Outcasts (26 page)

Omar shut the front door behind him. Zane limped over to greet him.

“Ask him about Red,” Jemma whispered.

Talk about pet agendas. Not again with this. “Omar and Shaylinn’s business is their own,” Levi told his wife.

“But Kendall said Omar is still with Red. Shaylinn needs him now, Levi. And Omar needs your guidance.”

“He’s never listened to me before. Why would he now?” Besides, Omar was only sixteen. Shaylinn fourteen. They were too young to be worrying about getting married, though it might happen eventually. Levi was much more concerned about the whole Owl thing. Omar was a puppy picking a fight with a mountain lion.

Levi walked toward his brother in time to overhear Zane say, “… skip patrols tonight. Oh, and Levi knows.”

“What?” Omar’s shocked expression shifted from Zane to Levi. His jaw tightened into a scowl. “I can’t believe she told you.”

As if Levi would be spending time with Kendall Collin. “She told Jemma.”

“But she promised … Whatever.” Omar pushed past Levi, walking farther into the living room.

Levi grabbed his arm. “Hey, let’s talk about it.” He chose his next words carefully. “It seems pretty dangerous.”

“Are you worried your little brother might get hurt?” Omar asked.

“I am, actually.”

“Well, don’t bother. I’m dying anyway. I may as well do something good with my life on my way out.” Omar flopped down on the couch beside Jemma, and a cloud of dust puffed around him.

This was the kind of talk that really scared Levi. “That’s what this is? Suicide?”

“I’m just not afraid anymore, okay?” Omar said. “Let them come and get me. I’m putting up my best fight.”

“This isn’t our war, brother,” Levi said. “We need to get our people out and — ”

“Maybe it’s not your war, but maybe it is my war.” Omar tapped his chest. “I made the deal that got us here, as you like to remind me. And they lied to me. I can’t forget that. I need to do something. And since I’ve been the Owl, I’ve felt lighter than I have in weeks. I haven’t had a puff from my PV all day. So, maybe I can get high off my new purpose instead of stims.”

“That’s great, Omar,” Jemma said.

Levi didn’t think any of this was great. “They’re going to catch you.”

“Nah,” Zane said. “I’ve installed a SimTag detector in his Wyndo wristband. It alerts him when someone approaches, and he can identify who it is by looking on the grid.”

“Wait. You’re helping him?” Levi asked. “Why didn’t you say so?”

Zane shrugged, the beginnings of a smile on his face. “You didn’t ask, peer.”

“Zane is my partner,” Omar said.

“More like his sidekick tech wizard,” Zane said. “I work from the nest.”

“What’s the nest?” Jemma asked.

“Our lair.” Omar grinned and jumped up from the couch. “Want to see it?”

Zane and Omar led Levi and Jemma down to the basement of the house, which was nothing but a small room with cement walls. The air was colder down there. A ratty old couch sat across from a washer and dryer. And a long bookshelf filled with cardboard boxes stretched along the wall opposite the stairs.

“
This
is your lair?” Levi asked. Because it wasn’t a bit impressive.

“Watch and see,” Omar said. “It’s mad wild.”

His brother’s enjoyment annoyed him. This was a game to Omar. He was playing superhero, like a character from the Old cartoon comic books he liked so much.

Zane grabbed hold of the shelf and pulled it back. Wheels clacked over the cement floor. Levi hadn’t noticed that the shelf was on wheels. Behind the shelves, a black-and-green-checkered blanket hung on the wall. Omar drew it aside and held it, which revealed a door that Zane pushed open. Zane stepped up into the doorway and into who knew where.

“Ooh! A secret door?” Jemma ran forward to peek into the darkness.

“What every lair needs,” Omar said, grinning.

Refrain from anger.
Levi fought to keep his expression neutral and hurried to catch up to his wife, who thankfully had not jumped through the doorway until he could investigate. “Do we have time for this? We’re supposed to meet Ruston any minute now.”

“Trust, peer,” Zane called from within the secret room. “You need to work on it.”

Fine. Levi climbed inside what turned out to be a tunnel. Jemma followed and took hold of his hand. Behind them, Omar pulled the shelf back into place, straightened the blanket, then shut the door. Darkness engulfed them. Levi put his arm around Jemma, but before he could say anything, light spilled into the tunnel from the other end.

Zane stood there, a black silhouette rimmed in a rectangle of pale yellow light. “Welcome to the nest.”

