The Wounded (The Woodlands Series) (20 page)

Sadness w
as our dominant feeling. It surrounded the entire dim space. Each of us suffered from sudden and unexpected loss, which had driven an uncomfortable and permanent wedge into our hearts. The Survivors had been taught to accept death, but the violent murder of three hundred of its citizens was too many charms to kiss, too many broken hearts. It was drowning them. At night, it reminded me of my first night at the Classes, only over and over. People sobbed into their rolled-up jackets. Nightmares pushed unnatural screams out of strangled lungs. Emptiness weighted the air.

I squatted down at the entrance to our allocated quarters, letting the thick blanket curtain
, secured by clothes pegs to a metal line, hide part of my face. From here, everything looked half-enchanted/half-soggy with moss. The people of Monkey City had literally carved a life out of solid rock. Chipped-out, small living caves beneath the train tunnels. We were at the top of a tiered area, which fell away like giants’ steps to the water canal running through the middle. The space was unnervingly circular, which gave me the creeps. Hollows carved into the rock glowed golden with candles and solar lanterns. It was a like a huge, black beehive, gone damp and moldy with age.

These people were not unlike the Survivors, less brave perhaps. Kind of guarded and
dirty, but they had the same feel about them. They moved with purpose, they had their jobs, but unlike the Survivors, their sole purpose was to live and go unnoticed. Except for the monkeys. They were super-intelligent but aimless. This led to extreme naughtiness. They were territorial, they stole, and they screamed as you walked passed them. The only place they weren’t allowed to roam freely was the infirmary.

I turned
inwards, letting the curtain close, and gazed at my two boys sleeping. The coolness of the underground lair caused Joseph to pull his blankets up under his chin. Orry was wrapped tight as a mummy in the carrier. He was getting too big for it, and I’d already removed the top half. Soon his feet would be hanging over the edge.

I left them.

Tiptoeing along the curved path, I glanced down. Rash was down there somewhere, bunking with my father. Pietre and Careen were there too. They were always easy to find. You just had to follow the screaming, the tinned goods hitting the rock with a dull clang and rolling down, down to the canal. Careen couldn’t get away from him now. I shook my head, feeling my hair move in one big clump. I refused to wash in the black water and had become pretty filthy.

I walked towards the cool light pouring from the infirmary entrance, feeling the sadness dragging me down.

*****

She
was clinging to life like a drowning spider. And she looked like one too, her frame so thin and angular I was sure I could just grab one of her arms, pull, and it would snap off in segments. But Alexei wouldn’t let her go. Hessa wouldn’t either.

The infirmary wa
s the only place I could escape those damn monkeys, but I didn’t like being in there. I didn’t know what to say, how to act. Apella was not one for jokes. Alexei was kind of losing it. Matthew was trying, but there was nothing he could do. He kept saying it too, like he thought I was going to ask him to tell me something different. I wouldn’t. There was nothing.

It
was such a contrast to the rest of the place. The floors and walls were covered in bright orange plastic, colorful, patterned shower curtains were strung up between the beds that had been scavenged from the city’s dilapidated hospital. There were the shiver-worthy beeps and blips I’d never get used to. Each machine was hooked up to solar batteries, rusted around the edges from use. This was their hospital: rust, leftovers, and shower curtains.

I dragged my feet towards the bumblebee curtain. They were z-z-zing aro
und a daisy with a face, which was weird, but weirder still was the big smile. I wouldn’t be smiling in here.

I took a deep breath and
, on cue, Apella started coughing, a deep, rattling cough that ended in a gag.

I stall
ed. I wasn’t scared of sick people, but I always worried my presence just made it worse. I wasn’t cheery or medical, so I couldn’t help in that way. All I could do was stick my pointed nose in and talk nonsense.

I was about to turn around when I saw bare,
caramel-colored little feet poking out from beneath the curtain. They inched forward, and a small, perfect face pushed into the curtain shrouded by plastic bumblebees. I gasped.

Hessa laughed and stumbled forward until all of him was revealed. He was walking. I felt a swell of pride. He shuffled towards
me, arms out in front like a zombie from one of the horror movies Joseph had shown me on the reader, and made a lunge for my legs, wrapping both his arms around me. I brought him up to my face and gave him a squeeze.
Deshi, I wish you had seen that
, I thought as I nuzzled my face into Hessa’s huge mass of curls, letting a tear get soaked up in his hair. “You clever boy,” I whispered. “Your father will be so proud of you.”
Your mother would be too.

They’
d heard me, so I swept back the curtain like I hadn’t been about to run. Apella smiled weakly and went to pull the oxygen mask off her face with her white-as-a-sheet arm. I put my hand up to stop her, but she did it anyway.

“When did this start?” I asked
as I placed Hessa on the ground and watched him totter towards Alexei, his hand reaching out for the bed frame.

