From the Earth (Ember Society Book 2) Read online

  I had to keep going for him.

  Unfortunately, the northern boroughs didn’t look much different from where I grew up. There were business districts, areas of offices and retail, and then there were the more run-down boroughs further away from the Center. The Head Peacemakers for each borough were nice enough, but they really didn’t offer anything insightful about the missing people. I projected trust into them whenever I could, but I either didn’t have the same magic-truth-serum effect as Emmaline, or the Peacemakers really didn’t know what was happening to our people.

  The next day, the southern boroughs offered more of the same. Finally, late in the afternoon as the entire team was growing weary, we entered Morton borough. Being the closest to the edge, it was our last stop. It was also the stop I was looking most forward to. It was where I’d get to see Raf.

  The timing couldn’t have been better, really. I planned to speak with the Head Peacemaker for our borough, a man I’d met many times before during my brother’s run-ins with the law, and then I’d sneak off to the sanitation headquarters to speak with Raf as he was getting off of work for the day. Dax was ready to help me when the time came for me to make my move away from the others.

  Our van pulled to a stop in front of the Head Peacemaker’s office in the business district near the inner edge of Morton borough. Justice Hosch had been in the position throughout my entire life. He was getting older, but his mind was sharp. He was a bit kinder and more down to earth than Peacemakers from the inner boroughs, and he even raised his family in Morton rather than close to the Center in Noble borough. This earned him extra respect from the local people.

  “Hello, Justice Hosch.”

  “Ms. Greenwood, it’s so lovely to see you again. I hope they’re treating you well in the Center?” He lifted his brows and glanced at Aiden who felt he needed to remain by my side at all times.

  “They definitely are, sir.” I smiled and shook the man’s hand.

  He looked behind me and his smile grew even wider. “And Dax O’Neil, too. I’m so proud to have such fine citizens from Morton representing our city. And at such a young age, too. Please come in, Chief Justice Hines suggested we have some serious matters to discuss.”

  We followed him into a small office with just three chairs surrounding a worn wooden desk. He took a seat behind it, while Dax and I sat opposite him. Aiden and Rider stood against the side walls where they could keep an eye on both the window and the door, and Emilio timidly stood behind Dax.

  “I’m glad they’ve sent you to investigate,” Justice Hosch began. “The truth is, these disappearances are getting out of hand. The other Head Peacemakers and I have exchanged notes, and the boroughs with the greatest losses are definitely those nearest the edge. Morton may be at the top of the list. We’ve lost thirty-three people over the last two weeks.”

  Thirty-three people. It seemed like an impossible number. My mind instantly started scanning through all the faces I’d known growing up, wondering if any of my friends were on that list. I was almost looking forward to getting Outside and discovering who else had joined the Embers. Maybe it would be like a reunion.

  “Have you noticed any patterns to the missing people? Are they all from one area, for example? Or in certain professions?” I ran through the same questions I’d asked all the others, jotting notes in a small pad of paper as we went along.

  “Surprisingly, yes.”

  My head jerked up. No one else had noticed any patterns at all. Justice Hosch grew serious, weaving his fingers together as he leaned forward onto his desk.

  “The vast majority of our missing people have been between the ages of twenty and fifty. The Outsiders really seem to be targeting our younger crowd. And frankly, I’m concerned they’re trying to weaken us before moving into larger-scale attacks on our city. They’re leaving just the older adults and children untouched.”

  “Very interesting,” I said quietly, my pen scribbling rapidly as I got it all down.

  “And it’s not just the missing people. The ones we’ve found have been in the same age range.”

  Found? As in returned from the Outside? I had to get more information about this. Hopefully they weren’t reporting any of the activity they saw. Who would possibly want to come back to Classen City after experiencing the freedom I’d heard about with the Embers?

  “I see. Tell me more about the ones you’ve found.” I was trying my best to keep my pulse steady, my panic to a minimum. Dax was doing a poorer job though. This must’ve been new information to him, and to say he was worried was putting it mildly.

  Justice Hosch paused, looking over at him in the seat next to me. He was obviously feeling Dax’s nerves as well. I had to act fast.

  “I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to some of the people I know here in Morton. So many of these people are like family to me. They’re really the only family I have left.” I looked at Dax and placed my hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sure you must be thinking the same thing, Dax. But don’t worry. We’re here to save our people and put a stop to these Outsiders.” He looked at me apologetically from the corner of his eye. My outward display of empathy seemed to have appeased Justice Hosch. Dax was in the clear... for now. I’d have to remind him to keep his emotions in check around the Peacemakers moving forward. He almost got us into trouble.

  “Well as we discussed,” Justice Hosch continued. “We’ve had many people go missing. But separate from that, we’ve also found eight dead bodies in the same time period.”

  “What?! No one has said anything about dead bodies!” I dropped the pen in my lap.

  Justice Hosch nodded sadly. “I don’t believe the other boroughs have experienced the same. But Morton is being targeted very aggressively for some reason. And we’ve got to put a stop to it. I just found another one this morning, half-frozen in a pond at the edge of the borough.”

