don’t want you going anywhere alone, do you hear me?”
I nod.
“They won’t want a crowd, so promise me.”
“I promise,” I whisper. “Will, what are we going to do?” I hope to God he has a plan, because I can’t even think straight right now.
“You need to go back to your room.”
My heart hitches. I don’t want to be alone right now.
He continues. “And tomorrow you act normal.” He brushes his knuckles across my cheek again. “Understand?”
I nod. I know he’s right.
“Good.” He runs a fingertip lightly along the inside in my wrist, touching my chip. My pulse quickens. I hate this thing inside me. “They’re not normally watching outside of the outdoor assignments, but since you’re of interest, so I wouldn’t rule it out. We’ll have to be extra careful.”
I lace my fingers with his, knowing that he’s about to send me back to the dorms.
He softens at my touch. “I’ll walk you back. But first, let’s go see Rena.”
That was the last thing I expected him to say, but I instantly feel better that he has a plan. And I know he’s right. I know we can trust her. He pulls on a shirt, and we sneak out of his room, down the hall and stop in front of Rena’s door.
He knocks twice softly, then once, then three times. Rena opens the door, looking startled. We must have woken her up. She’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that’s too big. Her hair is a wild halo around her head and she has sleep lines across one side of her face, but she doesn’t ask any questions; she just ushers us inside and shuts the door behind us.
I’m shivering again, and Will rubs my arms. He repeats the story to Rena so I don’t have to. Halfway through, she stumbles back and sits down on her bed. Her eyes stay locked on mine as Will finishes. When he’s done, she nods once. “Okay.”
“Okay?” my voice croaks.
“We need to get you out of here,” she says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
I look from her to Will. Now I’m the one that’s confused. “I don’t understand.”
But neither of them answers. They seem to have forgotten I’m even in the room. “It’s more difficult now than ever,” Rena says to him. “Two fifteen-year-olds tried to escape over the fence last week to avoid getting their mindscans.” She stands and begins pacing the room. “They were shot and killed while scaling the fence.”
My fists clench at my sides. I know it’s what they’re training me for, but there’s no way I could shoot someone.
Rena continues, “There’s a small group of people calling them heroes. So the government’s tightened security at the fences. Rumor has it that several of the trainees here will be assigned to fence patrol soon.”
I wonder who they’ll assign and realize it’ll probably be my friends, taking away what little support and protection I have here. I need to warn Sam, Alex … Jake. But then I realize it’s pointless. It won’t stop them from being assigned. And it’d be better not to have them around when this staged accident takes place.
“Eve, how much do you know about the Medical Revolution?” Will asks.
At first, I’m too stunned to answer. What does this have to do with anything? But Will’s still looking at me, waiting for me to respond. I think back to what I learned in school. “Forty years ago, crime and disease had skyrocketed out of control, and a financial crisis collapsed the government. They could no longer carry the burden of caring for or locking away society’s sickest people, and technology made the mindscan possible.” I recite it from memory from my history book.
He cocks his side. “But how much do you know about what actually happened?”
I look at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“When the Medical Revolution happened, there was an uprising – a group of people who didn’t believe in the new laws. They were stripped of all rights, their homes and their jobs. They escaped to the wilderness to live off the radar. The government was forced to erect fences around every town and city, to protect the Sleepers from the Radicals.”
“But they never taught us that …”
“No. Of course not. The government doesn’t even officially acknowledge the wilderness exists.”
“And the fences?”
He nods. “Yes. The fences are what keep us in. Hold us prisoner to what the government needs, in order to keep society under control and functioning peacefully.”
Only now, that peaceful, controlled