looked completely unlike herself in that moment. She almost looked like an elite.
I looked around the transport as everyone shifted and coughed in discomfort. There wasn’t much time for me to feel ashamed of changing clothes in front of them, so I simply followed Mia’s lead. Except my efforts lacked the swiftness of Mia’s movements, and I had much less enthusiasm. In many ways, I had evolved past my prude Galla habits, but I still had moments of unyielding modesty.
My shirt got caught in my hair, and my skirt twisted around my legs as I tried to work it off of my round hips. Soon, I felt out of breath and had to pause my untangling to catch it.
“Keep your fucking eyes to the ceiling, Tallis,” Huxley said in a low, threatening tone. My chest rose and fell as I paused and looked up from my twisted skirt to see four pairs of eyes glued to me.
“Believe me, I’m watching out of pure amusement. She’s a clumsy one. Can I request her for someone else’s ambush team?” Tallis asked jokingly .
“Oh shut up,” Huxley said while rolling his eyes, but I saw how the right corner of his lip lifted in amusement.
“If you’re going to stare, one of you might as well help the poor girl. My Agrio is a mess,” Mia said with a snort while strapping a knife to her toned thigh. “Think I could cut a slit in this?” she asked to no one in particular.
The transport was shaped like a rectangle, with leather benches on each side, leaving the middle open. Kemper made his way towards me and kneeled at my feet. He slowly worked the skirt off of me in teasingly slow strides. Once it was no longer tangled around me, Jacob helped me into the thick and encompassing dress, styled in the normal Empirical fashion.
“Can one of you tie the bodice?” I asked in a whisper. The transport felt hot. Maverick looked up at me, and I briefly wondered if he would allow this grudge to continue, or if he would help me. After a pause, he set aside his tablet and motioned me near. With the practiced movements of a surgeon, he slowly tightened the laced strings upon my back. I felt his feather-light fingertips along my spine, and I shivered under his attentive contact. He softly squeezed my hips to indicate he was done, and I shuffled on my knees back to my seat by Jacob as I tried to slow my breath.
I wasn’t sure if it was the too-tight dress, the intense stares of the boys, or my increasing anxiety, but it felt like a heavy weight was on my chest. “How are we sneaking through the Capital again?” I asked in a breathy tone.
“Scavengers have created an underground trade route to get Walkers to the deadlands, we also use it to gather supplies. One of my contacts is there. We can go and refuel, then get on our way,” Tallis explained while braiding his long white hair and pulling it into a rimmed hat.
“How long have you been using this underground trade route?” I asked. Everything I’ve witnessed thus far has showed me that Scavengers were ridiculously resourceful.
“Since we’ve been in the deadlands, Agrio,” Mia answered. “Being banished has its perks, but we had to get a little creative, so to speak.”
“We do what we have to. We survive,” Tallis said while looking at me with his fierce eyes. His lips were cracked, and I saw the flash of his sharp teeth as he bit them.
“Do you think your people made the right decision to escape the Zone and move to the deadlands?” I asked bravely. The options available to those that couldn’t afford the vaccine were limited. Be bought by an elite family, move to the Zone, or escape to the deadlands. None of those seemed sustainable or worthwhile. The world was cruel.
“I don’t think there is a right decision anymore,” Mia said with a frown. She too seemed to contemplate the unfairness of it all.
“I think Dormas is the right place. If I could move everyone safely there, I would,” I said.
As we approached the city, I noticed the impressive towers covered in digital screens and felt significantly out of place. I had grown to love the simplicity of Dormas, and the overbearing buildings that stood over the city felt like mountains of machinery. Once close enough, Tallis took control of the transport’s dash and directed us towards