RELEGARE IRA, REPERIRE CARITAS
"Zack, thank God you're alive," his little sister's sweet voice whispered over the phone, shaking with tears. Zack closed his eyes momentarily and breathed an inward sigh of relief at the sound of Jondy's voice, not knowing how happy he would really be to hear it until he did.
"Zack, get up."
"I'm sleeping."
"Get up, get up!"
"Go away."
"Zack..." A poke on his shoulder; he opened his eyes. The seven-year-old grinned at him, giggling into her hands as her blue eyes sparkled.
"Jondy, go away already." She was being a pest, which she often was- but this was one of the few days the guards were letting them sleep in, and Zack intended to take advantage of it. He was nine.
"We're bored," Jondy said of herself and Max, who waved cheerfully at him from her bed across the room. Zack groaned, picked up his pillow and clamped it over his head, rolling onto his stomach and wishing not for the first time that they would just go to sleep for more than an hour at least once- like right about now.
"Go play with her, then," he muttered into his mattress. He felt Jondy climb up onto his back and she reached her hands down, tickling him. Zack yelled in surprise and bolted upright, tumbling her onto the floor. She blinked, then giggled, unharmed and happy to see him awake. Zack yawned loudly.
"You got him up!" Max called over happily; Zack looked at her, then down at the girl before him, who was gazing at him mischievously from the floor beside his bed.
"Come play with us," she said in her cheerful little-girl voice. Zack rolled his eyes and threw his blankets back, knowing that he would never be able to get back to sleep now. He followed her over to Max's bed, feigning annoyance, but a small smile touched his lips as he watched the little girl in front of him scurrying toward her sister with excitement.
"I'm fine, Jondy," he said gently, smiling to himself at the memory.
"Where are you?" she asked. Zack glanced around the shabby, cheap motel room he was staying in for the night.
"I'm in Arizona- Red Mesa, it's right on the Utah border," he told her. "I should be in Santa Fe early tomorrow afternoon."
"Really?" She sounded so happy; he was glad that the shake was now completely gone from her voice. And though he didn't say so, he was couldn't wait to see her anymore than she could. It had been too long; seven years since she'd needed him last.
Zack saw a light turn on in one of the second-story windows of the
house he'd been parked in front of for the past day. The Fargo, North Dakota
autumn night was chilly. Zack leaned forward, zooming in on it with his
heightened, eagle-like vision. A teenaged girl was standing in the room,
grabbing clothes from her closet and things off surfaces of tables in a panic,
shoving them into a duffel bag. There were tears in her blue eyes, and as he
watched they spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them away impatiently. Zack
opened the door of the car and closed it noiselessly, hurrying across the
darkened yard of the house to the front door. He kicked the door in and
immediately picked up the sounds of footsteps walking over broken glass. He
crept toward the kitchen and peered around the doorway, then quickly jerked his
head back. Zack had been observing two men watching the house for the past week
or so, since he'd arrived in the city, and now they had broken through the back
door of the house and were headed for the stairs, guns drawn.
"The parents are out," one of the men whispered to his colleague.
"And she's onto us. We can't wait any longer. Come on, let's do this. And remember- Lydecker wants us to take her in alive." Zack heard his foot touch the first step and shot into the room, slamming into the first man and sending him tumbling to the floor, his gun sliding across the room and out of his reach. The second man yelled and shot at Zack, but the sixteen-year-old jumped out of the way, moving at sonic-speed, and kicked the man's gun out of his hand before he had a chance to react. By now the first man had scrambled to his discarded weapon, and he swept it up in his hand and held it on Zack. Slowly, already calculating his next move, Zack raised his hands to buy himself some time. The other man started to walk toward him, but suddenly crumpled to the ground, unconscious, as he was hit from behind with a baseball bat. Zack used this opportunity to overpower the other man, who'd been momentarily startled by the attack on his partner, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. Zack wrestled the gun from his hand and pointed it at him.
"Down on the ground, now," Zack ordered. He complied and the fourteen-year-old girl from the window joined Zack. She dropped the baseball bat and he gave her a once-over, noting both that she seemed unharmed and that she'd grown a lot in the last few years.
