Part 14 (1/2)

Echoes of the explosion rolled away across the lake. An alarm began to sound.

”Everyone meet up with your cabin!” Claudia shouted.

”Over here!” Todd was calling. All the campers cl.u.s.tered.

”Nomads,” Leech said knowingly. ”Probably mounting another attack.” Everybody tensed at this. One of the younger kids standing nearby overheard Leech, turned, and whispered frantically to his cabin. The panic spread, some children starting to cry.

”Hey, Carey!” Todd snapped at Leech. ”We don't know what happened.”

Leech looked at the rest of us and rolled his eyes.

”All right, everyone!” We looked back to Claudia, who was holding a subnet phone to her ear. ”Everything is secured, nothing to worry about. We're to proceed to breakfast as usual.”

We headed up the hill, everyone mumbling nervously.

”They tried one time back in the spring,” Leech was saying. Everyone in our cabin, even Beaker and Bunsen, stayed within earshot of him like he was our wise sage. I couldn't help listening, too. ”Blowing a hole in one of the supply entrances. There was another time when they tried to get in through the observatory roof. But the Security Forces took them out. Stupid savages.”

”Sometimes they show up in Dallas Beach looking for supplies,” said Noah. ”They're always dressed weird. My brother says they wear skulls around their necks.”

”I heard they practice human sacrifice, and wors.h.i.+p, like, sun G.o.ds and stuff,” said Jalen.

I was pretty sure Jalen was wrong about that. The sun G.o.d stuff was down in Desenna, the human sacrifice too, but that was only rumors. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd heard that the Nomads were the victims of these sacrifices, but I didn't feel like getting into the conversation.

”I heard that they're just kinda normal,” said Beaker.

”Yes, but you're an idiot,” said Leech.

We reached the dining hall doors and waited to file in. A trail of smoke was still rising from behind the camp office buildings. While we stood there, a little cart rushed by, carrying five of Eden's black-suited Security Forces, four guards sitting on the sideways benches behind the driver. There were three men and two women, all wearing helmets and high-laced boots, with rifles over their shoulders. I knew the Edens had security, but it surprised me how much these officers looked like an army.

”Man, I'd like to suit up with those guys and go kick some Nomad a.s.s,” said Jalen wistfully.

We filed in and headed to our table. Everyone was quieter than usual. You could hear the words nomads nomads and and attack attack being muttered everywhere. Todd started filling everyone's cups with bug juice. Today's color was neon pink and, again, I waved it off. being muttered everywhere. Todd started filling everyone's cups with bug juice. Today's color was neon pink and, again, I waved it off.

When it was our turn to get food, I looked for Lilly in the CIT area. There were six of them sitting over there eating, but none of my gill breathers were with them.

I went into the kitchen and got a tray. I took some gray waffles, some fried syntheggs, then I grabbed a cup of the fruit salad and turned- Lilly was standing right in front of me. She took my tray and put it down beside the fruit cups. ”Come on,” she said, and pulled me by the wrist. Instead of heading out the kitchen door into the main dining room, we left through a side door that led into a hallway.

”Where are we going?”

”To see what happened before the official story gets written.”

”Story?”

”History is always written to serve the powerful,” Lilly said over her shoulder. ”Whatever just happened, Paul will change the story so that none of us are afraid.”

”You think we should be afraid?” I asked, not really understanding what she was getting at.

”Not of the Nomads,” said Lilly.

She led me out double doors. We were on the dirt road that led between the dining hall and the administrative buildings. Evan, Marco, and Aliah were standing there.

”Okay, now now can we go?” asked Evan. can we go?” asked Evan.

”Everybody needs to see these things together,” Lilly snapped at him. Then she glanced sharply at me. ”If somebody runs off on their own, we can't defend each other. Remember Anna?”

I figured she also meant me, last night. ”Sorry about that,” I said quickly.

”Yeah, dude, what happened to you?” Marco asked.

”Later,” said Lilly. ”Let's go.”

”Roger that, commander,” said Evan sarcastically. Lilly huffed and brushed past, her shoulder b.u.mping him.

I followed after them, wondering if Todd had noticed yet that I was gone. But whatever, it felt good to be back with my people.

Lilly led the way, ducking off the road into the trees between a staff office building and the infirmary. She turned around and held a finger to her lips, then tiptoed ahead.

We got to the edge of the building and peered through the underbrush. Ahead was the wide paved area and the tall metal double doors. The elevator shaft was off to the left. Before the doors there was a trench, like a dry moat, separating the ground and the wall. A steel bridge stretched over it.

Between us and this bridge was an overturned supply truck. Its squat, square frame was charred and smoking, twisted like it was made of clay. Same for the bridge, which had buckled and half given way. The little security checkpoint house had been flattened. A small fire flickered in its black remains, and one of the Security Forces was spraying it with an extinguisher.

”The bomb must have been in that truck,” said Lilly.

The dome doors were c.o.c.keyed, creating an awkward triangular gap. Everything was smeared with the black of the blast. A few inner panels of the dome had fallen from points above, wide triangular sections that had what looked like frosted gla.s.s on the front and then a feathery layer of radiation insulators on the back. The gla.s.s had mostly smashed all over the blast site, like someone had scattered diamonds. The air was sour with a smell like burned sugar and melting crayons.

But it was that tiny view out the c.o.c.keyed doors that caught my eye. I could see the dry steps of rock, a distant leaning water tower gleaming in white hot sun.

Lilly caught my eye. ”Almost makes you want to make a break for it.”

”Yeah, an express run to death,” said Evan.

”There's Paul,” said Aliah.

He was jogging toward the bridge. Shouts were coming from outside the doors. Three security guards appeared, ducking through with a fourth figure, whose hands were bound behind his back.

”Whoa, they got one,” said Marco.

The prisoner wore dirty jeans and a long, thickly padded coat with a silver reflective surface. He had tinted goggles pulled up onto his forehead, and a black triangle of plastic stuck onto the bridge of his nose. I'd seen these clothes before: all of it was to protect from exposure. He walked tall as they crossed the bridge, a defiant smile on his face.

Paul was calling someone on his phone as the security team edged its way across the twisted bridge. When they reached the other side, Dr. Maria appeared.

Paul motioned to the captive. ”Take him to medical,” he barked, his normal mellow demeanor gone. ”And we'll want him to talk.”

”You know why we're here!” the prisoner suddenly shouted, clearly trying to get as many of the personnel to hear him as possible.