Untitled Agenda 21 Sequel (9781476746852) (15 page)

They arranged themselves for the night. Julia ate her evening cube quickly, drank a little water, and leaned against a tree, ready and anxious for sleep.

She felt around in her pack one last time.

Her ammonia bottle was missing.

J
ulia didn't want to spend another night with Steven, wondering what he was going to do. She didn't want to be in Earth Protection in the first place. She had spent most of her life being where she didn't want to be.

She fought sleep. Her mind wandered. She thought of Robert, her Authority-mandated partner. They had been getting along all right.

Mostly.

They shared their living space in Compound 14 and did their assigned duties. Julia walked her board; he did his job at Recycle. Robert hated Re-Cy. Who wouldn't? It was a messy business, recycling. It must have been foul in there. The acrid smell clung to his clothes. Julia had to hang them out the back window slit of their living space to air them out.

They had lived a dull life of coexistence.

Steven shifted his weight slightly against the tree and she tensed, waiting for what he might do next. She heard him snore and she relaxed. But she had to stay awake, stay alert.

One of the sleeping men coughed, which brought back the memory
of Robert's cough. Julia had made him go to Human and Health Services to be checked. Robert said you couldn't judge a department by its name—
Services—
because they all had nice-sounding names to cover up what really went on there. But she insisted, so he went.

And he never came back.

Maybe she was wrong to make him get checked. Maybe she wouldn't be here with Steven if she hadn't insisted.

The Authorities had their regular Social Update meeting the evening that Robert had disappeared. She had to go by herself, wrapped in a loneliness she'd never felt before.

But now, sitting with Steven in the woods, that same feeling of loneliness returned.

The meeting that night hadn't been very long. Only one announcement: the Authorities said it was time for women to be part of the military. That caused a buzz among the Citizens. You could hear it, a ripple of whispers, a shuffling of feet. Julia heard someone mumble: “Not enough men?” She knew there were not enough men. At least, there weren't enough strong, healthy men. Just looking around at the meeting, all she could see were thin, hungry-looking people: men with hunched shoulders, gaunt faces, and women in headscarves, their faces pale in the coming dusk.

The next morning, she was put into the Earth Protection Agency. Two Enforcers gave her a new uniform and escorted her to the Social Update Stage, where an Authority stood with the five men.

“That's Steven. You're now a trainee under his command. Do as he says.” Then they left her.

She would not do as Steven commanded.

Adam and Guy shuffled over to wake Julia and Steven. She was awake, aware of every sound. She heard the slitherings and rustlings in the grass, tree branches rubbing together in the breeze, wood on wood, and the mournful hooting of an owl.

Steven and Julia took their watch positions. He didn't lean against
her at first. She heard Adam and Guy settle down to sleep, heard them sliding their backpacks across the grass. She had her own pack on her lap, her arms wrapped tightly around it. She could feel the hard handle of the ax and the smooth shape of the knife through the cloth.

Long minutes passed before the breathing of the other men became slow and regular. Long minutes of her holding her body tense, her knees pulled up, pushing her pack against her chest, making her body as small as possible.

She felt Steven shift his position, turning toward her.

She smelled his breath. Foul. Felt his breath on her cheek. Warm.

He was reaching for her, touching her.

“Stop it,” she hissed through her teeth.

One of the other men called out softly. “Everything okay?” It was Winston.

“Yes,” Steven responded. “Thought we heard something. But everything's fine. Go back to sleep.” Then he leaned close to her, his mouth by her ear. “This isn't over.”

She reached into her pack and pulled out the first thing she felt. The ax. She held it in front of her, making sure he could see it.

“Yes, it is over.
Sir
.”

S
teven backed off when he saw the ax in Julia's hand, but he pulled his mouth tight into a snarl, teeth exposed. His large hand, curled into a ball of hard white knuckles, was just inches from her face. “I'm in charge of this team and you report to me. You'll do as I say,” he hissed.

