Savage Run (21 page)

“
I need to measure the
inseam. Do you dress to the left or the right?” the tailor
asks.

“
What…?” I look at
Nicholas.

“
Right or left,” Nicholas
says.

“
Uh…”

“
I’m sorry, let me
rephrase. On which side do you hang?” the tailor asks.

“
Hang?” I’m thoroughly
confused.

“
Just pick one,” Nicholas
says through his teeth.

The tailor looks at Nicholas with
questioning eyes, with dozens of pins sticking out of his mouth.
“You can’t just pick one…either you hang to the…”

“
Uh…right.” I blurt out, my
cheeks flushed now that I understand what they’re talking
about.

The tailor’s eyebrows rise again.
“Hmm...that’s rare.”

Great. I had to pick the rare side.

He measures me from the crotch to the floor
and then finishes up with my neck and arm measurements. “You’re a
girl,” he says, studying me carefully. He glances at Nicholas with
his old, tired eyes.

“
For your confidentiality,”
Nicholas says, pressing money into the tailor’s hand when he
leaves.

“
Are you sure he’ll keep it
a secret?” I have to ask since Mai doesn’t question him on
it.

“
I would trust this man
with my life,” Nicholas replies.

I hope his trust isn’t misdirected.

Chapter 16

After being measured, I can no longer keep
my eyes open and go to my room to get some sleep. The sun has risen
higher up in the sky so it’s light outside. I pull the
navy-colored, velour curtains in my room to block out all
brightness. Dreaming, I relive the horror of the e-conda lake and
of the screams of the boys who were blown up by the landmines. When
I wake up with a jolt, it’s pitch black and the clock reads 10:03
p.m. I slept all day? I try to fall back asleep, but images from
the obstacle courses keep attacking my mind. I decide that I should
check up on Arthor.

When I go to sit up, there isn’t a single
muscle in my body that doesn’t feel like it’s being ripped apart.
I’m so sore. I set my feet on the floor and will myself up to a
standing position. Barely able to carry my weight, my legs scream
at me. The smallest movement causes severe pain, and even a simple
effort like moving my head from side to side is extremely
difficult.

I still have the key card Mai gave me, so I
slowly drag my feet to my door to go to Mai’s room. But when I open
it, there stands a Unifer. In fact, the entire hallway is lined
with Unifers, except for a few doors at the very end. They must be
empty.

“
I’m not authorized to let
you leave,” he says.

“
I’m allowed to go into
that room over there. I have the key card.” I lift it up to show
him.

He glances over at the Unifer in front of
Mai’s door.

“
Here, I’ll show you. Do
you think they would have given me a key if I wasn’t allowed in
there?” I ask.

“
Go ahead, but I can’t let
you go anywhere else.”

“
That’s okay.” I slip out
of my room and enter Mai’s room.

However when I get there, I find the place
completely dark and empty. The thought that he died hovers in the
back of my mind, and a lump forms in my throat. Not willing to
concede to the thought, I search the room thoroughly, but to my
great distress, I can’t find him there. And Nicholas and Mai are
gone, too. Couldn’t they have left a note or something? My first
instinct is to go looking for them, though I hardly think I’m
allowed to—having the Unifer guarding my door and all. If I were on
Volkov Village, I’d be locked in my room with nowhere to go. But
here they didn’t really tell me I couldn’t go anywhere. I could
feign ignorance. The only problem is getting past the Unifer.

A slight breeze catches my attention and I
see the sheer curtains moving a little. A window. I walk over to it
and peek outside. It’s rather far so climbing down won’t be an
option. Plus I’m so sore. Then I see another curtain waving in the
wind all the way down at the end where there weren’t any Unifers in
front of the doors. There’s a wide ledge right below, so I could
technically…but I should change into regular clothes first so no
one recognizes me. I slip into one of Mai’s jeans and a plain black
top. They’re a little big, but it’s not like they’re going to fall
off me.

I go back to the window and slide it open
all the way. Then I quietly remove the screen, and climb out. I
press up against the wall and inch my way sideways toward the end
of the building. The wind is strong and gusts against my body,
rocking it gently from side to side. Though my breathing has become
staggered, this is nothing compared to what I’ve been through. I
make it to the end in no time and climb in the window. The room is
empty, and the bed has no sheets on it. Opening the door, I peek
down the hallway. The unifiers stand at attention, but they don’t
turn their heads to the creaking door. I step out of the room like
I stay there and head straight for the elevator. Once the doors
close, I’m able to breathe a little easier. I take the elevator
downstairs to the foyer and approach the middle-aged woman behind
the counter.

“
They took the sick boy to
the hospital,” the woman answers. “They said they’d be back in a
couple of hours and that was about an hour and a half
ago.”

Relieved Arthor is receiving medical
treatment, but curious as to where the funds might be coming from,
I thank her. Having now regained some of my energy from the mounds
of pasta I ate, the gallons of water I drank, and the long nap I
took—and with thirty minutes to kill before they return—I go back
into the elevator and take it to the two hundred and fourteenth
floor—the rooftop. When I exit, I walk into a garden of flowers,
plants, and benches. Rarely have I ever seen this many flowers in
one place, and the beauty takes my breath away. I walk over to the
side of the building but stop before I reach the railing; the two
hundred foot jump is still too fresh in my bones, and I can’t get
myself to look down. Instead, I sit down on the bench and gaze up
at the heaven above, the sky barely dark enough for a couple of
stars to appear.

“
What are you doing up,
Imp?”

I turn around to see Johnny standing before
me. What is he doing here? “I was just leaving.” I stand up and
start to walk back toward the elevator, acutely aware that Johnny
could very well pick me up over his head and hurl me over the edge,
which is probably what he’s thinking about doing.

