Sneak (12 page)

probably won’t ever have to deal with that.”

“You mean . . . DOME . . .”

“Yeah,” Jo said. “Between you and me? Logan doesn’t stand a

chance.”

9

Hailey and her mom dusted themselves off and walked out past the outskirts of Spokie, past the abandoned six-lane expressway, past the ghost town of Slog Row and the charred remains of the old

warehouse, deeper and deeper into the woods beyond.

“The house is bugged even worse than before,” Hailey said.

“Surveillance powder everywhere. Bug tape . . .”

“And you’re surprised? After your little outburst at dinner yesterday?” Mrs. Phoenix smiled.

“I know,” Hailey said, and she took her mother’s hand.

“So when are we gonna talk about those clothes?” Mrs.

Phoenix asked.

“We’re not,” Hailey said. She looked down at the dressy coat

she was wearing. It covered a blouse, skirt, and leggings that screamed middle-aged.

“You look about forty.” Mrs. Phoenix laughed, and she coughed

a little when she did.

Hailey shrugged and adjusted the heavy purse on her shoulder.

“I’d hope that’s about right,” she said.

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Her mother sighed. “This is it, isn’t it? The endgame.”

Hailey’s dress shoes clapped against the hard snow. “I need to know if you can take care of yourself after I’m gone.”

The two of them walked for a long time under the branches

and the clouds and the stars.

“I don’t want you to think about any of that,” Mrs. Phoenix

said finally. “I am . . . hardly what’s at stake here.”

“It’s important to me,” Hailey said simply. “I need an honest

answer before I go.”

Mrs. Phoenix stifled another cough. “So you’ve found him,

then?”

“I think so,” Hailey said. “I think Erin finally slipped up. It’s urgent, Mom.”

“So why are you wasting your time on me?”

They came upon a cave in the woods and Hailey stopped

abruptly, just outside of it. “This is where I’m going,” she said. “Can you read it?”

Mrs. Phoenix knelt down. “Yes,” she said. “I can read it.”

“Good. Also . . .” Hailey reached into her purse and pulled out an old wooden board covered with little odds and ends. “I wanted to give you this. It’s a sculpture to remember me by. I finished it today.”

“That was fast!” Mrs. Phoenix said. “It’s beautiful.”

“Might be my last one for a while. So take good care of it,

okay?”

Hailey’s mother nodded, sniffling once.

“Do you know what it is?”

Mrs. Phoenix examined the object, but at last she said, “No.

I’m sorry. I don’t.”

“Okay.” Hailey looked nervously over her shoulder, into the

depth of the woods around them, listening carefully. “Well, when
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the time comes, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” And she decided not to say anything more.

“You’d better go,” Mrs. Phoenix said.

“I can’t walk you back.”

“I know that.”

Hailey nodded.

“But I’m not that fragile, Hailey. I’ll be just fine.”

The clearing around them was wide and grassy and glowing

under the moonlight. A breeze picked up and cooled their skin.

Hailey hugged her mom for a long time.

10

“I don’t
know
what they were looking at,” Erin said into her tablet, several minutes later. “It’s sticks and rocks. There’s nothing
there
.”

She pointed her tablet at the ground.

“Could you hear what they were saying?” Mr. Arbitor asked.

“Barely. This long-range mic you gave me’s a piece of junk.”

“Well, how about you tell me anyway, Erin? Humor me a

little.”

Erin frowned. “She knows. She’s going.”

“Okay,” Mr. Arbitor said. “Then we’d better move fast.”

11

The moon was fuller tonight, lighting the broken sidewalks but casting everything along the underpass into shifting shadows.

Logan had spent the day riding his bike around the ruins. He

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was steadier now, and eager to head east. He’d only come back for the food.

Across the way, Bridget rummaged through the huddle’s

“kitchen” to ration what little she could for Logan’s trek. Logan watched nervously with one hand on his bike, biting his nails and pacing short steps back and forth at the edge of the street’s darkness.

Come
on
, he thought, willing Bridget on.
What’s taking so long?

He was fiddling with his bike’s gearshift when he first heard

the footsteps stomping across the overpass above.

“
DOME!
” a voice yelled down. “DOME coming!”

Within moments, Markless were fleeing in every direction,

tripping over themselves, crying, leading one another around the lightless space.

Bridget weaved her way through the commotion, spinning in

circles and scanning the darkness. “Where is he? Where
is
he?”

she said, stopping the Markless around her as they gathered their things and scattered into the side streets of the Ruins. “Has anyone seen him?” She cupped her hands to her mouth, whispering harshly now. “
Logan! Logan, where are you?
”

Logan gripped the handlebars of his bike, petrified, too scared in the moment even to flee.

Bridget. She’d really done it. She’d gone straight to DOME.

And she was about to turn him in.

“Hey—!” A hand grabbed Logan’s elbow from behind. Logan

swung around wildly to shake it off.

“Whoa, whoa! It’s me, Andrew.” Andrew held his hands up.

“We need to get you out of here.”

Logan hesitated. Then he nodded.

“So get down,” Andrew said, pushing Logan as he ducked

behind the bike. “Stay low. She’s looking for you.”

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“I can’t see DOME,” Logan said desperately. “Where are they?

Andrew—where are they?”

“Come on,” Andrew said. “I know these streets. I can get you

out of here.”

“But Bridget—”

“Forget Bridget! They’re
here
. And who do you think brought them, huh? ’Cause I’ll give you one guess.”

He grabbed Logan by the wrist and ran with him away from

the underpass and into the streets of rubble, Logan pulling his bike behind them.

“Is it a raid?” Logan asked.