  “The pond over near the sanitation headquarters?” That was my pond. My peaceful escape when I still lived here. It’s where I would wait for Cato to get off work. It’s where I sat with Raf when everything got crazy after I left. It’s where I cleared my head.

  “That’s the one. A young man. Very sad.”

  Now it was my turn to be betrayed by a pounding heartbeat. I couldn’t control it. I had to know. “Who was it? Were you able to ID him?” There was no hiding the panic in my voice.

  “Not yet. I’m afraid he took quite a beating before they disposed of his body.” Justice Hosch shuddered. He was visibly upset by all of this too. At least Dax and I didn’t look quite as out of place anymore.

  “Thank you, sir. Your comments have helped more than you know.” I gave the old man a hard, sincere look, holding his eye contact and meaning every word of what I said next. “I will not give up until we get to the bottom of this.”

  I held my breath until we got back into the overcast light of the sun in front of the building. Then the dam broke down. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I didn’t even hear what Dax was saying to the others, but it must’ve been convincing. We climbed into the van and Aiden sped over to the sanitation headquarters in record time. It was five minutes after five o’clock, and Raf’s coworker Lena was exiting right as the van pulled up in front of the office.

  “Lena!” I jumped out of the van before it had fully stopped and ran to greet her. Hopefully Raf hadn’t already left.

  “Claren, right?” She gave me a tired smile.

  “That’s right. How have you been?” I tried to act nonchalant, ignoring the sound of the van door closing behind me. But Lena didn’t seem too concerned about the black vehicle, despite how out of place it was here. She was lost in a cloud of thought, sad and distracted. My pulse quickened again. Had she been affected by one of these attacks?

  “Things have been better.” She glanced over at the vehicle and Dax walking up behind me. Thankfully the others stayed inside. I wondered what Dax had to say to convince Aiden to mind his own business.

  Lena’s brows
furrowed as she realized something was up. “What can I help you with?”

  “I was actually just popping by to talk to Raf real quick. Is he still here?”

  Lena’s eyes glazed over and I felt like I’d been slammed in the gut. I was unable to breathe and barely able to hear what she said next. Her grief seized me, and only amplified the feelings growing inside me.

  “No honey, I haven’t seen Raf since last Thursday. No one has.” Tears filled her bottom lids. I just stood there, unable to speak or move or think clearly at all, shaking as I held in my agony. Neither of us moved for what seemed like several minutes.

  Finally, I urged the words out of my mouth. A raspy voice escaped my lips, asking the question I didn’t want the answer to. “Was it him? In the pond this morning?”

  A single tear rolled down Lena’s cheek. “I don’t know.” She shook her head softly. “I don’t know.”

  That was all I needed to hear. I was going Outside the next day no matter what. And every day after if that’s what it took. I had to find out if Raf was alive. And I would be first in line to destroy the Outsiders if he wasn’t.

  CHAPTER 9

  Felix was on a call with his father when we returned to his house that night—a call that lasted hours. He didn’t join us for supper, and there was no catching up in the study after we ate. It was fine with me, though. My mind was focused on only one thing.

  The Outsiders adored Raf. They would never harm him. So the body found in the pond couldn’t possibly be his, right? He must’ve left town to go join the Embers.

  Then again, Dax saw Raf just over a week ago in Morton. He didn’t seem to think Raf had any intentions of going Outside just yet. He was tasked with recruiting in Classen City. He couldn’t help them if he went missing.

  So worst-case scenario, if it was Raf in the pond, who would have done it? Justice Hines? Maybe she saw him when he pulled down his mask to talk to me in the courtroom the day Cato was shot. I knew she didn’t think the Outsiders were worthy of life. And she was just ruthless enough to do it.

  But Justice Hines wouldn’t be caught dead in the outer boroughs. Would she have hired the job out to someone else? Or maybe there were more like her—determined to eliminate anyone associated with the Outsiders. There were so many ifs, but there was only one way to find out. Dax knew where Frank was settled Outside, and I was going to go straight to the source the next day.

  A knock on the door at half-past nine rattled me from my thoughts. Felix’s voice called out softly.

  “Claren? Are you still up?”

  “Yeah, come on in.” I’d already changed into the pajamas Tamara had laid out for me. The pants were a satiny black, and the matching shirt was loose fitting but revealing in the way it hung on my body. I crossed my arms over my chest as Felix entered and joined me on the edge of my bed.

  “I just spoke with Dax, and I’m sorry to hear about your friend.”

  “We don’t know anything yet,” I said defensively. “He’s probably fine. We just need to find him.”

  Felix didn’t argue, but the way his mouth was set into a firm line told me he believed otherwise. “I hope you do. I wish I could go out and help you, but it turns out I’ll be even further away than I thought. My father has requested that I join him for the District Council meeting tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? There’s no way you can get to Louisburg in time for a meeting tomorrow.”

  Felix sighed and slumped his shoulders. “It would take about six hours by car.”

  “Exactly, so you won’t make it in time. Unless you’re actually leaving tonight?”

  He studied me, frowning. “I forget there’s still so much you haven’t learned yet.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. The way Felix’s cheeks flushed told me I probably wouldn’t like what he had to say next.

  “Well you know all the major airports were destroyed in the war.”

