"Cale, sweetie, are you alright?"
I peeled my eyes open, slowly, and gazed straight into a pair of piercing green eyes. They seemed to be scanning my face, searching for any form of life writhing within me.
"Perri?" I murmured groggily.
"No, she's not here right now. It's just me." I pulled myself up to my elbows and looked straight at Lilliana's withered face. Her eyes were wide and sympathetic as her hand stroked the side of my face. "Thank goodness you're alright."
"What do you-"
"Your leg wound was pretty bad. It took us a while to get it all healed up. Thankfully, it's looking better now. But your shoulder..." She trailed off.
I gulped, slightly out of nerves. "What happened to it?"
"It looked infected. It also wasn't healing properly. That is most likely due to unsanitary care of the wound. We tried to take care of it, and we did. But... Well, maybe you should just see for yourself."
I nodded, and stretched out my limbs, which ached with soreness and dulled pain. Lilliana pointed in the direction of a small, cracked mirror in the corner. I got off of the cool, metal table that I was laying on and walked over to it. I pulled the thick black shirt someone must have put on me off over my head and turned around so my back was facing the mirror. Even within the cracks, I couldn't deny the massive scar that ran from just above my chest, through my shoulder, and down to the center of my back. It looked absolutely horrendous.
It wasn't that it was just one, clean cut scar. No, this was much worse. It was jagged all over, and oozed a white and green puss in the places that were not masked by blood. The sight of it made me want to vomit. It wasn't just that I was concerned with my self image. That had never been of high concern for me. You looked how you looked and there wasn't much you could do to change that. It was more the constant reminder it would bring with it. Every time I looked in the mirror, I would be reminded of how I was weak. How, in one instant, I allowed myself to be fragile and breakable, almost like glass. And, just like the glass, I was shattered.
A shaky hand pressed against my uninjured shoulder. "Are you okay, Cale?" Lilliana asked me. Her voice was gentle and warm, yet there was a sharpness hidden underneath it.
I swallowed. "I think so." I sighed. "It's just... Going to take some getting used to."
"I understand." She said. "But don't think for a second that it makes you any different than you were before, okay? Life is not a perfect scenario for anyone. Certainly not for us," she chuckled. "And because of that, we are faced with scars. Sometimes they're mental scars, or internal wounds, if you will. Placed upon our hearts by the mere stroke of heartbreak. Sometimes, our internal wounds are caused by the severity and harshness of text or speech. I know what you're thinking- how would I know that? Just keep in mind, I too have a life outside the Cleanse." She paused, but I didn't dare to fill in the gap. "Anyways," she continued on after a long moment, "often, scars are physical, and place a mark on our appearance. But they don't define you. They don't make you weak or any different than they were before. They are just a sign of the battle you fought, the triumph you went through. And it's something a lot of us have to life with. So while the right side of your body may be scarred for forever, you're still you. You're still Cale." She concluded. I couldn't speak, even if I had wanted to. She was completely, 100% correct in her statement.
After a while of the two of us standing there with our faces in the mirror, I spoke. "You're right." My voice came out much thicker than I anticipated. "Thank you, Lil."
"My pleasure." She replied, and pulled me into an embrace.
"No," I said. "Not just for that. For everything. For what you've sacrificed to help me. I thank you. And I owe you my life for it."
Her eyes looked as if they were about to start pooling with tears. "You know, I've always thought of you like a brother."
"I know." I replied.
I pulled out of her grasp and examined our surroundings. Old, beaten down bookcases lined all of the walls. The room was completely cluttered with random desks, chairs, and knick knacks, that piled all the way to the ceiling. Pushed up against the opposite corner from the mirror was the long, rectangular metal table. Blood was splattered amongst it. From me, presumably.
"Where are we?" I asked.
Lilliana smiled. "Come here, I'll show you."
