Rise Against the Faultless (18 page)

Luckily, Shane saw the look in
my eye and grabbed me up before I could run after him. It would have been suicide
to go after him where he was. “Stop, Raily, think!” Shane said in a hushed
voice.  A flood of relief hit me that he wasn’t in one of the piles that
Cyril’s sister had been dumped in. I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing
him, standing, breathing, talking. He was alive! I wiped the tears of shock and
joy away from my eyes.

“Look, Shane, that is Dale.
Look at him, so you’ll know what he looks like. I’m going after him,” I said
determinedly.

“No! Raily, wait,” he grabbed
me up again with both arms, “You can’t do that right now. You’ll ruin all the
progress you’ve made so far, probably only to get not only us, but Dale killed
as well. You have to play this smart.” He grabbed my face and looked me in the
eyes, “Breath, you know what I’m saying is right.” I knew it was, but I
couldn’t bear the thought of being so close and leaving him again. “We’re
running out of time, we can’t wait much longer, we have to get back, but we
will come back for him tomorrow night, but he’ll be coming back with us tomorrow.
Ok?” I nodded in consent.

I looked back out of the
window. It looked like Dale and the officer were having an intense
conversation. I stood ready to go out and take them all out if they made a move
to hurt him, but they didn’t. They simply nodded and parted. The officer
started walking back to another apartment building and Dale to the apartment
that we’d searched the first time. The two guards walked directly behind him.
He was not in restraints, but they did not leave his side. I watched him until
he disappeared into the doors. I knew now where he was staying. I considered
telling the others to just go back without me. I could go retrieve Dale by
myself and then… and then I didn’t know what?  No, I needed something more
solid for him.

Lo and Jubal caught up to us,
and after informing her of where Dale was, she was almost on board to stay
there with me and become an outlaw, but she also understood the need to have a
better thought out plan than grab Dale and run. We all got back out to our
bikes without incident. As hard as it was to ride back to the Training
Compound, getting further and further from my brother, it was the first time I
had real hope.

When we stopped just outside of
the Compound to shed our suits, Lo and Jubal came up to me, “We’re so glad
you’ve found Dale, but, we’re not sure if we should go back tomorrow night,”
Jubal said to me cautiously.

“What do you mean? We have to
go back tomorrow night. Look, I know we’re not certain what will happen, but
this may be our only chance to get him back before they leave.”

“You don’t understand. When Lo
and I were in that second apartment building, we heard some of the kids
talking. Something is going down tomorrow night. They didn’t give specifics,
but it’s something big. They sounded scared.”

“It’s probably just another
initiation, which means all the more reason that we have to get there. What if
Dale is one of the initiates? We have to get out there, tomorrow night. I know
this is risky and you have no idea the appreciation I have for you all for taking
those risks, but I have no choice. You don’t have to go, but I will be there.”

Lo walked up to me, “Then I’ll
be there, too.”

“So will I,” Shane said.

“If Lo’s there, I’m there,”
Jubal said.

“Thank you. And by tomorrow
night, I’ll have this all worked out. I’ll do my best to keep you out of the
fall out.”

When I got back to my room,
Adrian was waiting, pacing by my door. I said nothing, I only let him in. We
both fell asleep soundly and quickly.

The next morning Ann informed
us that we’d be going back to train with Frank that day. The timing was perfect
because I wasn’t sure if I could have handled a day full of physical exertion.
When we arrived at Frank’s office, he was not his usual, jovial self. He didn’t
even attempt to hit on Cyril. He seemed so distracted.

“I’m afraid today will be a
boring history lesson,” Frank said, leading us to his archives. “In the middle
of warfare, great leaders throughout history would often use symbols rather
than words or action to inspire allegiance. It was also a good way to
communicate while in the presence of those that they couldn’t trust, and those
people are abundant, Raily, even when we want to believe otherwise. Although, I
do prefer a good speech, it could be quite effective.” I wasn’t surprised that
Frank would prefer words, “I have some more study material for you, dear. Read
up. And you look famished, you should really grab a bite to eat.” Frank handed
me another book of equal heft as the the first. He grabbed my wrist and looked
me in the eye. He then put my hand on his arm, right where he’d revealed his
“Semper Fi” tattoo. I’d never seen him look so serious. The book had a warning
in it. Frank was trying to warn me about something. No, not something, someone.
There was someone I couldn’t trust close to me. I grew immediately suspicious
of Shane. Frank dismissed us not long after and I wasted no time in heading
back to my room. I flipped open the book, looking for signs of who it was that
Frank wanted to warn me about. However, it was just another book of maps.