  I nodded. They were never rebuilt because society was restructured by the New American government to be self-contained. Where there were once fifty states full of thousands of municipalities, there were now just sixty-eight metropolitan cities governed within ten districts across the country. The only way to earn your standard wage and receive food, electricity, and other necessities for life was to reside in one of these cities. The government took care of all of our logistics, so there was no need to travel anymore.

  “What you don’t know,” Felix continued, “is that there are still private airfields for the Leadership outside of each city’s limits.”

  I closed my eyes to let that sink in. Of course there were still airplanes. Why hadn’t I considered it before? The Leadership was truly skilled in deception. It was just one more reason I needed to help the Ember Society reveal the truth.

  “So you’ll be flying to Louisburg I take it?”

  Felix nodded solemnly.

  “And how many times have you flown before? Is this something you Leaders do often? Take joy rides in planes across the country? Do you travel to other countries, too?”

  “No, of course not! I have flown in the past, but not many times. I haven’t needed to leave Classen City much before. But now that my father is involved with District operations, I have a feeling I’ll be traveling a bit more.”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “This is why I can’t trust you, Felix. Your whole life is a lie.”

  “That’s not true. I can’t help where I was born. I didn’t ask for this—I don’t want it.”

  I turned away. Felix could leave if he wanted to. He was never going to be a part of my mission anyway. This conversation was over.

  “Claren, come on. What do you want me to do? Say no? Sorry, dad. I’m working against you?”

  I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. “I don’t know. I just feel like the life I knew a few months ago was a total lie. I need a whole course on how things are really run behind the scenes. The Outsiders were excited to find empty wine bottles. If they knew you were flying on planes and developing mind-reading technology, they would probably start another war!”

  “Please keep your voice down,” Felix whispered. “And hey—” He cupped the side of my face with his hand and gently turned me back toward him. “I understand why you’re upset, but please let that fuel your fire against the other Leaders. Not me. I’m on your side.”

  He meant it. I knew he did. But it was still difficult for me to swallow.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll try. It’s just a lot.”

  “I know,” he said, dropping his hand. “Anyway, I’ll still have to leave before dawn, so I won’t see you at breakfast. And I didn’t want you to wonder. Plus—” He hesitated. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

  Felix leaned forward and gave me a soft, warm kiss on the cheek. It was tender and thoughtful, given with no expectations, and I felt his concern for me and my safety.

  “Be careful out there,” he said, standing. “I’ll be back Friday evening and I want to hear all about it.”

  “You be careful, too. I’ll see you Friday.”

  I went to bed thinking about action plans and Raf. But I dreamt of Felix’s lips on my cheek.

  The next morning came too quickly. Dax and I ate breakfast without any fanfare and found ourselves in the van with the rest of the team a few minutes before eight. The air was tight with nerves and excitement.

  Aiden was more alive than I’d ever seen him. Even Rider had a touch of life to his otherwise stone-cold persona. It was going to be a big day.

  The plan was to stay within one hour of the Classen City limits. It wasn’t difficult to convince the team to start on the south side given Morton borough’s statistics compared to the other boroughs. The Leadership had a rough idea of where the camps may be located based on intel gathered from farm Workers who tended to the government crops and the few Protectors who ventured Outside to exile criminals. Occasionally they would spot smoke from a campfire and other clues to life in the woods.

  My heart pounded in
my ears as we crossed over the boundary between Classen City and a world I’d never seen. I don’t know what I expected—maybe something magical or dark. Caves or wild animals, dirt roads and offbeat trails full of adventure. But to my dismay, the Outside looked a lot like the city, just with fewer buildings.

  The roads were maintained just enough for the farm Workers to bring in crops, but buildings remaining from before the war were left to deteriorate. Windows were broken and tall weeds grew through parking lots and driveways. Several roofs were caved in. But the further we drove, the fewer buildings we saw, until there was nothing but overgrown fields and scraggly forests.

  The van was quiet as we flew down the roads. Each of us had our eyes glued to the windows, watching with wonder as we took in the sights of a world that had always been off-limits. A world that I was raised to believe was dangerous.

  After half an hour or more, Dax leaned forward from the back seat, calling out to Aiden upfront. “I think we’re getting close. You might want to slow down.”

  I turned to Dax, waiting to see what his plan was for shaking off the rest of the team. I hated the idea of dragging Aiden and Rider into the camps. Those two were definitely loose cannons.

  The van slowed as abandoned houses began to grow closer together, and I realized we were entering an old town. We drove forward still to what used to be the main street in the small community, and I wondered what it must have been like to live there a hundred years earlier, before the war. I pictured children walking with their parents, excited about window displays full of sweet treats. I pictured lights and music and laughter. Maybe it was a touch idealistic, but it made me crave a life like that again. A life where information was free and available. A life where we could decide our own paths and make our own ways.

  “You look excited,” Aiden said with a grin. He’d just parked the van along the side of the main road, and the others were already shuffling through our supplies.

  My smile quickly faded as I remembered the task currently at hand. “I don’t know if excited is the right word, but I’m definitely ready to get started. I know we ran through several different scenarios. What plan did we officially land on?”