At the very back of the lengthy room was a tall, narrow bookcase that was lined too to bottom with old, dusty books. If Perri were with me, she'd probably make some remark about how beautiful and charming they were. Ever since I've known her, she's always been crazy about books. She spent any moment she could with them, as if they were her lifeline. Myself, well, I wasn't as crazy about them until I met her. I never truly understood the concept of words providing for endless hours of entertainment, and their ability to make you feel something. But she proved me to be wrong, just as she always has. I'll never forget the day she read her favorite book aloud to me. From the pure passion she used when speaking in the unique dialects of each character in the story to the way her face would perk up every time she got to one of her many favorite parts... How could I not be even a little more fond of books after that?
With the press of a button on a remote, the bookcase swung open, revealing an opening in the wall.
"Well go in," she ushered. "They won't bite "
The inside looked dark from where I stood. The opening was a lot shorter than my stature. I had to duck when I walked inside. The darkness continued for what had to have been at least a half a mile. My hands pressed against the two surrounding walls on either side of me. The darkness was so thick, it was nearly impossible to even make out the shape of my palm.
Once I reached the end, the light hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so blindingly bright that it required me to shield my eyes a bit. When I stepped outside the tunnel, I was greeted by a room much smaller than the first I one I had been in. Where was I? It looked almost like some sort of old, abandoned shop. The floral wallpaper was molded and peeling, and the hardwood floors beneath my feet were almost completely rotted away. I had to be careful not to apply an exorbitant amount of pressure wherever I stepped, or else the floor would cave in underneath me- as it showed in numerous small patches across the entire room. A haggard dining table-caked in a sticky mixture of blood and dirt- sat underneath a slew of old takeout containers and medical supplies against the back wall. A molded-over couch, an old television with a shattered screen, and leaking pipes were among the cast of characters I was greeted by at the end if this tunnel.
"Um... Lil? Where the hell are we?"
Suddenly, shouts of "Cale!" And "Wait, was that Cale I just heard?" flooded my ears. Lilliana didn't even have time to answer before I was tossed around from embrace to embrace. I was greeted by familiar faces- Lu and Benton- but also many unfamiliar faces.
Just as I was about to ask who in the world they were and why they were trying to talk to me, it was Delta- who had emerged from the crowd with a hairless cat in tow- who spoke. "Cale, I'd like you to meet Mr. Denn."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Collins." The man- Mr. Denn- held his shaky, wrinkled hand out towards mine. I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck and extended my hand to meet his. He was much older, presumably around 80 years old. Due to the aftermath of the Uprising, it was unusual to find someone of his age to still be alive. In the Community, however, it was nearly impossible. With the exception of the Mayor, none of the inhabitants of the Community exceeded 25 years of age. Well, some of the scientists were 30 or 35, but they often would lie about their age to the citizens. The Community was kept very young- a tactic Johnson used to ensure that nobody died of natural causes. If they were all young, then it would be impossible for any of them to die of old age. It was a very temporary solution, considering immortality didn't exist. I wasn't sure what Johnson thought he would do when everyone in the community grew old and wrinkled. I guess he hadn't thought that far ahead into the future.
"Um, yeah, nice to meet you too." I muttered.
"I assume you're wondering why he's here," Delta started, "well, you might want to sit down, pretty boy, because this is a good one." She laughed and flopped herself back on the molded couch. The hairless feline yelped at the sudden movement, but Delta just disregarded it. I hesitantly placed myself next to her, but far enough that the disgusting beast of an animal wasn't too close in range. Beside me, on the opposite side from Delta, sat the old man- Mr. Denn. Lilliana pulled up a rickety wooden chair and sat down caddy-corner to the sofa, while Lu and Benton sprawled themselves out amongst the floor. I scanned the room, making eye contact with every single person and counting the total number of people over. And over. And over. Five. Six, including me. Seven with the feline.
Five.
Six.
Seven. Seven total beings in this room. That couldn't be right.
"Hey, Delta?" I asked
"Hmm?" She replied, not breaking her gaze at the feline in her lap. The ugly rat-looking thing made a noise that sounded more like grunting rather than purring as Delta stroked its back.
"How long has it been since you kidnapped me?"
