| 14
When Terrence and Gianna leave to go clothes shopping and I'm left alone with Wyatt, I get scared. Every night for the past two days, I've reread Nevaeh's story and just last night, I realized something. And I need Wyatt's help, but I don't know what he's going to do. I don't know how he'll react. This might even be too much for him.
"You look tense, Olive," Wyatt observes.
"Oh, I'm okay." I rest my back against the couch instead of sitting upright.
He continues to watch me. "We should probably fill out the Creation applications tonight. We only have two weeks."
I nod. His mention of the application sends me back to Nevaeh deciding to leave instead of going through with the reproduction. What if I had chosen to leave with Landon without knowing the information she gave me? Wyatt, Gianna, and Terrence would be dead.
"Listen, Olive. I know this is crazy. I don't want to do this either. But, once this whole reproduction process thing is over, it will be a normal Companionship again. Well, I mean, almost normal."
"Maybe for you, but I'll be pregnant. I have to carry a baby for nine months," I snap.
Wyatt's eyes bulk. "Yeah, that's true. But, it'll still be... Well, I guess I wouldn't know since... I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I'll be here for you the entire time. I'll make it as easy for you as I can."
"Wyatt, I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"I think Landon and Mia are in trouble."
"Why?"
"Landon and I met the Serf working in the store and she gave us some papers. They say there can never be an odd number. Landon's Companion is really sick. If he dies, they'll all be killed," I blurt.
He stares at me for a moment before speaking. "I want to see the papers."
I reach into my pants pocket and hand them to him. I've kept them on me at all times in case Kent shows up for a surprise visit and snoops around in our rooms.
Wyatt reads them quickly, then hurls them into the air. They flutter to the ground like forbidden snowflakes. "A Serf gave this to you the other day and you're just telling me now? You promised to tell me everything. Twice."
"I know I was wrong, but I wanted to take some time to digest the information myself. Please, ignore my mistake for now and think about what could happen to Landon and Mia."
The whites of his eyes seem to disappear, polluted by the murky darkness of his irises. He's madder than ever; I can tell. But, it's worth it. Lives may be at stake and if I hadn't taken the time to read over the material alone, I might not have realized.
He clears his throat and glares at the floor. "There's no guarantee their Companion will die."
"They're taking him to the doctor, Wyatt. It must be serious if a simple house call couldn't fix him. The hospital is for critical conditions."
He remains silent.
I reach out for his hand, but he pulls away. "You read the papers. They killed her entire Companionship because she left. Landon said their Companion was really, really sick. We can't let this happen to them."
"Your Companion went missing and left you alone in your last Companionship. Why weren't you and your Companions killed?"
His question rattles me. We were spared. Why?
"Freder punched me and was replaced. Why didn't they replace Nevaeh?"
So many contradictions I hadn't thought of.
Wyatt clenches and unclenches his fist. "It's weird enough that the Serf contacted you and didn't report anything. Or maybe she did. Maybe she set you up. Kent could be standing outside the door right now. You're honestly gullible enough to believe this little story she made up to bait you?"
Tears sting my eyes. "I don't know. We don't have many answers, but I feel like this is real. I think she was warning us."
"I think this is dangerous. Landon and Mia will be fine. Just leave it alone," he says.
At this moment, I know I resemble Gianna as Freder was taken away, tears rolling down my face, but I have no choice but to beg. "Wyatt, please. What if you're wrong? They'll die."
He closes his eyes. The arch of his frown grows sharper. It's like a thunderstorm rages around him as he struggles to make a decision. After several minutes of contemplation, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the map of Parity we used to get to Sync. He unfolds it and points at a dot not far from Togethe Town. "I'm guessing they would take him to the hospital in Fairen; it's the closest."
I want to hug him, but he hunches over the coffee table, examining the map and unwilling to meet my eyes. Instead, I dry my cheeks with my t-shirt and lean in closer.
"They never told us where their Lodging is located," he continues, "but let's just assume it's within ten miles of Togethe Town. It would be easiest to warn them before they leave, but that would involve searching random Lodgings without making contact with Outsiders. Basically impossible."
"That wouldn't work anyway. Landon said they were taking him today. They'll be gone by the time we find them," I remind him.
