Gods Under The Dome

11.2

《Arrival》

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Sun beats down on my face and arms as I step out from under the metallic awning of the maintenance building, the outside of which is just as nondescript as its insides. A building of slate-gray concrete, it sits nestled between the tram's massive metal legs and is meant to blend in. Part of the shed rises high into the sky, so it can meet the tram track right before it disappears through the umbrella. Without a tram barreling down on the suspended track, it looks oddly abandoned as sun reflects off the glass casing.

Tujo pulls his shirt collar in agitation. "Why's it so hot?" He slumps over, his gaze trailing over the paved sidewalk before landing on a huddled mass of swaying grass. His face lights up as he reaches for Lilly and drags her forward.

Her eyes delight at the sight of the knee-high, variegated grass. "Are these real?" She reaches out to grab one of the blades and pulls it between her fingers. "I knew they used plants to help oxygenate the upper levels, but-" she eyes the long stretch of cut green grass straddling either side of the sidewalk, and dares to step on it. She grimaces. "Definitely artificial."

Tujo waves the bush of taller grass at her so that a few blade tips skim her cheeks. She giggles.

"But this is real," he says, his fingers lingering on the fistful of grass. "How awesome is that?"

Lilly's blond curls bounce around her temples. "It's double awesome."

I clamp my hand on her shoulder which sobers her expression instantly. Tujo drops the grass, folds his arms over his chest and mumbles something about me "ruining everything."

Ruining everything were people like Marava who had to take an elevator down a hundred floors before she could grace you with her condescension. Ruining everything were the people who had taken us kicking, screaming, spitting and crying from our parents just to put us into the Facility.

I wasn't ruining everything. If anything, I was trying to get us to the meeting unscathed, have the transaction go without a hitch and get all our asses on the tram without harm. I was trying to save us and maybe someday Tujo would see that. My fingers curl into a fist on top of Lilly's shoulder. She blinks at me, her eyes carrying a look of confusion. I needed to believe that Tujo would understand.

"Time to split up," I say, my voice soft.

Overhead, mounds of replicated white clouds laze about across a projected expanse of unadulterated blue. Humid air brushes my cheeks, causing my curls to go lax and limp over my ears. Sweat dribbles down my forehead. It seems they've made the transition from spring to summer in the upper levels which meant weather like this would soon grace the lower Sectors.

Lilly takes my hand in hers. She pokes at my fingers as she shuffles her feet against the pavement. "Will you be alright?"

I clasp the bag at my side and force a smile to surface. "I'll be fine."

Reaching up, I take the dot at my temple, peel it off, and move it to a more hidden position behind my ear. I do as Della told me to and press down on it for ten seconds. I turn my head to the side. "How's it look?"

Lilly lifts on her tiptoes and inspects the flesh were the dot should be concealed. She comes away shaking her head. "Can't see a thing."

"Hate to say this, but Izzer knows his way around tech." I wrinkle my nose and allow my tongue to lull out of my mouth. "Ugh. Heaping praise for that creep...its like saying something nice about Senorita Perez over there."

Marava glowers. "Go fu--"

"Go do this mission successfully and get us all out alive?" I finish.