Among the Enemy

Nina handed him his own bottle of noxious chemicals.

'Why did you want to meet?' she asked as they both scrubbed away.

Matthias told her about the immense storehouse of food and his idea that it could be distributed to the hungry.

'Hmm,' Nina said.

'Hmm? That's all you can say?' Matthias asked. 'The Population Police have food, and people are starving. So let's give it away.'

'Matthias, it's not that simple,' Nina said. 'Where is this warehouse again?'

Matthias told her as best he could.

'Oh,' Nina said. 'That's a problem.'

'Why?'

Nina shook her head, her braids thumping against her thin shoulders.

'Never mind,' she said. 'I shouldn't have said that.'

Matthias pushed his rag against the porcelain so hard, he feared he'd pull the sink from the wall.

'It is simple,' Matthias said. 'You and me and Trey, we can work together. It'd be like—' He almost said, like Percy and Alia and me, but the words stuck in his throat.

Nina let the brush fall into the toilet. She stared at Matthias, her eyes wide and distressed.

'Matthias, it's just that… Trey and — and the others… they don't know you like I do. They're a little bit suspicious, because you've had it so easy ever since you got here. The rest of us are being worked to death, and you're getting your food delivered on trays. And people are saying that you're Tiddy's son or maybe the commander's long-lost grandson. And you haven't been acting like you want to help us with—'

'I lost my friends!' Matthias protested, his voice coming out entirely too loud for someone holding a secret meeting.

'But don't you see?' Nina said, her eyes burning. 'We all have — we've either lost someone we loved or left someone behind or been through some terrible experience. Or maybe all of those. But we're going on. That's why we're doing what we're doing, because of what we went through.'

'So am I,' Matthias muttered. He blinked hard, trying desperately not to break down. Not in front of Nina. Not when she sounded so fierce.

'But what you're telling me now, it's too perfect,' Nina said. 'It's almost like we're being set up.'

Matthias froze. He could feel the harsh chemicals of the cleaning supplies eating into his skin.

'You think I'm lying?' he asked. 'Making it all up? I was there. I saw the food. I smelled it.'

His voice was too loud again. Nina winced and glanced anxiously toward the door.

'7 believe you,' she said soothingly, her voice a near whisper. 'I know you think you're telling me the truth. But if the commander somehow knew about our plot, if he somehow knew you were connected to us, then the perfect way to ruin our plot would be to set up this fake store' house of food, get you to tell us about it, and totally distract us from our goal.'

Matthias stared at her.

'You think it was fake?' he finally said. 'You think I'm being used!'

'I don't know what to think,' Nina said. 'Go back to the commander. Keep acting like — like his grandson or whatever, to make sure he still likes you. And spy on him. Eavesdrop on his meetings. Steal papers from his desk. Find out what his plan for all that food is. Just…'

Nina reached out and very gently touched Matthias's check.

'Just what?' Matthias asked.

'Just don't get caught.'

Chapter Twenty-Six

Matthias walked back to his bedroom in a daze, his hands reeking of ammonia. He started to walk in through the commander's office, then stopped.

'There's another door, isn't there?' he asked the guard. 'I have to get something from my room, and I don't want to… disturb the commander.'

'Sure,' the guard said. 'Over here.'

He led Matthias down a short hallway off to the side. The guard unlocked a door, and Matthias stepped into his bedroom.

'Thanks,' Matthias said. 'Should I lock the door again when I leave?'

'It'll lock automatically behind you,' the guard said.

That's useful information, Matthias told himself. Start pay^ ing attention again.

He walked over to his window and looked out. He was on the second floor, facing a courtyard.

If I need to, I can knot my sheets and climb down. I'll have to find out which of those windows below would be the safest to enter. That way, I can sneak out and nobody will know.

But he could see the shadows of guards standing by the windows below, their dark shapes humped over like vultures. The old despair threatened to overwhelm Matthias again.

It doesn't matter, he told himself. Right now, I don't need to get out without anyone knowing. I need to eavesdrop on the commander. Might as well start now. Unless the guard talked to the commander, he doesn't even know I'm here….

Blindly, blinking back tears, Matthias stumbled over to the door separating his bedroom from the commander's office. He pressed his ear tightly against the hard wood. Nothing happened, except that his ear began to hurt. He could hear soft murmurings, but he couldn't make out any words. The door was too thick.

Then he heard footsteps.

He scrambled away from the door and made a half dive for the bed. He was sprawled half on, half off the bed when the door opened. He buried his head in his pillow to hide his guilty expression.

The footsteps came closer.

'Oh, my dear boy.' It was the commander. He sat down on the edge of the bed and began stroking Matthias's hair. 'It's hard, isn't it?'

Matthias moved his head up and down, burrowing deeper and deeper into the pillow. Yes, this was hard. He shoved his hands under the pillow and hoped the commander wouldn't notice the ammonia smell.

'I don't think you should push yourself too hard,' the commander said. 'Going down to breakfast and then seeing Tiddy's memorial. . that's a lot for one morning. Several people have told me what you did. . They were all so moved. Do you know how many caps are down there now? Five hundred.'

Great, Matthias thought. Not only do people watch everything I do, they report everything to the commander.

He wasn't particularly surprised. How else had the commander known Matthias was back in his room?

The despair came creeping back, ready to drown him. Who was he to think he could outsmart the Population Police? How could he and Nina and Trey and Lee — mere children — do anything when the Population Police had all the power? The Population Police had this grand head' quarters, storehouses of food, endless numbers of guards and soldiers stretched out across the entire country.

Matthias was choosing to side with starving people dying on the street.

And God. And goodness. And mercy. And hope.

The words came into his mind so strongly that he almost glanced around to see if Samuel or Percy or Alia were standing right there with him, telling him what to think. At the last minute, he remembered who was sitting beside him. Peeking out from his pillow, Matthias could see the commander's stiff black uniform, with the row of commendations along his sleeve. Commendations for killing people, probably, for ordering the deaths of children like Matthias.

How can I not fight back?

Matthias got an idea. He turned his head to the side. He hoped his face was red and anguished-looking