The System

It was too late to take back the confession and she searched her brain, trying to figure out if she had told anyone else about Darla and Teddy. Or had she been too preoccupied with her separation from Grant or taking in her new home?

“So, your brother is not alone. There are other survivors,” Huck said in a steady voice. “Like Grant? Unaffected by the virus?”

She stayed silent as long as she could. She did not know which was the worse crime. Eventually, she shook her head. “No,” she finally said, but she refused to say anything more.

“I see. This is news. So…you are trying to say that there are vaccinated survivors left in Oregon? And I should warn you…withholding information will harm your brother,” Huck said to her as a blatant threat. He leaned across the table and extended his hand. “I am surprised, you see, not angry. I deserve to know what awaits my team back in Oregon. We must go back prepared.”

That piqued her interest and Lucy looked up. “You’re going back for him? Really? My mother said—”

“It was always my intention to go back for Ethan. I owe your father that.”

“He’s been injured. He needs help soon. You have to go soon,” Lucy pleaded. She had renewed hope and energy, but she was overcome with urgency.

“Who else is there with him? How should we best prepare for a rescue mission?” Huck asked this while looking down at his plate. He moved a piece of toast around in the sugar and then popped it into his mouth. His eyes were raised with concern and interest. Lucy didn’t know how to respond or if to trust him. She hesitated.

“It’s okay,” Huck said with a wave of his fork. “Don’t say anything you feel uncomfortable sharing.”

“Thank you,” replied Lucy. She stared at her untouched breakfast. Picking up her fork, she moved some of the pieces around, isolating the apples on one side and the bread on the other.

“Almost everyone was accounted for,” Huck mumbled to himself. “That’s okay. That’s okay.” He ran his fingers over his lips and mimed throwing away a key. “I’ll pressure you no more.”

Huck reached down and rang the little silver bell. The man appeared and walked the distance to the table, standing at attention by Huck’s side.

“Yes, Mr. Truman?” he asked.

“Summon Scott King to my office in fifteen minutes. Thank you,” Huck told the man.

“Of course, Mr. Truman,” he replied and walked back across the vacant Sky Room.

“You haven’t touched your breakfast,” Huck said and he pointed to Lucy’s full plate. “Would you like me to have someone box it up for you?”

Lucy shook her head and forced herself to take a bite. “I feel like…” she started and stopped. She ran her hand over her forehead. “If I leave breakfast and you still won’t let me save my friend…I feel like a failure.”

“He means that much to you?”

Lucy nodded.

“I can’t guarantee his life. It’s not a simple decision. There are factors. Ramifications. How do I explain it to the others who also had people they loved…and were forced to stay behind…”

“You already told the masses that you are making decisions for the good of the System.” Lucy was proud of this argument and she felt her confidence building.

“So, all of my addendums are just to benefit the Kings,” Huck said and he set his fork down and leaned in, ru

“I don’t care about what other people think.” Lucy deflated.

“You should. You must.”

“I just want to see him.”

“Even with the personal risk of being infected?”

Lucy nodded again.

Huck sighed. “Tell me about Oregon.”

She drew in a sharp breath. Telling Huck the truth was too dangerous, and that was not including the fact that telling him how Darla and Teddy survived would be admitting that her father left them the vaccines.

“How did the others survive?” Huck asked her again, more pointedly. “Tell me what is in Oregon and I will give you the boy. I will spare him.”

“Just like that?”

He snapped his fingers. “It is my decision to make.”

She cleared her throat and her hands shook. “There is a woman and her son.”

“Vaccinated.” It was a question. Huck narrowed his eyes and waited for her reply.

She hesitated and then thought of Grant. His skin had turned so yellow and he looked so weak. Yet his letter to her had been kind and spirited. Grant was the epitome of everything good and amazing in the world—and he was being sacrificed. How could she make the choice to never see him again? She needed him.

“My dad left extra vaccines for his kids as a precaution in case we missed a dose. He was afraid of something happening to him before—” as Lucy started to tell Huck, she began to understand her father’s fear. One misstep with Huck could have cost him his place in the System and his clues, his room in the fruit cellar, and his vaccines were ways to ensure that his kids would survive.

“Just the two people?”

Lucy nodded. “We gave the other vaccines away. But when I left, it was just my brother, this woman, and her small son. Teddy,” she added, remembering the child’s face. “They deserve to live. All of them.”

Huck rose from the table without warning and picked up a napkin from beside his plate. He dabbed the corner of his mouth and then dropped the napkin back down. “Thank you,” he said.

“Grant?” Lucy asked in a panic.

“I’ll discuss it with your father,” he replied as he turned and walked away—his back to her, his shoes clapping against the floor. He headed back toward the elevators and out of the Sky Room.

“You said it was your decision,” Lucy called after him. “You said you’d save his life.”

“I will save his life,” Huck continued, still walking away. “But whether or not you get to see him ever again? That is up to your father.” He rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight.

Without even a formal goodbye, Huck was gone, and Lucy sat staring at her plate, reeling, and feeling tricked.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Scott stood outside Huck’s office. He took in a deep breath and then knocked, waiting for an affirmative answer before walking inside. When Huck called from behind the door, he turned the knob and entered. He’d been a visitor to the office several times, but he never tired of the glorious mural painted on each of the four walls. Each time it made his heart skip. Huck had commissioned an artist to create a replica of the view from his office at the old Fourth and Main building where he had conducted most of his business.

If he didn’t stare directly at the artwork, Scott could pretend that he was back in the real world, meeting Huck for the first time, sitting at that office. And when he let his imagination travel in that direction, he often wondered if he would make the same decisions. Ultimately, despite the fear and complications, he was proud that he had saved his family. Lucy could pontificate all she wanted with her narrow understanding of how the world worked, but Scott was secure that he had done the right thing.

Lucy would understand someday. Maybe it wouldn’t be until she had children of her own, but she would understand.

“Sit, sit,” Huck instructed and Scott obeyed. He lowered himself into the big leather chair opposite Huck’s desk and waited for his boss to explain the nature of their meeting. “Your daughter and I had a lovely breakfast this morning, Scott.” Huck leaned back in his chair and folded his hands above his head.

“Thank you for meeting with her. I’m sure you were able to answer many of her questions,” Scott answered, weighing his words.