Z 2135 (24 page)

Why didn’t
they show it on The Games?

Then the orb attacked the men, blasting them into
nothingness before hovering down to the rooftop.

The orb footage suddenly ended, and a man’s voice filled the
bathroom.

“This is Mr. X from The Underground, broadcasting raw
footage captured last night: proof that Ana Lovecraft and Liam Harrow are not
dead. The City has lied to you yet again. Can’t say we’re surprised though,
eh?”

The video ended, and the play circle popped back up.

Adam swallowed and pressed the triangle to see the
impossible again.

As they approached the first checkpoint, a booth with a gate
and two City Watchers who were checking vehicles, Jonah felt his heartbeat
speed up.

Maya looked at him with arched eyebrows, and Jonah realized
he was telegraphing his fear.

“Relax,” she said. “No one inside worries about much of
anything. You look like that and we’re both dead. I’m willing to help, but I
don’t want to die, so you need to get control of yourself, now. Think happy
thoughts, count backward from one hundred, or do whatever will make you calmer
before we hit the checkpoint.”

Jonah looked up. There were three vehicles ahead of them.

“OK,” he said, dampening panic even as the first of the
three vehicles was waved through.

Two more to go.

“It’s simple,” Maya reassured him. “We’ll pass through two
gates before we’re actually inside The City. The first checkpoint’s purpose is
to draw your blood. Just a prick to make sure you’re not infected. This takes
less than a minute, and you have nothing to worry about. Sutherland isn’t
stupid, so that means you’re clean. The next gate is an X-ray and
questions—they just want to make sure there aren’t any extra bodies stashed
inside the vehicle, or weapons. Again, we’re good. I’m sure you weren’t stupid
enough to bring a weapon. If you did, now’s the time to tell me. The Watcher at
the second gate will ask you some questions, specifically about your business
in City 1. He may or may not scan your ID chip, depending on his mood. Say
nothing unless directly spoken to. If you are, and you probably will be, don’t
say anything stupid. You’ll have to hand him the medical bag, and hope to God
that whoever secured it did his job and it passes. The second checkpoint is the
only one to worry about, but if we’re caught, it will mean death for me and
worse for you.”

They drove through the first checkpoint, as easily as Maya
promised. Jonah rolled his window down, felt a tiny prick; then less than a
minute later a white light in front of them turned green and the truck was
moved forward on the belt toward the next gate, about a dozen truck lengths in
front of them. On the other side Jonah saw a trio of trucks leaving The City,
all in a row, one behind the other. He wondered if the trucks had dropped
supplies and were returning to their cities empty or if City 1 was sending
something to somewhere. He wondered if it was harder to get out of The City
than it was to get in.

Jonah figured The City probably never exported anything,
except misery.

“Any better?”

Jonah nodded, even if he was only marginally relieved.

“Good,” she said, “because it’s showtime. Remember, don’t
say anything stupid.”

Maya sparked the truck and went forward a bit, now that the
truck was off the conveyor and slowly rolling toward the second gate. She
lowered her window, laughing hysterically as if Jonah had just detonated the
funniest joke ever.

Jonah laughed while looking at the City 1 Watcher, nodding
and smiling like he wasn’t scared out of his skin.

The Watcher looked nothing like a City 6 Watcher. He wore a
loose-fitting, white collared shirt, perfectly tailored pants, and a warm
smile. The only indication that he was City Watch was the belt with the shock
stick hanging loosely from the man’s left hip.

“Hey there, Amy,” the man said.

“Heya, Percy,” Maya said. “I’m so glad to finally get off
the road. Can’t wait to get a nap. Feel like I’ll sleep nine days when I do.”

“Well, it’s good to see you again. You’re the brightest spot
of my week so far.” The guard smiled, then glanced toward the truck’s rear.
“What are you bringing this week?”

“Only the latest linens and garments from City 6.”

Percy smiled and gestured toward Jonah.

“What about him?”

“Well, in addition to him making it hard to drive all the
way here from City 6 without peeing on my leg on account of him always cutting
up like Dr. Chuckles, Dr. William Baker here is delivering medicine and test
samples to Dr. Hollier. His truck died en route from City 6, so I was asked to
bring him along. They really ought to spring for some better trucks for the
other cities, ya know?”

“Right,” Percy said. “It’s not like they don’t have the
money.”