Johnny moves in my way. “No one’s here to
defend you now, are they?”

I think about bringing up the fact that he’s
supposed to be in his room, but it would only highlight the fact
that I’m not in my room either, so instead, I say, “I’m really
surprised you made it.”

He chuckles for a moment.
“Yeah, ditto. How did
you
ever manage?” He gets a sly smile on his
face.

The hair on the back of my neck rises when
Johnny takes a step closer to me. I attempt to swerve around him,
but he grabs my arm and shoves me backwards toward the railing so
I’m pressed up against it. He’s going to kill me.

“
You know, there’s
something not quite right about you, but I just can’t put my finger
on it.” He squeezes my sore arms so hard it constricts the blood
flow.

“
Let go of me!” I yell, but
he squeezes my arm even harder.

“
Say, what kind of a
Laborer are you back home? Maybe then I could remember where I’d
seen you before.”

“
None of your
business.”

“
Is there a problem
here?”

Johnny and I turn around to see Nicholas
standing there.

“
No, Joseph was just
explaining to me how the first phase was,” Johnny spews, releasing
my arm.

“
Yeah, because your memory
is so bad that you don’t remember,” I retort.

“
I think you should leave
now, Johnny,” Nicholas says. “Before I report you out of your
room.”

“
Well, Joseph’s…” Johnny
starts.

“
Now!”

“
We’ll have to catch up
later.” Johnny points his finger in my face before he walks
off.

I’m relieved that Nicholas showed up at a
very convenient time, but I cringe thinking about the lecture he’s
going to give me. Technically he could send me home, but I figure
that he won’t since he didn’t send Johnny packing. Which brings up
the question: why didn’t he?

“
You really shouldn’t…”
Nicholas starts to say, but he stops himself. “Are you
okay?”

“
I couldn’t sleep.” I look
across the view on the thousands of lights below, now brave enough
to slump against the fence next to the drop off. “I needed some
fresh air. To clear my mind from…you know?”

He doesn’t say a word—just looks at me.

“
How’s Arthor?” I
ask.

“
We took him to the
hospital. He’s in reconstructive surgery right now and will be
ready to go when the second phase of Savage Run begins.”

“
I’m glad to hear.” My body
feels lighter. “Wish
I
could take a day off. That slacker.” I laugh nervously, my
heart still pounding hard from being approached by Johnny. Or maybe
it’s because Nicholas is so near. “His family could never pay for
something like that.”

“
An anonymous donor paid
for it.”

“
Of course.” I don’t quite
know what to say, but the silence isn’t awkward as it is with so
many people. It’s more like the silence between us validates that
no words are needed to relate.

“
Dare I ask you to walk me
back to my room?” I smirk.

“
How did you get out?” he
asks.

“
I climbed out the window.
Are you going to send me home?” I ask—just in case.

“
No.”

“
Why didn’t you send Johnny
home?”

“
It’s
complicated.”

“
Another one of those
things that you’re unwilling to share?” I tease.

He smiles. “Fine, I’ll tell you. He’s the
illegitimate son of President Volkov.”

My eyes pop open. “What? Are you
joking?”

“
I wish I were.” He huffs
and leans on the railing, his eyes gazing out into the distance.
“Johnny doesn’t know.”

“
Didn’t Johnny’s mother say
anything to him?”

“
The mother is dead. He was
raised by his grandmother,” he says.

This is why he wants to provide her with a
better life. “So, he’s your half brother.”

“
Yes.”

“
Wow…that’s…unexpected.
When did you find out?”

“
My father just told me
today.”

I see the pieces coming together. “That’s
why your father let you become a registrar.”

He gazes at me for a moment. “You pick up
fast. My father wanted me to personally invite Johnny to join the
Savage Run, to test him. I suppose to see what Johnny was made of.
My father always has some agenda—his agenda. I thought that this
one time…but it’s never-ending.”

“
But when you become
president…”

“
Now that’s even
questionable. If he doesn’t like the way I plan to run the
country…”

“
Oh…you’re so done
for.”

He barks a laugh. “Thanks,” he says
sarcastically.

“
Sorry.”

“
Don’t apologize. You’re
exactly right.”

“
Well, as I see it, the
only way to win is to play the game and beat everyone at it. And I
mean, who’s to say you can’t make your own rules?”

“
Spoken like a true
outlaw.”

I smirk, a little guiltily. “I suppose.
Thank goodness you went along with it. Anyone else would have
refused to register me or left me to Master Douglas.” Shivers go up
my spine.

“
Partners in
crime.”

I laugh at first, but then think about it.
“That’s kind of sad.”

“
Or exciting.” He stares at
me for a moment. “Well, speaking as your registrar, you need to get
some rest.”

“
Are you ever going to let
me have any fun?” I ask.

“
Not until the sun stops
shining.”

“
Well, technically it goes
down every night…” I say.

“
Not in this
country.”

Chapter 17

Before bed, Nicholas gives me a pill—says it
will take away the bad dreams and help me recover from the soreness
more quickly. I take it willingly and like he said, I sleep like a
baby and wake up much less sore.

All morning, Mai works on making me look
presentable. She manages to remove all my sores and burns with a
nifty little device called the Heal-R, so in that respect, I look
okay, but the tuxedo does nothing to make me look more muscular.
Sissy boy—was that the word Sergio used? Of course it’s hopeless,
Mai keeps repeating. Somehow, men with at least some substance to
fill out the black and white suit look way better than a twiggy
girl like me. Go figure.

Around noon, when Mai has just given up on
me, a couple of paramedics bring Arthor to Mai’s room. The color in
his cheeks and lips has returned and though they’re rolling him in
on a wheelchair, he asserts with rather colorful language that he
can walk just fine. The second I see him I throw my arms around
him.