“Really, sir,” Julia said as softly as she could, even though she was quivering inside. “I will report you to an Enforcer when we return.
Sir
.” The ax hung heavily at her side, the wrist strap cutting into her skin.

“Big problem there. First, they won't believe you, they'll believe me. Second, there isn't an Enforcer or Authority who wouldn't do the same with you, given the opportunity.”

“There are rules, sir, about pairing. The Authorities make the rules. You know that as well as I do.”

“The rules are for the little people. Like you. The rules are not for people with titles. Like me.”

He turned away to wake the other men. His back was straight, stiff, his shoulders squared and rigid.

They were walking again, single file. Julia thought it would make more sense to spread out, side by side, to explore the ground beside the
stream and in the woods beside it. But she wouldn't make any suggestions to Steven. Besides, she wasn't seeing any more clues or signs that this area had been disturbed.

A band of salty sweat formed under the brim of her hat. It ran down her face, into her eyes, burning them. Her right heel hurt. She thought maybe she was getting a blister. Nourishment cubes would come later, when they took a break. Julia wondered if they would ever feel fully rested.

Winston was in front of her. She watched his back as he walked. She saw the way his arms and legs moved in opposition, right leg swinging forward with left arm and left leg forward with his right arm. Everything about him was strong and balanced. His backpack was centered squarely between his shoulder blades. His neck was straight and his hairline clean, smooth.

He turned his head once toward Julia and whispered. “Are you all right?”

“Okay for now,” she answered.

“If you ever need help . . .” He stopped. Steven had turned around, and was walking backward, looking at them.

Her skin felt as cold as snow, but inside there was a soft pink warmth in her chest.

They walked on.

A snake, dull stone-colored, lay strewn like a curved rope across a rock by the stream, motionless, waiting for prey.

Mosquitoes swarmed her arms and face, buzzed by her ears, landed on the back of her neck. She was glad then for her long sleeves and pants. Winston swatted the back of his neck. Ahead of him, Julia could see Nigel and Adam doing the same. They were all being bitten.

Steven held his arm up for them to stop and pointed into the woods. They followed him, slipping their packs off their shoulders with relief. Julia sat on an uneven log, feeling the rough bark through her clothes. Hundreds of ants crawled in and out of cracks in the wood.
Steven sat facing Julia, staring at her as she ate, his face flat, cold, void of all emotion.

There were no mosquitoes in the shade, just cool, damp air, smelling of leaves. They ate their cubes without talking. The only sounds were the crunching of them chewing, the gulping sound as they drank water from their bottles, birdsong, and the rustle of animals in the shadows. There were no fences here in the Human Free Zone, but Julia still felt trapped.

Steven stood but signaled with his hands for the rest of the group to remain seated. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes moving from one face to another, as though measuring them. No one moved; his gaze had the power to turn them into statues.

“We'll continue the rest of the day in the same direction. But if I see no further clues or signs, I'll rethink my plan. They're out there, somewhere, without supplies. They cannot survive and they cannot outthink me. I will find them, mark my words.”

He made it all about him, Julia thought.
Me, my, I
. The man had no humility. Julia saw a small smirk on Winston's face. Was he thinking the same thing she was thinking? Steven turned, and started walking. They followed.

Walking, walking, walking. Julia's heel was a burning hot blister. She longed to take her shoe off, pour some water on it. But she couldn't. She followed, limping a bit, pulling her uniform up, feeling the sweat under her arms. Why pursue these escapees if they had no chance of survival anyway? Was punishment really all that important?

Finally, dusk fell. The sun slipped away slowly, reluctantly, trailing the last bit of daylight behind it like a backward glance. It was time to bivouac.

“Same teams as before. Same time slots.”

Shouldn't we switch time frames, Julia wondered, so the middle team could have uninterrupted sleep for once? Shouldn't a good team leader have considered that? But she knew that Steven wouldn't.

