The Anomaly Affliction

Twenty Two

A few days later, it's time for me to go home.

As the group and I make our quiet way towards the warehouse, I reflect on my time out here. It hasn't always been easy, but I owe a lot to these people. They probably saved my life. Who knows what would've happened to me if I had remained alone?

"You remember the plan, right?" Harrison asks me, breaking the silence that the group had settled in to.

I nod in response.

"Run me through it," he instructs.

He's asked me to do that every day since we came up with the plan.

"Go to the warehouse, sneak into one of the trucks while the factory people are distracted, climb into the biggest crate they have, and hide there until we get to Nacoma. And when we do get to Nacoma, make sure no one's around, then climb out, make my way to the Amber District, and see my girlfriend again. And try not to get caught."

It's a risky plan, with lots of things that could go wrong. But it's the only plan we've got.

"I still don't like that trying not to get caught is your only option when you get there," Harrison says.

"Hey, I'm sneakier than you lot."

He chuckles. "True."

I want to thank him and the rest of the group for everything that they've done for me in this unexpected part of my life. Without them, I might've had no way to get back to Lake. I might've been taken to MisMap. I might've even been killed - who knows?

But I'll leave the gratitude for when we say goodbye.

"What's your daughter's name?" I ask Harrison, out of curiosity.

A small smile plays on his lips. "Mali," he says gently. "Mali Winters. She would've taken her mum's surname."

"Mali," I repeat. "It's a nice name."

"It was her mum's idea, but I liked it." His smile fades. "I just wish she hadn't ended up like me."

Hearing him say that makes me want to comfort him. He may be an unhappy outcast in the wilderness, but through all of the adversity in his life, he's remained a good man.

"Harrison," I say, taking on a gentler tone. "You're a loving, brave man who never stops caring about people. If she's anything like you, that's a good thing."

Harrison's smile returns, and he looks at me appreciatively.

"Thank you, Violet."

Smiling isn't something I've been doing for a while now, but today I think I'll make a few exceptions.

"And you," he says. "You and Mali are the bravest young people I've ever had in my life. I know you don't think so, but you're an amazing girl."

"I'm sure she's better than me," I reply, "but thank you."

Another silence ensues.

"Hey Violet," Nova calls out after a few minutes, from further back.

I stop walking until she catches up with me. She's carrying a large grey hoodie in her hands.

"Short hair looks good on you," she says. "You did a good job, Cage."

Cage, in front of us, starts walking by our side. "Yeah, it's not bad."

I place my hand on my head and run it down the back of my neck. Cage cut my hair yesterday, and I'm not used to it at all. I've never had this short a haircut before. But, like he said, it's like a disguise. I need to look different to the Violet Thorburn that Nacoma knew.

"I want you to have this," Nova tells me, handing me the hoodie she was holding. "Wear it all the time, and keep the hood up. You might stand out a bit, but everyone's too caught up in their own little bubbles to suspect anything."

I put the hoodie on over my dingy t-shirt that I've been wearing for a couple of weeks, and put the hood up. It's thick and comfortable. The kind of hoodie you would curl up in on a cold day. Lake has one like this.

"Thank you," I say.

She gives me a small smile.

Cage and Nova start joking about their old school and teachers, and soon they're walking ahead of me. I walk in silence, thinking about my own school. I'd almost forgotten that I went to school. What am I going to do? I can't go back. Unless I completely change my identity. But how can I -

"You're going to get yourself killed," an icy voice says into my ear, startling me.

I turn my head to see X walking alongside me, looking straight ahead, carrying the rock that he used to smash the window of the car I slept in all those weeks ago. He's hardly said a word to me for all the time I've been out here. I'm still not used to his voice.

"We'll see," I reply.

Ignore him, I think. I can't let doubt take over my mind now.

When the warehouse comes into view, we all scurry behind the group of rocks nearby that X and I hid behind when I first came here.

Everything is as it should be. There are trucks and vans parked outside the building, all with their back doors open; in the backs of the trucks I can see some big crates that I could fit into; a few men in red polo shirts are going to and from the building, loading the vans with smaller crates.

"X," says Vic. "It's your time to shine."

X looks down at his rock in his hands, and is about to stand up and throw it, but I stop him.

"Wait," I say.

X relaxes.

"What's wrong?" asks Harrison.

"I just..." I look around at everyone with gratitude. "I want to say thank you. For everything."

Cage gives me a pat on the back.

"I don't know what you're going to do when you get back there," he says. "But I hope that, somehow, it all works out, and that we never see you again. In the nicest way."

"I get it," I smile. "But seriously, thank you all."

"Thank you too," Nova replies.

We all take a moment to feel emotional, before Harrison says to me: "Okay, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

He nods at X.

X stands up and, with all his might, throws his rock into the side of the building nearest to us. It collides with the corrugated metal wall with an extremely loud crash.

"Fuckin' hell, that's loud," Harrison whispers.

The men in red shirts all stop in their tracks, almost dropping their crates from the shock.

"Everyone, check the south side," I hear one of the men call from inside the building.

Perfect.

The men from inside join the men outside, and they make their way to the wall that X's rock collided with. That must be everyone.

"Now go," whispers Vic, pointing at the truck nearest to us. "Quickly."

I want to thank them all again, but there's no time. Keeping low, I dash into the back of the truck. I can hear the men trying to figure out where the rock came from. That's good - they haven't seen me. Inside the truck there several crates that are bigger than me. I pick one close to the truck doors, open the lid and clamber inside. Sitting on artificial potatoes is not very comfortable. I reach for the lid but leave it open slightly when I notice that Harrison is crouching at the truck doors.

"You'd better keep yourself safe," he tells me strictly, still whispering so the factory men don't hear him. "Go back to the Amber District, find your girl, and tell her you love her."

I nod.

Harrison gives me one last smile, and turns around.

And then, just as I'm about to close the lid of the crate, I see him get shot in the head.