The Ones (15 page)

“Hey,” he said as they marched on together. “I'm sure it wasn't easy being in that reform school. I shouldn't have been so judgmental about it. Sometimes I forget that not every kid grew up like I did. Even other Ones.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Taryn mumbled without looking at him.

“If you ever want to tell me more about it, I'd be curious to hear. You obviously got quite an education in there.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” she asked, combatively.

James hadn't meant to insult her again, but damn was she prickly. “Look, you obviously know how to handle yourself in these situations. It's a little bit newer to me. All I'm saying is, if you have any pointers for me, I'm all ears.”

“Oh. Okay,” she said in a gentler tone. “I guess I might as well start with lesson number one: Don't keep your wallet in your back pocket, idiot.”

James immediately felt for his wallet, but he already knew it was gone. Thankfully, Taryn was holding it out for him. He took it back sheepishly and slid it into his front pocket.

“Sometimes I just can't resist,” she said. But then she smiled to show no hard feelings.

Taryn seemed like she was about to proceed to lesson two, but she didn't get the chance. Kai had come to a stop ahead of them. James and Taryn practically bumped into him as he stood perfectly still, staring at his phone. James could tell from his face that the news was horrible.

“What is it? Is she dead?” he yelled in a panic.

Kai looked up at him with eyes that burned with anger. “No. See for yourself.”

James took the phone and read the news story that Kai had clicked on. It was an article about the SWAT incursion of the school takeover. James scanned the text quickly, but the headline made it clear enough.

Margie was dead and the cops were calling it a murder.

 

CHAPTER 11

HOURS HAD PASSED
since she'd been arrested, but Cody still couldn't get the smell of gunpowder out of her nose. It wasn't just her nose; it was all five senses, really. She could taste it in her mouth. Her eyes burned. Her ears were still ringing. And she swore that her body was still vibrating from the first big explosion. She hadn't been injured in a conventional sense, but she had felt a wave of invisible force shake every cell in her body. That is what finally broke the office door down.

Cody had been so dazed from the SWAT team ordnance that she could barely remember what happened. She was pinned to the ground, a knee crushing her spine, and then handcuffed. Dragged out of the building. Thrown into a cop car and driven to the local police station. And now here she was, locked in an interrogation room by herself, having been ignored for what felt like several hours.

She rested her head on the cold metal table and tried to sleep. It was impossible, though; her mind was racing too fast. It wasn't fear that gripped her. She had mentally prepared herself for a night in jail, for having the cops condescend to her, even for the inevitable misdemeanor charge and her mother completely freaking out. What kept her from sleeping was a nervous anxiety that Cody couldn't really explain. She had the gnawing sense that something serious was happening on the other side of the locked steel door, that beyond the tiny bubble of her interrogation room, events were transpiring that had the power to change her life.

Cody hoped those events were positive. She engaged in some wishful thinking and imagined that their little stunt had gone viral across the country, that maybe they had inspired countless other schools to protest for the rights of Ones. Maybe one of the SWAT team members hit a student with his club, and it had been caught on camera. Maybe the Board of Education was firing Ms. Bixley at this very moment.

But Cody couldn't know any of that for sure, stuck as she was in this barren room, devoid of all stimuli. She was desperate for any indication and going mad with the realization that everyone else in the world besides her knew what was going on. For the first time, she considered the intensely punishing power of being confined in utter isolation.

Her prayers, such as they were, were finally answered when the door swung open and a tall, elegant woman in a fancy suit entered. Cody could tell she wasn't from Shasta and definitely had nothing to do with their local police force. She wore her short blond hair like any other government drone, but the expressiveness of her face indicated something else to Cody. This woman was clearly passionate about something, but in a scary, obsessive way. She had the look of a zealot.

“Cody, I am not here to bullshit you.”

The woman entered, dropped a closed folder on the table, sat down, and placed her long, bony fingers on top of it. “My name is Agent Norton, and we have to work quickly. I know you are a smart girl. Smarter, I'm sure, than me,” she said, and forced a laugh. “By now, you've probably realized the gravity of the situation that you've placed yourself in, and I hope you've come to the right conclusion.”

The agent stared at Cody, as if waiting for her to speak. Cody didn't know what to say, so Agent Norton leaned in closer to her.

“We need your help, dear, and we need it now,” she said. “Does that sound like something you can do?”

Cody thought for a second. She didn't really understand what this lady was talking about, but she saw no benefit in antagonizing her. Cody's only goal at this point was to leave as quickly as possible.

“How can I help?” she said.

Agent Norton smiled. “Good girl. I knew you were smart.” She took out a pad and a pen. “Let's start with Kai Torres. Do you know where we can find him?”

Without having any intention of answering, Cody thought about where Kai might be at the moment. He surely didn't just go home after the school takeover. In fact, Cody couldn't even imagine that Kai had a home. He just seemed to appear and disappear on a whim. And wherever he was right now, there was a good chance James was with him. Of course, Cody wasn't going to answer that question.

“I don't know,” she was able to say truthfully.

Agent Norton looked at her sternly. “Cody, I just pulled your phone records. I read all the texts. They were cute. But if you want me to help you out of this jam, you have to work with me. Now, what can you tell me about Kai's operation? What is he planning next? What do you know about the bombing?”

Cody pulled back, startled. She could believe that the authorities were interested in keeping tabs on the New Weathermen, but the way the agent was talking suggested something much more serious. It actually made sense, too. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Kai was a little more advanced than a college student who had taken up protesting just a few weeks prior. Still, if Kai had a secret life as some kind of super-spy, she hadn't been made privy to it yet. And there had been no discussion of a bomb.

“I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry.”