"You okay, Jondy?" he asked her, not taking his eyes off the man on the floor.
"I'm fine," she said, looking at him with wide blue eyes filled with relief. "How did you know?"
"It doesn't matter." He continued to hold the gun on the man. "Go get your stuff." Jondy nodded and ran up the stairs, returning a few moments later with the duffel bag. Zack, meanwhile, had tied the man's hands behind his back. Shoving the gun into the back of his belt, he led his sister out of the house.
"Zack, it's good to see you," she said as they headed outside, touching his arm. He paused for a moment to give her the hug she wanted, then turned to the car and opened the passenger door. She climbed in, and he frowned as he heard sirens in the distance, moving closer. He turned to his sister and spoke through the open window. "You called the police?"
"It was too late to call you," she said sheepishly as he slid into the driver's seat next to her. "I didn't see them watching the house until about a half-hour ago." She shook her head in annoyance at herself. "I let my guard down."
"Never do that," Zack warned. "You were lucky I came. Don't let yourself get comfortable or bad things will happen to you. I might not be here next time."
"I know," she said, looking away from him. He glanced over at her, his blue eyes full of worry and yes, love.
"Jondy?" She turned back to him heavily.
"Yes?"
"It's good to see you, too." She smiled as he gunned the engine and pulled away from the sidewalk, tearing into the night, heading for Minnesota. He knew she'd be safe there.
Zack shook the thoughts away, regretting that he'd left their reunion so
long. The past didn't matter anymore; it was done and over and unchangeable.
Tomorrow he would be in Santa Fe with both Jondy and Zane. That was what
mattered now.
"You're coming here?" Zane stared at Jondy as she spoke, a slow smile spreading over his shocked face. He jumped up from where he was sitting halfway up the stairs and bounded down them, grabbing the phone from her. Jondy was too happy to be annoyed. She grabbed Zane's hand and squeezed it in excitement.
"Zack?" he asked breathlessly into the phone.
"Hey, little brother," the answer came; it was the best sound Zane had ever heard in his life.
"You okay, man? We've been so worried."
"I'm fine, what about you?"
"Great now that you've called. Where have you been?" There was a momentary pause.
"It's a long story," he finally said. Zane sensed that he didn't want to talk about it on the phone, and let it go. He could wait a few more hours to hear it; he'd waited this long, after all.
"Can I have the address there?" Zack; always to the point. Zane smiled to himself.
"Sure. Of course." He didn't bother asking Zack if he had a pen, knowing that he would remember it. "We're at 763 Camino Del Este; it's off Hyde Park Road."
"Thanks." There was silence for a moment. "Well, I have to catch some sleep. I'll be moving out early tomorrow morning."
"Right," Zane said, smiling into the phone again. "It's good to hear your voice, Zack," he said, then added softly, "I love you, you know."
"Yeah, yeah," Zack said, sounding embarrassed though the smile in his voice was obvious. Zane handed the telephone to his sister, who was gesturing wildly for him not to hang up.
"Zack?" She didn't want to let him go in case this was a dream. "You're really coming?"
"Of course," he said gently. "Don't worry, I'll see you soon." She nodded though he couldn't see it and swallowed hard.
"I love you, Zack," she echoed Zane's words.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Jondy." She smiled.
"Right." Humour touched her voice. "Bye, Zack."
"Bye." There was a click, and Jondy slowly hung up the phone.
"He's really coming." Her voice was low, choked with happy tears. Zane nodded, and the two of them stood there for a moment, both digesting what had just happened. Jondy let her hand rest on the phone for a moment happily, then turned to him with tears in her eyes. "All this time... and then he's back," she continued softly.
She felt like hugging someone, so she did. Zane chuckled and squeezed her tightly back, releasing her after a warm few moments. Jondy was saddened briefly as she looked at him, knowing that once Zack got here he would separate them, she knew. She didn't want to go; Zane was the best roommate she'd ever had, but more importantly he was the only sibling she'd seen since the escape besides Zack, and she didn't want to lose him now. Jondy stifled a sigh and concentrated on the thought of Zack being okay, and the good things his visit would bring. She had been hoping every day for this, she couldn't start complaining now that she'd finally gotten her wish. Zack was alive- what he decided for her and Zane was trivial compared to her happiness at that.
