More explosions are going off in the distance at the other gates, at the other stadium. We’re attacking all at once in a mad rush to confuse and panic them. From the sounds of it, it’s working.
I wait my turn anxiously, then climb over the fence. As I swing my legs over, I get one stuck on a stray piece of metal and take a slice down my leg. I hiss in surprise but quickly pull my leg free and scurry down the other side to the ground. Our commander is waiting there, a man from Vashon Island who I’ve seen only once before in the large tent with Alvarez. He doesn’t ask me if I’m okay. He doesn’t offer me a helping hand because I’m a girl. As I hit the ground he shoves me forward to catch up with the others and get out of the way of the next climber. I was pretty neutral to him before, but I think I’m in love with him now.
I run quickly behind the others as we sprint across the neglected, dusty ground between the outer chain-link fence and the interior concrete walls. According to the plan, these inner walls have doors in them—ones that will lead us into tunnels inside the stadium under the open-air seating. I hope the plan is right, because when I glance up at the dark gray mass beside me, I’m thinking there’s no way of climbing that thing. Without an entrance, we’d have to fly to get in—and I’m all out of fairy dust.
The line I’m following comes to a sudden halt. Our commander goes rushing past me to the front and disappears into the shadows at the base of the wall. I wait anxiously, uncomfortable with the bodies pressed so close at my front and back, not to mention the sound of explosions still going off and shouts echoing from nearby.
Finally the line moves again and we’re racing forward. I follow blindly until I’m passing through a thick doorway into a dark tunnel that makes me cringe. It’s dry in here. There are really low wattage lights spaced out across the ceiling, but it has that boxed-in feeling of the tunnels—the ones where Vin and I fought for our lives and took one in return. The one where I was sure I’d lost Ryan forever.
I take a breath, shake it off, and suck it up. If there’s one thing in this world I can count on, it’s the fact that it’s haunted. Everything has a memory. Everything will remind me of something horrible if I let it.
The tunnel is curving and rising, taking us up and around. We follow them until we see light pouring in from the center of their world: the heart of the Colony.
My first impression when we exit the tunnel and I can see it clearly?
Place is a shit-hole.
I’m stunned by it. It’s nothing like the Pod in the north. Nothing. What used to be a sports field covered in unnaturally green grass is all brown earth farmed to within an inch of its life. There are pens filled nearly to bursting with animals of all different kinds, all mixed in together. Tents and badly constructed, tiny buildings are built into the stairs and seats. Hundreds of them. Small fires burn at regular intervals around the base of the seating, just outside the reach of the overused fields. They have power but it looks like none of it is being used on the inside. All of it is being spent on the huge, barely working spotlights that were meant to light night games but have now been redirected to watch the perimeter. If a large portion of their guard wasn’t up north fighting the cannibals, we never would have made it as far as we have tonight—they would have seen us coming a mile away—but as I look around I wonder what they would have done about it. The Vashons had trebuchets and God knows what else to defend themselves. As far as I can tell, these people have chickens. Mangy ones.
“Fan out!” our commander shouts. “Weapons up! Form a line around the field!”
Other teams have shown up through the tunnel entrances around the field. They start to spread out just like we do until we all link together, forming a circle around the field. Every weapon, even fake ones like mine, are drawn and pointed up at the seating where the Colonists are scurrying to hide inside their shacks. Not a single one is putting up a fight. They’re all too terrified.
Somewhere down in the street, Alvarez and a few other teams will take the Colony guards down. If they’re anything like these people here on the inside, they won’t fight them too hard.
This all feels too easy. Almost unfair. I want to lower my ‘gun’ because I’m starting to feel guilty lying to them with it.
“Hold steady!” Todd, my gun coach, shouts.
So that’s what we do: we point our mix of real and fake weapons at the cowering, hiding Colonists and we wait.
Somewhere from the utter silence behind me, a cow moos mournfully.
Chapter Eighteen
“What do you mean you’re staying here?!”
Vin pretends to wince at my shouting. “Kitten, please. My ears. You’re shrieking.”
“You’re being a coward!”
“I’m being an opportunist.”
“Selfish.”
“A little, yeah.”
I collapse in a chair across from him inside the large tent.
We’re early to our next strategy meeting with the Vashons. I don’t know why we’re meeting again so soon—everyone knows what we’re going to do: move on to the next Colony, the one in the south against the water. The people we’ve taken in so far have been eager to talk. Once Alvarez showed up in the middle of that field and announced what his intentions were, the people began to slowly come out of their hiding places. Turns out not all of them live in the tents and shacks out in the open. A big portion of the Pod lives inside the structure where there are offices turned into dorm rooms, kitchens, showers, bathrooms, even nurseries and play areas. It’s not at as bad down there as it is up top, but they’re so overcrowded they’ve spilled out to live with the animals and crops. Word from the other teams is that the football stadium is just as bad. It’s no wonder the Colonists rushed up north to save the MOHAI from the Hive—they can’t afford to lose all that space.
Now Vin is telling me he isn’t leaving. His flock isn’t leaving, either, and I’m thinking the crowded Colonies are about to get worse before we can make them better.
“Where will you put your people? There’s no room in the stadiums,” I protest.
“We’re not staying in the stadiums.”
“Then where?”
“The MOHAI.”
I sigh in annoyance. “In case you forgot, The Hive has the MOHAI.”
“In case you forgot, the Colonists went up there to take it back. Whoever won that fight has the MOHAI—and no matter who the winner is, they don’t have a leader at the moment. The Colonists have lost their home and The Hive has lost their boss.” He spreads his hands with a smile. “Easy pickings for a man with an army.”
“What army?”
“The small army of Vashons that Alvarez is giving me to squash whoever is in power.”
I narrow my eyes suspiciously. “He’s giving you an army to take over the MOHAI for yourself?”
“He’s giving me what I need to take the MOHAI back.”
“For all of us. For the greater good and all that crap.”
He shrugs. “That was never specified.”
“Don’t do this, Vin,” I tell him seriously. “Don’t double-cross this guy. It’s not smart. He’s too powerful.”
“I’m not double-crossing anyone.”
“It’s shady at best.”
He leans forward, catching my eye. “You afraid for me, Kitten?”
“Always. I’m always afraid you’re going to get yourself killed, and probably me along with you.”
“Have I gotten you killed yet?”
“So close, so many times.”
He sits back. “Take it easy. Alvarez is going to have all the problems he can handle with the two stadiums and all those people on his hands, not to mention whatever you all find down south. Once I show I can be trusted with his people to take over the MOHAI, he’ll gladly hand it back over to me. I’ll even agree to take on more people. Make his life a little easier. He’ll be thrilled.”
“No double-cross?” I ask warily, afraid of the fact that I actually kind of see his point. Either I’ve been around him too long and he’s rubbing off on me, or Vin is turning into a vaguely decent human being—something that seems as likely ice cream.