Casted

Chapter 27

Gaining Nova's trust, as it turned out, was no difficult task. She would send messages to me, either delivering them herself or sending another rebel to my doorstep, giving me little jobs to complete every few days. Sometimes I was a messenger myself, carrying coded words to another one of Nova's friends. I never really understood what the messages meant, but I guess that was the point. Only Nova and whoever was on the receiving end were supposed to be able to decipher the meaning. I was just the middleman.

Sometimes I was a recruiter, a face in the market whispering in people's ears. There was a little script I was supposed to follow to persuade the citizens of Class 5 to join the revolution, but I hated speaking the false words.

"Can bare to watch your children starve a day longer?"

"This is an injustice to humankind. What makes us less worthy of life than the people of Class 1?"

"There is a way to change everything, if you'd join us."

Not that I didn't believe in the message; our lifestyle was an injustice to humankind and we were worthy of better, but I still felt like a con artist. Wasn't I just encouraging people to march to their deaths? The Caretaker would not go easy on the Rebels when they they launched their attack on Class 1. There was no telling who would make it out and in what condition. Who could say if the plan would even work? It might leave us worse off than before.

But I tried to make myself convincing as I rattled off the things Nova told me to say, and it seemed at least 50% of the time I did a good job. Every time the Rebels met in the old poll building downtown, our numbers had grown. I estimated probably three hundred one night, when the room was so packed full of people I could barely breathed. It was amazing and terrifying all at the same time.

Then there were the bigger jobs, the more dangerous ones. These didn't happen very often, or at least if they did, I wasn't always involved. And honestly, I was glad of it. I didn't like the bigger jobs. I didn't like the sneaking around at night dressed in black, breaking into Stormer storage units, stealing their weapons little by little. We would take only two or three guns at a time, not enough for anyone to notice. The stocks would be replenished by the Stormers, who never thought anything of a couple of misplaced weapons, as we slowly but surely built our own armory. It a was relatively safe process, but it put me on edge and set my nerves on fire. I thought for sure that one night we would take too much and someone would get suspicious. But nothing ever came of it. Nova appreciated my help, and she never once asked me to shave my head.

Yes, gaining Nova's trust was the easy part. It was Michael that seemed to doubt my loyalty.

He was in shock when I told him I'd decided to join the rebellion. At first, he sputtered and stuttered and asked me why.

"Ben convinced me," I said. "He reminded me of everything we went through in the Task and I realized how unfair our life in the lower Classes is. We deserve better."

Hearing my phony explanation hadn't seemed to convince him. Instead of being overjoyed that I was on his side (as I'd imagined he would be), he was filled to the brim with skepticism and distrust. He narrowed his eyes at me with every glance, his gaze raking over me as if trying to peel back my facade and reveal my true intentions underneath. The way he looked at me, I was afraid he might just find out. Wasn't it obvious? Couldn't everyone see that I was only using them? Apparently I was better at lying than I thought. No one confronted me or challenged my loyalty to the cause. They ignored my unshaven head. Maybe because I'd competed in the Task, they just assumed I had a vendetta against the government. I did, but not enough to fuel this kind of detestation. I felt out of place in the poll barn meetings. While the others discussed their rage and reveled in their hatred, I hung back, unsure. I had seen what desperation could do to people in the Task, but this was different. This was worse. When desperate, angry people justify each other's spite, it only adds fuel to the fire. No battles are won that way.