Resist

I pull on my facemask as we get outside, where Alina’s waiting. “Hey,” she says. She ignores Clarice.

“Can I catch you up, Clarice?” I ask.

“Sure,” she says. She smiles and goes ahead.

“She seems friendly,” Alina says.

I roll my eyes. “I wish she wouldn’t be.” Now that I’ve stopped acting like an idiot when Alina’s around, we’re easy with each other.

“We leave tonight,” she whispers.

“Good,” I say. We haven’t had any time to prepare, but if Alina thinks it’s time, I believe her.

She pulls me into the shadow of the main house. “We have to get Maude, Bruce, and some others before we go. We’ll meet on the second floor of the east stairwell at midnight. Be there, and make sure Dorian and Song are there, too. I don’t know if I can tell them. Maks has me on a leash.” She stalks off without any further discussion.

I chase after her. “And the pod?” I ask. I shake her without meaning to, and she pushes me away.

“Relax. We’re going to go fight alongside Bea and my aunt and uncle, but we’ll keep it between you, me, and Silas. No one else needs to worry about that yet.”

“I think we should head straight for the pod. No detours.”

Clarice suddenly appears. “Seriously? Are you going with the troopers?” she asks.

Alina glares at me, like Clarice’s superhuman hearing is my fault. And I’m about to make up some lie when I remember the conversation back in our room. Clarice mentioned being glad she wasn’t in the pod, and I thought she meant because of the riots. Did I misunderstand? “Only a few people have been told we’re going back,” I say slowly.

“Oh.” Clarice looks over her shoulder. “Did Maks tell you when you’re leaving?” Alina gives me another look, but this time it’s because Clarice must know something we don’t, and she wants me to get her to talk.

“Tonight,” I say. I push Clarice’s hair away from her face and grin. This is how I used to flirt with girls. It didn’t always work and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work with Clarice. She steps back.

“But none of the other academics are going,” she says. I shrug and Clarice kicks a stone against the main house. “Why should I lose my partner? It isn’t fair. Maks said it would only be the troopers going and that’s why they’ve been training so hard. Is it because you know the pod? Is it because you have inside information or something?” She stops speaking as someone comes up behind us. She waits until he passes.

“My dad’s the army’s general,” I say hesitantly.

“And you agree with what Maks has planned?” she says. “I want a new place to live, like anyone here. But cutting the tubing on the recycling stations? Isn’t there another way to destroy the Ministry?”

Alina and I freeze. Can it be true? Would Vanya and Maks really murder so many innocent people? I start to panic, and have to increase the volume of oxygen coming into my facemask. I’m thinking of Bea and my brothers and mother. Of my father, who saved me in the end. And I’m even thinking of Riley and Ferris, who are royal pains in the butt, but were my friends in another lifetime. Even they don’t deserve to suffocate.

“How did you find out about the mission?” I ask Clarice.

“Jo,” she says nonplussed. “Maks told her, I think.”

“Shit,” Alina says. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. When I see Abel . . .” She screws her hands into fists.

“Abel knows?” I ask.

“Of course he knows. He’s very selective with his information.”

A group of troopers passes us on the path. “Alina, you coming?” one of them asks.

“Sure,” she says, and walks backward toward them mouthing one word to me: midnight.

42 ALINA

Maks won’t sleep. He’s in the bed, and I’m on the floor. Every time I open my eyes he’s ogling me. And when he sees I’m not asleep, he smiles. Sometimes he winks, but usually it’s just the cool smile, like he knows what I’m planning. “You can climb in here with me, you know,” he says at one point, and pulls back the covers, unveiling his thick, tattooed torso and a faint musty smell.

“No thanks,” I say, and close my eyes.

It’s close to midnight and everyone will be waiting. Still, I try to relax, and after what feels like hours, his breathing changes. I sit up and crawl over to the bed to get a better look at him. Although one of his eyes is half open, he’s totally out.

His pants are hanging on the back of the door. I slide my hand into one pocket and then the other to feel around for the keys. They aren’t there. I rummage in one of the back pockets where cold metal finally licks my fingers. As carefully as I can, I pluck the clump of keys from his pocket. Maks gibbers in his sleep. I could do anything I wanted to him now. He isn’t so tough snoring with his mouth open. But I haven’t time to waste. I have to get out of here.

I pick a key from the bunch at random and try it in the lock. It doesn’t fit. The next one slides into the lock but won’t budge. And on and on until, after trying nine or ten keys, one of them slides into the lock and turns, and with a low groan, the door opens. I tiptoe into the hallway, using the key to lock Maks in the room, and run.

They are waiting: Silas, Song, Abel, and Quinn. And they’re all carrying several airtanks and small bags. “Where have you been?” Silas whispers.

“Maks wouldn’t go to sleep.”

“The keys?” Abel asks. I pass them to him and he curls his fingers around them like I’ve handed him a hunk of gold.

“Where’s Dorian?” I ask.

“He must have decided to stay,” Silas says, unperturbed.

“He wouldn’t do that. I’ll go find him.”

“We haven’t time.” Silas grabs my arm. “And he’s obviously made his choice.”

“He told us himself he doesn’t want to live as a drifter,” Song says.

“We can’t go without him,” I add. We came together and that’s how we should leave. Besides, we won’t be drifters if we can oust the Ministry.

Voices echo from one of the floors above. “Keep it down,” Abel says. He slides the painting to one side. “Are you coming?” The voices from above are getting louder and are accompanied by footsteps. If we stand around prattling, we’ll be caught and then no one will be able to leave.

“I’m coming back for him,” I say. And I mean it. I’m not saving Maude and Bruce only to leave Dorian behind. He’s been with the Resistance since the beginning, and I’ve known him too long. He hasn’t changed overnight. I know he hasn’t.

“Come on,” Silas says.

Abel ushers us behind the painting. The door clunks shut and we descend slowly, careful not to slip and tumble on top of one another.

“I’ll lead the way. I’ve been observing The Sanctuary for a few days now, so I’ve a good idea of the lay of things,” Abel says.

“And the plan?” Silas asks.

“We get in, unbuckle as many benefactors and kids as we can, and get the hell out of there,” Quinn says. Thankfully he doesn’t mention the pod or Bea.

One thing at a time.

Abel unlocks The Sanctuary door, and as we’re about to creep inside, a voice calls out. Damn. We have no weapons; wrestling with a nurse or several nurses isn’t part of the plan.

“Everyone get back,” Silas whispers. We jump away from the door. A shadow hovers over the light.

“Vanya?” The voice is tight and cautious, and as the light is being sliced away, Silas leaps out of the night