Among the Free

'I just — had — to — see—,' he wailed.

Luke stopped standing on tiptoe and turned away. He couldn't watch anymore. He kept his eyes trained on the gray sweatshirt of the man standing in front of him. He hugged the quilt around himself even tighter as he inched forward. Then suddenly there was a break in the crowd and a bright light shone directly into Luke's eyes.

'What's your story, young man?'

Simone's voice. She was standing there right beside him, holding a microphone out toward his face.

'Huh?' Luke grunted. He could see himself reflected in the lens of the camera, a caveman huddled in an old quilt, with dirt smeared across his face and twigs sticking out of his matted, messy hair. He looked back at Simone, and she was even more beautiful close up than she'd been from a distance or on the TV screen. Her waterfall of blond hair shimmered; her blue eyes twinkled.

'We're asking everyone why they came here tonight,' Simone said gently. 'What interactions they've had with the Population Police previously, why they're rejoicing now… This is your chance to tell the whole country your story.'

Luke stared at Simone, too many thoughts tumbling through his head at once. He could admit that he was the one in Chiutza who had refused to shoot the old lady. He could say that he really hadn't handed the gun to the rebels — that he'd just dropped it and run away, so he didn't deserve too much credit. He could tell her about what he and Nina and Trey had tried to do at Population Police headquarters, how they'd persevered even when they'd gotten discouraged. He could tell about how his friends had rescued him from a Population Police holding camp. He could tell about seeing two people murdered, right on this property. He could tell about Jen, and how he felt haunted by her even now, nearly a year later.

He could talk about being a third child.

Then he remembered how the scarred man had talked about his wife: 'She was pregnant legitimately.' He remembered the woman back in front of the TV set arguing: 'Any minute now, the Population Police could come back with tanks and guns and — and—' He remembered Eli talking about informing on the third child in their village. He remembered twelve years of hiding and watching his parents struggle with the fear that one day their secret would be revealed, that one day Luke would be killed.

'You — you're calling this Freedom News, right?' Luke finally said.

'Yes, that's right,' Simone said. 'We are.'

She stood there expectantly, ready to record every one of his words, to broadcast his story out to the whole country.

'Then I'm free not to talk,' Luke said. 'I'm free not to tell you a single thing.'

Chapter Twenty-One

Simone stared at Luke as though he'd slapped her.

'Well, ex-cuse me,' she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. 'You don't have to be such a party pooper.'

Luke brushed past her and her microphone and camera and tried to blend in with the crowd. He began trembling immediately and couldn't stop. He felt as shaky and endangered as he had after running away from Officer Houk, from the Chiutzans, from the Population Police in the abandoned village, from Eli's home.

It's okay! You didn't say anything. No one's chasing you. Calm down!

He tried to focus on the people around him, to distract himself, to remind himself that everyone else was celebrating and happy. In the bright lights, their colorful clothes seemed to swirl around him, too intense to look at directly. Someone started singing what seemed to be a made-up song:

Oh, ho, ho
No more Poppies
They're all gone
We're so glad
Oh, ho, ho…

A group of teenagers was dancing along to the music, ending each stanza with an elaborate stomp on the ground.

'That's right! Stomp those poppies!' someone screamed near Luke's right ear. 'Stomp them all dead!'

The screamer moved on, disappearing into the crowd again. Luke went from trembling to feeling dizzy. The colors and sounds blurred together. Food might help, he told himself, and he fumbled to loosen the bag still tied around his waist. He drew out the last crumbly crust of bread that Eli had given him and brought it up to his mouth.

'Hey, kid, you don't need to be eating that,' someone said beside him. 'There's lots of good stuff up in that house. Free for the taking.'

'That's okay,' Luke mumbled, chewing the hard, dry bread.

Some of his dizziness subsided. He had energy now to shove his way through the crowd. If I can just find Nina or Trey, Luke told himself. Everything will be all right if I find them. Maybe Mr. Talbot and Mr. Hendricks had come to join in the celebration. And Luke's brother Mark might be there. And even his parents and Matthew. Everybody else in the entire country seemed to be crowded onto the Population Police grounds — why not Luke's family and friends?

Luke stumbled forward, looking right and left, pausing every few moments to scan the crowds cheering and dancing on top of the walls. When he'd first come out of hiding and gone to Hendricks School, he'd had a hard time telling people apart. One face looked pretty much the same as another to him, and he'd had trouble holding a mental picture of all the other students and teachers in his head. He had a momentary fear that a similar disorder might strike him now: In this crowd of strangers, what if even the familiar faces looked different to him, and he passed them by?

He reminded himself of what Nina looked like, with brown braids framing her lively features. And he could picture his parents' careworn faces, with wrinkles he'd memorized without realizing it. And Mr. Hendricks was in a wheelchair — how could Luke fail to notice a wheelchair gliding by?

He felt a little better, but he still didn't recognize any of the faces around him.

'Come on! Dance with us!' a girl called, reaching out and grabbing his hand. Luke pulled away.

'No, thanks — not right now,' Luke mumbled, stumbling backward to get away from her.

He glanced past her and the other dancers toward the huge Population Police headquarters building. The first time Luke had come to this building, it had belonged to the Grants, the family who had donated his first fake name. Luke had felt terrified for most of the time he'd spent with the Grants, and he could still remember the panic that had gripped him when he'd returned to enlist in the Population Police. Now all the lights in the building were blazing, and he could see people passing the windows carrying food. They were laughing and hollering and cheering and dancing, just like the people outside on the lawn.

Where are the fierce Population Police officials who used to yell at us? Where's Aldous Krakenaur, the head of the Population Police? Luke wondered. Somehow he couldn't believe that all the top leaders would have run away, or given up so easily.

Luke's feet hurt, and the music and shouting were making his headache. He wanted to find his friends, but he was so tired of searching. After he circled the crowd a second time without luck, he backed away until he found himself under an isolated tree, away from everyone else. He squinted up at the tree stupidly, trying to figure out why it looked so familiar.

Oh, yeah, he finally thought. He was back by the stables. This tree was one he had often faced when he'd had to stand waiting for inspection. He swayed dizzily, staring up at the tree. Then he turned around and crept into the stable.