The Defiant (6 page)

“Really?” She sounds startled.

“Was yours okay?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah. I'm glad you're safe.”

“Me too,” I say. “So where's Liam?”

“I don't know. I was just looking for him. He went out right before I did.”

“He's probably landed by now.”

“I'm sure he has. Maybe the wind drifted him away from us.”

We both stare around in the darkness. “I'm worried that someone did something to our parachutes,” I say.

Gadya thinks it over. “Sabotage? But who would do that?”

“I know it's doubtful, but maybe there's someone who doesn't want us to succeed. Like someone with old allegiances to the UNA.”

“Anything's possible on the wheel.” She stares around for Liam. “If he's not here soon, we have to get going.”

I nod. “Maybe he's already headed for the rebel convoy. Maybe he'll meet us there.” I look around at the trees.

“Liam will be okay,” Gadya says, trying to comfort me. “He's a hunter and tracker. He knows where to find us.”

I nod. I have to accept her logic. If I don't, I'll give in to despair.

I pull out a paper-thin digital screen. It's a map of the area. The scientists gave them to us, along with fake government papers, forged back on Island Alpha. The screen glows dimly green in the darkness. I hold it close so that the light doesn't give us away. “Look. We're not far from where we're supposed to meet the rebels. We just head north into the forest, find a large river and follow it, and then meet them on a dirt road on the other side. They'll be waiting for us.”

Gadya glances at the map. “Only two miles or so.”

“We better start walking.”

I take a final glance at the map, and then shut it off, putting the folding screen back into my pocket. I wish I could communicate with the scientists, or anyone else, but it's too dangerous now
to transmit any signals. They would be picked up by the government's monitoring systems.

Gadya and I start heading toward the trees at the edge of the field. I'm thinking about Liam and hoping that we'll find him out here. If not, I plan to wait for him when we reach the convoy, even if Gadya doesn't want to.

The sudden snap of gunshots in the distance triggers my reflexes, and I instantly crouch down to the ground. The shots are too soft and far away to be aimed at us, but we need to be cautious. I can hear Gadya cursing.

“They're onto us!” she hisses. “They must have spotted someone.”

“It could be a police drill,” I say. “It could have nothing to do with us. They could be doing target practice, for all we know—”

More sharp cracks interrupt my words. I don't hear any screaming in response. If they are shooting at something or someone, it sounds like they're missing their target.

“We have to go faster,” Gadya says. “If there are government soldiers or police out here, then we need to reach the rebels as soon as we can.”

The two of us begin racing toward the edge of the trees. The trees are so tall in front of us that they blot out the moonlight. They stand like an impenetrable mountain of foliage, their branches and leaves forming a thick canopy. We make it into the forest just as more gunshots ring out.

We quickly find the river, using our ears to locate it. It's wide, and its rushing water sparkles in the few slivers of moonlight that penetrate the cover of trees. My mind churns. Our landing was supposed to be secret. If there are soldiers out here in the trees, already looking for us, then we're in trouble.

Gadya and I travel rapidly alongside the river. Tree branches lash our arms and faces, and I feel the underbrush crunch beneath my feet. The rushing sound of the river next to us is our sole companion, hiding the noise of our footsteps. We keep low to the ground, running in a half crouch. Trying to stay hidden from view in case anyone is watching.

I can scarcely believe what we're doing. It feels like we're still back on Island Alpha instead of in the continental UNA, close to a big city. Soon we will be rescued by the rebel convoy and then taken right into the heart of New Dallas.

As we continue racing forward, my folding screen nearly falls out of my pocket. I cram it back in and keep running. I can't afford to lose it.

A few more minutes pass. Our breath is ragged in our chests as we run. We're making good progress. By now we are probably just a mile away from our destination, and I haven't heard any more gunshots. But just as I start thinking that we've escaped, I hear a voice scream out.

“
Stop!
”

I freeze. So does Gadya. I sink down to the ground. She does the same. We crouch in the brush, trying to hide. The smell of dank earth is thick in my nose. I can feel my heart pounding against my ribs.

