Sunset Rising

“The place is filling up with guards now, so I want the two of you to march in front of me. It will look like I caught you out during curfew,” Bron said.

“Let’s go.” It pained me to leave my father, but I risked everyone’s safety if I stayed. If I were discovered here, my father would be in trouble for hiding a criminal. And if I sent Jack on to the apartment that Benjamin and Autumn were supposed to share and Autumn was absent during the check-in, then he would be questioned about my whereabouts, which would probably blow our cover. I had no choice but to go. I silently cursed Jack for giving me an identity that prevented me from looking after my father.

We marched toward the stairs, Bron behind us with her gun. We only had two levels to climb, so it would be a short walk. As we started up, two guards coming down stopped us.

“A couple of troublemakers?” one of them asked.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Bron said. She motioned for us to keep moving.

“Why are you even bothering to take them upstairs? Just shoot them,” the other guard said.

“That’s against regulations.” She prodded us with the barrel of her gun. “Keep moving.”

“Since when do we worry about regulations down here?” The guard laughed and the other joined in. “Listen, if you want to get your exercise climbing up and down those stairs, be my guest. But I see anyone out, I’m shootin’ them.”

We made it to the fourth level then without further incident. Once we located our new apartment, I nervously passed my hand over the sca

“I have to go back down, so you’re on your own. I’ll keep an eye on your father,” Bron said.

“Thank you for everything.” I wanted to give her another hug to show how much I appreciated her help, but if a guard came around the corner and saw it, we would both be in a lot of trouble.

“Thanks,” Jack said.

“It’s been a real privilege, sir. I’ll help out any way I can.” She left to go back to the sixth level.

We went in and checked out our new home. The place looked tidy. I wondered about the previous occupants and where they might be now. Culled? Shot during the riot? How long had it been empty?

“Why was Bron acting that way with you?” I asked.

“I told you Liberty has supporters, and I guess she’s one of them. Why did you take the coal?”

“My hair.” I took off my cap and threw it on the table. My hair was still in the tight bun I’d worn under Leisel’s wig. I took out the elastic and shook it loose. It felt good. I picked up the coal and rubbed it against a lock of hair. “See? No more red. You should use it too. No one has light hair down here.”

I finished rubbing the coal through my hair and handed it to him. He took it, looking at it dubiously. Then he took off his cap and started rubbing his head with it.

“Not like that. You’re making a mess.” I sat him in the chair and rubbed the coal just against his short strands, staying away from his scalp. “There.” Dark hair didn’t suit him at all, but I decided to keep that to myself.

I walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet, hoping the previous occupants hadn’t used up all their water rations. The water flowed. I took a glass down from the cupboard and filled it.

“There won’t be any food in here, but we have water,” I said. I had almost drained the glass when there was a knock at the door.

“Is that the guard for the check-in?”

I nodded, went to the door, and opened it. A guard stood there with a sca

“How can your father do the check-in if he can’t get out of bed?” Jack’s voice held a note of concern.

“Bron’s been the guard in that section for as long as I can remember. She’s probably checking him in.”

“He looks really sick,” Jack said softly.

“He is.” He was sick with grief over the death of my mother; sick with despair knowing his own death was only months away. I should be with him, but I was trapped. “And thanks to you, he’s on his own.”

Jack held up both his hands as if to ward off a blow. “I didn’t know.”

“I told you! Before your wedding, I told you my dad was sick and I had to look after him. But you didn’t listen because you didn’t care.”

“I’m sorry.”

I saw the sincerity on his face, but the sentiment had come too late. My father was alone because Jack didn’t want to be left on his own down here. I blamed him for my predicament.

“I need sleep.” Without another word, I escaped into the bedroom and closed the door. I didn’t care where he slept or even if he stayed. I just crawled onto the thin mattress and tried to blot out the last three days of my life.

I felt so hopeless.

Chapter Twelve

It wasn’t the sound of the bong bongs going off that startled me awake but the reaction of the person in the next room. I sat up, eyes wide open.

“What the hell is that?” Jack asked, as he raced into the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Aren’t there any windows in here? What’s going on out there?”

“Relax. It’s just the morning call to work. The lockdown must be over. That’s why no one came to check us in again during the night.”

“Morning call to work?” He looked confused.

“Happens every morning down here in the Pit. We have about fifteen minutes to get to the common room for breakfast. Exactly one hour from now, we need to scan in at our place of work. And we can’t be late or we’ll lose our jobs, and Benjamin and Autumn will be homeless and no better off than Jack and Su

I got out of bed. I realized I still had the bulletproof vest on, and it was begi

“Leave it on if you can stand it. It makes you look heavier—less like Su

He was probably right. Plus the added protection against bullets might come in handy if I was caught.

We went out into the living room. Jack do

I decided to go to the sixth-floor common room for breakfast. There was already a lot of traffic on the stairs—early risers hoping to be first in line for breakfast. Technically we were supposed to stay on our own level for meals, but the guards never bothered to enforce that rule. Mealtimes were about the only time throughout the day when we could socialize, and the guards didn’t mind, as long as we went about it peacefully.

We reached the sixth level, and I turned toward my home to get my dad to come to breakfast. I was hoping I could get him out of bed quickly, because I didn’t want to miss out on the food. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I last ate and it appeared that I would have to go and work a full day in the laundry room. As I rounded the corner in the hall, I could see Bron standing not far from my father’s apartment. She looked startled to see me and silently shook her head.

“Stop,” Jack said, grabbing my arm to prevent me from going any further. “Something’s wrong.”

I gave Bron a questioning look, and she mouthed the word “guards.” I didn’t know if she meant someone was at my father’s house right now or if they had been there. I wondered if my father was okay, or if the guards were there to kick him out of the apartment now that I was no longer there to support him.

“Turn around,” Jack said. “Take us to the common room. There’ll be a bigger crowd there to get lost in.”

Since I had no choice, I did as he asked. I had to trust that Bron wouldn’t let anything happen to my father. At least I’d been able to get food and water into him the night before.