The Valuable

Chapter 14

I shiver as the cold morning air engulfs me. I tread lightly on the cracked pavement, searching in the dark for a certain tree. After aimlessly wandering for a few minutes, I finally spot it up ahead. When I reach the roots sticking out of the ground, I tuck my legs under my body and sit down. I pull a box of matches out of my pocket and scratch one against the rough material on the bottom of the box. In an instant, a flame ignites, immediately warming my pale skin. I shine the light of the match on the patch of dirt in front of me. Brushing away the loose soil and pebbles, I feel the hard surface of what I have been looking for. I am sitting in a small forest thicket not far from the metal room. Christian and I used to come here and play in the trees for hours when we were younger. Flashing the flame upwards, light shines on the initial etched into the tree's bark. C & A it said. I smile, thinking back to when Christian had spent hours carving our initials into the tree just to make sure we left our mark. I turn my attention back to the object in my lap. I had run to this tree immediately after I resigned from housing when Christian died. I cried here for hours but eventually decided to create a memorial for him, by myself. I had collected all of his favorite things from our old house and organized it into a little box which I then buried under our tree. Looking at the box almost a month later, I still get the same empty feeling in my stomach. I miss him so much. I look through all of the little trinkets in the box and realize that doing this is exactly what I needed after my long and depressing night. 

I eventually get up off of the ground, burying the small box once again. I check the time on my clock and realize that I'm almost late for my daily duty. Time for phase one of our grand plan. I sprint to the care center and pull on my lab coat as soon as I'm through the front door. I spot The Leader walking down the hallway towards me. Act normal, I coax myself.

"Hello Anastasia.", The Leader says with a forced smile on her face.

"Hello.", I manage as she saunters off toward the lab.

I feel my stomach twisting in anxiety. We only have so much time before she finds the port for the chip and exposes its horrors to the world. I need to stay on task. I slip into Joel's room first, and notice that he's looking weaker than when I last saw him.

"Hey.", I whisper soothingly in his ear.

His eyes warm as soon as he sees me and he plants a short kiss on my lips. I smile, but know that I must get back to business. I shut his room's door quietly and sit on the edge of his bed.

"I've come up with a plan for us to get the chip. Though Rupert isn't really on board, I have confidence in myself and my army. I think we can really do this!", I squeal.

"Wait, back up for a second. Rupert isn't on board? You have an army?", Joel says confusedly.

I begin explaining all that has happened since the last time that I saw him. I recite the plan thoroughly, and I am happy to see that I have his approval considering the look on his face. At first I was going to give him one of my handouts, but I thought that it would be too risky as someone could easily find it. I guess being overly-organized isn't always helpful.

 "So, explain to me again where you found the electronic chip's port exactly.", I demand. 

Joel's brow furrows and his lips pinch together in concentration. It's obvious that whatever pain medication he's drugged up on is affecting his thought process and boggling his mind.

"I-it's hard to remember. But it was definitely beside a river with a small waterfall. I remember filling up my canteen with the water,", Joel recalls. "The port was in a stone wall that was covered by loads of overgrowth and moss."

I nod my head, trying to picture an intricate design of Joel's words. As I'm lost in thought, the door bursts open and The Leader's face scowls in the door frame.

"Your duty does not involve looking after Mr. Barnes today Anastasia. Get to work!", she spits coldly.

I turn sheet white in fear and scuttle out of Joel's room as fast as I can. I pause for a split second to hear The Leader utter that Joel's execution would be in one week exactly. I glance at my multi-use clock which displays the time and a series of other things such as a calendar. My clock displays that the date is January 21. Doing some quick mental math, I calculate that Joel's execution will be on January 28. There is absolutely no time to spare.