Gadya's eyes lock on to mine. There's no need for us to say anything to each other. The slightest noise could give us away.

I can't believe we've been spotted. Are these the rebels that we've been expecting, or someone else? I'm going over a cover story in my mind, in case we've stumbled upon government soldiers. But there's no good reason to explain why we're out here in the forest, even with the fake government papers that we carry.
Our presence is far too suspicious. We're going to have to fight if we get cornered by anyone other than rebels.

I also know that we're going to have to cross the river soon in order to rendezvous with the rebel convoy. We don't have any time to waste.

I hear footsteps crunching through the underbrush. A figure appears in the darkness, stepping out into a shaft of moonlight.

“You there! You girls!” it yells, seeing us instantly. But the voice is high-pitched and oddly unsteady.

As the figure gets closer, I stare down the source of the voice. It's a chubby boy, about twelve years old at the most. His face is dirty with mud, and his blond hair is long and ragged. He's clutching an old bolt-action shotgun.

“Who are you?” I call out.

“Jonah. I'm a rebel.” He keeps the shotgun pointed at us, his cherubic face marred by the suspicious look in his blue eyes. “Names?” he asks us. “Real ones.”

I stare back at him. “Alenna,” I say.

Gadya gives him her first name too.

The boy nods. “You're late.”

“There are soldiers out here—haven't you heard the gunshots?” Gadya asks.

The boy nods. “That's why they sent me. To find you.” He pauses. “There's supposed to be more of you.”

“They got lost on the way down,” I say. “They'll be here soon. One of them is named Liam.”

The boy nods again. “I know. The head of my resistance cell gave me the manifest for the flights.” Gadya and I exchange wary glances. We expected to meet rebels when we landed, but we did not expect that one of them would be a child.

Jonah takes a primitive-looking walkie-talkie from his belt. “Short-range encoded signal. No one can intercept it,” he explains. Then he presses a button and talks into the device. “Two of them are here. Alenna and Gadya. I'm sending them to meet you. I'll wait for the others and take them to the next convoy. Over.”

A voice on the other end crackles back to us: “Tell them to get here fast. Over.”

“Will do. Over and out.” Jonah looks back at us, finally lowering his gun. “Better start walking.”

“Are you safe out here on your own?” I ask him, suddenly worried.

“I've been on my own since I was ten. I'm an orphan. The rebels are my family. I'm safer than you out here. I'm smaller, faster, and I can hide better.” He looks at me intensely.

“You heard the kid,” Gadya mutters, sounding almost amused. “We better move.”

We hustle past Jonah as he watches us closely. Soon he is behind us. We hike for another five minutes. I consult the map again. We're at the point where we need to cross the river.

I tug Gadya's sleeve. “Stop. We're here.”

I gaze up ahead. Here, the river makes a bend before it widens. This is its narrowest point before it grows to about forty feet in width and runs off as far as I can see, winding into the darkness of the forest. We just have to make it across without drowning.

“Ready to swim?” Gadya asks.

“I'm ready for anything.”

I walk forward and kneel down at the edge.

Gadya joins me, plunging her hand into the water. “It's cold. Figures.”

I start unlacing my boots. Gadya kicks off her boots and snatches them up in her hand.

We quickly step into the water, clutching our boots. I shiver. Gadya is right. The water is freezing. It comes up to my thighs and to her waist. I realize now that it's too deep to walk quickly in, but too shallow and rocky to swim.

I take a step forward. The water pulls at our clothes, making foamy wakes around our bodies. We start wading across the river as fast as we can.

We don't talk much. We just keep pushing ahead. Our clothes are soaked.

The river starts to get deeper and moves even faster. I'm worried for a moment that if I slip, the water might carry me away.

I stare out at the bank. We're only fifteen feet away now. I just keep trying to move forward.

I hear a sudden yelp.

It's Gadya.

“You okay?” I whisper loudly to her, over the sound of the water.

“Almost lost my balance. Watch out—the rocks are slippery here.”

I move closer to her. We help each other along.

When we reach the muddy bank, we crawl out of the river. We both stand there, dripping with water and shivering.