“Exactly,” Maya said with a flirty wink.

“Is he staying long term?”

“Oh no, he’ll be leaving with me when I head back out, and
I’ll drop him back off in City 6.”

Percy asked Jonah, “And what are you delivering, sir?”

Maya answered for him, “Just some medicine. You’ll probably
need to see it, right?”

“Yes, please.”

“Hey, Doc,” she nodded at Jonah, “can you hand that case to
Percy?”

Jonah’s heart pounded as he reached between his legs,
grabbed his medical bag, and handed it to the guard. The guard smiled as he
pulled it through the window, tipping his head on his way to the small machine
just off to the side.

As Percy set the bag onto a belt, which fed it into a
machine, Jonah tried to slow his racing heart.

Jonah knew he was carrying poison, though he wasn’t sure
what kind or how it acted. Fortunately, all the vials inside the bag looked
like medicine to the untrained eye. Unless Percy had some sort of chemical
scanner or something to detect poison, Jonah figured he should be OK.

What if
they do have a chemical scanner?

As his heart beat faster, cold sweat slicked his head.

Stop
thinking of this. Just relax. Everything will be OK.

Percy squinted at the screen, smiled, then pulled bag from
scanner, returned to the truck, and handed it through the open window. He
nodded at Jonah as Maya set the bag on the floor between his legs.

“Now, I just need to scan you, Dr. Blake.”

“Sure thing,” Jonah said.

“Can you step out of the truck?”

“Of course,” Jonah said, heart pounding.

He stepped out as the Watcher came to him and placed the ID
scanner over his wrist.

The screen showed his credentials, then something flashed.
“Checked at Hanger 014 59 minutes ago.”

Oh shit.

Percy looked up at Jonah.

“Something wrong?” Jonah said, playing dumb.

His heart pounded, so fast he thought Percy might notice his
racing pulse by looking at his neck. Jonah tried not to look at the other City
Watcher standing at the gate looking out at the cars behind them, even as he
sized up where they were in relation to him and how he might best escape.

Percy looked at Maya, “Says here that Doc checked into
Hangar 14 an hour ago.”

Maya laughed, “Yeah, well I’m sure that’s some kind of glitch.”

Percy looked down at the screen, then back up at them, “I
dunno. I think I should call over to the hangars.”

This is
it. Shit’s about to hit the fan.

Jonah glanced at the other Watcher, now looking at them,
probably wondering why they were taking so long to get processed. Any minute
now, he’d be over.

Jonah readied himself.

He wouldn’t go without a fight. He could probably grab
Percy’s shock stick and use it to stun him, then kill the second Watcher. Maybe
they could race into The City and escape.

But finishing the mission with City Watch searching for him
behind The Walls would be infinitely harder, if not altogether impossible.

Maya smiled in a mischievous way that surprised Jonah. She
looked at Percy and asked, “How’s your friend, Jocine?”

Percy’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

“I asked how Jocine was,” Maya said, smile still planted
firmly, eyes locked onto his.

The other Watcher strolled over, a beefy guy with his hand
loosely on his shock stick.

“Everything OK here?”

Percy looked at Maya nervously, then at the scanner, then to
Jonah, and then to his fellow Watcher.

He swallowed.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good. Just catching up with Amy
here.”

“OK, well speed it up—we’ve got a line to get through.”

Percy met Maya’s eyes, and then Jonah’s, not disguising his
anger. “OK, now,” he said, “Y’all have a good trip.”

Jonah got back into the truck, letting out a deep exhale as
Maya climbed in and again sparked the truck forward.

Jonah said nothing until they were well past the gate.

“OK, what the hell was that all about? Jocine?”

“Let’s just say it pays to know everyone’s weaknesses.
Jocine is the other Watcher’s wife, and let’s just say she and Percy have been
extra friendly, and there’s some other sordid stuff they’re into. You never
know when such knowledge will come in handy. You could’ve fucking told me you
were scanned at the hangars!”

“I assumed you knew,” Jonah snapped. “You’re the one who
went on with some stupid story about how my truck broke down and we’ve been
palling around The Barrens since! Had you just told him I flew in, this
wouldn’t have been an issue!”

“I didn’t know how you got here. I assumed you’d come by
boat like most of the others I get in here. Nobody comes in on gliders! Shit!”

