When I see why she is taking us on this path along the perimeter, I stop. In the middle of the floor, around fallen rubble and furniture, are about twenty sleeping Cabras. All shapes and sizes. Men and women. Old and young.
KJ tugs at my arm, but before I keep moving, an older Cabra sits up and looks straight at us. His eyes have a faint red glow in this dark room. I raise my rifle and aim it right at his head. A soft hand pushes the gun back down, and I look to see KJ's eyes pleading with me not to shoot.
I lower the rifle and walk behind her, keeping an eye on the Cabra. His stare never leaves KJ as he adjusts his position to keep her in his sight. The expression on his face is a battle between human compassion and animalistic hunger. Does he know her? They were all once normal humans. Just as much as I've turned away from my instinctual programming, they have reverted.
We reach the door, and she pushes me through first. When I turn, I see her looking back at the older Cabra. She makes a gesture with her hands, and the Cabra lies back down. KJ walks through the door and shuts it behind her. With tears running down her cheek, she puts her arms around me and lays her head on my shoulder.
I wrap my arms around her, caressing her head with my left hand. “Who was that?”
My shirt grows wet with her tears. She sniffles. “My father.”
I don't know how to process this information. I'm speechless. I keep holding her while she sobs as I replay the last few moments in my head. He did recognize her. The bit of humanity that was aching to reach out was love for his daughter.
KJ breaks away and climbs up the stairs that fill this small room. I follow close behind, silent and unsure. She rises, stepping her way through her tears. Ones she has shed many times before, I'm sure.
We make it to one of the top floors, and I get an eerie sense that I have been here before. She stops short of the window and looks at me, her eyes giving me the okay to speak.
“How?” That is all I can muster.
She leans against the open windowsill. Wisps of her hair dance in front of her face as a breeze blows into the building. She takes a deep breath. “My parents kept Pocket a secret when my mother was pregnant with her. They would have been punished if anyone found out that they exceeded the two-child limit. The scientists were rigorous when they first arrived. They used drones and superior firepower to enforce the rules. When they handed out the vaccines, my family only got four. My father sacrificed himself so that Pocket could live.”
I didn't know someone could be that selfless and sacrifice themselves. It is the antithesis of what Dr. Anfang and everyone at the compound is doing. I grab KJ's hand, and she lets me hold it.
She continues, “Pocket and Jean don't know he's here, and my mother doesn't know that I come to see him.”
Now I know why this room is familiar. “Is this the building where you rescued me?”
“Yes, it is.” KJ smiles. “I was here watching my father when I heard the commotion in the alley. I ran and looked out the window and saw you in trouble.”
“I can't believe I was that lucky,” I reflect.
“Yes, you are.” She kisses my cheek. “Now you know what comes next.”
She climbs out the window into the thick clouds, and I follow. The wires strung between the two buildings feel much thinner than they did before. The breeze gets a little stronger halfway through, making the trek more challenging. Knowing that these wires have a secure end, I gather my courage and glide to the second building.
With her experience, KJ breezes along the wires. I take a little longer, and when I climb through the second window, I see her standing at the door, anxious to continue. We speed to the ground floor, and she stops me before I step out of the building.
“We shouldn't be seen together.” She places her hand on my cheek. It's warm against the skin that still hasn't recovered from the cool air in the clouds.
“Right,” I reply, not hiding my disappointment.
“We'll see each other again.” She kisses me hard on my lips. There is a passion behind it that warms the rest of my cold body. She pulls away. “Whatever series of events and coincidences we both had to go through to have found each other, I am grateful.”
“I, uh…” bumbles out of my mouth.
She laughs and runs out the door. I watch her fade out of view as the door closes in my face. I stare at the darkness surrounding me. What kind of an idiot answer was that? She poured her heart out to me and 'uh' was all I could muster?
I shake it off, and the image of her kissing me with so much passion projects in my brain. My smile strains the muscles in my cheeks. I open the door and run. The adrenaline from the escape and the kiss carry me back to the stadium. The night has engulfed my surroundings, but it will be hours before I can go back to sleep. I need to find 13. I need to tell him what I found so we can get started tomorrow.
I reach the stadium on one of the sides away from my entrance, so I walk around until I find it. The fog isn't as dense here, but the stadium's top disappears in those low-hanging clouds. As I turn the corner, I spot a shadow standing at the entrance, holding a gun. I correct my posture and head right to the shadow to try to emulate a drone as much as
