Every Missing Piece

Chapter Thirteen

Nina frantically shakes her head to remind me to be silent, but I don't need that reminder. Not anymore. I will myself to fade away into the side of the building, but no matter how hard I press my cheek against the brick of the building, it remains as solid as ever.

And we remain absolutely finished.

The footsteps come closer. There are more of them now, a whole group of them, and I can do nothing except cower against Nina and hope for some miracle that will prevent our discovery. If the Keeping finds us, I don't know what they'll do to coax the Desperates' location out of us, but I don't think I can survive it for very long. When I close my eyes, I can still feel the cool metal of the man's knife against my cheek.

There's a sudden crash on the other end of the street, and the footsteps stop.

Nina's eyes widen, and it feels so dangerous to dare to hope, but I pray that the footsteps won't come any closer. In this new silence, I can hear my heart beating far too quickly. After a minute, the footsteps resume again.

Another crash.

This time, the footsteps turn into the sound of running, but they're heading away from us and in the direction of the noise. There's a whoop in the distance and I can barely believe our luck, don't want to think about how narrow our escape was. Nina and I stay crouched in the corner of the entryway for another couple minutes, but soon, Nina stands up and shakes out her limbs.

"Nina?" a nearby voice calls out. To my surprise, Nina doesn't hesitate before striding confidently in the direction of the voice. Hesitantly, I follow her.

Mason steps out of the shadows of the neighboring building. "Close call, Nina," he says, and then his gaze slips over to me. "So you made it after all, Carra. Good."

"How did you do it?" Nina asks.

Mason shrugs. "Mercy was worried that you were taking too long, so she sent me. Did you know that she claims to specialize in distractions? She gave me a few tips before I left."

Nina snorts. "Typical."

The three of us fall into step as we continue on our way to the Desperate camp. After a while, Mason turns to me. "I heard about Jack," he says. "I really am sorry."

I don't say anything. I think I've run out of things to say.

"He's important to you, isn't he? This Jack?"

Nina snorts again. "That isn't the point, Mason," she mutters. I can only nod.

Mason sighs and is quiet for a long time. I count away the seconds and watch the stars above pass us by as we walk. "Mercy will be able to help," he promises at last. "No matter what the Assembly's done with him, she'll know what to do."

None of us speak again until we reach the entrance to the Desperate camp. We enter through the same abandoned unit that Mercy first showed me. This time, I know what to expect. I walk confidently through the hallway, knowing that there's no one from the Keeping waiting to grab me, and when we step together into the rebellion's main gathering place, the sheer size of the place doesn't make me gape.

It takes a moment to weave through the crowds of Desperate rebels, but we eventually find Mercy waiting for us, leaning against a damp cinderblock wall with her arms crossed and eyes closed. As we come closer, her eyes fly open almost as if she could sense our presence.

"Good," she says, "you're here." Mercy signals for us to follow her as she leads us through dozens of Desperates, finally stopping in front of a small room. In the center of the dirt floor there's a worn table, scores of gashes scarring its wooden surface. Two mismatched chairs are placed on either side of the table. The only other addition to the room is a map of Gotten pinned to the wall, red pushpins flagging areas of the city in a code I don't understand.