It's been three days and I haven't found anything.
The farther away I get from the City, the more wild things get. I can hear the sounds of nature again; birdsong and the calls of small animals are distracting me. Perhaps that's why I haven't covered as much distance as I'd like to have. Just a few hours ago I could have sworn I heard the sound of a river. I thought about following the sound, but I still have enough water for a few more days. I can't afford to get distracted now.
But as the sun falls lower in the sky, I wonder if maybe the river isn't the right way to go. One of the things I remember from my time in the Outside was Atlas bringing me food and water. If I knew where he got them from, I don't remember it. All I remember was the water he brought me was in a strange bottle. A canteen, I think was what he called it. It was made of some material that doesn't exist inside the City.
I never saw where he got the water from, but their camp had to be somewhere near a source of water. Maybe if I follow the river, I can find their camp. But heading in the direction of the river would steer me off course, and I need to keep heading north. That's what I remember. True north. But maybe "true north" doesn't mean what I think it means. I look back, looking south, and realize with a start that I can't see the walls of the City anymore. How many miles have I traveled? How far will my journey take me?
"Huh. I guess he was right, after all." I jump when I hear the voice, only barely managing to bite down my scream. I look around, and about twenty feet from me, I see three people dressed mostly in green standing on a hill. Each of them has random stripes sewn into their clothes. The one on the left only has one yellow stripe around his left thigh. The one in the middle has three pink stripes, one on each bicep and around her right calf. The one on the right, though, is practically covered in stripes of all colors. So many that I can barely see the green of his clothes.
"And you thought he was being paranoid," the woman in the middle says.
"Well, I never thought we'd actually get something to do!" the one on the left says. He was the one who spoke first.
"Seems you need to have a little more trust, Cory," the one on the left says.
"Shut your mouth, Kyran."
"Aw, look at you two, fighting like an old married couple. Oh, wait," the woman says, eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Lee?" Cory starts. Kyran, the one covered in stripes, is all smiles as the woman, Lee, begins to laugh. "You shut your mouth."
"Alright, enough!" I exclaim, and all three heads turn to me. "What is going on?"
"Oh, right, you're probably a bit confused. Grumpy one is Cory, the rainbow one over here is Kyran, and my name is Alesia, but everyone calls me Lee. And you," Lee says, pointing at me. "Are heading in the wrong direction."
"What?" I ask, completely shocked. I can't be going the wrong way. True north, that's the way I remember having to go. And these three are obviously Renegades. Nobody in the City, except for Invalids, would wear such colors. They wouldn't wear colors at all, actually. Outside of Invalids, all Citizens wear some shade of gray. So what the hell is going on here?
"I assume you're looking for the Renegades?" Kyran asks, and I nod. "Well, you're going the wrong way. You aren't going to find them if you keep going."
"What? What are you talking about?" I wonder, growing exasperated. Have I really spent three days going in the wrong direction? But if I was going in the wrong direction, then why were these three out here? And more importantly, what direction am I supposed to be going in?
"The camp isn't towards the north. If you want to get there, you actually have to go east. Who told you to head north?" Cory asks.
"Well, I heard some rumors inside the City. Some Citizens were talking. They said something about 'true north'. So when I escaped, I went north," I explain. It's strange how easily the lie slips off my tongue. But stealth is part of my mission. Nobody can know the real nature of my "escape." They can't know that I was actually let out and that I'm trying to bring the Renegades down from the inside. Even if these three figure it out, I can't risk them sending a message somehow and warning Atlas.
"See, I told you this would happen!" Lee exclaims, and I raise an eyebrow. "I warned everybody that the phrase would get morphed. It seems that only the second half of the phrase is being remembered when the first half of the phrase is the important part."
"And what is the full phrase?" I wonder.
"'East is true north'. That's the phrase," Kyran tells me, and I sigh. Of course I only remembered part of the phrase. And of course the part I remembered was the part that sent me in the wrong direction.
"So what are you guys doing all the way out here?" I ask, and Lee shrugs.
"Atlas shared my concerns that the phrase would get messed up, so he sent a small group of us out here to make sure that anyone who came in this direction was rerouted. We stay out here for a month, and then he sends a new group to take our spot so we can be at camp with everyone else," she explains, giving me a smile. Well, that doesn't sound like the Atlas I remember. The Atlas that the Cardinals speak of. The Atlas that kidnaps small children and makes their sisters disappear.