There were different symbols on
this map, though. There were areas marked on the map with a symbol of a
scorpion. Frank must’ve heard about my weapon of choice. These were different
areas than the camps he’d outlined before. These must be places that are safe
for us, somewhere I could bring Dale when I finally did retrieve him. There
were three areas marked with scorpions within a hundred miles of the compound.
I could bring Dale to any one of these, but that meant only one thing, that I
wouldn’t make it back in time, which meant, I’d never make it back. The life
I’d known before tonight wouldn’t exist anymore if all went according to plan I
would find Dale, bring him back to a safe house with me and start our lives in
a different way. We’d be on the run but we’d be alive and no longer under this
tyranny.

If only I’d known at that
moment that we would never make it to that safe house.

I left the book in my room and
left to go eat an early lunch. Frank was right about me being famished, and I
was running on fumes at this point and needed something to keep me going, even
if it was the gruel from the dining hall. I made a quick mental note to get to
the lounge tonight and have as much bread as I could scarf down. As soon as I
walked into the dining hall, I spotted the person I’d been hoping not to see
since arriving at the Training Compound, my brother Ari.

We both just looked at each
other for a moment before deciding to speak, “Ari, hi”

“Hey, Rai. I can’t believe this
is the first time we’ve seen each other here. I don’t normally see you in
here.”

“Yeah, I usually eat later than
this, but I was released a little earlier than normal from training.”

An awkward moment of silence
passed between us before he asked if I wanted to eat with him. I felt ashamed
of myself that I took it into consideration before replying, “Of course I do.
Let me just grab my food.”

When I sat across from him at
the table he started, “So, you still sleepwalking?”

I looked at him confused for a
moment and then remembered that that had been my parents explanation of why I’d
gone after Dale that night, “Oh, no… not lately. Just the once, I guess.”

“You really had me freaked out.
We’re both lucky we weren’t arrested.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I needed to
change the topic of conversation. I did not want to talk about this. I had, of
course, considered bringing Ari in on several occasions, but I couldn’t bear
the thought of Mom and Dad having one more child wrapped up in this mess when
it was very possible that I could die on my missions and then Dale could be
lost forever. No, I couldn’t also risk Ari’s life. “So, how’s it been for you
here?”

“Fine. I mean, I don’t recall
you ever sleep walking before that night. Do you… remember what you were
dreaming?”

He really wasn’t going to let
this go, “Uh, no, just woke up outside, being zapped.”

He laughed at that, “Oh good,
because your dream sounded terrible, I mean you kept screaming, ‘Help!’ Good
thing you don’t remember that.” He actually did look relieved, and then he took
his left pointer finger and smoothed his right eyebrow.  This was Ari’s tell.
He was being dishonest. Then, something in my mind clicked. Thanks to the
night’s horrifying events I remembered every last detail. It would be seared
into my mind forever, and I did not, ever at any point yell out ‘Help’, but
Dale did. That only meant one thing. Ari had been awake when Dale was taken.
He’d heard Dale screaming. Ari’s bedroom was on the ground floor of the house.
He should have beaten me to Dale, maybe even prevented him from ever leaving
the house, but he didn’t show up until after I’d been shocked outside.

Frank’s speech about not being
able to trust someone made sense now. It was the same reason he had prompted me
to eat an early lunch, he knew I’d run into Ari here. It wasn’t Shane that I
couldn’t trust. It was Ari.

Ari had been the one to let
Defector’s into the house to grab Dale, that’s why there was no alarm, that’s
how they got in. I couldn’t let him know I knew. He was fishing for information
from me, and that’s why he wouldn’t let the subject drop.  He wasn’t relieved
that I didn’t remember a horrible nightmare, he looked relieved because he
believed I didn’t know about Dale’s abduction. I felt sick to my stomach. How
could Ari betray Dale this way? And why? I knew he admired Ann, but to send his
own brother away into the hands of a killer?