“It’s definitely DOME,” Andrew said. “But I’ve been through

street cleanings—and this ain’t no raid. They’re looking for someone.” He glanced at Logan now, and it didn’t make Logan feel any better, how nervous Andrew looked.

The two of them ran until the underpass was far behind them.

“I’m sorry about this,” Andrew said.

“Are you kidding? You’re saving my life.”

They stood catching their breath in the open space of an old

intersection. Four stoplights lay across the ground on dead wires, giving no signal. All around them the moon shone off shards of broken windows, a dozen sharp reflections lighting the road.

“Do you hear footsteps?” Logan asked.

“No . . . ,” Andrew said. “We’re safe.”

“I think I can make it from here. I’ve got my bike . . .”

But at the intersection one block away, two men stepped out

from behind an old brownstone.

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DOME.

“Couldn’t risk bringing them right to the underpass,” Andrew

said. “Too dangerous.”

Logan looked at him, not understanding.

“Don’t stare at me like that. You’d have done the same to me.”

“Wait,” Logan said. “
You
?
You
ratted me out?”

Andrew glared at him. “Do you have any idea what you’ve

done to us, Logan? Things weren’t great before you went and made DOME so angry, but they weren’t awful either.” He shook his head.

“They don’t care anymore who they hurt or how many families they tear apart—they’re going to find you.” Andrew looked down now, at his feet. “And it might as well be in exchange for my immunity.”

“You and Bridget . . . you were working with her all along . . .”

Andrew laughed. “Bridget had nothing to do with this. She

liked you. End of story.”

“I
trusted
you!” Logan said. “You set me up!”

And Andrew couldn’t even respond before Logan was on his

bicycle and gone.

Logan pedaled fast, squinting and struggling to keep his bike balanced on the busted streets in the dead of night. Somewhere in the distance behind him, Andrew was yelling. And Logan knew

DOME couldn’t be much farther behind.

It was lucky that the chase didn’t last long. Another few blocks and Logan would surely have crashed. But instead, a woman leaped out in front of him, and Logan slammed on the brakes, skidding gracelessly into an old trash bin.

DOME was far enough behind that they couldn’t be seen, so

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Logan picked himself up and waited anxiously for the woman to

speak.

But she didn’t speak. Instead, she came forward and lowered

her scarf.

And she didn’t have to say a word for Logan to be the happiest fugitive in the world.

It was Hailey Phoenix. She’d come for him.

12

There wasn’t much time. Hailey tossed Logan’s bike into the shadows and dragged Logan down the city block. She shoved a peacoat, scarf, and fedora into his arms. “Put these on,” she said. “Stand up straight. And hope they don’t get too close.”

“Hailey, where’d you get these?”

“Never mind that,” Hailey hissed.

“Marks up where we can see them!” DOME shouted.

Logan stared helplessly at the men at the end of the block.

“Hailey—
what
now
?”

“Just act natural,” Hailey whispered.

“
Marks
where
we
can
see
them!
” DOME repeated, standing now in the light at the end of the block. “
Right
now!
”

Hailey raised both arms up high, holding the sleeves of her

jacket as casually as possible so as not to reveal her wrist. Logan was hyperventilating now, but he managed to do the same.

The DOME officers walked toward them with their guns

drawn, the green laser sights dancing on Logan’s and Hailey’s jackets. But they stayed on the opposite side of the street.

“We’re very lost,” Hailey said, dropping her voice and not

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missing a beat. “We were taking the late train into New Chicago.

I’m afraid we got off a stop too soon.”

“Train doesn’t stop in the Ruined Sector, ma’am.”

“Is
that
where we are? Oh my!”—she hit Logan lightly—“I
told
you we were walking the wrong way! I’ve been saying that for hours!”

To this, the officers turned in toward one another, whispering for several moments. One of them made a call with a communication device he had wrapped around his ear. Logan watched through tunnel vision as the officer listened to some silent command on the other end. He nodded to his partner. Then the two of them turned back to Logan and Hailey, and Logan braced himself for the fight that was sure to break out. But instead, the first man frowned.

“Nearest bus stop’s about a mile that way.” He pointed. “But we have reports of a fugitive teenager in the area. Unmarked. I can call for backup if you need an escort.”

Logan couldn’t believe his ears.

“Oh, no, officer, that won’t be necessary,” Hailey said quickly.

“I feel plenty safe just knowing you boys are in the area.”

The men lowered their weapons, the second officer dismissing

them with a wave of his hand. “Next time pay attention to the stop announcements, will ya? And get home safe.”

“Thank you, officer. We most certainly will.”

Hailey turned in the direction of the bus stop, and the offi-

cers retreated to scour the streets closer to the underpass. Logan resisted the urge to rub his wrist as he watched them go. He was glad he hadn’t been asked to speak.

It was all he could manage not to throw up.

At the first available moment, Hailey turned around to get

Logan’s bike from the alley.

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“Nice job finding this thing. Can you ride it? ’Cause you’re

gonna have to.”

“Why?” Logan asked. “Where are we going? And how in the

world did that plan of yours work?”

Hailey shrugged. “I have no idea. And I can’t tell you where

we’re going. I can’t tell you anything. There’s still a good chance we’re gonna get caught tonight.”

“And, what? You think I’d squeal?”

Hailey didn’t answer. Instead, she walked Logan’s bike to an

intersection a block away, where she reached into the shadows and pulled out the rollerstick she’d ridden in on.

“Where’d you get a stick?” Logan asked.

“Same place I got the clothes.”

Then she slapped the bike’s old seat. “Hop on,” she said. “And try to keep up.”

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