The Ask and the Answer

“I think so,” I whisper back. “They left really quickly.”

We watch another pair of soldiers march down the road. By Maddy’s reckoning, we’ve got three minutes.

“That would have been Mistress Barker,” she says. “Which means the others were probably Mistress Braithwaite and Mistress Forth.” She looks back out the window. “This is crazy, you know. If she catches us, we’ll get it good.”

“I hardly think she’s going to fire you under the circumstances.”

Her face goes thoughtful. “Did you hear what the mistresses were saying?”

“No, they shut up the second they saw me.”

“But you were the girl?”

“Yeah,” I say. “And Mistress Coyle avoided me the rest of today.”

“Mistress Barker . . .” Maddy says, still thinking. “But how could that accomplish anything?”

“How could what accomplish what?”

“Those three were on the Council with Mistress Coyle. Mistress Barker still is. Or was, before all this. But why would they be–” She stops and leans closer to the window. “That’s the last foursome.”

I look out and see four soldiers marching up the road.

If the pattern Maddy’s spotted is right, the time is now.

If the pattern’s right.

“You ready?” I whisper.

“Of course I’m not ready,” Maddy says, with a terrified smile. “But I’m going.”

I see how she’s flexing her hands to keep them from shaking. “We’re just going to look,” I say. “That’s all. Out and back again before you know it.”

Maddy still looks terrified but nods her head. “I’ve never done anything like this before in my whole life.”

“Don’t worry,” I say, lifting the sash on my window all the way up. “I’m an expert.”

The ROAR of the town, even when it’s sleeping, covers our footsteps pretty well as we sneak across the dark lawn. The only light is from the two moons, shining down on us, half-circles in the sky.

We make it to the ditch at the side of the road, crouching in the bushes.

“What now?” Maddy whispers.

“You said two minutes, then another pair.”

Maddy nods in the shadows. “Then another break of seven minutes.”

In that break, Maddy and I will start moving down the road, sticking to the trees, staying under cover, and see if we can get to the communications tower, if that’s even what it is.

See what’s there when we do.

“You all right?” I whisper.

“Yeah,” she whispers back. “Scared but excited, too.”

I know what she means. Out here, crouching in a ditch under the cover of night, it’s crazy, it’s dangerous, but I finally feel like I’m doing something, finally feel like I’m taking charge of my own life for the first time since being stuck in that bed.

Finally feel like I’m doing something for Todd.

We hear the crunch of gravel on the road and crouch a little lower as the expected pair of soldiers march past us and away.

“Here we go,” I say.

We stand up as much as we dare and move quickly down the ditch, away from the town.

“Do you still have family on the ships?” Maddy whispers. “Someone besides your mother and father?”

I wince a little at the sound she’s making but I know she’s only talking to cover her nerves. “No, but I know everyone else. Bradley Tench, he’s lead caretaker on the Beta, and Simone Watkin on the Gamma is really smart.”

The ditch bends with the road and there’s a crossroads coming up that we’ll have to negotiate.

Maddy starts up again. “So Simone’s the one you’d–”

“Shh,” I say because I think I heard something.

Maddy comes close enough to press against me. Her whole body is shaking and her breath is coming in short little puffs. She has to come this time because she knows where the tower is, but I can’t ask her to do it again. When I come back, I’ll come on my own.

Because if anything goes wrong–

“I think we’re okay,” I say.

We step slowly out from the ditch to cross the crossroads, looking all around us, stepping lightly in the gravel.

“Going somewhere?” says a voice.

Maddy takes in a sharp breath behind me. There’s a soldier leaning against a tree, his legs crossed like he couldn’t be more relaxed.

Even in the moonlight I can see the rifle hanging lazily from his hand.

“Little late to be out, innit?”

“We got lost,” I sputter. “We were separated from–”

“Yeah,” he interrupts. “I’ll bet.”

He strikes a match against the zip of his uniform jacket. In the flare of light, I see SERGEANT HAMMAR written across his pocket. He uses the match to light a cigarette in his mouth.

Cigarettes were banned by the Mayor.

But I guess if you’re an officer.

An officer without Noise who can hide in the dark.

He takes a step forward and we see his face. He’s got a smile on over the cigarette, an ugly one, the ugliest I’ve ever seen.

“You?” he says, recognition in his voice as he gets nearer.

As he raises his rifle.

“Yer the girl,” he says, looking at me.

“Viola?” Maddy whispers, a step behind me and to my right.

“Mayor Prentiss knows me,” I say. “You won’t harm me.”

He inhales on the cigarette, flashing the ember, making a streak against my vision. “President Prentiss knows you.”

Then he looks at Maddy, pointing at her with the rifle.

“I don’t reckon he knows you, tho.”

And before I can say anything–

Without giving any kind of warning–

As if it was as natural to him as taking his next breath–

Sergeant Hammar pulls the trigger.

[TODD]

“Your turn to do the bog,” Davy says, throwing me the canister of lime.

We never see the Spackle use the corner where they’ve dug a bog to do their business but every morning it’s a little bit bigger and stinks a little bit more and it needs lime powdered over it to cut down on the smell and the danger of infeckshun.

I hope it works better on infeckshun than it does on smell.

“Why ain’t it never yer turn?” I say.

“Cuz Pa may think yer the better man, pigpiss,” Davy says, “but he still put me in charge.”