All The Lies We Told Ourselves

4 - Calls For Change

Rue

*****

February 27th, Wednesday

I aimed the tip of the knife towards the bullseye. Squinting my eyes at the red dot, I drew it back over my shoulder. One throw, and the prize is all mine, I thought. And so I sent the knife flying forward. Like a bird mid air, it flipped and sinked its tip into the red paint, sharp with precision.

"Beginner's luck." Reid said.

"I don't think that works on the fifth round. But hey, maybe you'll learn to hit the board some day."

"Whatever." He chuckled and passed me the device. It was a small black box, sleek and simple, with one button on the side and a hole at the top.

"Why do you care about those things anyway? Aren't they practically useless here?" He asked.

"Technically yes. But I've figured out how to power this thing without the charger."

"And?"

"And, it has a gps. A way to navigate the capitol."

"That's fucking genious." Reid said and smiled. It wasn't exactly that but it was an improvement for sure. Before this, we had barely known what lay just beyond the wall that separated the outskirts from the capitol. That's how isolated the outskirts had been for decades. A few had gone to the capitol, but when they didn't return, the outsiders' amusement with the province quickly ended.

"Ah, you're here." Amity said in her usual monotone way, walking down the stairs into the basement. Her nose was red with the cold wind and her signature red headscarf was covered in snow. "I've been looking all over for you. The meeting's in 20 minutes."

"Do you happen to know how to hack this thing?" I asked her, holding up the small box. Her eyes lit up. Well, in the general sense of the word, not really, but for Amity, the reaction was unusual. She never so much as raised an eyebrow at things.

Amity was good with technology, which was more than unusual for someone from the outskirts.

"I think so. I can take a look at it later." Amity said and turned to leave but seemed to remember something. She looked in her bag and pulled out a small jar, giving it to Reid.

"It's for your hand."

Amity looked around at the wooden floor and wiped the snow from her headscarf.

Next to me, Reid stared at his scarred palm and blushed about three shades of pink. I felt like I was intruding on something.

"Thank you." He smiled.

Amity disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, leaving the basement quiet and cold.

"And you still haven't told her you like her?" I said when the door had closed. Reid only rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, let's go. We arrive late once again and Fern will quite literally kill us with her own hands."

I shivered, not knowing if it was the cold wind from the basement door or the thought of Ferns eyes digging into my soul.

***

We were making our way up the stairs to the tenth floor of the old building. Wind pushed at the metal stairs below my feet. Had the building been anywhere else, it would have been leveled long ago, but the rusted stairs still hung onto the brick wall and I hoped it wasn't with the strength of a couple screws. The streets below us looked like ants nests, swarming with life.

It was an unusual meeting point for our group, the faction in charge of planning all major operations against the capitol. It had become a habit to meet underground, considering the risks of being in a tall building for everyone to see. We weren't too fond of becoming moving dartboards for the peacekeepers bullets.