The System

“How could you possibly—?” Blair started to ask; then she stopped. “Why? Why did you do this for me?”

“The dogs died first,” Lucy said, remembering the fateful day of the Release. She wasn’t going to answer Blair’s question yet. “All the dogs died…but your pet was exempt?”

Blair nodded. “Your father helped me vaccinate Frank. This dog is my best friend. I couldn’t imagine a life without him.”

“And your dad wouldn’t let you go back up and get him?”

“No one is supposed to go to the surface until we move. I mean, my father and his army will travel around occasionally…but…it was a punishment. For…”

“Putting me in the tank?”

Blair closed her eyes. “You don’t understand.”

“You think I don’t understand complicated relationships between dads and daughters? Maybe you shouldn’t underestimate me,” Lucy replied and she put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t just bring your dog back to be kind. I need something and I think you can help me.”

With a sigh, Blair went over and plopped herself down on her couch; she moved aside a pile of clothes and kicked away several pairs of shoes. “Let me guess. You want to see the boy?”

It didn’t surprise Lucy that Blair guessed the reason she was standing there in her room. After all, so many of Lucy’s problems started with Blair and how she reacted seeing them up there aboveground in Brixton. She replayed that day over and over—maybe things would have gone differently if Lucy and Grant had arrived in the System and set their own terms. Huck was hell-bent on keeping the portal closed, but if she had seen her father first, or her mother first, maybe she could have saved Grant from the begi

“And I want a meeting with your dad,” Lucy added, putting everything on the table.

Resting her head on the back of her couch, Blair contemplated the requests. “Lofty requests,” she said after a minute.

“Getting the dog wasn’t easy—”

“I didn’t say no…yet,” Blair responded and she rolled her eyes. After a long moment, she sighed. “Fine. After your parents are asleep tonight, meet me here. Make sure you aren’t seen and aren’t followed. By anyone.”

“That’s it? It’s that easy? Tonight?”

She launched herself up from the couch like a shot and walked over to Lucy, her eyes fierce. “No, it’s not easy. We can’t be seen, we can’t be caught. But I will still help you. And I’ll no longer owe you a damn thing. Understood?”

“Understood,” Lucy said in an instant, afraid that Blair would rescind the offer at any moment. “Water under the bridge.”

“Ha,” Blair replied. Her voice was weary. Frank gave a friendly bark and Lucy leaned down to give the dog one final pat. He licked her hand with his rough tongue and she resisted the urge to bury her face into its fur and soak up his softness. Poor Frank, she thought. But her thoughts quickly turned toward tonight.

Soon she would see Grant.

And after that, she would save him.

Then she would have to find a way out of this place.

In the entirety of her teenage life, Lucy never once deigned to sneak out of the house. She never had a reason, first of all, but in addition to that, the wrath of Maxine was an all too real worry. She often wondered how her friends could deal with the guilt and worry associated with leaving the comfort of their beds behind and slipping out into the night—whether it was for love or friendship or just simple rebellion.

As she waited for her father and mother to drift off to sleep—waited for the subtle snores that emanated through the paper-thin walls—she was wide awake and nervous. Fully clothed underneath the covers, Lucy felt the night drag interminably.

Finally, the apartment fell silent and slipping her feet to the floor, Lucy tip-toed through her room and out into the living room—expecting her mother to burst forth from her room at any moment, her eyes flashing, bringing with her loud fury and rage.

With her hand on the door, Lucy heard the small creak of a door and the quick pitter-patter of feet. She turned and saw Harper scamper toward her, holding a stuffed teddy-bear in her hand, her bare feet slapping against the floor.

“Where are you going?” Harper asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Go back to bed,” Lucy commanded. She bent down and held her sister by the shoulders and turned her back to the room, but Harper pushed against her and spun forward again.

“No, I want to go with you.”

“You can’t go with me,” Lucy whispered. “You have to go back to sleep.”

Lucy’s heart pounded with the threat of discovery. She kept her eyes trained on her parent’s bedroom, waiting for them to stumble out and end her chance to see Grant. She thought of Blair, waiting for her arrival, and hoped that she wouldn’t give up hope that Lucy was coming.

“Are you leaving us?” Harper asked and the question caused Lucy to pause. “Are you going away from us again?”

“What? No,” Lucy answered. “Of course not. I’m coming back.”

“You were gone before and I missed you,” Harper replied and she crawled into her sister’s arms, snuggling her chin on her shoulder.

“I’m not going away. I’m going to see a friend.”

“I want to see your friend too,” Harper said. She was more awake than before, her eyes bright. It would be impossible to direct her back to bed and still make it to Blair on time.

With a groan, Lucy grabbed Harper’s hand and put a finger to her lips. “This is a secret,” she said. “Don’t talk.” And Harper nodded, wide-eyed, and gripped Lucy’s hand tighter. Together they slipped out into the hallway and out the unguarded doors.

She swiped her hand against the elevator doors, and traveled back to Blair’s floor. When the doors opened, Blair was waiting, her back against the metal hallway door. She popped up at the sight of Harper and wagged her finger.

“She was not part of the deal,” Blair said in a hushed voice.

“I had to bring her. She woke up,” Lucy complained and she tightened her grip on her sister’s hand. “I’ll need to see Grant alone…so…”

“Now I’m a babysitter?” Blair moved toward the elevator and swiped her own hand. “You’re pushing it, King.”

“I’m not a baby,” Harper complained. Blair shot her a look and Harper sunk into Lucy’s side.

They boarded the elevator and Blair pushed the button. Lucy watched closely. The same floor as the Center; Lucy’s heart pounded. Grant had been so close all this time and she had maybe even walked right past him without knowing. It made her heart sick to think about it. The doors slid open and there were two guards, Blair nodded to them and they nodded back, turning their heads away from the small trio as they walked in the opposite direction of Cass’s secret hallway.

“They won’t tell?” Lucy whispered and Blair didn’t answer. She rounded a corner and led them down several hallways, before bringing them outside a nondescript door. Then Blair pulled a single key from her pocket and opened the door; unlike the other doors, there was no swipe pad.

When the door swung open, Lucy was looking straight into a shiny lab.

She gulped. Her surreptitious mission now felt real, tangible. Grant was close.

“Stay here, Harper,” she whispered.

“Take the key. It’s a master. It will unlock any room in there,” Blair said and she held the shiny object out to Lucy in her outstretched hand. “You have ten minutes.”

“That’s all?” Lucy’s voice sounded weak and afraid. She cleared her throat. “That’s all I get?”

“Ten. Go,” Blair repeated and gave Lucy a small push inside the bright room.

Lucy walked in and the door shut behind her. She sca