the
rushing path, shooting straight into the dark mouth.

Immediately,
our bodies yanked under water, a force so strong that there was no use in
fighting. My grip began loosening from being whipped about. Salty liquid filled
my nostrils and I kept my mouth closed tightly, trapping the only oxygen I had
left. Seconds passed, my legs jolted out of place, my hands gripped tighter with
all my strength. The two of us churned in all directions, flipping over one
another, still connected, our heads banging together multiple times. My hands
gripped tighter.

For
a brief moment, my mouth surfaced and I gulped a quick pocket of air before the
out-of-control current pulled me back under. Pictures of my mom and dad crying
lingered in my thoughts—I couldn’t die. They may never know how I died, but
would feel it in their gut. I held tighter and gripped harder, entangling my
fingers from the position they’d been forced from.

My
body crashed into something hard, the edge of the cave. James and I rolled
together simultaneously. Suddenly, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my back. I
was running out of air.

Another
thud and my hands loosened from their position. I felt James grab my wrist just
before I was hauled away and the pressure began to weaken. I had no energy or breath
left. And my thoughts began to fade, everything black, as I felt my body pulled
from the cold water onto a hard surface. I quickly took another breath and
coughed out salt water from my lungs. I didn’t move. My body slowly filled with
life again.

I
opened my eyes to a small light flickering. A string of ten, fist-size bulbs glimmered
throughout the cave, lighting up the inside. I slowly turned my head and around
me was exactly what I imagined a cave to look like. A huge, giant rock sat to
the left of me and to my front was the death machine I had been saved from. I
looked over as James walked towards me.

“Are
you okay?” He bent down and wiped the hair clinging to my face, holding on for
its own life. My body shivered. I nodded.

“How
did you know this was here?” I coughed out. How did he find this cave, let
alone what was inside of it? A boat?

He
lowered his knees to the ground and rested his hands on his legs. “Back there.
When Mag had you, and Lucan and I were forced to stay where we were—”

“Yes?”

“I
thought she was going to kill you.” He looked down at his legs and ran his
hands nervously through his short hair. Water flung from the tips of his
fingers as they passed each strand.

“So
did I.”

“When
I started running towards you, I couldn’t see anything. It was too dark. Then I
heard what sounded like a gunshot and thought she finally went through with all
of her threats.” He looked at me with his eyebrows scrunching together. His
hand resting on mine was ice cold. “I thought you were dead.”

For
a while, I thought I was too.

“That
idea. That feeling of losing you. It triggered something; it was like a switch
had been turned on and all of a sudden I saw clearly. As if I was wearing those
goggles Lucan brought.”

I
leaned in closer and looked deeper into his eyes. “What do you mean?” His eyes
looked as normal as mine. “Like night vision?”

“Yes,
I’ve been able to voluntarily switch it on and off ever since. It’s not
perfect. Not even close… I have to get either really angry or really scared for
it to jumpstart.” His hand pulled off mine and he examined them in front of his
face, seeing differently than me.

“So
that’s how you were able to find the cave? See in here?”

He
nodded with a smile.

“Are
you
okay? You swallowed a lot of water,” he said, looking me over.

I
sat up, felt a sharp pain shoot through my back, and paused in mid sit-up
position. “My back,” I winced.

He
lifted my shirt and I leaned over as far as I could.

“Hold
on, this is going to hurt,” he warned.

I
braced myself for whatever he was about to do. Then I felt his cold hands
against my back and another volt of pain from something being yanked out. Somehow,
a part of the rock had been lodged in my back like a splinter, a couple inches
in length. His hands were covered in blood. “I think you’ll be okay.” Then he
threw the splinter into the water and washed his hands off.

“Thanks.”

I
slowly stood up and felt my back. My pack. My pack wasn’t there. I looked at
James and he didn’t have it either, which meant it was long gone. Along with
the vials and my only picture of Madeline.

We
begin searching the cave. The boat had been launched out of the water onto an electronic
lift. It must’ve been there for a while. We walked towards the back of the cave—a
large bag of ammo and guns were jumbled together. A smaller bag next to it held
sheaths with large knives.

