Unplugged: The Beautiful World (#3, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty Five

Enna

    An ear-splitting sound wakes me. I gasp, sitting up from the metal-and-brick wall where I had dozed off. Leah cries out in surprise as well, waking up with a jolt. Oscar--standing above us--tries to hide a smirk. He'd kicked the wall directly above our heads.
    "You idiot!" Leah protests, reaching over and slapping his shin.
    "You guys totally asked for it," he chuckles, holding his hands up innocently. I slump back against the wall and wait for my heart to stop palpitating. "Anyways, it's time for the meeting. Everyone's already at that weird building thing." He points across the hideout to the Leaning Structure, where I can barely make out Danny, Jackson, Becca, Victoria, Gale, and Matthew. I feel a red blush creep across my face, remembering our recent argument.
    "Anything happen while we were out?" I mumble, stretching. The words slur together lazily.
    "Not particularly." Oscar offers a hand and helps me to my feet. Leah gets up on her own and then I start walking towards the small congregation of people, flanked on both sides by my friends. It doesn't take us long to reach the group.
    "Took long enough," Danny calls out over the ever-present noise of the warehouse. "You're five minutes late."
    "Sorry," Leah mutters, a slightly obstinate look crossing over her face. I force myself not to look at Matthew. Instead, I sidle up next to Becca and smile as warmly as I can manage. She grins back, glasses lenses flashing as they catch and reflect the light.
    "Alright, follow me." Danny nods at the guards who stand stoically in front of the entrance of the tattered room and they step aside, staring at each person who enters with narrowed eyes. Oscar grins sarcastically at them and jabs a thumbs-up. Was that just me, or did their hands twitch toward their knives? The inside of the Leaning Structure is much more crowded than I'd imagined. It holds only a wall of technical equipment and a large round table surrounded by battered, plastic chairs. Dim, greenish light filters in through small cracks and imperfections on the ceiling. The air smells stale and metallic. Jackson says the first thing that comes to my mind.
    "This is it?"
    "Sit," Danny says, a distracted look covering his features. He runs a hand down his face and leans against a TV monitor. Once we all settle down and claim our own chairs, Danny begins to speak. He fixes each of us with a stern stare.
    "I know that we've all been shaken up lately by recent events, and rightfully so. I've called all of you together because I think you are the most trustworthy people here." Jackson pointedly clears his throat, and Victoria shoots him a glare. Danny pulls himself together quickly. "Correction: I know you are the most trustworthy people here. That's why I think it's only fair that you have a say in what happens next." When no one says anything, Danny continues.
    "Just after this Resistance group was first formed, I sent out a party of former Depot members to travel down the East Coast. Their goal was to alert the smaller rebel groups of New York's fallen state. I had hoped that they might spread news of our downfall so they could prevent something similar from occurring within their own Regions."
    "Do you know if they succeeded?" Matthew asks, his low voice reverberating around the crowded room. I keep my gaze firmly fixed on my lap. "I mean, have you heard back from them at all?"
    "Yes." Danny presses the "ON" button of the television and the screen bursts to life. Right now, an interview with Fake Enna is playing. The top of the screen reads "High Life with Charles Hefley". She sits across from the same boyish man, who stumbles over his questions in believable earnest. Danny mutes the TV but I still find myself staring into Fake Enna's eyes. Even though they are framed in smooth makeup, I can still detect the exhaustion that wrinkles her skin. Her job must be more than daily spas and massages. Contempt pushes it's way towards my chest.
    "I've managed to contact both parties at some time or another through this." He holds up some sort of cable box, reminding me of the one in my grandmother's apartment. "It emits a wide-range signal that only a corresponding box can receive. When I've talked to my friends our conversations have been brief and virtually futile. The only things I'm sure of is that there are in fact resistances other than ours. Larger or smaller, I have no idea."
    "Where are they set up?" Oscar asks. "'The East Coast' is kind of vague, isn't it?"