This got her attention. She looked up at me with daggers in her beady black eyes. "I didn't kidnap you, for the record. I was simply getting you away from that lunatic Johnson's nuthouse. So you're welcome, first of all. Secondly, it's been about... Oh gosh, let me see..." She squinted up at the wall across the room from her, where a tiny calendar that was scratched up and ripped all over lay intact with the wall. "Um... Looks like it's been about two-almost three- days."
My stomach automatically felt as if I had run a marathon on a full stomach. This was bad. This was very bad.
"Cale?" Delta asked, her voice sounding more sympathetic than earlier. "Everything alright there, champ?"
"Perri." Was all that I could eek out.
"Come again?"
"Perri." I said again, standing up this time. "Perri- where is she?!" I was practically yelling, but I didn't care. The only thought running through my mind was completely and utterly her.
"What do you mean?!" Delta barked back. "She's right over- oh."
"Yeah, 'oh' is right!"
"The Mayor..." Benton started.
"She never came back." Lu finished in a whisper.
"What on earth are dumber and dumbest rambling about this time, Cale? What about the Mayor? What do they mean?" She demanded.
"I..." I fumbled for the right words at first, but eventually found them effortlessly pouring out of my mouth. I explained everything from the dinner to the bizarre bell the Mayor gave Perri and I upon arrival. From Perri actually leaving with the mayor up until I woke up today.
Mr. Denn, of all people in the room, was the first to speak. He licked his peeling lips before speaking. "Mr. Collins, if I may?"
I nodded my head. "Go on."
"Right. As you've already been told, my name is Mr. Denn. Do you recognize me, son?"
I narrowed my eyes, scrutinizing his face. I couldn't recall ever seeing him before, or even hearing him speak before, for that matter. "No, sir. I can't say that I do."
He chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't expect you to anyways. However, your friend Miss Bennett I actually knew quite well. She worked at the bakery selling pies, didn't she?"
"Yes sir."
"Ah, I remember. Miss Willows would sneak me some every Friday afternoon." He winked at Lilliana, who just laughed nervously. "Anyways, where was I? Oh, don't remind me... Ah, yes! I've been... business partners for a number of years, way back before we even proposed the idea of the Community. We met in the workplace, when he was first starting out as an intern in my field. He was always an ambitious one, you know. He had lots of goals for our country, ones that were much bigger than anything I thought was remotely possible at the time. Slowly but surely, he worked his way up from intern to the position he holds now- Mayor. He had a drive that was unique from anyone I had ever worked with before. When we promoted him, we didn't expect that he would go as far as he did.
He was given this promotion right after the conclusion of the uprising. I don't know if you children realize this, but we were destroyed as a nation. We lost an unprecedented number of lives. We didn't hear from Johnson for weeks after he was promoted. He claimed he was working on something that would help to restore humanity. He spent every waking moment for a month locked inside one of our chemistry labs, researching and experimenting. One day I went to go check on him, in which he immediately slammed the door in my face. My colleagues told me over and over again to kick him out of the lab space and demand he do the bare minimum of at least attending our reconstruction meetings that we held once a week. But, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I knew that he would surprise us- he always had in the past.
When he came to me another week later with nothing more than a small vile in his hand, I was appalled. He'd spent all that time producing one vile of liquid? He asked me to follow him into the lab, and I did. A young girl was strapped to a chair I'm the corner of the room. He asked the girl questions ranging from her name and age, to her thoughts on the uprising and what side she fought for. After she answered the questions, he placed a big, helmet-looking prototype over her head, and poured the serum into an IV tube that was attached to her arm. It was a simple setup, back then. Much simpler than you- Mr. Collins and Miss Willows- are used to. It took about two and a half hours back then to complete the treatment. But, when the girl was finished and we asked her the same questions, I was shocked to see that she gave completely different answers. Johnson explained to me that the serum that he created had done that.
I asked him next what he intended to do with it. When he told me he intended on creating a superior race, I told him he was utterly insane. We spent the better half of that day arguing over whether or not this could actually work. He said he wished to create a race of people that were peaceful, in attempt to build a brand-new, conflict free utopia. I warned him. I told him how dangerous this could be, and that it was not in the best interest of the people to perform such an experiment. When I spoke with my colleagues, they agreed, and his title of mayor was revoked immediately.
