Tanya and I jog down the dark empty streets of Central Settlement, passing large mansions and tall fruit trees. We finally come to a bayou where I push through the reeds, kneel on the wet sand and begin to vigorously wash my face and hands. I feel dirty, my clothes and hair still being coated with Gabriel’s blood. The night air is humid, and sweat drips down my neck and back. Washing off doesn’t bring any relief so I crawl into the bayou and poke my head underwater. Then I just close my eyes and take a moment to think over everything that has transpired.
Amethyst is dead, I repeat in my mind. My friend is gone. I let Gabriel kill her.
The thought hurts so much that I want to scream. It seems like Gabriel chose the strongest, most beautiful person amongst us and destroyed her. I can still see her falling, her blood flowing from the gunshot wound on her face.
I reopen my eyes, running my hands through my wet hair. Tanya sits on the sand a few feet away. I can’t allow myself to fall apart right now. I have to pull myself together, be brave and think of what we do next. Unfortunately, nothing good comes to mind. I’ve never faced a situation so desperate.
“What are we going to do?” Tanya asks quietly.
What is one to do when you’ve just committed the worst crime possible? What can you do when your entire life is crumbling around you? I don’t share my frustration with Tanya. I must be strong or at least pretend to be strong, because I now feel responsible for her too. Tanya is only in this mess because of me.
“We must leave Central Settlement,” I answer in a steady voice, putting my hair up in a pony-tail. The cool water drips down my neck.
“I agree,” Tanya nods. “But where will we go?”
“To Bastion,” I offer. “Or we can try to find Jingfay. Have you ever heard about her?”
Tanya nods again. She remains surprisingly calm, as if nothing unusual has happened.
“I heard Bastion is far away and it’s always cold in that part of the country,” she says. “We don’t have warm clothes or food.”
She’s right. We wouldn’t last long in the wilderness without provisions.
“Do you know how to hunt or catch fish?” I ask, although I already know the answer.
“No,” Tanya sighs. “How about you?”
“Me neither,” I admit.
I realize that our odds of making it all the way to Bastion are less than slim. We don’t even know exactly where it is.
“We could gather food and clothing back in our village,” Tanya suggests.
I have to think. I realize it’s dangerous, but the possibility of seeing my mother makes my chest ache. I’ve been missing her so badly.
“All right then,” I agree. “But we can’t stay because they will come searching for us. We may stay only for the night.”
“I understand.” Tanya rises to her feet. “How will we get there?”
“Garbage trucks,” I say. “We’ll have to hide inside and hope it will carry us all the way back to the Recycling village.”
“I know where the transfer station is,” Tanya smiles. “I think we can make it there before morning.”
“How do you know that?”
She shrugs. “I asked around and then walked there on my day off. You know, in case I might have to escape.”
“You mean…” I pause, frowning. “You had already been thinking about running off?”
Tanya nods again. She motions for me to follow and we proceed down a deserted street. I walk a couple of steps behind, dumbfounded. I would never believe this little girl was capable of fantasizing about escape. And in doing so, she collected some important information.
The walk through Central Settlement seems endless. I’m worried that Samuel’s guards will catch us before we reach the transfer station. But several hours pass and we’re still free. I can now detect a familiar rotten smell in the air. We approach a fenced section and I hear a truck engine and voices up ahead.
“We’re here,” Tanya whispers.
Holding my breath, I peer through a small crack between boards of the fence. I see piles of garbage, numerous vehicles and workers bustling around the machinery. The transfer station never stops operating, I guess. Waste from all different parts of Central Settlement arrives here first, before being transported to the Recycling village.
The sky is already growing lighter. I decide that we must wait until the following night, because the trip to the Recycling village will only take two or three hours. We can’t risk jumping off the truck in broad daylight. But staying in this brush is also dangerous. Samuel’s guards will come looking for us or a city patrol officer may notice us. So I jump as high as I can and grab the top of the fence. I pull myself up and extend an arm for Tanya. I help her up and we both jump down on the other side. It’s still dark enough to not be easily noticed. Although this area of the transfer station is restricted, it’s not well-secured. There’s nothing to steal here so security isn’t considered necessary. Holding Tanya’s hand, I lead her further into the littered wasteland.
We spend hours hiding amongst the piles of trash, waiting for the sky to darken again. My stomach growls in hunger and my throat is dry. The hot air reeks of chemicals, rotten food and a dozen other disgusting smells. I’m tired, but too wired to sleep. Tanya holds Gabriel’s knife, looking it over with curiosity. She turns it different ways, stabs