    "My correspondents have spoken to me from Regions Three and Four, the center cities of which are Philadelphia and Atlanta." A thick silence permeates the air, and I glance at Becca. For such a young child, she digests the information with quiet maturity. Instantly I understand why Danny became so attached to her.
    "What are we here for, then?" Leah asks, folding her arms. A curly lock of dark hair falls in her face and she blows on it to send it floating away.
    "I'm going to attempt to speak with my friends again. I haven't tried since the bombings became more serious and frequent, so I thought it would be interesting if we could experience this as a group."
    "Put our brains together," Gale mutters, nodding thoughtfully. Danny ducks under the cluttered counter that holds all of the computers and televisions and speakers, fiddling with a few loose wires. We stare at the television eagerly, waiting for something to happen. Maybe a flicker; maybe an entire scene change. After a full minute--all of us holding our breaths in anticipation--Danny curses and rises to his feet.
    "What's wrong?" Becca asks quietly.
    "The connection's fried by the bombs. Either that, or the fallen rubble's taken out the cords." We all stare at each other, tense. For the first time since our argument, I look at Matthew. A pensive scowl twists his mouth, and his glowing eyes flicker towards the jumble of cords and wires sticking up from beneath the cluttered counter.
    "Well, what the hell does that mean?" Jackson demands, leaning forward over the table. I find myself wanting to tackle him more and more.
    "It means this," Victoria says. She removes a battered, torn piece of paper from her pocket and flings it across to Danny. It takes me a moment to recognize it as the map from the Mothership. The one with arrows pointing to "Target One", "Target Two", and "Target Three". In a single moment, everything clicks in my own mind. Danny looks through the map then hands it back to Victoria with slightly shaking hands.
    "Where did you find that?" He demands quietly. Victoria explains the Mothership, and then Jackson stands so quickly that his chair topples over beneath him.
    "I want to see the map!" He states, tearing it from Victoria's grip. All of a sudden, everyone stands and starts muttering, pulling at the map and pointing at it, speculating and worrying. Only Matthew and I stay seated during the commotion. Our eyes meet across the table for a split second.
    "Hold--HOLD ON!" Danny bellows, his voice breaking with exertion. Slowly, everyone settles down in their chairs. Except for Jackson, who remains standing, clutching the worn piece of paper in his fist. "Stop acting like freaking babies! Jackson, what do you want?"
    "I think it's odd that Enna hasn't said a word." He spits, glaring at me. My throat tightens painfully with anger and I look up at Danny. Jackson slowly takes a seat and shakes the fist holding the crumpled map. "Enna, what do you have to say about this?"
    "I think that Target Two is Philadelphia, and Target Three is Atlanta," I start, quiet at first but slowly gaining confidence. "We aren't sure why cities on the East Coast are specifically being targeted, but we know that they have the highest population concentrations. I'm sure the two go together somehow. And the fact that there is a clean ocean on the other side of the country just proves the reality of our imprisonment here. The chips, the helicopters... It all adds up."
    "So what do you propose we do?" Danny asks quietly. I can tell that it's a desperate question from a friend to a friend, rather than from a leader to a follower. I hesitate. Within the recesses of my mind I do have some sort of solution, but I can already hear the protests it'll receive from everyone else. Why can't someone else take charge for once?
    "It seems that certain destruction is heading towards major population points and we have no way of sending a message to warn the rebels, correct?" I start carefully.
    "Correct," Danny replies.
    "Well, why don't we form a party and warn them ourselves?" There is a beat of silence as everyone digests my proposition. Jackson is the first to break it, as expected.
    "How are we going to get down there in the first place? Or actually help at all? I think you're so desperate to prove yourself that you'll do anything, even if it's a suicide mission! Anything to please the tabloids, right?"
    "She makes sense," Leah counters, elbowing Jackson in the ribs. "Stop being an immature jerk."
    "I'm just being smart!" He stands up again and points at Fake Enna, who continues to speak soundlessly on the television screen. Fury warms my face and hands. "What if our Enna is the double? What if they've done something weird to her in that... that prison?"
