Smuggler

Chapter 9

I wake up early the next morning. The excitement from last night is still there, but so is the nervousness. Most of this mission will depend on how well we can avoid and scam the guards. So I have to teach a lifetime of experience in a week and a half.

I roll out of bed and look at my watch. It's only 5:30, so there's no way Sarah will be up for a while. I look around, unsure of what to do. I decide to go and see if Jason is awake yet.

I walk next door and knock quietly. I don't want to wake him up if he isn't up yet.

Just before I decide that he must still be asleep, the door opens. Jason pokes his head out, looking confused.

"Mel? What's up?"

"Never mind. Sorry to wake you up."

"No, it's fine." He steps out of the door and closes it softly behind him. "I've been up for a little while. I was just lying in bed. I take it you couldn't sleep either"

I shake my head. "Too much to do, honestly. But I don't want to wake Sarah or Henry up yet."

He thinks for a minute.

"Come on. Follow me."

We walk outside, where it is still dark out. We walk past the dorms and crest a small hill. Jason stops.

"The sun will come up soon. You can see it pretty well from here." He sits down and waves me over next to him.

I sit down. I stare up at the lightening sky thoughtfully.

"Are you nervous?" I ask him. He looks over at me.

"I would be stupid not to be. What about you?"

"Of course. I've done a lot of illegal things in the city and never gotten caught. But this is way more dangerous than anything I have ever done, and this time it's not just my life at stake." I sigh. "It's a good thing that we're training to fight. But if it comes down to that, and we're still in the city, we're dead."

He nods. "The fight training gives us a chance, at least, or if we run into a guard on our way in or out. But you're right. Most of the success or failure of this mission rests on getting in and out undetected."

"Which is apparently my specialty." I sigh. "But the General doesn't understand how much luck is connected to it."

"I think she does. She just knows that you give us our best chance."

I chuckle. "This is not at all the direction I thought my life would take."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"Good, I think." I turn and look at him. "I'm happier here than I think I could ever be in the city. And I finally feel like maybe, I can help make something in this world better." I laugh again. "Maya was always the one trying to save the world."

"How so?"

"That medicine. All her work. She was always trying to find a way to improve the lives of the people in sector 5."

"Do you think she succeeded?"

"I guess I'll never know now, will I?"

"What do you mean?"

I sigh. "I can't see her. She should think that I'm dead. Because if there is any implication that she knows who one of the rebels is, then she'll be in danger."

He nods. "I get that. But don't you think she'd be happier if she knew that you were alive? And happy?"

I shake my head. "I don't even know where to find her. She might have moved."