The inside is dark. I snap my fingers and flames flicker above them. All around us are stacks and stacks of crates. Nothing else. Definitely not anything that makes it look like anyone ever comes here. Lai heads for a stack of crates in the back that looks just like every other stack and moves them over to reveal a trapdoor in the ground. Okay. I guess that’s better.
She pulls a key out of her pocket, unlocks it, and jumps straight down. Kitahara gestures for me to go ahead. “There’s a ladder if you’d like.”
If Lai doesn’t need a ladder, then neither do I.
The drop is shorter than I expected. Lai stands ahead of me in a tunnel that goes on so far I can’t see the end. Lanterns line both sides of the gray-stone tunnel. The flames are warm and welcoming, but something about them feels off. They’re not natural fires.
Kitahara lands behind me. He pulls a cord and the trapdoor slams shut. Something clicks. An auto-lock, probably.
“Underground tunnels?” I wasn’t expecting something this … huge. There are tons of tunnel networks beneath Sector Eight back from when humanity nearly wiped itself out through nuclear warfare hundreds of years ago. The smarter people built the domed sectors that could resist the radiation and added tunnels for underground farms and—I don’t know. Extra space, I guess. Not many records are left from that time. Just enough that we have laws to prevent nuclear warfare from happening again, laws that ban guns, missiles, bombs, stuff like that. There are only a few things all the sectors agree on, but one of them is taking out anyone who tries to bring back the weapons of old. Entire sectors have been wiped out for it before.
But only the military and underground farm corporations have control over the tunnels. How could they not know about this system? How did Lai’s group even find these tunnels?
“An old friend found them with his gift,” Lai says. I hate it when she responds to my thoughts instead of what I said. “It took a while, but eventually we were able to save up and buy the warehouse above us. It’s the only building with a way into this network—plus it makes a good place for storing extra supplies.”
She waits, but when I don’t ask anything else, she keeps walking. I grudgingly follow, Kitahara right behind me. We pass a bunch of entrances into side tunnels, but we stay in the main one. Eventually the tunnel turns into a real hallway, more cleanly carved out, and we start seeing more people. Everyone waves to Lai when they see her. A few stop to ask her questions I don’t understand. But there’s a sort of restless energy to all the people we meet. By Lai and Kitahara’s tensed shoulders, I know they can feel it, too. Their gifts probably make it worse.
“Just how many people are in the Order?” I ask when we finally ditch yet another person who stopped Lai.
“A thousand and some,” Lai says. “Although we’re always gaining new members.” She sounds distracted as we start walking again. I don’t even know where we’re heading in this huge maze.
Maybe if I wasn’t so surprised by the Order, I’d want to punch Lai. Except I still want to punch her. Over a thousand people, based in an underground tunnel network the military doesn’t know about? How could she hide something this big? Just what the hell am I to her?
I watch her trade looks with Kitahara, and I know they’re communicating telepathically. That just pisses me off even more. Or maybe it hurts. They’re the only two of our team who’ve managed to keep up their good relationship after the rebel ambush, and now that Mendel’s gone, I’m the only one on the outs. Some team. I’m just being dragged along for the ride.
Kitahara glances at me and falls back so we’re walking together. I lift an eyebrow and he smiles. “I’m glad you’re here with us,” he says. “I always feel better when you’re around.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to include me.” He probably just read my emotions with his gift and felt obligated to cheer me up. But I don’t need his pity.
“You can take it however you like, but I do mean it.” He meets my eyes when he says it—something Lai and Mendel haven’t done that much since the ambush. “There’s obviously your physical strength, but I’m glad you’re so honest and straightforward, too.” He lowers his voice as Lai stops ahead of us to talk to another stranger. “I like both Lai and Erik very much. However, sometimes their calculating way of seeing the world exhausts me. I start to feel confused. Doubtful. But with you, I know you’re sincerely speaking your mind. I don’t have to worry about if you have some hidden agenda or test.” He sighs, and his exhaustion from the last week, which he usually keeps locked up so well, bleeds through the cracks in his leader mask. “It’s nice having a friend who’s completely honest with me.”
A friend. I don’t think Kitahara’s ever actually called me that before. It’s not like we’ve talked a whole lot before this past week. I didn’t know much about him—still don’t, really. But I’m pretty sure he’s being honest, and the fact that he’s confiding in me at all makes me unexpectedly happy. Plus, in this new place, one teammate short, with another looking more and more untrustworthy, it’d be nice to have a friend right about now. And Kitahara’s not a bad option.
“Well, I think our friendship needs some work,” I say as I hold up a closed fist, “but it’s something I’m willing to develop, Jay.”
He blinks in surprise. Then a smile slowly spreads across his face, and he bumps my fist with his. “Sounds like a deal, Al.”
“Hey, you two coming?” Lai calls from ahead of us. I hadn’t realized she’d started moving again. Jay and I catch up to her, but I take my time, making her wait. She rolls her eyes and keeps walking.
We finally reach a giant fork that splits into five hallways. Two people are waiting for us.
One of them I recognize as Fiona Seung. The other is a stranger—and an Etiole. The ungifted woman is covered in bright yellow and orange clothing with intricate embroidery. A bright red scarf is wrapped around her head, but a few strands of brown-black hair a little darker than her skin poke out around her ears. It’s obvious from her clothes she’s from another sector, but I have no idea which one. The lines around her eyes crinkle when she smiles at us.
“Kitahara, you’re needed,” Seung says as soon as we stop in front of them.
“It’s good to see you again, too,” Lai mutters.
Seung ignores her. “The members we’ve assigned to start the underground farm need help, and you’re our expert on the subject. Amal will take you. She’s also working on the project.”
“Before you go, I wanted to introduce our friend,” Lai says to the woman. Amal. She gestures to me. “This is—”
“Alary Johann,” I say as I hold a hand out to Amal. Lai and Jay look at me with raised eyebrows, and I remember they’ve never heard my real full name before. A pang of guilt hits me—a feeling I do not like. But I can’t help feeling like a hypocrite for getting mad at Lai for keeping her secrets when I have some of my own. Or did. Now that I’m free from the military, I don’t have to pretend to be a boy anymore. “I go by Al. Nice to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Al,” Amal says. If she picks up on any of the friction in our group, she doesn’t show it. “Welcome to our home. I apologize for having to leave so soon, and I look forward to getting to know you, but I need to borrow your friend for a bit.”