Johnson did not take well to this. He announced that, if he was not allowed to perform this experiment on an existing population, then he would create an entirely new population from scratch. We all said fine, thinking it would take months, even years for these people to be born and come of proper age for testing, and in that time he would grow out of this idea. But as you know, Johnson was much smarter than all of us."
I stared at him in shock. "But, what does this have to do with Perri?"
"Let me continue?" He asked. I nodded. "Alright. When Retrogrades first started to pop up, I knew Johnson would throw a fit about them. I also knew that I absolutely needed one. I was able to get my hands on one, and used it to see the future of the community. The outcome? Bad. From that moment on, I needed a position in the community's government. Johnson gave it to me a lot easier than I expected... On several conditions. First, I was to conceal myself from the members of the community that he had conditioned for so long to behave in such certain ways. My job would surely have disrupted that-"
"What was your job?" I asked. I couldn't help myself from getting ahead of the conversation.
He held a hand up in warning. "Patience, please. I was just getting to that. Anyways, Johnson hired me to perform a task that was very dangerous in the sense that, if it went wrong, I would have single-handedly destroyed the entire community. Now I'm not going to lie, the idea did seem a little pleasing," he chuckled. "But, nevertheless, I respected his orders. I went about two hundred miles outside the community in every direction and destroyed all the Retrogrades that existed in that territory. I also made sure that any scientist that was hired to work inside the community was heavily checked for possession of a Retrograde, and it was immediately destroyed on site if one was found with it."
"But, how were they destroyed?" I asked, remembering the time that mine was, though I was unaware of how exactly they did it.
"That's another thing Johnson wanted me to help create. The Retrogrades were so naturally powerful, that it would take something of at least equal power to disable it. It took a while to come up with something, and a lot of trial and error. But, eventually, we were able to create a device that, when attached to a Retrograde, completely and permanently deactivated it. Mr. Collins, you might have seen one before, for I hear that our dear friend Johnson has given you one."
My eyes widened. "What do you mean..." I dug in my pocket and pulled out the small bell that Mayor Johnson had given Perri and I upon arrival. I didn't understand it, at first. Why would he give us a random bell? Just so we could summon him if we needed? Were we truly that stupid?
"Exactly that, yes." Mr. Denn confirmed. "If you've ever noticed, on the side of the Retrograde, near the bottom-left corner, there is a small crevice. The bell produces a magnetic attraction with the Retrograde. That causes the bell to bind to the side of it, and disable it permanently. We used to keep a stock of these little bells with us inside the community, just in case a Retrograde ever found its way inside the walls. Now, why would Johnson give you both these? First of all, they can detect if a Retrograde is in the building. If one comes in near contact with a Retrograde- close enough to track it, but not close enough to disable it- then it will chime. Johnson probably wanted to be able to detect any Retrogrades you children had on you."
"That makes sense," I mused. "But, that doesn't explain why he recognized Perri from the second we came onto his property. If the time period we are in now is before Perri's time, then how..."
"Johnson is a lot smarter than you all think." Mr. Denn warned. "Knowing the patterns he's followed since the beginning of his career... Well, my guess would be that he was onto your plan, and tried to track it back."
"That would explain how he knew about the apothecary shop!" Lilliana suddenly shouted.
"Huh?" I said.
"When we had the body that was supposedly yours, after you had come back here with Delta, Perri and I took it back to the old apothecary shop on the edge of town. Johnson came to check on us there, but there was no way he knew we would be there, unless-"
"Unless he knew what we had been planning all along." Delta finished.
I stood up and paced the room, shaking my head the whole time. "It all makes sense now." I whispered over and over. The pieces all started to come together for me.
Just because he was stripping people of their rights to own Retrogrades, doesn't mean he didn't keep one for himself.
He saw right through my act.
He wanted to confirm his suspicions
He followed me.
He unraveled the plan.
He knew that the she was the reason why.
And he wanted to make us pay.