Ben Chaney - Son of Sedonia

I could be Lifted and over the wall in less than a month with the Nines… nothin’ would happen… I might not even need the gun. But if I did… Jo… Shit. Might still be able to do it if I hit triple salvage enough times. Yeah… that could work. Unless I die in the Pits trying. Okay. Hm.

He suddenly became aware of the exhausting thought stream. No way he was getting back to sleep. He rose carefully from the bedroll, crouched and lifted his bag. His belongings clinked inside and an elderly man a few beds over shifted in his sleep. Matteo winced and allowed the bag’s contents to settle. He tip-toed past the huddled bodies and out the embroidered door-flap.

The cool night air and the spiced smells of the Temple refreshed him. Much better than the faint reek of sickness in the ward. Torchlight licked up into the air from posts in the ground. The same time of night it had been whenever he stirred. After all of the most nocturnal dwellers and gangsters had turned in. So still . Peaceful . He’d never realized how loud the Slums were until the volume had been turned down. With a deep breath he walked along the wall and found the ladder to his new favorite spot.

Row upon row of green growing things bloomed out of burlap sacks in the rooftop Temple Garden. Utu gave him a tour two days past, giving names to the shapes and patterns. There was fresh kale, a messy clump of wrinkled leaves that felt weird on the tongue, but tasted good. Spinach with its round, softer leaves. And then the red, round tomatoes. The fruits of a fortune in seeds, and the source of still more. Utu could have lived in a dweller mansion, but instead chose a monastery, clinic, and free kitchen. Yesterday, he had given Matteo a small tomato to try. The sweet, juicy flavor had made Matteo’s eyes roll back in his head. He thought about taking another every night since, but never dared.

Instead, he walked among the plants, felt their textures and savored their smells. He sat between two kale bushels and dug through his bag, searching for the slick pages of the new magazine Utu had let him borrow. A curious picture on the cover teased his mind. A spiral shape with a big bright center made up of uncountable dots of light. Utu read the word “Galaxies” on the cover aloud, though he claimed he didn’t know what it meant. Something to do with the stars. People could travel to them now, further away from home than Matteo had ever imagined. Gotta fly at the speed of light for four years to get to the closest one … He had noticed the ships that flew straight up from the City and into the sky before… always wondered where they went. The City was more than a City. It was a key to the universe. Maybe even God… or whatever the force was that pulled him there.

The sound of a shifting brick yanked him to the present. He whirled, eyes wide and staring into the twilight. Thieves… Most left the gardens alone out of respect and those that didn’t answered to the T99s. But that didn’t mean a few didn’t sometimes get desperate. And people that desperate were dangerous. Matteo remembered the gun in his bag. Light footsteps approached through swishing leaves. Against the pounding in his chest, he pulled the satchel open and reached in.

“ Matteo? ” said a soft voice. Matteo hesitated. Raia stepped out of the rows, squinting in the darkness. The pounding in Matteo’s chest continued, but in a different way as he removed his hand from the bag.

“Over here,” Matteo said, standing up among the plants. Raia jumped a little, then placed a relieved hand to her chest. She looked so different without her skin-tight club clothes. She wore a modest, angled dress, cinched at the waist with a long, patterned scarf. The fabric fluttered softly against her curves in the hot, dry wind.

“Sorry…didn’t mean to scare you,” said Matteo, shying away from the curves. Something dawned on him in the anxiety. “You lookin’ for me?”

Raia nodded. Even with so little light, the deep blue of her eyes flashed as she turned away in the dark.

“Doc told me you come up here at night…when everybody else is in bed. Wanted to talk without anybody seein’,” she said. Matteo darkened.

“I get it,” he said.

Suddenly worried, she shook her head.

“It ain’t like that! If somebody saw us… if somebody heard me… Oki’d take me out,” Raia said. Matteo waited, curiosity boiling in his head. She must have sensed it. “You gonna say ‘yes’ to the boss… right?”

“I…” Matteo looked down at the satchel, “I don’t know, yet.”

“But… I can’t be your girl, if you ain’t a Nine,” she said, “If you was, Oki couldn’t touch me or you…”

Matteo’s head swam with a sudden rush. She…wants me? No one ever had. At least no one he’d ever heard of. A legion of flies buzzed in his stomach. What the hell do I do with that…? Raia broke off eye contact, and looked around the place.

“Why you come up here so late?” she asked. Matteo lifted inside. Nice, I can answer that.

“It’s quiet,” he said, “Calm. I feel more connected up here. Somethin’ about the plants helps. Reminds me we’re alive…not just dying.” He snapped out of it, noticing her blank expression. Part of him dimmed. The whole thing had just sailed right over her head. He wanted her. He had always wanted her. But in his gut, Matteo knew Raia wasn’t a part of the path. He didn’t want to know it.

“I can’t…” he forced it out. To his surprise, a grin creased Raia’s full lips.

“Come on,” she said, cocking her head and tilting her hips, “Every Nine needs a girl. And not every girl can get a man like you.” She waited for an endless moment for him to respond. He had nothing. Raia seemed to sink then turned to leave. Dammit—.

“Hold up!” Matteo said. He stooped, reached into the satchel, and pulled out the gun. It didn’t seem to weigh as much as he stuffed it into his waistband. “I’ll…walk you home.”

Together, they made their way through the eerie quiet from central to Southwest Rasalla. Despite knowing the way like the back of his hand, he found himself unsure of the allies, stairwells, and catwalks. The gun tugged on his shorts too much, so he kept it drawn. He felt her eyes on his back as they crept through the district. It was a relief when they reached the Dyer Walk. A long alley where the Blue Ladies and their girl helpers spun their own cloth, dyed it, and patterned it to be sold in Falari Market. The normally vibrant colors of the hanging wet fabrics all looked cold gray at night. Matteo and Raia started up the gradual slope of the Walk.

Matteo felt her inch closer to him, then slip smooth fingers around his arm. He was glad it was too dark to read his expression. Just take her back to her place, then go home…take her back to her place, then go ho—

BOOOOM! The two of them dropped into the cover of an alley on instinct. Looked up to the sky. A bright orange glow surrounded a mushroom cloud to the South. As the rumble subsided, dogs all over the Slums started barking. Followed soon after by the shouts of dwellers.

“Maybe one of the labs,” Raia said, “Oki’s guys ain’t too smart, maybe they—” Gunshots. A few at first, then more, streaking white-hot bursts into the sky in all directions.

“We gotta go!” Matteo said, grabbing Raia by the arm. They ran down the rest of the Dyer Walk and hung a left up the stairs. Then a right up some more. The pistol grip slicked with sweat in Matteo’s hands. The path ahead led to a mutated block of shacks and cinder-block apartments. Five minutes from home. Familiar jagged shapes loomed over them as they climbed the stairs.

Strange sounds and voices came from out of sight ahead. Matteo stopped her with his palm just shy of the top of the stairs, and they dropped low. He turned, crawled arm-over-arm, and peeked over. EXOs…at least six.