Among the Enemy

They were driving away. Matthias forced himself to pay close attention to the turns they made. Left at the broken lamppost, right at the sign that says 'Wa— hous- Way' … As soon as Matthias got back to his room, he'd write it all down and reverse it, so he could lead Nina and Trey back.

They reached a stretch where the commander didn't make any turns at all. The commander was humming. Matthias couldn't stand it.

'Why?' he burst out. 'Why keep that food, why guard it, if no one's ever going to eat it?'

The commander chuckled.

'Oh, it will be eaten, all right,' he said. 'In fact, it will serve its purpose very soon.'

Matthias tried to keep silent. If he didn't act overly interested, he thought the commander was more likely to talk. But the commander went back to humming.

'What are you going to do with it? How soon?' Matthias asked. He tried to sound overawed and maybe a little bit stupid. How had he sounded before they went into the warehouse, before everything changed?

The commander glanced over at Matthias. His eyes glittered in the darkness. Did he suspect anything?

'Oh, never mind,' the commander said. 'It's complicated. And it was… it was Tiddy's plan.'

'Tiddy,' Matthias echoed sadly. He was totally acting now, playing the word for effect.

He looked over, and the commander had tears streaming down his face.

And, in spite of himself, Matthias felt guilty.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Matthias got up the next morning and dressed himself. When a servant brought a tray of food into his room, he announced, 'I won't be needing that anymore. From now on, I'll be eating down in the cafeteria with everyone else.'

'But, sir,' the servant said, 'what shall I do with all this food?'

Matthias considered. The main part of the meal was eggs scrambled with cheese — a total luxury. The tray also held a plateful of toast, a bowl of cooked apple slices, and a frothing glass of milk.

'Eat it yourself,' he decided.

'Oh, sir,' the servant said. 'Can I?'

She was a pock-faced girl as scrawny as Matthias had been when he'd first arrived at Population Police headquarters. Matthias supposed she spent her days carrying around food that she herself was not allowed to eat.

'Go right ahead,' Matthias said. 'But — don't tell anyone.'

'Oh, no, I won't,' the girl said, curtsying. 'Thank you, sir.'

Matthias walked out of his room through the commander's office. The commander was bent over stacks of papers. Matthias stood close and tried to look at the papers without appearing interested, but the numbers marching across the pages meant nothing to him.

'Sir,' Matthias said, 'I've been thinking. I don't believe… Tiddy… would want me to just lie around all the time, grieving. I need to… do something. In his memory.'

Matthias wasn't really lying. It was just that he'd be act' ing in honor of Percy's and Alia's memory, and Samuel's and Mrs. Talbot's. Not Tiddy's.

The commander reached out and ruffled Matthias's hair.

'You're a brave boy,' he muttered sadly.

Matthias climbed down the stairs feeling anything but brave. He walked into the cafeteria, and the entire room became instantly hushed. Matthias felt like every eye in the room was on him.

How am I supposed to carry out a secret plan with everyone watching? Matthias wondered.

He made himself stumble on over to the woman with the trays.

'I don't know — am I supposed to hand you money or a voucher or something?' he asked her. 'Last time Mike took care of me, and before that, Tiddy.'

'Oh, you're that boy of Tiddy's,' the woman crooned softly. 'Oh, you poor dear. Now, don't you worry about anything. Just go on and eat.'

'Thank you,' Matthias mumbled.

When he stepped over to the women doling out the food, he was overjoyed to see Nina's familiar brown eyes above one of the face masks. He quickly slid his hand in and out of his pocket and was ready when she handed him a bowl of oatmeal. His fingertips brushed hers; when they both pulled away, he was holding the bowl and she was holding a coiled-up scrap of paper he'd been carrying around. Her eyes widened a bit with surprise, but other-wise, she gave no indication that anything had passed between them.

Matthias took his tray of food and sat down. He hoped Nina would understand the note he'd written: Same meet-' ing place. What time? He ate his oatmeal slowly, lingering over every bite. So he was one of the few diners who remained when Nina came out to scrub the tables. She leaned close to his ear as she stretched to reach the opposite side of his table.

'Fifteen minutes from now,' she whispered, and moved on.

Matthias scraped the last flecks of oatmeal out of his bowl, swallowed, and pushed himself away from the table. He had extra time, so he took a roundabout route to the silver bathroom. But he got delayed in the front hall because a huge crowd was gathered there, blocking his way.

'Excuse me,' he murmured. 'Could you let me through?'

The cluster of dark uniforms around him seemed like a forest, impenetrable. Then one officer glanced down at him.

'It's the boy,' she gasped, and the clump of uniforms parted before him.

Matthias walked forward as officers moved aside to give him even more room. This wasn't what he was used to. He was used to having to scramble between people's legs, always having to watch out so nobody stepped on him. He wasn't used to being noticed at all, and now everyone was staring at him, almost reverently.

He reached the front of the crowd. He was facing the very spot where Tiddy had died, the two pillars now fram-ing a huge vase full of roses. A banner across the floral arrangement proclaimed, one of our best. Around the dis-play of roses, people had left mementos and messages. Matthias saw ribbons and medals, bracelets and scraps of paper covered in heart-broken scrawls: we miss you, Tiddy.

The crowd was absolutely silent, watching Matthias. He realized they expected him to add something to the memorial, but he'd brought nothing with him; he hadn't even known there was a memorial. Thinking frantically, he looked around, and his cap rattled against his ears. The cap! Well, that would have to do. He took off his cap and left it at the base of the roses. Then he backed away, watching the crowd. People began following his example, surging forward to lay their own caps beside Matthias's. Now everyone was watching the impromptu cap-laying service, so Matthias was able to duck into the silver bathroom without being seen.

His heart pounded strangely. What was that all about? he wondered.

He peered into the vent where Nina had climbed out the last time, but the duct beyond was empty and dark.

Someone knocked on the door. 'Cleaning!'

It was Nina's voice. Matthias fumbled with the lock, and then she slipped through the doorway.

'Aren't you scared someone might have seen you?' Matthias asked. 'There are a hundred people out there.'

'Believe me, I'm invisible,' Nina said wryly. 'And anyone who wants to check will see I've been loaned from the kitchen to the housecleaning crew.' She set down a large bucket full of cleaning solutions, scrub brushes, and rags on the floor. She squirted a stream of ammonia into the toilet, selected a brush, and began scrubbing.

Matthias made a face at the overpowering odor. 'Do you have to do that while we're talking?' he asked.

'Yes, I do,' Nina said. 'They time us. If I don't have this bathroom sparkling clean in ten minutes, I'm in trouble.'

'I'll do the sink, then,' Matthias said.