Rise

two

AT FIRST I WASN'T CERTAIN WHAT I WAS HEARING; THE SOUND existed in the hazy space of dreams. I pulled the covers closer, but the noise persisted. The room slowly came into focus, the wardrobe and chairs lit by the soft glow from outside. Charles was sleeping as he always did on the chaise in the corner, his feet hanging a few inches off the short cushion. Whenever I saw him like that, curled up, his expression softened by sleep, guilt ripped through me. I had to remind myself who he was, why we were both here, and that he wasn't anything to me.

I sat up and listened. The sharp, sporadic squeaking of brakes was fainter from so high up, but unmistakable. I'd heard it as we moved west toward Califia and on the long drive to the City of Sand. I went to the window and looked out at the main road, where a line of government Jeeps snaked through the City, their headlights lighting up the dark.

"What is it?" Charles asked.

From twenty stories up, I could just make out the shadowy figures packed into the beds. "I think they're taking people out of the City," I said, watching as the Jeeps moved south along the road. The line stretched on forever in each direction, one after the next.

Charles wiped the sleep from his eyes. "I didn't think they would do it," he muttered.

"What do you mean?" I turned to him, but he refused to look at me. "Where are they taking them?"

He joined me at the window, our reflections barely visible in the glass. "They're coming, not going," he said finally. He pointed to the abandoned hospital in the Outlands. "The girls."

"What girls?" I watched the Jeeps make their way down the main road, stopping and starting up again. A handful of soldiers were standing in the middle of the pavement, directing them. There were a few dozen trucks, at least. It was the most cars I'd ever seen driving in one place.

"The girls from the Schools," he said. He rested his hand on my back, as if that gesture alone could calm me. "I heard your father talking about it today. They said it was a preventive measure after what happened at the camps."

The King had been locked in his office with his advisers after dinner. I knew they were developing a defense strategy, that much was clear, but I hadn't imagined they would go so far as to evacuate the Schools. Before I could process it, tears collected in the corners of my eyes, blurring my vision. They were here, finally, impossibly-Ruby, Arden, and Pip.

"Is it all of the girls? How many total?" I moved quickly around the room, pulling a sweater from the wardrobe and a pair of narrow pants from the closet. I yanked them on under my nightgown, not bothering to go into the bathroom as I normally did. I turned my bare back to Charles as I traded the gown for a soft beige sweater.

When I spun back around he was staring at me, his cheeks flushed. "I believe it's all of them. It's supposed to be done by sunrise. They don't want it to be public."

"That'll be impossible." I glanced behind him, at the building across the way. A few other lights had gone on in the apartments. Silhouettes passed behind the curtains, looking down at the scene below.

He didn't respond. Instead he studied me as I pulled on the shiny black flats from the bottom of my closet. Alina, my new maid, rarely allowed me to wear them in public, insisting on the formal heels that pinched my toes and made me feel like I was falling forward. "You can't leave-it's past curfew," Charles said, realizing what I was doing. "The soldiers won't let you out."

I grabbed a suit jacket from a hanger, along with the pants that were folded underneath. "They will," I said, tossing them at him one by one, "if you're with me."

He glanced at me, then at the clothes, which were balled up against his chest. Slowly, without a word, he went into the bathroom to change.

IT TOOK US NEARLY AN HOUR TO REACH THE HOSPITAL IN THE Outlands. The vehicles were still clustered on the main road, so a soldier escorted us by foot. As we walked, I kept my head down, my eyes on the sandy pavement. The last time I'd been in this area I was going to meet Caleb. The still night had enveloped me, spurred on by the possibility of a life together beyond the walls, the possibility of us. Now the faint outline of the airport rose up in the distance. My eyes found the hangar where we'd spent the night. The thin plane blankets had provided little protection from the cold. Caleb had brought my hand to his lips, kissing each finger before we fell asleep . . .