I just nodded at him and tried
my best to control my facial movements. He didn’t realize that the truth had
dawned on me. While my exterior was calm my insides were on fire. I was burning
up with rage, more so with Ari than I ever had with Ann. Ann was already an
enemy, but Ari was my brother. Well, if he was digging for information, I’d put
the final nail in that coffin, “Yeah, you know, I’m fine. It was just one of
those weird things. Thanks for pulling me back. I was so wiped that the next
morning I slept late and I was almost late getting ready. I didn’t even get to
say bye to Dale.”

“Yeah, yeah, me neither. I just
got out of there in a rush. Well, listen, I need to go, it was good seeing you
though, Rai.”

“You, too, Ari. See you soon.”

 I forced myself to take a deep
breath, stand up, turn around, and walk away. It was one of the hardest things
I’ve ever done. Boy, Frank sure was making an understatement. I can’t let this
rattle me now. I’ll treat him just like I would any other traitor, Ari was dead
to me.

I spent the second half of the
day taking out my anger during training. We were sparring and I nearly broke my
leg again until Shane stopped me. He pulled me into a hall and grabbed both of
my arms. “You have to settle down, Raily.” I gave him a look to make him take a
step back.

“I’m fine!” I said too loudly.
He looked hurt and a little angry, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I know. We’re so
close to...” I started crying. He stood back for a second then wrapped both
arms around me. He wiped the tears from my face.

“You have to be strong for
them, ok? They have to see you being strong. Your confidence keeps them going.”

I took a few deep breaths
because I knew he was right. Nothing had rattled me more than Ari’s betrayal,
but I could overcome it. I had the determination in me to get through anything.

“Thanks,” I said to him and
started back to finish the day in the sparring room, but he grabbed my arm,
spun me around and pulled me to him and kissed me.

He wiped the tears off of my
face, “I know you’re with Adrian, but I don’t care. One day, you’ll be with me.
I’ll stand and fight with you and
for
you, any day.”

After dinner that night, I went
to my room, showered and changed and went straight to the lounge. I ate so much
of the bread and dip that my stomach hurt. I even grabbed a drink to try to
help settle my nerves. As I was finishing the last bite, Glyn walked in the
lounge, “Oh thank goodness! Put that down and come with me.” She grabbed the
drink out of my hand and I shoved the last bit of bread into my mouth.

She practically dragged me from
the lounge out to the wind turbines. “Ok, so I’ve told you I was studying
before, right?” she started.

“Yes.”

“Well, I have a friend, who's
been helping me. When Cyril came to me two nights ago and told me what was
happening, it really freaked me out, but I am willing to help.”

“Thank you, Glyn.”

“I’m not done. That night I was
so rattled by what she told me that I went to the lounge. I’d never tried
alcohol, never even wanted to, but I needed something to help me calm down.
About thirty minutes after I got done with my second drink something strange
happened. It’s like my actions weren’t my own. I was still me and I remember
everything, but I knew that I would have done anything that was asked of me. If
a commanding officer had asked me to put a bullet in my brain, I would have
done it, happily! And I know it wasn’t just the alcohol. That got me thinking,
Cyril told me that these children that are taken aren’t being restrained or
held captive. They’re there willingly. That is how they’re being controlled,
they must be receiving a concentrated dose of whatever they’ve laced in our
drinks.”

“No, that doesn’t make any
sense, I’ve never had that feeling and I’ve drank here dozens of times.”

“That’s just it, Raily. Not
everyone is susceptible to it. They aren’t just randomly taking children,
they’re only taking the ones they know that they can control. They would’ve
taken me if I hadn’t been sick. You were probably affected, but maybe just in a
mild form, like weird thoughts or strange dreams. And here, they can mask the
effects with alcoholic drinks.”

I thought of the dreams that I
had had after nights of drinking or eating the bread and dips where I’d wanted
to give up or the night I’d dreamed I was one of the ants from the painting.
Those weren’t dreams that were like me at all. If Glyn was right, that meant
that the Defectors had an entire unknowing army willing to die for their
cause. 

