The Steam | ✔️

Chapter Nine

Logan
Everybody is running around camp, preparing for the attack. Last time, there wasn't much shelter. There was just the shack, and nothing else. There were Hypnos pounding on all four sides, mixed in with SIU Leaders. Bullets were flying everywhere, and so many people died.

This time, we're more prepared. There has been a steady flow of new Rebels coming to join us, which is surprising and slightly scary. Most people don't know about the Steam at all, but times are changing. Soon, this manipulative society will be gone and forgotten, if we can survive the attack.

SIU Leaders have these special suits that make them a complete machine, and the Leaders never get tired. They can run for hours on end, never stopping. They don't have any emotions except for anger, and they are programmed to kill. They would easily overpower anyone on the ground.

The thing is, we aren't going to be on the ground.

-

With the new recruits, everyone that is able has been working on the forts. We have built a series of structures one of the Keepers showed us from a book. Most books are banned now, especially ones that promote imagination. Those poor city kids, growing up with no make-believe. Mackenzie and Bridget and I would always break the rules, playing all sorts of pretend games in our secret garden. But we were different.

The structures that now hide in the leafy canopy are based off of a thing called tree houses, that people would build in the Ancient Times. Wood planks nailed together to make platforms, walls, and roofs. Children used to make play houses out of them, but we have a different plan. All of these houses are hidden high above, and connected by a series of bridges and rope ladders. There's a main gathering area, and smaller huts for people to live in. If we can escape to above, the Leaders won't know what hit them.

-

I grab a bow and walk away from camp, deeper into the forest. We try to avoid lighting fires up in the trees, so most of the cooking and eating, as well as daytime activities, are done on the ground. If the Leader alarm goes off, sounded by the Keepers, it means that an attack is coming.

As I walk farther and farther away from the rest of the people, a large rock comes into my view. I see movement, and decide to move closer for a better look.

"Logan, what are you doing out here?" Zoe Tucker says, looking up at me. Yeah, that's right. Tucker. As in Mackenzie's mother. I think that Mackenzie always knew in her head that her mother had gone to The Steam, but she wouldn't admit it to herself.

"Hunting." I reply, gesturing to my bow. "What are you doing out here?"

"Watching Mackenzie. Want to take a look?" Alright, I know that sounds creepy. But years ago, The Keepers snagged some watch station equipment and registered it to sync with the Leader's cameras. Zoe is one of the Head Rebels here, and she monitors security at The Steam. Aka, she spies on the Leaders.

"What's going on?" I ask, sitting down on the rock beside her and looking at the tablet.

"It's worse than I thought." Zoe mutters, "She's gone completely Machine."

"What do you mean?" I ask, getting worried.

"I mean she's gone, Logan."

After a full minute of silence, she whispers out something I would never want to hear.

"I've lost my daughter." Her serious façade crumbles, leaving the body of a heartbroken mother. "There's no way to reverse the treatment once they've gone Machine. I thought we had more time- it normally takes years to go full Machine."

"The extra pills." I state, feeling my body go numb as I process what I'm hearing. "She took all those extra Machine pills. She told me she had a plan. She wrote a letter that I should've shown you. She said that she would make herself more powerful than any Leader. She said she would turn on them and save us. She said wouldn't forget the ones she loved. She-" My voice breaks, and I swallow the lump in my throat. "This is my fault. I didn't realize. I should've shown you the letter, but I wanted to keep it to myself. It was vague, but I felt like it was the last personal connection I had to her. Now she's gone. I lost my best friend and my girlfriend, and it's all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself, honey." Zoey says, "We couldn't have stopped her even if we had known. I should've been paying more attention to the surveillance." She stands up and brushes herself off. "I'm going to go back to camp and tell the others, and then go to the Keepers. You probably need some time alone."

As soon as she leaves, tears start to trickle down my face. I pride myself in never crying, but I mean, I think it's acceptable to cry when your best friend dies, and going Machine is almost the same thing. I'll never get her back. The words on her letter are the last I'll ever hear from Mackenzie Tucker.