There was no evidence of food here either, but they’d had no choice but to return to Praesidium. Finding the Beyond was just not as easy as he’d hoped it would be.
Anya was staring at him, as though willing him to believe in himself. He wished he had her confidence.
‘It was a stupid plan, Anya. June is safe. Maybe we should head back to the camp.’
‘No, it wasn’t. We have to find the Beyond. There is no other plan.’
He worried Jason’s death was making her reckless. ‘We could go back to the camp and use the comms to round up more rebels in different towns.’
‘And how long is that going to take?’ She shook her head. ‘We’re here now. We keep looking.’
Dom released a hard breath. ‘Okay, where to next?’
She frowned at the ground. ‘We work logically until we arrive at the centre of this city.’
The Learning Centre. Where the Collective supposedly lived. What were the chances the coordinates would be found there? If they were there, how had the Collective not found them?
Anya walked out of the shop towards the waiting team. Dom followed her out, gauging everyone’s mood. After two hours, they were all flagging. That didn’t surprise him.
He nodded to Charlie, who shook his head. ‘The shops are all clear.’
‘Clear on our end,’ said Vanessa. ‘It’s possible we’re chasing our tails here. Maybe we should leave the city and regroup.’
He didn’t want to give up yet. ‘If Anya says the coordinates are here, then we keep looking.’
Vanessa stepped forward, her expression stern. She pulled Dom aside. ‘I think we should discuss this in the library.’
‘Why?’
‘To work out our next move.’
‘Our next move is we keep looking.’
Vanessa eyed him. ‘Dom, we can’t just hit every place. Let’s stop in the library for a minute. Charlie needs to catch his breath.’
His gaze went to the oldest member of his team. Charlie was standing tall but he could see from his face that two hours on his feet was taking its toll. He couldn’t believe he’d been so insensitive. He looked at Jacob next, who also looked fit to drop.
He blinked. ‘Sure, I don’t know what I was thinking.’
‘That you wanted this to work. Come on.’ She urged him forward with a gentle push. ‘Let’s take a break and talk about this.’
They returned to Zone C and the library. Dom approached the building made of glass and honey-coloured wood. It was a contrast to the other mostly white-and-grey structures the “white city” had become famous for. This one almost looked like a human had designed it.
Vanessa stepped up to the door. It was locked.
She turned to the soldiers. ‘Bring the Copy here.’
The soldiers shuffled his former Copy guard to the door and pressed his wrist to the control panel next to it. The door clicked open and Vanessa entered the premises. None of the rebels had their chips anymore. While Dom was happy about that, it put too much reliance on this figure from his painful and torturous past.
Charlie entered next and Dom followed him inside the library. Vanessa walked over to a table farther back from the dusty collection of books on tall shelves, set against the glass walls. She sat down. Charlie did the same with a puff. Dom joined them at the table while Anya and the others wandered around the space. The soldiers regarded the impressive array of books with wide eyes and smiles. Some ran their fingers over the spines. Dom assumed they must have come from the cleared-out towns. One picked up a book and began to read.
Jacob walked around with Carissa, who was pointing out books and telling him, ‘I read that one.’
He wished he could join them. But as leader, he straightened up in his chair instead of relaxing.
Vanessa had her hands clasped on the table, a serious look on her face. Charlie was looking down at the table. He’d sensed something was off with them for the last hour.
‘What?’
Vanessa narrowed her eyes a little. ‘Charlie and I were talking.’
‘About what?’
‘About the likelihood of finding the coordinates to the Beyond in this city.’
He didn’t understand. They’d all agreed to this plan. ‘You want to give up?’
‘No, we’re not saying that,’ said Charlie. ‘But it’s too dangerous to stay here. We don’t know if the Copies will return. The fact that this place is cleared out worries me.’
Sheila joined them and sat down.
Dom had no plan B. But he had a feeling the pair might. ‘What’s your plan if not to search here?’
‘Return to the camp, radio for help, bring the scattered rebels together.’ Vanessa lifted her hands and dropped them. ‘We’ve got fifteen soldiers, give or take. We lost half of Kaylie’s team and the other half is burying them someplace away from the city. We don’t know if they’ll return. The numbers we have aren’t enough. It will take us too long to search everywhere.’
Dom leaned forward. ‘That’s why we’re concentrating on the places where the humans had access, not the Copies. If Janet left the diary anywhere, it has to be in one of those locations. Some place easy for others to find it.’
Charlie placed a hand on his arm. ‘Then what, son? We all leave for this “Beyond” place? We don’t even know what it is, or if it’s another place of control.’
Dom didn’t believe what he was hearing. He sat back. ‘You really think returning to the camp is going to fix things? We’ll end up trapping ourselves there.’
Sheila piped up. ‘It’s better than getting trapped here, Dom. June is better. Her child will be old enough to walk soon. I agree with Charlie and Vanessa. This place isn’t safe. We should