She coughed again
. “Yesterday,” she croaked. She was so sick but when she talked about Hessa, a little shine sparked in her eyes. “He’s so…” She started coughing really hard this time, barely able to take a breath between. She gagged like her stomach was about to come out of her mouth. I grabbed the bowl, and she spat more black stuff into it. I couldn’t believe how much had come out of her since that day. It was almost like there was more black in there than Apella. It scared me, even though I knew it was coming. It was going to win eventually.

“I know,” I said, beaming and trying to hold onto this sliver of good that lay at the bottom of a dusty bin of
darkness. It was grubby, this hope, it was small, but we had to lock our fingers into it and not let go.

A kind nurse came in and took the bucket I was holding. She started to speak, her words foreign and rough sounding. I gave her a confused
look and she started again, speaking in a language I could understand. “Your mother is no… not… no good.” She frowned, her pale skin wrinkled around her cloudy eyes.

I just let it sit there. The words.
I put my hand over Apella’s and tried to force some of my life into her.

I couldn’t believe we’d been here six weeks already. I couldn’t believe some of these people had lived down here their whole lives. It was so dark, so dirty. They were like moles. Kind-hearted but quiet, afraid of the light, or maybe of what might be up there.

We all pitched in
, dragging batteries up to the surface to be charged, hunting, and scavenging. Our time on the surface was minimal though, as it was not safe. The monkey people didn’t seem to mind it. They tried to avoid going up if they could, their skin pale and grimy, their eyes silver and watery in the sunlight. They didn’t talk much either, not to us anyway. They had fires near the canal, drank and sang with each other, but when we tried to approach, they got kind of quiet. I didn’t think they minded our presence, but they seemed shy, happier to converse with the monkeys than with us.

“Where are you going?” Joseph asked as he collected a pot and some dirty mugs to take down to the canal to wash. Orry was with Odval for a play. Even he seemed bored with his surroundings. He was cranky
and grizzly. I was glad he was out of my hair for a while. I kind of wanted everyone out of my hair for a while.

I shrugged, pulling my
sneakers on. “I dunno.”

His voice was like a hammer to my ears. “Are you going to eat something?”

I grimaced, stalking to the corner and grabbing a can. I violently poked two holes in the can of tomato soup with a screwdriver and drank the contents, with Joseph staring down at me with an amused expression.

“Are you going to wash those?” I
snapped, pointing at a collection of dishes in a tub by the wall.

“
Mmhm,” he nodded, putting his spare hand up to grasp my waist.

I swiped my mouth with
my sleeve and darted out of his way. He frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?”
he asked, surprised.

I
stared down at my feet, trying to think of a nice way to say he was driving me crazy and I needed some space. Instead, what came out was, “You’re just really annoying me right now.”

He laughed but
, when he saw my face, he stopped. “Why, what did I do?” he asked, confused.

I looked up at his beautiful face and softened for a second. I knew it wasn’t fair but before I met him
, I was very used to being alone. Even in the forest, I’d had a chance to get away from everyone. Here, we were always in each other’s space, squelched together with nowhere to run. The softening only lasted a second because in that moment, it wouldn’t have mattered what he said… everything he said or did was irritating me.

I reached my hands up and put them on his shoulders. “Nothing. I’m just going nuts in this place. I need some space. From everybody. I feel like if you stand there looking at me any longer or tell me to eat or do something, I’m going to say something I regret
,” I said.

He pursed his lips for a
second, and then his mouth cracked into a grin. “You know, you’re kind of annoying me too. Why don’t you get out of my space for a bit?”

“That’s all you’re going to say?”

He parted the curtain and turned back to answer. “At least you warned me this time, before you went all crazy on me.”

I
smiled and threw the empty can at him. It bounced off his elbow. “Ouch!”

As soon as he
left, I felt his absence like a sharp sting.

Lunch with Rash was always pretty entertaining, lunch with Rash and Essie even more so. I didn’t know her very well, she was quiet, but I liked the two of them together. It brought a bit of light to this shadowy world.

Today he was juggling cans of beans and trying to hold a conversation at the same time. It led to dented knees and lots of laughter
, especially from Essie. She was a giggler, and every time Rash dropped a can and swore, her whole body shook with little fits of high-pitched giggling. Orry was standing between my knees, swaying back and forth.

“You coming up to the surface with me tomorrow, Soar?” Rash
asked in a strained tone as he tried to concentrate on the cans flying above his head.

“Yep. Wouldn’t miss it
,” I said, my eyes moving in circles, tracking the cans and putting bets on which one was going to hit Rash in the head. Kidney beans, definitely. I smiled to myself.

A can rolled behind
me, the crunch of a foot stopped it from rolling over the ledge.

“Ahem!”

Rash’s concentration lapsed, and the cans tumbled towards his face and crotch. I tried to hold it in, but when one landed square in his lap and his face scrunched up as he rolled over the ledge, I burst out laughing. It was made worse by Essie, who giggled and then hiccup-burped. Rash shouted from up from the lower level, “What a lady!”