"So what? Do I just switch directions and start going east now?" I ask, and Cory scoffs.
"You do that, you'll miss the camp completely. I assume you heard the river on your way here?" he asks me.
"Yeah?"
"Go find that river and start following it back the way you came. Eventually the river tapers off to the east. You'll know you're getting close when the river flows down into a canyon," Cory explains.
"Alright, well, I guess I'll be on my way." I start to walk in the direction I thought I heard the river coming from, but Lee makes a noise to catch my attention. I turn back to her, and she gives a concerned smile.
"You might want to hold off on that. We're thinking there's going to be a storm tonight, a bad one. You don't want to be near the river when it hits," Lee tells me.
"The sky is clear. What makes you think it's going to storm? And why wouldn't I want to be near the river?" I ask, and Kyran laughs.
"Ah, now, I don't know about the first part. Lee has a way of scoping those things out. She's... usually correct," he answers.
"Usually?" I wonder, completely unimpressed.
"He's saying she's not as good as Gemma," Cory says, and Lee playfully slaps him on the shoulder. "Which is a shame, because Gemma was the one who taught her." Okay, now who's Gemma? Probably another Renegade, but is she with this group or back at the main camp?
"Hey, it's not my fault my nose isn't as strong as hers. I swear, that woman is part wolf. She can sniff anything out. And I mean anything. She knew about Cory and Kyran here before anyone else did," Lee responds, and I look between Cory and Kyran. Ah, now the "old married couple" comment makes sense. Well, it's said that opposites attract, and Cory and Kyran seem to be opposites. Cory is the storm cloud, and Kyran is the sunshine that comes after. I wonder how Lee deals with it.
"She's not part wolf. We all know why her sense of smell is as strong as it is. It's the same reason her hearing is also stronger than normal," Cory mentions. So, what's the deal with Gemma? What is the mystery reason for her seemingly enhanced senses? At least a dozen possible diagnoses come to mind, but nothing I can pinpoint without knowing more. Strange. Even though I lost my title, my Doctor mode hasn't seemed to turn off. I want to ask about Gemma, but that doesn't seem right to me. I'll see her when I get to camp, anyway. I can make my evaluation then.
"Gemma taught me to smell storms. I can smell one coming now. Now, as for the river. Normally, that river is pretty tame. But when a large storm comes through, it can be wild and unpredictable. You don't want to be anywhere near it if that happens. If it floods, it could sweep you right into it. The next time someone sees you, it'll be when your body washes up on the riverbed," Lee tells, and I gulp. I don't want my mission to end before it can begin, especially not because of something as stupid as getting drowned in a flooded river.
"So, what do I do?" I ask, and Lee gestures her head behind her.
"We're set up about ten yards that way. Our shelter isn't the best, but it'll protect us. You can hang with us until the storm passes. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, the river will have mostly calmed and you can be on your way," she offers, and I nod. Storm or no storm, it will be nice to sleep with something over my head. For the past three days, I've been sleeping mostly out in the open. I've been trying to find trees to sleep under, but last night I was out of luck. At least tonight I'll sleep under something more sturdy. It's only been three days, but I already miss my bed back in the City.
I follow Lee back to their camp. She tried to talk the entire way, but I just stared straight ahead, trying to think. Why would Atlas send a group of people all the way out here? Surely he doesn't care that much about escapee Citizens getting to the right place? In the City, the whispers about Atlas speak of a dominating figure that rules over the Renegades with fear. Most of them only stay because they're afraid of him or because they're as demented as him. After all, there has to be something wrong with him. Why else would he kidnap a six-year-old child?
But if he only rules through fear, then why are Lee, Cory, and Kyran still out here? It wouldn't be hard for them to just escape back into the City. The Cardinals would take mercy on them. They take mercy on anyone that realizes they were wrong to join the Renegades, especially if they said they'd only joined out of fear. On the other hand, though, if they did go back into the City, they'd be Invalids. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe they only stay out here because their fear of becoming Invalids outweighs their fear of Atlas.
