Aerin pushes open the door, and I immediately recognize a grated entry near the ceiling, just like the one we used to enter the complex. We use a stable-looking metal table shoved up against the wall to reach the shaft.
“Do you think it will have a lock on it,” I ask, “or do you know all the combinations?”
“I don’t,” Aerin says. “I hope it doesn’t since I can’t imagine the combination is the same.”
We crawl up and into the shaft, which is much larger than the one before. Though there is a door and a chain at the end of the shaft, the lock has rusted and breaks easily.
“Rain gets in here,” Aerin says. “Can you smell it?”
“Yeah, it’s making my nose itch.”
“Keep going?”
“Of course.”
A few minutes later, we push open a hatch on the other side and see dim daylight in front of us.
“I don’t think we’re far from Plastictown,” I say as I stand on the ashy ground and stretch.
“It’s getting late though.” Aerin looks up at the sky and the sun low on the western horizon. “We should be able to get there pretty quickly in the morning.”
Inside the complex, I’d become used to the clean, relatively fresh air. Outside, the ash fills my lungs and makes me cough. I reach into my pack, grabbing a cloth to cover my mouth and nose. Aerin does the same.
“Shall we just camp out here?” I ask. “The shaft is big enough to sleep in and slightly better than the ground.”
We make ourselves comfortable and eat some of the food we brought with us.
“Talen, what you did back there—with the knives, I mean—well, that was incredible. How do you know how to do that?”
“Long story.” I shrug and try to brush it off.
“Does it have something to do with escaping from the capital?”
“Yeah.”
Not surprisingly, Aerin uses the opportunity to press me about my father.
“You promised to tell me about your father,” she said. “I think there’s plenty of time for that now.”
“How much do you want to know?”
“What happened between the two of you, how you ended up escaping, the knives—everything.”
I steel myself, knowing that at some point I’ll have to tell her. She isn’t going to stop asking, and maybe it will be best to just get it over with.
“I’ve done shit I’m not proud of,” I tell her. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“Yes.”
I close my eyes for a moment and then begin my story.
Chapter 16
“I’m not sure where I should start,” I say. “You know a little about it.”
“I know you protested against your father’s policies regarding Naught relocation programs,” Aerin says. “You reportedly died in the hospital from complications after developing pneumonia. Your father said it only stressed the need to distance civilized society from the Naughts since your work with them exposed you to the virus.”
“Well, that didn’t happen. I was never sick.”