Wyatt sighs. "Then, we're looking at breaking into the hospital. Without a sick Companion, they won't give us clearance. If we get in, we have to find them. Then, we have to somehow warn them with Serfs and Service members clogging up the place."
"I can pretend to be sick. And, you can communicate with Landon the same way I did in the store."
"Okay, let's say all of that works. Then, what?"
Then, what. That is the question. Then, escape with Landon, Mia, and their other Companion, leaving the sick one to die alone. Then, leave all of them there, praying their Companion won't die, waiting for their execution. Then, risk the lives of everyone by hiding their entire Companionship in our Lodging. There's no perfect solution to the problem.
Wyatt looks at me like he's waiting to say I told you so. I couldn't live with myself knowing Landon was heading to his doom and I did nothing to prevent it. I can barely live with myself knowing I have to reproduce in this Companionship. We don't have any pretty options. The journey ahead of us is ugly, but it has to be done.
"We rescue them and bring them back here. If the sick one is well enough, we'll bring him, too," I decide.
Wyatt laughs. "Wow, you've really changed since we first met."
"Lots of things have changed."
"Well, faking an illness won't work. We have to make you appear convincingly sick, wait for a government official to come by and give you a checkup. If he has a cure, then there's no hospital clearance. We have to break in."
"That'll be hard."
He strokes his chin. "Maybe not. No one really expects people to break into a hospital. I mean, who wants to go to a hospital? The hard part will be locating them. We have to get access to the hospital's roster."
I rack my brain for their sick Companion's name. "Landon called him Carlos. We could just ask for his room."
"In my twelfth Companionship, the one where I started remembering stuff, I went to a hospital. They have the names of the patients beside the doors."
"I guess the quickest thing to do would be to barge in, tell them what's going on, and let them decide what they want to do."
"Yeah, flawless idea. Oh wait, just kidding. Service members are sure to be crawling all over the hospital. That's the quickest way to get caught." Sarcasm drips off his words.
"If we're quiet, no one will notice."
Wyatt claps his hands together. "There are at least eight million things that could go wrong, but sounds like we have ourselves a perilous rescue mission. When do we embark?"
"The sooner the better."
"Bright and early tomorrow morning?" Wyatt suggests.
"Perfect."
-|-|-
Bright and early the following morning, I awake to Gianna shaking me, violently.
"Today's the day! We're leaving! Wake up!" Gianna yells in my ears. Her face, although still slightly blurred by my sleep-laden eyes, is clearly overjoyed. Not even Freder made her this happy.
I gently push her away, but she hops back onto my bed, bouncing.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"We're going to Surren!"
Suddenly, the plans for this morning surge to the front of mind. Surren wasn't a part of the plan. "What? Today?"
"Yeah, Wyatt decided we should go today. We're leaving right now! Get up! I already packed for you." She plops an overstuffed suitcase onto my stomach.
"No, no, no. We can't go today."
"Why not?" she asks, sliding off of my bed.
I search for an excuse. "Because... we need to fill out our Creation applications."
She dismisses my concern with a wave of her hand. "We can do that in Surren. With a gorgeous view of the mountains of Parity."
"But-"
She grabs my suitcase and yanks at my arm with the other. "Get. Up," she groans, pulling on me with all her strength. I let her drag me onto the floor and into the living room, unable to process what's happening.
Surren is hours away. Landon and Mia are minutes away. What is happening? What is Wyatt doing? Does he know something I don't know?
Terrence helps me to my feet. "Ah, she's finally awake!"
My head snaps to Wyatt. He's leaning against the door, clutching a duffle bag. There's no sign of anxiety on his face.
"Why, Wyatt?" I ask.
He feigns confusion. "Why, what?"
"Why are we leaving? I thought we were, um, filling out applications today."
"I don't really feel doing that right now. We all need a break from thinking about reproduction. We need to have some fun."
"We can have fun here."
He stretches and yawns. "Fun, here? What's fun here? The town store? The hospital? Those don't sound like fun to me."
The nonchalant tone in his voice strangles me. We're not going to rescue them. The plan we made, we're not doing it.
Gianna laughs. "Loosen up, Olive. We're only going for a week."
A week. An entire week.
"Everybody ready? The taxi is already outside," Wyatt says.
A whole week. There's no hope.
"I'll help you, Olive." Terrence escorts me out the door.
We're going to Surren for wining and dining when four lives are about to be extinguished.