    Everyone stares at me insistently, at a loss for words. How has this conversation managed to turn on me? Their gazes burn into my skin for thirty seconds before Matthew rises. He looks more angry than I've ever seen him, veins sticking out from his red face, muscles tense as pulled wire.
    "I can't believe some of you are dumb enough to believe something so absurd," he spits. His traveling gaze rests on Danny. "I know this is the real Enna. End of story. And I hope you're smart enough to realize a good plan when you hear one." When he sits down, I try to catch his eyes and gesture appreciatively. He doesn't look my way.
    "Alright," Danny says, almost to himself. Then he raises his voice. "Alright! I say we pass around the table. Each of you gets a say. I'm assuming that Enna volunteers to travel to Region Three and Four. If you are willing to help her, please say so." Only Jackson looks disagreeable.
    "Matthew, you first." I watch Matthew carefully. He replies instantaneously.
    "I'm going."
    "Gale?" She looks at me uncomfortably, and my stomach squeezes.
    "I don't know if I have it in me to do this," Gale mutters, holding up her hands as if to prove her point. Her gaze rests firmly on mine. "I wish you the best on your mission, but I'd only hold you back. Getting here has drained the last of my energy."
    "Victoria?" Danny calls out, not giving me time to digest the fact that Gale won't accompany our party. "What do you think?"
    "I'm with Gale," she says quietly, casting a furtive glance at Matthew, who shifts restlessly in his seat. "I'm tired. And frankly, I don't know how useful I can be to anyone."
    "Nonsense," Matthew states.
    "Elliot, it is Victoria's time to talk," Danny says carefully. Matthew opens his mouth to argue, but not before Danny moves on with the vote. "Jackson, what about you?"
    "Of course I'll go. If you're staying back here with the Resistance, then you'll need a substitute to watch over these guys, right?" He settles against the back of his chair and folds his arms, smug. I almost vomit. I hadn't even thought that Jackson would have to go with us! Next, Danny only spares Becca a cursory glance before looking at Leah.
    "Leah?"
    "You skipped me," Becca says in a quiet voice.
    "Because you're staying here," Danny says firmly.
    "But I want to go!"
    "Beck," Danny says gently. He crosses over to her and bends down. "It's too dangerous, okay? You'll be much safer here."
    "No I won't!" She protests. "You always tell me how smart I am, and I'm a really good fighter! Leah's been helping me, ask her!" Danny glares at Leah, who smiles sheepishly. Oscar pats her on the back.
    "We seriously aren't talking about this right now..." Danny runs an impatient hand over his face and stares at Becca. For a long time he sits obstinately, trying to break Becca's confidence. But she doesn't even crumble. After several more seconds, she breaks him.
    "Fine!" He exclaims, face turning paler and paler. "Just fine. Leah, your turn." Becca smiles to herself then sends me a thumbs up. That is one stubborn little kid.
    "Obviously I'm going with Enna," she says.
    "And Oscar?" Danny sounds more tired by the minute. He must really be worried about Becca coming along. Oscar stands and clears his throat theatrically.
    "I hereby declare that thy Lord Rowe has forged arrangements to traverse the Land of Liberty with Maiden Price to slay the--"
    "Alright, alright," Danny snaps. I swallow a laugh, and then notice that everyone's staring at me now. Even Matthew. The close, clammy air surrounding me starts to press inwards. I take a deep breath and try to smile.
   "Um, thank you guys." I nod. As if the gesture were magic, everyone starts to stand and stretch simultaneously. The meeting is over. And I've found myself at the helm of a possibly fatal mission.
    "Plan on meeting here tomorrow morning. I have a parting gift before I send you all off. Make sure you get a good night's sleep." Danny rests his palms on the round table, muscles flexing anxiously. His gaze continues to linger on Becca. I glance over at Matthew, who is now standing just a foot away from me. He nods grimly without meeting my eyes.
    "You heard him. It's time to prepare." And then he heads out into the warehouse without another word.