Tracey Ward - Writing on the Wall

“We were told not to talk to you about it.”

“By who? The Team Leaders?”

Steven chuckles. “No. By the others. Others like us.”

“Others who are unhappy?” I ask, picking up on what we’re not saying.

He nods. “But we got on with you too well too fast. It’s why Melissa pulled you out of here. She likes your relationship with Lexy because you don’t like each other. You obviously don’t trust each other.”

“And Melissa knows all of this how?”

“We’re watched very closely. This right now is actually very dangerous which is why any further communication will have to be with Lexy.”

“How can you go along with this?” I ask exasperated. “If you know they’re manipulating you and kidnapping people like me, how can you still be in favor of the Colonies?”

“We’re not in favor of it. Not exactly. We’re not ready to go out and live in the wild like you do, none of us would last a day, but we do want the old days of the Colonies. Back when it was a community all about survival and not—“

“A prison? A slave trade?”

Steven’s mouth drops into a grim line but he nods. “Yes, exactly.”

“As long as you’re in favor of people like me being allowed to live their life as they choose—“

“We are.”

“Then we’re good. I’m on board. But you still haven’t answered me, though I think I know the answer already. What does Lexy want to talk to Vin about?”

Steven meets my eyes with a sad smile. “Freedom.”

I nod. “I think that’s a conversation Vin would be willing to have.”

“Are you for real?” Vin asks Lexy, staring at her in amazement.

“Don’t be a dick.” I mutter to him.

I would rather he didn’t burn this bridge just as I built it up. It took days to get Lexy talking to me. Days of sitting beside her working on seams and never saying anything about my conversation in the kitchen. They told me to wait, to let her come to me. To let her take her time until she was ready. Steven and the rest of the kitchen crew promised to talk to Lexy and explain my willingness to bring her to Vin now that I knew what was what, at least a little. Still she made me wait.

Finally, on day four of the silent treatment, she broke down and asked again to speak to the hornet. I wanted to tell her no, just to watch her head explode. But I was too frustrated to bother so I told her I would make it happen.

The wild is very straightforward. All of this intrigue and drama here on the inside is giving me hives.

“No, really, I need to know.” Vin demands, having listened to her tell him the story the kitchen crew told me. “Is she being serious? Am I insane or am I getting this right? Because she isn’t actually saying what she wants.”

“I’ve made myself very clear.” Lexy says angrily.

I put my hand up to stop her. “Don’t fight fire with fire where Vin is concerned. You’ll only get burned.” I turn to face Vin, trying to be patient. “She hasn’t been clear, no, but you get the idea.”

He ignores me and glares at Lexy. “Say it in plain English or go away.”

I watch her grit her teeth but she doesn’t walk. I’m a little shocked by that. “We want help from The Hive.”

“Help with what?”

“With our release.” She takes a breath and her voice softens. “You’re not the only prisoners here.”

Vin chuckles darkly. “Honey, they won’t even help with my release. They don’t care anything about yours.”

“Why not? Your people hate the Colonies. I’d think they’d jump at the chance to take one down.”

Vin snorts. “Not badly enough to risk the lives of everyone in The Hive. If they come here and you don’t succeed, they’ll all be taken prisoner as well. It’s not worth it. Not by a long shot.” He leans forward and folds his hands on the table, looking her hard in the eye with his charming smile. “Now, if you want to free me, I’m all for that. I’ll go ask them to come rushing back here, but don’t be surprised when no one shows.”

“Not even you?” Lexy asks, glancing at Nats and I sitting on either side of Vin. “Not even for them?”

“Not for anyone.” he replies, no hesitation.

She shakes her head. “I can’t believe that.”

“Believe it.” I tell her. “It’s how it is in the wild. It’s how you survive.”

“Kitten’s right. You can’t value anyone or anything too much.”

“Which is why you have to offer The Hive more. Way more than just Vin or a shot at destroying this place.” I say evenly, wondering what the hell I’m doing.

But I’ve been thinking about this for the last four days as I waited for Lexy to decide she trusted me. I figured it out that they wanted Vin for his connection to The Hive and since they wanted their freedom, what else could they be planning but to ask The Hive to attack this small Pod and set them all free? And I knew it would never work. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that because I want to hope too, I want to believe that I’ll make it out of here someday even if it’s childish to dream of it. That’s when I started wondering if there was a way.

“What are you talking about?” Vin asks slowly, eyeing me.

“What could we give them?” Lexy asks warily.

“You’ll give them the one thing they’ll fight for.” I tell her. “You’ll give them this Pod. Intact. Undamaged. Taken down from the inside. That’s something they could never have, not without you.”

Vin sits back hard in his chair, watching me. I can see the wheels turning, the numbers crunching and the idea forming in his mind. But will it be enough?

I look at Lexy but I’m speaking to Vin. “There’s hardly any leadership here because they have you all over a barrel with your families. From what I understand, there’s enough unrest to overthrow this place from the inside. So do it. Take control and ask The Hive to help you take down the next Pod in exchange for ownership over this one. If they attacked it from the outside without your help, they’d damage the hell out of it. It’d be almost worthless to them later.”

“There are plans in place to destroy it and escape, leaving attackers nothing to show for their efforts.” Lexy confirms.

“Exactly. They’d gain nothing. But if you hand it to them they could actually use it. They wouldn’t just be a gang anymore, they’d be an outpost. It’s a whole different level of living than what they’ve got right now. With the resources you have, it would set them head and shoulders above the rest of the gangs out there. They’d be the Walmart of the wild. Once you take down the next Pod, you’ll have their numbers, your families, added to your ranks. You wouldn’t necessarily need The Hive anymore to take down the third one. But even if you did, you still have a bargaining chip.”

“The second Pod?” Lexy asks, looking very, very interested.

“No. Knowledge. They have no idea how to take care of this place. They don’t plant crops or tend fields, not on this level, and they don’t have livestock. They fish and go to market to trade for whatever else they need. Ask Vin if he can milk a cow. I promise you he can’t and I doubt any of his crew can either. But you can. You said it yourself, you didn’t need a lot of leadership cause you’re all veterans here. Use that to your advantage to leverage more help from The Hive.”

Lexy looks at me hopefully then turns to Vin. “Would they do it? Would they agree to help us if we gave up a Pod?”

“And promised an end to the roundups.” I supply, thinking that’s a practice I’d rather The Hive didn’t adopt once they gained this seat of power.

“Would that all be worth it to them?”

Vin clears his throat. I watch as he spins his ring on his finger, thinking.