To Be A Rebel

Chapter 18: Everything Is Beautiful

Amelia sighs. "What a day. What a day! The sun is out, there are birds in the trees. Isn't this nice?"

"No, it's not," Maxine deadpans. "Spending time with you is never nice, Amelia. Mainly because of the constant threat of inevitable and homicidal betrayal if the wind changes direction."

"Well, obviously, I meant nice for me, now that your boss is convinced I'm useful." A pleasantly surprised look crosses over her face. "It's interesting, being on the side of good. I can almost see why you do it. I feel so virtuous. I'm almost physically swelling with it. It's a bit gross.

"On the side of the plucky underdogs. Look at me. Here with plucky mother of one Maxine Meyers, death-cheating actual zombie Paula-I forget what your last name is, Paula-and of course, brave, brave Runner Five. The dream team, no less. And little moi. Who'd have thought it?"

I roll my eyes. Dream team, my ass. The dream team was me, Three, Four and Eight. No one can change my mind.

"Aw, be quiet, Amelia. Everyone's bored to death of you already."

She grins. "And Jody on coms. For a moment there, I'd forgotten you'd existed. But that just makes remembering you again all the better. How are you? Still unreasonably feisty?"

Why is she acting like it's been so long since she's seen us? It's been three days. Dramatic, much?

"God, I hate you."

"That's a yes."

"And yet, here I am, talkin' you through this mission while Sam's babysittin'. And by that, I mean sleepin'."

"Good," I say. "He helped me with Adora last night."

"And he did the night feeding for Sarah the night before that," Paula adds, and Amelia puts her hand to heart dramatically.

"What a hero," She says, and I send her a warning glare in reply.

"Alright, we're relyin' on you to come up with somethin' good for us today, Amelia," Jody says. "Wakened Land, whatever it is, has been goin' on for decades, and we need to recruit some powerful allies."

"Would I ever let you down, Jody? I'm going to make an introduction for you to some of my most trusted contacts: Utopia Labs. They're a private enclave of scientists and other thinkers. Pooled their resources to create a good life for themselves: greenhouses full of food, gardens, a swimming pool..."

Maxine rolls her eyes and sighs. "Plutocrats, like that place we met Pro. Downes. They threw out eggplant."

Amelia looks at her disapprovingly. "Listen, Maxine, you've got to give up that tone now that you're a renegade. I didn't want to have to be the one to tell you this, but the fact is, no one likes you."

Paula scoffs, eyeing Amelia with shock. "No one likes us? That's rich coming from you."

The blonde simply clicks her tongue. "Oh, yes. I'd forgot you'd be upset about something like that. Look, the Ministry is what passes for government now in this country. You hate the Ministry because-I don't know-zombie fetus, baby kidnapping, lying on their dating profile, blah blah blah blah blah. Ethics, fine.

"But there are other people who hate the Ministry for the same perfectly sensible reasons people have always hated the government."

"When you say 'perfectly sensible reasons' do you mean the people want control over their own property and supplies, or the people believe all the birds were killed off and replaced with robots to spy on you?" I ask, and she blinks.

"How can you be so young and be such a conspiracy theorist?"

"Um, I'm a legal adult, thank you, and in America, conspiracy theorists are a dime a dozen, okay? I 'learned' about so much stuff from my neighbors, it's unreal."