“How
do you think this works?” I pointed to the boat and walked over. It wasn’t
large, but it wasn’t small either. Solid, greyish, material lined the exterior,
a metal substance, only a few feet high. James lifted me up and I climbed
inside. In the back of the boat was a small red bag with a white cross on top.
We opened it and found first-aid supplies. Nothing like back in the Colony—older.
Small white packages labeled with various antibiotic names, white pills for
headaches, and other pain pills. I took one for my aching back.

The
front of the boat was filled with large jugs labeled
Gasoline
. I
remembered reading about gasoline in prior books and knew exactly what it was
used for. The supplies seemed ancient compared to the cars and gear we were
accustomed to. James hopped out of the boat, grabbed the bags of guns and knives,
and threw them inside the boat. He then pressed the only green button on the
lift. It started to lower into the water and I filled the engine with gasoline,
hoping I was filling the correct hole. Before it hit the foamy water, James
jumped back in and the boat gradually entered. Instantly, we began being pulled
away, dragged by the current, and I scrambled to the wheel. It was foreign
looking. I started pressing buttons on the dashboard. A horn sound blared and
lights flickered. I saw a stick to my right and the keys dangling next to it. I
turned the keys and pushed the stick simultaneously, the motor sprang to life
seconds before hitting the side of the cave. I turned the wheel and steered for
the gigantic mouth. Our exit.

James
ran along the sides and pushed off the wall of the cave when we got too close. Within
seconds, we had safely cleared the cave. I gradually drove further away from
the cliffs and James suggested we take a right around the island. It was dark
and we turned all the lights off so nobody would have a chance of seeing us. He
said occasionally he’d seen the direction of the boats when they left the
Academy’s port and that right should be our safest bet. We drove for hours
until we spotted the Academy, careful of getting too close causing someone to
possibly hear the engine. Then we turned the boat perpendicular to the Land and
headed further out to sea. Eventually, we’d come across the other
Land.

Our
boat was rather small and slow. After an hour passed, the few lights from our
Land were still visible, resembling the stars above. If I hadn’t known better,
I would’ve thought they were part of the sky.

I
took a break and let James drive for a while. The water was semi-choppy, but
not nearly as bad as it had been within the cave. I stretched out on the floor
of the boat; there were no seats except for the driver’s. And thanks to the
medicine I took, my back was feeling much better. I folded my arms behind my
head and gazed at the stars.

“James—”
I began, “—did you mean what you said back there? Back when you said you fell
in love with me and it hadn’t all been a lie? Back at the grave.”

The
boat slowed to almost a complete stop and James locked the wheel in place. He sat
down next to me. I stayed in position with my arms folded behind my head.

“Penny.
I love you. I always have—that was
never
a lie.”

He
leaned over and kissed me. His soft, gentle kiss quickly turned into a
passionate one. The kind that made me wish I could linger for days on end
without interruption. Then he slowly pulled away.

“What’s
wrong?” I asked. His face glistened against the night’s sky.

“We
made it.” He smiled, pointing at the vast ocean around us. We snuggled next to
each other, watching the stars while the boat glided along. A hissing sound
startled both of us. A large, silver object darted through the sky.

“What
was that?” I sat up and looked over the end of the boat, in the direction of
the silver whistle.

Out
of nowhere, a large mushroom explosion lit up the sky. It was our Land. For as
big as the mushroom was, it was clear it engulfed more room than necessary for
the tiny blip of land in the distance. The large explosion was seen before the
loud boom hit our ears. We both covered our eyes from the brightness and a huge
wave of water shot towards us, giving me zero time to react. The wave flew over
our boat, nearly knocking it over in the process. James fell backwards and I
fell out into the ocean. He leaned over the edge as the waves toyed with me, my
arms thrashed against the side, James grabbed my hands and pulled me in.

Water
poured off me and I looked at the mushroom cloud in place of the bright fire. Our
entire island had been decimated.