The following morning, Claire cuts up fruit for us to put in our bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. The stuff tastes like paste, but I know it’s all they have, and we need the sustenance, so Quin and I eat every bite.
Thomas is to take us into the Boroughs today to meet his friends, Naomi and Jagger. Claire gives me the sack of apples we had picked the day before. I give her a hug; she grips me hard in return.
“Good luck, Trea.”
I pull my head up in surprise, as I’d never told her my name.
I don’t see any monitors around the house, so I doubt they saw the spectacle from Tyre.
How did she know?
I catch up to Quin and Thomas at the edge of the camp. We have to walk slowly due to Thomas’ sluggish pace. It takes us a better part of an hour before we are near the gated entrance of the Boroughs. I halt, fearing I will be recognized the minute we’re near the Regulators. Thomas has come prepared. He removes a pair of broken glasses from the inside pocket of his coat. The frames are bent, the lenses chipped, and I can’t see anything properly through them, so Quin props me up against him and I begin to walk with a limp at Thomas’ suggestion, using his cane for emphasis.
We stop in front of the Regulator’s tower, waiting to be allowed entrance into the Boroughs. The rectangular stone structure rises up three stories, towering over the electric fence that emerges from the wings that extend out in the distance on either side. A gravel road beyond the gate stretches down past lines of broken-down buildings, some spewing black smoke into the air. Several people are walking up the road, some entering the buildings, others continuing on.
Thomas rings a bell on the gate then stands back as it swings open.
No one comes out of the tower to greet us, but the gate slowly closes the farther we walk in. I turn back around and see Thomas standing on the other side, tears in his eyes. He smiles, turns around, and begins to walk back to the camp.
“He’s not coming with us?” I whisper to Quin, as we continue to walk.
“He can’t, but he’ll be back for us in three days.”
“How are we going to meet him? They’re not going to let us out.” I say, as we pass under part of the structure connecting the two halves of the tower.
“He told me where we need to go. It’ll be all right, Meg.”
I hear voices coming from above us as we walk past the building, so I turn my head skyward.
Two large screens are affixed on either side of the post, displaying a blurry image. I slide the glasses down my nose so I can see what is being shown. The image is of a shuttle ablaze, smoke billowing skyward as flames shoot out in all directions. In the right hand corner of the screens is a smaller display of a man sitting at a desk, addressing the bystanders who have gathered beside us to watch.
“As we have reported throughout the night, searchers have only recovered a few remains from the attack on Shuttle Six. This shuttle left Oasis Two early yesterday morning with approximately two hundred Acherons on board. It passed through the checkpoint around two yesterday afternoon with a dozen or so passengers disembarking.”
The larger image changes to security footage from the checkpoint showing people getting off of a shuttle, as well as several Regulators inspecting the undercarriage and interior.
“The Superior of Transportation and the Superior of Safety met with the High Ruler late last night to discuss possible motives behind this attack. It’s believed this act of violence was orchestrated by none other than Aldus Vladim, High Ruler of Tyre.”
“They’re nuts!” I practically scream.
People turn to look at me, surprised by my outburst. Quin drags me away as the story begins to repeat and the images flash back to the smoldering wreckage.
“Don’t say stuff like that too loudly,” he says, scolding me.
“There was no one on that shuttle except for us and it was their own Regulators that placed the detonators inside. Why would they lie about their own people being killed when they weren’t even there?”
“Easy, Meg, Acheron is trying to start a war with Tyre.”
“Why? What could that possibly gain for them?”
“Us,” he whispers.
He side-steps and guides me between two warehouses. I hear machines inside, creating what, I don’t know.
“Think about it…Vladim broadcasted to Acheron the existence of the Antaeans. When you escaped, Acheron saw it as an opportunity.”
“An opportunity for what?”
“Hey…you two. Get a move on back to your homes.” We turn and see a Regulator standing a few feet away, his hands on his hips. “No work today, so go back to your homes.”
“Yes, sir, we were just heading that way.” Quin replies, as I push the glasses back up my nose and lean on Thomas’ cane.
“Get going then.”
We walk past the Regulator and continue on down the road, under another Regulator building expanse, turn right, and start to head towards what looks to be a ravine. As we get closer, I notice a small wooden bridge spanning the gully. It doesn’t look sturdy enough to hold a great deal of weight. I look down into the chasm as we slowly cross the bridge and notice it’s partly full of water; the channel’s edges have been carved out by a great force. This must have been a river at one time, feeding whatever city once stood here.
The water looks slightly green in color and is moving sluggishly north. Three boats move against the current, determined to make their destination. One boat floats under us, then begins to veer to the left and down another smaller channel, metal doors sealing the boat
