Hugh Howey - Wool Omnibus Edition (Wool 1-5)

Lukas told him so on that stairwell. He told him that this was where they’d been put by fate, but what they did going forward defined them. That was who they were.

He told Peter that Bernard had killed a man. That he had proof. Lukas had done nothing to deserve this.

Peter pointed out that every ounce of IT security was a hundred levels away. There was only one gun up-top. Only one law.

His.

The three of them sat around the conference table, Juliette adjusting the gauze bandage on her hand to cover the raised lace of scar tissue peeking out. The coveralls they’d given her were loose to minimize the pain, but the undershirt itched everywhere it touched. She sat in one of the plush chairs and rolled back and forth with the push of her toes, impatient, ready to get out of there. But Lukas and Peter had things to discuss. They had escorted her this close to the exit, this close to the great stairwell, only to sit her down in that room. To get some privacy , they had said. The looks on their faces made her nervous.

Nobody said anything for a while. Peter used the excuse of sending a tech for some water, but when the pitcher came and the glasses were filled, nobody reached for a drink. Lukas and Peter exchanged nervous glances. Juliette grew tired of waiting.

“What is it?” she asked. “Can I go? I feel like you’ve been delaying this for days.” She glanced at her watch, wiggled her arm so it would fall from the bandage on her wrist and she could see the tiny face. She stared across the table at Lukas and had to laugh at the worry on his face. “Are you trying to keep me here forever? Because I told everyone in the deep that I’d be seeing them tomorrow tonight.”

Lukas turned to Peter.

“C’mon, guys. Spit it out. What’s troubling you? The doc said I was fine for the trip down and I told you I’d check in with Marsh and Hank if I had any problems. I’m gonna be late enough as it is if I don’t get a move on.”

“Okay,” Lukas said, letting out a sigh. It was as though he’d given up on Peter being the one. “It’s been a few weeks—”

“And you two’ve made it feel like months.” She twisted the dial on the side of her watch, an ancient tic returning like it had never left.

“It’s just that—” Lukas coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. “—we couldn’t give you all the notes that were sent to you.” He frowned at her, looked guilty.

Juliette’s heart dropped. She sagged forward, waiting for it. More names would be coming to move from one sad list to another—

Lukas held up his palms. “Nothing like that,” he said quickly, recognizing the worry on her face. “God, sorry, nothing like that—”

“ Good news,” Peter said. “Congratulatory notes.”

Lukas shot him a look that told Juliette she might think otherwise.

“Well… it is news .” He looked across the table at her. His hands were folded in front of him, resting on the marred wood, just like hers. It felt as though they might both move them several inches until they met, until fingers interlocked. It would be so natural after weeks of practice. But that was something worried friends did in hospitals, right? Juliette pondered this while Lukas and Peter went on about elections.

“Wait. What?” She blinked and looked up from his hands, the last part coming back to her.

“It was the timing ,” Lukas explained.

“You were all anyone was talking about,” Peter said.

“Go back,” she said. “ What did you say?”

Lukas took a deep breath. “Bernard was running unopposed. When we sent him out to cleaning, the election was called off. But then news got around about your miraculous return, and people showed up to vote anyway —”

“A lot of people,” Peter added.

Lukas nodded. “It was quite a turnout. More than half the silo.”

“Yeah, but… Mayor ?” She laughed and looked around the scratched up conference table, bare except for the untouched glasses of water. “Isn’t there something I need to sign? Some official way to turn this nonsense down?”

The two men exchanged glances.

“That’s sorta the thing,” Peter said.

Lukas shook his head. “I told you—”

“We were hoping you’d accept.”

“Me? Mayor ?” Juliette crossed her arms and sat back, painfully, against the chair. She laughed. “You’ve gotta be kidding. I wouldn’t know the first thing about—”

“You wouldn’t have to,” Peter said, leaning forward. “You have an office, you shake some hands, sign some things, make people feel better—”

Lukas tapped him on the arm and shook his head. Juliette felt a flush of heat across her skin, which just made her scars and wounds itch more.

“Here’s the thing,” Lukas said as Peter sat back in his chair. “We need you. There’s a power vacuum at the top. Peter’s been in his post longer than anyone, and you know how long that’s been.”

She was listening.

“Remember our conversations all those nights? Remember you telling me what that other silo was like? Do you understand how close to that we got?”

She chewed her lip, reached for one of the glasses, and took a long drink of water. Peering over the lip of the glass, she waited for him to continue.

“We have a chance, Jules. To hold this place together. To put it back to—”

She set the glass down and lifted her palm for him to stop.

“If we were to do this,” she told them coolly, looking from one of their expectant faces to the other. “ If we do it, we do it my way.”

Peter frowned.

“No more lying,” she said. “We give truth a chance.”

Lukas laughed nervously. Peter shook his head.

“Now listen to me,” she said. “This isn’t crazy. It’s not the first time I’ve thought this through. Hell, I’ve had weeks of nothing but thinking.”

“The truth?” Peter asked.

She nodded. “I know what you two are thinking. You think we need lies, fear—”

Peter nodded.

“But what could we invent that’s scarier than what’s really out there ?” She pointed toward the roof and waited for that to sink in.

“When these places were built, the idea was that we were all in this together. Together but separate, ignorant of one another, so we didn’t infect the others if one of us got sick. But I don’t want to play for that team. I don’t agree with their cause. I refuse.”

Lukas tilted his head. “Yeah, but—”

“So it’s us against them. And not the people in the silos, not the people working day to day who don’t know, but those at the top who do . Silo eighteen will be different. Full of knowledge, of purpose . Think about it. Instead of manipulating people, why not empower them? Let them know what we’re up against. And have that drive our collective will.”

Lukas raised his eyebrows. Peter ran his hands up through his hair.

“You guys should think about it.” She pushed away from the table. “Take your time. I’m going to go see my family and friends. But I’m either in, or I’ll be working against you. I’ll be spreading the truth one way or the other.”

She smiled at Lukas. It was a dare, but he would know she wasn’t joking.

Peter stood and showed her his palms. “Can we at least agree not to do anything rash until we meet again?”

Juliette crossed her arms. She dipped her chin.

“Good,” Peter said, letting out his breath and dropping his arms.

She turned to Lukas. He was studying her, his lips pursed, and she could tell he knew. There was only one way this was going forward, and it scared the hell out of him.