They settled in, one team on watch, the rest leaning against trees. Julia dreaded the night that wrapped around them, making the world murky, full of dark shapes and sounds. She didn't sleep, couldn't sleep. Steven slept. She heard his breathing, and could picture the way his mouth hung open with an occasional puff of air moving his lower lip. She pulled her pack closer, between her legs, and waited.

And then it was their turn to keep watch.

Steven surprised her and didn't try to touch her for the longest time. Not until shortly before dawn, right before the edge of the sky turned a rosy red, and the stars one by one tiptoed away. Then it began. She was ready. She knew what she was going to do.

She would scream and run to Winston. He had said he would help her. At least he had started to say that, until Steven turned and stared. Julia knew where Winston was, off to her left, past some small rocks, leaning against the middle tree of three large trees and just several footsteps away.

Steven started to move and Julia instantly stood up. With lightning speed he put his hand over her mouth before she could scream. Then he grabbed her arm, trying to pull her down. She resisted, pulling her arm away, trying to push him back, but he was bigger, stronger than her, and she felt herself slipping backward. In desperation she buried her teeth in the fleshy part of his hand. It tasted of dirt.

Furious, he shoved her. She lost her balance and fell, her ankle twisted under her. That's when she screamed.

The others woke immediately. Winston ran to her; Steven stood, looking down at her, his arms folded tight across his chest. Winston bent down to help her up. She tried to stand, to bear weight, but pain like lightning shot up her leg from her ankle. She crumpled back to the ground. Winston took her shoe off and felt her ankle with his fingertips.

“Probably just sprained,” he said. “You'll need to elevate it and rest it.”

“Just like that?
You
decide what she should do?” Steven stared at Winston.

Julia tried again to stand but couldn't.

“That's it, she's worthless. She's a weak link. A weak link puts us all in danger,” Steven said to the men standing around her. “We'll move on without her. That's the way it works. She's not worth a bullet.” He smirked.

Winston's mouth dropped open. “Leave her behind? Alone?”

“That's what I said.”

Dawn had pushed itself higher on the horizon; the pale light reflected off dewdrops on the leaves and shimmered on the stream.

“I'll stay with her,” Winston said, standing and facing Steven, his arms across his chest, mimicking Steven.

“I think not.” Steven reached for his waistband.

“We can't leave her alone here.”

“I say we can and we will. We are no better than our weakest member. My job is to rid the team of any weak member for the sake of the rest of the team. I have an assignment. I do it. If things go wrong, if the team is weakened, or worse, attacked and killed, no Authority will send help or come to our rescue. You hear me?
No one
. The Authorities will never come to our aid, acknowledge our destruction, or take responsibility for it. We're on our own.” That was the most Steven had spoken since the beginning of the mission. His face was flushed an angry red. And he wasn't finished. “I've seen other teams disappear. No one ever finds out what happened to them. I won't let that happen to my team.” He pulled the gun out and pointed it at Winston. “She'll be just as alone if you're lying dead on the ground beside her. Now move out.”

Guy jumped back a step when he saw the gun. His left eye twitched more than usual and he put his hand over it. Nigel and Adam showed no reaction. After all, they had been on missions with Steven in the past—they knew how it worked.

Winston didn't flinch at all but kept his arms folded across his chest and stood firmly facing Steven. “I'm going to refill her water,” he said. He didn't ask permission. Julia admired him for that.

“Do it fast.”

Winston sprinted to the stream, filled all her bottles, and ran back. He laid them, wet and cold, against her ankle.

Then they were gone. Julia thought she heard Winston whisper that he'd be back. Or did she want to hear that so badly that she had imagined it?

She knew one thing with certainty. At least for now, she was completely alone.

S
he couldn't believe they'd left her like this in the wilderness. Surely they could have found a way to help her bear weight and walk. She knew it wasn't
they
who made the decision to leave her. It was
he
. Steven. Julia believed the others would have helped her, somehow. Winston would have. She had seen the look on his face. Nigel, Adam, and Guy would have, also,
if
Steven had given the command. But they wouldn't say anything. Steven had a gun. They didn't. It was that simple.