“All right, then. I can't tell if you're lying, but I guess we'll find out later, won't we? In the interest of time, though, I am going to offer you a get-out-of-jail-free card. It's not often you hear that meant literally, but if you answer this one question, and I mean really answer this in a way that makes me happy, that's how lucky I can make you. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

Cody nodded, her curiosity piqued. She was genuinely excited to hear the question that could carry so much weight.

“Okay, good,” Agent Norton said, and stared her right in the eye. “What can you tell me about the Ark?”

The Ark.
Cody sensed immediately that it was crucial to the Ones' fight. And much to her embarrassment, she hadn't the faintest clue what it was.

Cody shrugged, not wanting to give anything away. “Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about.”

Agent Norton sat back, deflated, and shook her head. “God, I wish we could have done this the easy way. It would have been so much better for our friendship.” She stared at Cody for an uncomfortably long time. For the first time all day and all night, Cody began to feel a kernel of fear.

Norton stood up from the table. “Cody, do you realize that you are being held under the Equality Act? Do you know what that is?”

“Yes. It's an absurd law that allows the government to arrest and detain Ones indefinitely for any phony reason connected to terrorism. It's a law that violates the Constitution and hundreds of years of legal precedent. It's a law that disgraces our country. And it's also a law that doesn't apply to me. Because I'm not a One.”

The past few hours had been so intense that Cody had almost forgotten what this whole fight was about. It wasn't just getting rid of a malicious high school principal. By reminding Cody about the Equality Act and the atmosphere that allowed it, Norton had refocused her and strengthened her resolve. She was here because her country was discriminating against its citizens. They were slowly crafting laws that normalized the subjugation of Ones. Someone had to stop this. That was why Cody was here.

Cody stood up defiantly to look Norton in the eye. “Now either tell me what stupid crime I committed at the school, or let me go. You can't keep me here forever.”

Agent Norton smiled, as if something was dawning on her for the first time. “You're almost right about that. You see, the Equality Act was created as a tool to protect this nation in case the Ones ever began to pose a threat to the rest of the country. Kind of like they are doing right now. Luckily, we have a law that enables us to get a handle on them. To make sure they can't slip through some legal loophole and do some serious damage. The Equality Act also has a lot of fine print in it. And some of that fine print actually
does
apply to you, whether you're a One or not.” Agent Norton began to recite from memory: “Any person engaged in a criminal association with genetically engineered individuals shall be subject to the provisions of this act in equal measure.” She smiled at Cody. “Now, you wouldn't have anything to do with a group called the New Weathermen, would you?”

Cody had tensed up, not sure how much to believe. Was it true that she could really be held under the Equality Act even if she wasn't a One? She didn't think so. Kai hadn't seemed to think so back at the school. But she hadn't read every line of the law, now had she? That kernel of fear was growing.

“Whatever, so I talked to a One before. We still didn't commit a crime. You can't hold me for no reason.”

“Didn't commit a crime?
We?
Cody, I don't think you understand. There's no one else. You're the only suspect. And I promise you, we can lock you away forever.” Norton paused and gathered her belongings.

“You're being charged with murder.”

*   *   *

Cody stood in a dark basement hallway and couldn't believe what she was seeing. On the other side of the thick glass window, a body lay motionless under a white sheet. Only the head was exposed. It was Margie.

Cody had seen her only hours earlier, when she'd checked in on the teachers before the SWAT team had crashed through the offices. She had even apologized to Margie for what Kai had forced her to do, staging the photo that depicted her about to hang from the light fixtures. Margie had reacted graciously, seeming to take a measure of enjoyment from all this unlikely excitement. She was invisible for most of her life, and then suddenly she was center stage during the most exciting thing that had ever happened in their town. And although Margie didn't actually say it, Cody suspected she supported what the students were doing, if only by virtue of the fact that anyone who had to work for Ms. Bixley probably wanted to get her fired, too.

But now Margie was dead. Cody could see her limp body laid out right in front of her.

Cody didn't understand how this had happened. Agent Norton, waiting in the hallway behind her, didn't offer an explanation. But Cody grasped how the facts were being laid out: The students took over the school. They publicly threatened to kill Margie. When the police arrived, Margie was dead. Cody knew none of them had harmed her, but it didn't matter. It certainly looked like they had. She closed her eyes and offered a prayer for Margie and her family. It was as heartfelt as it was pointless.

“I take it you believe me now?” Norton said from behind her.

“We didn't kill her. I promise you.”

“Let's go.” Norton grabbed her roughly and dragged her away from the morgue window. They started to walk briskly toward an exit.

“Where are we going?” Cody asked as they pushed through the door and into the cold air of the parking lot.

She never got an answer. Instead, as they stepped outside, a heavy black bag was pulled over her head. Cody heard a car screech to a stop in front of them and felt herself being lifted off her feet and thrown forward. She landed with a painful thud in what felt like the back of a van. A door slammed shut. The car started moving and didn't stop for a long time. Cody rode the entire way crying softly in total darkness.

*   *   *

The darkness followed Cody to her new home. It was a simple, square room. She measured it by pacing: three and a half strides in every direction, five strides on the diagonal. There was a door that fit perfectly in its frame without a shred of light on the edges. There was a slot in the door. A plate of food and some water was shoved through. Cody lunged at the food slot when she heard it open. It was the only way she could glimpse any light. Cody spent hours with her ear pressed to the door, trying to figure out where she was and what was in store for her. It was too cold to sleep, so she just sat there, shivering.

Finally, without warning, the door to her cell opened, and someone stepped into the frame. Even with just the faint light from the hallway, Cody had to shield her eyes. But she could tell from the silhouette that it was Agent Norton. Cody's heart leaped with the promise of at least some new information. Anything this woman might reveal would be better than this silent treatment.