"We're right up there. You're going to see one more person. That's Jax. He's my man," Lee tells me. About ten feet away, I see four tents set up around a firepit. The man in question, Jax, looks like he's cooking something. My stomach begins to growl. I still have plenty of food left in my backpack, but a hot meal does sound nice. That, and a meal now and in the morning would make my supplies last longer. I'll need it if I need to backtrack all the distance I've covered. I look at the four Renegades, and an amusing thought hits me.
"How do you deal with being surrounded by three men for a month?" I ask, and Lee laughs.
"Well, it's easy when two of them have eyes for each other and the other one is wrapped around my finger," she answers, and I smile. Lee is a smart woman. I like her. She walks me up to the firepit and points me out to Jax. He looks up at me and waves. I wave back.
"Hey. I'm sure Lee introduced me. What's your name?"
"Macy," I say, and Jax nods.
"Well, Macy, you're just in time. I'm just finishing up here," he says. Kyran runs up and plops down beside the firepit, sitting in a crisscross. Cory takes a much slower approach, making his way over to Kyran and gently sitting beside him. Lee sits herself in Jax's lap, the latter wrapping his free arm around her as he finished up his cooking. I look at the four of them, a pang in my heart. While Cory is trying to hide it, he'd amused by Kyran's antics, and at some point, he leaned over and kissed the latter on the cheek. Lee is laughing at something that Jax said, the firelight casting a beautiful glow on their skin, enhancing the contrast between Lee's dark skin and Jax's pale complexion.
A week ago, I had that. Cassie and I were like that. I can remember the two of us sitting on the couch, cuddled up and watching the news while Eliot played. But that's over now. But maybe if I complete my mission, I can have Cassie and Eliot back. I can have my life back, and I can go on as if this never happened. I can find out the truth about what happened to Skye, and I can finally put that behind me, too. All I have to do is complete my mission.
Once I'm sat down between the two couples, Jax passes around some food. It's some type of meat that I can't identify, and I'm not sure I want to. Who knows what poor critter was killed so they could eat? I'm not sad about the animal; that's just the way of nature. I'm just not sure if I want to know what I'm eating. It tastes good, so that's all that really matters to me.
Just as we're finishing our meal, I look up to see rolling storm clouds have blanketed the sky. Looks like Lee was right about the storm, after all. Thunder crashes, and all four Renegades start to move. Jax puts the fire out as quickly as he can, covering the embers with a tarp. He tosses me a blanket and a pillow, showing me to the tent I'll be spending the night in. The two couples go into their own tents, leaving me to go into my own.
I fall asleep to the sound of rain and my own thoughts about what I'll do when I find the real Renegade camp.
******************
It takes me four days to get to the point where the river begins to head east. It's only because of my compass that I recognize that point. I keep the four Renegades in my mind. I wonder how long they've been out there; how much longer they have to stay there before a new group goes to take their place. I also have a new question to ask. Once Atlas is captured, I'm going to ask him why he sends four Renegades out into the middle of nowhere every month. Is it a punishment of some kind? How exactly does he decide which ones go and which ones stay? And how does he trust that they'll come back? Are they really that afraid of him?
It takes me another two days to see the canyon that Cory was talking about. It's an incredible natural structure. The ground seems to drop, with cliffs rising up on either side around it. The river runs right through the middle of it, giving me an idea of how the canyon was made. In school, I read a geology book that talked about erosion and how canyons were made. I never understood why a geology book was inside the school's library when there was no earth inside the City, bar the graveyard. There were several books in that library that I'm still unsure of how they got there.
As I descend into the canyon, I think about how to get to the actual camp. If I remember correctly, it's at the top of one of these cliffs, in a forest. When I was brought out here at six, we didn't come through this way. We came up out of the ground via a tunnel system that I couldn't keep track of at the time. If I saw how to access those tunnels, the memory is locked away somewhere. If I'm lucky, I'll find a way to the top that doesn't involve climbing up the rocks. I avoided drowning in a river; I'm not trying to kill myself by attempting rock climbing for the first time in my life.
Just as I'm looking around, trying to spot something that can help me, movement flashes in my peripheral vision. I look up to where I saw the movement. At first, nothing's there. I start to think that maybe I imagined it, but then I see a figure appear at the top of the cliff. Then another. Then two more. Before I know it, there are ten figures on the edge of the cliff, all looking down at me. They're all dressed in green, each person having stripes of different colors and different quantities. I smile as I look up at them.
I've finally found the Renegades.