I don't hear any more gunshots. The whole area seems deserted.

We pause for a moment on the riverbank, getting our boots back on. I hope that Jonah will be able to find Liam and guide him to our convoy. If not, I suppose Liam will find the next one. I know how resourceful he can be.

“We're going to die if we just keep standing here,” Gadya grouses. “Someone will find us. C'mon.”

We begin walking. The forest on this side of the river seems even thicker, like it's closing in around us. I glance back and see the river receding into the distance.

Soon, we reach a path that's been cleared in the forest. It's a narrow dirt roadway through the trees, wide enough for a car.

“Is this it?” Gadya asks.

“I think so,” I tell her. I take out the digital map and glance at it. “Yes, we're in the right place.”

“Where is everyone? Didn't that rebel kid say they were waiting for us?”

I stare around at the darkness. I feel like we're the last two people alive on earth. There's only silence and the noises of the forest. “Maybe the kid was wrong.”

We look in both directions. There's no sign of a car.

“Could be a trap,” Gadya says.

We exchange worried glances. This is not a good start to our return to liberate the UNA.

“We should hide—” Gadya begins.

But the faint noise of vehicles approaching us on the dirt road stops her short.

“Cars. Two of 'em. Heading our way,” I whisper.

I can't see them. Their headlights must be dimmed. I crouch down next to Gadya in the darkness, in the underbrush at the side of the road. We make sure to hide ourselves well, peeking out through the foliage.

The noise of tires on the dirt road gets louder and then stops, just out of view. I hear car doors opening, followed by someone's footsteps.

“Can you see anything?” Gadya whispers into my ear.

“Not yet,” I say back, straining to look.

“Alenna?” I hear a voice call out from the road. “Gadya?” The voice is female, and it has a slight Southern twang.

I don't know if I can trust this person, although I assume she is a rebel. I get into a defensive posture, ready to run or fight if she does anything suspicious.

Neither Gadya nor I respond.

The silhouette of a person grows closer. I can see her now through the trees, walking down the road. She is illuminated by the faint glow of yellow headlights.

“Alenna?” the woman calls again. “Gadya? Where are you? Jonah said you were on your way!”

She's going to find us in the underbrush anyway, so I decide to make myself visible.

“I'm getting up,” I murmur to Gadya.

“I'll cover you,” she whispers back. “I'll throw my knife at her heart and kill her if she threatens us.” I know that she means it.

I stand up from the underbrush, with my blade in my hand. I still don't say a word. I know that this woman is probably a rebel who is on our side, but I've also learned not to trust anyone in the UNA.

The woman doesn't look surprised to see me, or my knife. In fact, she's carrying a rifle. It's hanging loosely by her side. Behind her are two vehicles—a pickup truck and a sedan. Drivers sit in both of them, barely visible beyond the dim headlights.

The woman staring back at me has red hair, tied back in a bun. She looks like she's in her late thirties. Her face is pretty, but her eyes glint hard in the moonlight.

“You're Alenna,” the woman says to me. “I recognize your photo.”

I nod. “Yes.”

“You can lower that weapon. I'm here to help you. We don't have much time.” She pauses. “I assume Gadya is with you? Probably hiding with a weapon aimed at me, in case I turn out to be a spy or something?”

“Correct,” Gadya's voice says from the underbrush.

The woman smiles. “I'd expect nothing less.” Then her smile fades. “Come with me. Alenna, you'll be riding in my vehicle. Gadya will be in the one behind us.”

Gadya stands up loudly from the brush, her arm cocked to throw the knife if she has to. “We don't want to be separated yet.”

“I agree,” I say. “We're supposed to stay together for now.”

“There's no other way to get past the government checkpoints on the highway. They're worse than we thought they would be today. We're going to smuggle you through as family members. Two teenage girls will look more suspicious than one.” She eyes Gadya's blue hair and tattoos. “Especially someone who looks like you. So c'mon. Alenna, follow me. Gadya, to the truck. We have fresh, dry clothes for both of you in the cars. You need to change right away.”