“But you’re not experiencing it
now are you?”

“No, its effects wore off a few
hours later. The people at the camps must have it in their food or water
supply.” This changed everything. These children weren’t just being manipulated
or threatened, they were being carefully controlled, “My friend, he’s in
Science, he could help us.”

“Ok, you can bring him in
tonight.”

After Glyn and I parted ways I
went back to the room to sleep before tonight. Just as Glyn had said, my dream
was odd. There was a ring again, just like out in the woods, but it was instead
at the Training Compound. It was not Cyril’s sister and Lars fighting, it was
Ari and me. The crowd was cheering me on as I beat him to a bloody pulp. When I
woke, I was angrier than ever with him, mainly because that was exactly what I
wanted to do. I couldn’t think of any justifiable reason for Ari to have done
what he did, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forgive him for it.

I waited until a few seconds
after midnight before leaving. I was the first to arrive tonight. Lo and Jubal
showed up together. When we stopped to change Lo took me aside where the others
couldn’t hear, “I have a bad feeling about tonight, Rai.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Nothing more than what I’ve
told you, but something about the way those kids were talking last night, I
just don’t know.”

“Look, I know what we’re doing
is dangerous, but we can’t stop now. We’re so close to getting Dale back.
Besides, if they are having another fight tonight, it could be the perfect
distraction to getting Dale back.”

She just nodded, “Let’s just be
careful tonight, ok?”

“Sure.”

We rode out to the outskirts of
the camp where we could enter in the same place as the night before. We made it
in just fine and were approaching the apartments when Jubal flagged for us to
stop. There were no loud shouts of teenagers roughhousing or playing together.
Every light in the apartment building was turned off. We didn’t see anyone
outside talking together as we had the night before.

“They’ve probably just gathered
somewhere to watch the fight,” I reassured them. “Let’s find where they went.”

We spotted a couple of guards
talking and decided to go down on a different street. We rounded a corner and
then we spotted them. It had to be nearly a thousand people. They were all
facing a huge outdoor stage. It looked like something that would be used for
public fairs or concerts that I had read about in school. They were all
listening to a man on the stage, the sound was being broadcast over speakers in
the streets. We still couldn’t make out what he was saying, but everyone was
listening intently. We made our way closer so that we could blend into the
crowd. Looking for Dale would prove to be more than difficult. It would be like
finding a needle in a haystack. I suddenly had remorse over not grabbing him
last night, when I knew exactly where he was, but I wasn’t going to turn around
now.

We split up so our group
wouldn’t be so obvious but we kept an eye on each other. Tonight it would be
easier to blend in because the crowd was not just teenagers, there were adults
there as well. Where were these people coming from? I scanned every face in the
crowd, but there was no sign of Dale anywhere. I couldn’t see the speaker and
his voice was slightly distorted on the sound system, but it did have a
familiar tone to it. As we got closer I started to be able to make out the
words of the speaker, “and tonight, we take back what is ours!” The crowd
erupted in loud cheers of consent. “This is the first step to regaining control
of this country. And when we take over that Training Compound, the others will
follow until we have victory!”

I looked over at Lo through the
crowd. She was looking at me with panic in her eyes. She was right, this was no
ring match. Tonight, the Defectors made their first move in a civil war, and we
were right in the middle of it.

“They have their tricks, their
leaders
,”
at that word, I knew who the speaker was, without even being able to see him.
It was Oren, “and we have ours!” I peered through the crowd to see Oren wave
his arm over to the right side of the stage. He was pointing at someone, but I
couldn’t see who it was. I looked to Shane to get his reaction, but he was just
staring at the stage. Apparently his height gave him the advantage of being
able to see whoever Oren was pointing at, and by Shane’s look, I could tell it
was someone he recognized.

I got very nervous at that
moment. What if it was Ann up on that stage? Then Shane would know and this
whole thing could unravel right now. Would he go on stage and join her? Would
he drag us up with him for a public execution? “Shane, I should have…”

“Raily, look, I can’t believe
it.” He pointed to the stage, and then the crowd parted ways just enough for me
to see who it was sharing the stage with Oren. There, with the same two guards
as last night flanking him, stood Dale with both arms raised in fists to an
insane crowd.