They made their way out of the tunnel and into the center of a small room. A Wyndo wall screen covered the entire wall on one end, hanging above a GlassTop desk. The opposite wall was painted bright green. Another entrance stood directly opposite the one they’d come through. Shelves lined the side walls and were filled with guns, all types of portable Wyndos, pre-packaged food, jugs of water, and enforcer uniforms. No ammo.

“Is that a green screen?” Jemma asked, pointing at the green wall. “I learned about those at the entertainment orientation in the harem.”

“That’s where we film Omar for his reports,” Zane said, sitting on the chair in front of the GlassTop, but facing toward them. “I can change out the background to make it look like he’s anywhere. Raises the intrigue.”

Levi didn’t like this whole Owl thing, but knowing that his little brother wasn’t alone in it, seeing that Zane was keeping him safe … It made it easier to swallow. “Who’s equipment is all this?”

“Ruston’s,” Zane said.

“So he’s in on the Owl thing too?” Levi asked.

“He knows about it, but he’s not helping us, other than letting us use this place,” Zane said. “Still, this is a big risk, bringing you people here. Ruston hasn’t taken a risk like this in … well, since I’ve known him.”

“And how long have you known him?” Levi asked.

Zane waggled his eyebrows. “All my life.”

A moment of silence passed, and Levi went to inspect the weapons on the shelves. Omar sat on the chair in front of the green wall.

“Omar, I haven’t seen Red around in a while,” Jemma said. She was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed, ready to fight.

Levi groaned inside as he admired a shelf filled with stunners. This wasn’t the time to fish for details about Omar’s love life, but his wife was determined to get a happily-ever-after for her sister.

“We broke up,” Omar said. “She’s crazy.”

Levi couldn’t argue there. He’d been a victim of Red’s lies too.

“She destroyed my apartment,” Omar said. “Ruined a bunch of my paintings.”

“I wish she’d get help,” Zane said. “But she’d rather destroy apartments.”

“Help for what?” Jemma asked.

“They’ve got classes at the Midlands Civic Center that teach women to disconnect when a guy moves on,” Zane said. “Wash off the paint.”

“You mean like counseling classes?” Jemma asked.

“I guess.”

Jemma squealed like an angry child. “Where are the heroes in this place? Where are the men willing to die for true love? Where are the Westleys and Mr. Darcys?”

Zane looked at Levi. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

Levi picked up one of the stunners and gripped it. Jemma’s love of romance stories was fine between the two of them, but he never talked to other guys about it.

“So I’m a scoundrel in a fairy story, is that it, Jemma?” Omar asked.

“Yes,” she said, her voice laced with tears. “You
are
the scoundrel. You’re Mr. Wickham!”

“Jemma …” Levi said, putting the stunner back on the shelf. “Let’s do this another time, okay? We’re probably already late for our meeting with Ruston.”

But Omar wasn’t done. “Maybe I am, Jemma. But Red doesn’t think like Eliza Bennett, Jem. She’s more like the wild little sister. And the sister liked Mr. Wickham and was too stupid to know he was a maggot.”

Levi fought back a laugh and inspected a pistol on the next shelf down. Not loaded. He wondered where they kept the ammo.

“Which is why Mr. Darcy swept in to set things right,” Jemma said. “Mr. Wickham and Lydia got married.”

“You want me to marry Red?” Omar said. “
That’s
what you want?”

“No! I want you to …” She took a deep breath, and Levi knew she wanted to tell Omar to marry Shaylinn. “I want you to stop living like Mr. Wickham and start living like Mr. Darcy.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing? Look around you! But you know we’ve already got us a Mr. Darcy, Jemma.” He pointed at Levi.

“I hate this place,” Jemma said. “How can a society exist without true love and commitment and sacrifice and families?”

“There are families here,” someone said.

Levi spun around, pistol in hand, though he knew it wasn’t loaded. A man stood in the second entrance to the nest. He had black buzzed hair, a bushy chin beard, and was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. He looked like he could have been from Glenrock.

“Hey!” Zane jumped out of his chair and limped over to the man. “Meet Ruston, peers. Ruston, this is Omar the Owl, Levi the elder of the Glenrock remnant, and his wife, Jemma the softie.” Zane winked at Jemma, who stuck out her tongue in return.