Jonah tried to calm himself. They were OK now. That’s all
that mattered.

“So,” he asked, “How does this affect us getting out of
here?”

“I don’t know,” Maya said. “I’m only responsible for getting
you
into
The City.
Someone else will help you get out. Just tell them what happened.”

Jonah nodded. “OK.”

After a long moment, he asked, “So, does this screw up your
relationship with Percy? Now that you played your card?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ll have him killed to be safe,
though.”

“Killed?”

“Better safe than sorry. Right?”

“Yeah,” Jonah said, not wanting to say what he thought.

He couldn’t worry about one Watcher’s fate. Not now.

They drove a bit farther, then Maya pulled over at an
intersection.

“OK. This is as far as we go together. Follow this side road
west to the market square.” She pointed down a sloping road headed toward a
busy outdoors market.

“What am I supposed to do then?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’m assuming someone will meet you, but
that’s all I was told.”

“Thanks. I don’t know why you’re helping like this, but I
never would have made it inside without you.”

“You got it, Lovecraft,” she said, then waved her hands back
and forth as if to say
hurry
up
. Jonah opened the door and dropped to the road. She pulled away
before he could even close the door.

Jonah started walking down the road toward the tented marketplace.
Immediately, he noticed how green the grass was along the sides of the road. He
had spotted it from above, but up close, the grass seemed even brighter, and it
wasn’t green only in patches like in City 6 or most of The Barrens. The grass
was green enough to make Jonah want to cry, as did the streets, which were
sparkling clean. The asphalt was pitch black as if poured the day before. The
glass on the tall buildings in the distance gleamed. Steel twinkled.

 Everything seemed so new.

As Jonah made his way into the market square with its large
colorful tents and even more colorfully dressed people, he realized how
different they were from everyone else he’d ever met. They weren’t just
walking, but almost floating, buoyant without any worry, happy to be wherever
they were going.

Those who weren’t walking stood on mobile platforms, zipping
through the market and along every boulevard. Every cobble seemed so perfectly
set, Jonah wondered if there was staff to neaten them if they happened to skew.

He entered the first tent fighting awe. It twitched his
mouth at the corners, watered his eyes, made him want to break out in a happy
sweat. The tent’s interior was one of the most beautiful things he had ever
seen. Colorful fabrics hung behind large pots of orchids starting in the tent’s
corners, and fanning out along the tent walls. The pots were stuffed and
spilling, like the one City 6 displayed in the square each year on Fertility
Day—but that was just one pot and there were perhaps 20 in this tent alone.

The crazy thing was that the flowers were decoration, not
even what the store was selling. That honor belonged to the abundance of fruit
spilling from baskets everywhere around him—on the floor, on top of overturned
wooden crates, and along the counter, where a woman brought her small bag of
fruit for purchase.

Jonah wanted to feel like he deserved the world around him
so he could fit in with everyone else who so obviously did, but in his heart he
knew that no one in the world could ever truly deserve so much. He picked up an
apple. It was the most gorgeous piece of fruit he had ever seen: plump and
crimson. Jonah drooled imagining City 1 peaches, then, inspired, wandered the
tent until he found some—a giant basket two arms across, piled to the top and
crowned with a sign that said, Bathtub Peaches.

Jonah sank his teeth into the meat, swallowed the delicious
fruit, and closed his eyes, rocking his head back and forth, before blinking
his eyes open. He wanted to bask in the gloriousness of the peach, but had to act
like he belonged here. A courier comfortable in City 1 wouldn’t be standing
around like an idiot gushing over a piece of fruit.

He wandered the tent a bit longer, then went to the front to
have his ID chip scanned and charged for the peach before heading back out in
search of whoever was looking for him.

Everything was shiny, especially the people.

Everyone was beautiful, like Maya and the people at the
Pegasus station and Percy. Only after seeing their beauty did Jonah realize how
truly drab it was behind the City 6 Walls. Of course, Jonah
knew
it was dull, but it
was one thing to know it and another to live with all the countless blacks,
whites, and grays that get trapped in a city made of dreary, lifeless uniforms,
chipped cinderblocks, and too many shadows. The people in City 1 were dressed
in styles that Jonah had never seen, playful patterns and stripes and dots,
florals and shapes, even images he recognized from Old Nation movies. The women
all wore makeup, and their skin was radiant and blemish free.