“Pleased to know you.” Ruston focused his attention on Jemma. “To answer your question, there are families in the Safe Lands, like the ones from your softie stories. They’re called Naturals. Some call them ghosts.”

Levi put the pistol back on the shelf and gave Ruston his full attention.

“Rewl told Shaylinn he was a Natural,” Omar said. “That he didn’t have the thin plague.”

“It’s true,” Zane said. “Rewl is
technically
clean, even if he’s dimmer than a dead Wyndo.”

“A Natural is a person who exists but has no record,” Ruston said. “Someone born in secret. Off-grid. They were raised in the basements. And enforcers call them Naturals because they were conceived the natural way.”

“How would they keep such little children hidden, though?” Jemma asked.

“We have our ways,” Ruston said with a smile.

“You’re a Natural, aren’t you?” Omar asked Zane.

“Sure am.” Zane lifted his gloved hands and wiggled his fingers. “That’s why I always wear gloves. Fingerprints are the only way enforcers can register Naturals, since we aren’t in the grid. And when enforcers register our prints, we become ghosts in their system. Faceless problems.”

“Is Bender a Natural?” Levi asked.

“Yes,” Ruston said. “As are my sons, Nash and Zane.”

Jemma clapped her hands over her heart. “Zane! Why didn’t you tell us?”

“That was Ruston’s call, femme,” Zane said.

“How many of you are there?” Levi asked.

“There are about sixty-two Naturals who live in the basements almost exclusively,” Ruston said. “And we’ve got twenty-six men who work with Bender, though the FFF is their true loyalty.”

“The family thing?” Levi asked, recalling the graffiti he’d seen.

“Freedom for Families,” Ruston said. “It was started by my great-great-grandfather and his friends back in 2029 when the government required all minors to move into the boarding school. It didn’t sit well with some people, so they moved into hiding, eventually into the basements and storm drains. Been there ever since.”

“What about Bender and Rewl?” Levi asked.

“Lots of people leave the basements,” Zane said. “I did. Ran off
when I was fifteen. Thought I knew everything. But I came back. Some don’t, though. Some think the Black Army’s plans are better than the FFF’s. Bender joined the Black Army a long time ago, so when Rewl got old enough, he followed.”

“Mr. Neil,” Levi said, “we’re planning to rescue our children from the boarding school soon, but Zane tells me the storm drains are no longer safe. Do you agree?”

“Some of them are and some of them aren’t,” Ruston said. “Enforcers have been exploring storm drains in the Highlands and have closed all the drains on the perimeter wall, so if you’re hoping to get out the way you came in, it’s not going to work.”

Which was just about the worst news Levi could have gotten. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep the children inside that cabin once we get them out.”

“They’d be welcome in the basements,” Ruston said. “You all would be. But it’s going to be tough to get the kids out of the school.”

“Tough times never last,” Jemma said, taking hold of Levi’s hand, “but tough people do. Faith makes all things possible. And we have plenty of faith.”

“Good,” Ruston said. “You’re going to need it.”

T
he next night Omar helped Zane haul a truckload of food and supplies to the cabin. Omar wore his Wyndo watch, and the SimTag detector made it easy to know that no officials were following them. He didn’t want to go inside, though. He still couldn’t believe Shay had told Jemma he was the Owl after she’d promised not to. He’d convinced himself Shay was different from other girls.

Wrong again.

Omar managed to stay outside the cabin, enjoying the soft breeze and leaving things on the porch for Jordan to take inside, but when his aunt Chipeta asked him to carry a box of clothing inside, he couldn’t really say no.

He lugged the box after his aunt, who led him to Shay and Mary’s room. Shay wasn’t inside.

“Just put it on one of the beds,” Aunt Chipeta said.

Omar dropped the box on Shay’s bed and spotted the painting he’d given her hanging on the wall above the headboard. His heart seemed to bob, like it was trying to soar but had been anchored by Shay’s big fat mouth. He fled the house, made it to the front porch, down the steps …

“Omar.”

So close. He took a deep breath and turned around. Shay walked down the steps and across the gravel, clutching a stack of envelopes in her hands. Maybe he should just let it go, forgive her for telling. Levi had freaked out at first, but he was already accepting the Owl now that he’d seen the nest and knew Zane was helping. That wasn’t the point, though. Shay had promised not to tell. She wasn’t any different than Bel or Red or any other blabbermouth girl.

“What’s wrong?” Shay asked, stopping very close to him.