"Well, I certainly can't sleep now," Zane announced. He reached out and touched Jondy's arm sympathetically. She looked at him; he seemed a little sad himself. Had he known what she was thinking? "I'll get us something to drink, okay?"
"Thanks," she said absently as he turned and headed for the kitchen, Wenna at his heels. She glanced out the window; was it just her, or had the rain finally stopped?
"Maybe they won't make us train today," Ben said, smiling and sitting
down next to Jondy with his tray of food. He motioned out the barred window at
the rain by way of explanation. She smirked at him.
"Yeah, right," she said, mixing a bit of her carbohydrate bar with her protein pudding and taking a bit. Not bad, she thought, pleasantly surprised.
"At least if we get soaked they'll let us take warm showers," Tinga said cheerfully from across from them. Jondy nodded and smiled at the thought of it. One of the things she detested most was having to shower under freezing water, but the guards seemed to think that cold showers built character. Maybe they were right, but she'd take warmth over character any day. She had loads of character, she figured, and being cold was no fun.
"Here," Zane said as he reentered the room and handed her a beer. She
took a sip of it, though she had never cared much for alcohol. Zane knew that,
but the only other liquids in the house besides water was milk, which they
mostly just kept around for emergency shortages of tryptophan. Neither of them
really liked to drink it.
"Do you think he'll tell us where the others are?" she asked Zane as he sat down on the sofa next to her.
"No," he answered honestly. "You know how he feels about that." He put on a gruff voice. "'We're safer apart. Tactical separation cuts down the chances of Lydecker finding us.'" Jondy giggled and he paused. "And that's true, you know, it's not just Zack being Zack."
"I know." She shrugged and smiled at him. "But it's a lot more fun being together."
"Oh, definitely. But somehow I don't think having fun will be an acceptable excuse to Zack for us staying together all this time."
"No," Jondy said softly as his words echoed her thoughts from before. "I suppose not."
"He can't make us do anything," he said, and chuckled. "After all, as far as he complained to me last time I saw him, Max never listens to him. Why should we?" Zane smiled to himself; he hadn't been surprised when Zack had told him that; Max had always held her own feelings and those of her siblings over the objective, emotional instinct and curiosity over the mission. It was something Zane had always admired in his little sister, and something that he remembered had both annoyed and intrigued Zack.
Staccato sounds rang through the forest as Zane crawled on his belly
through the trees, holding a machine gun over his folded arms. He could see Max
flanking him and Zack up beside her, but he'd long ago lost sight of the three
others with them, though he knew they had to be close, and Zack of course had
tabs on them all.
In the lead of the group as always, Zack held up a fist, the signal to stop, and Zane halted immediately. Zack motioned for them to head to his left, but Zane hesitated for a moment as he saw that Max wasn't responding. She was gazing at something; he followed where she was looking and caught sight of a odd, circular red object lodged in some branches high up in a tree. Up ahead, Max nudged Zack and he too caught sight of the strange object. Zane held his breath, waiting to see what he would do. After a moment Zack held up a hand in the signal to reassemble, and Zane headed over to where he and Max were, the others joining them as well. Zack listened to the staccato sounds for a moment, registered that they were farther away than they had been before, and got slowly to his feet, handing Zane his weapon to hold. He walked over to the tree and grabbed hold of the lowest branch, hauling himself up. Brin's eyes were sparkling; this was highly unusual- Zack never deviated from the mission, and Zane was similarly excited.
The five of them watched him climb the tree, and saw him grab a piece of shiny string that the strange red object was attached to. He let himself fall the five metres out of the tree, landing on his feet, and walked over to them, holding the object, which was floating just next to his head. Zane stared at it, fascinated, as Zack handed the string to Max. She smiled at him, and then they all gathered around it, touching it half with awe and half with confusion, trying to figure out what it was. It had two words written on it in white letters: HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Zane didn't know what that meant, but he was more fascinated with the fact that he could see their reflections in its smooth, shiny surface. It appeared to be made of soft plastic, but it was hard to the touch; it seemed to be full of air. Zane had never seen anything like it in his life.
"Section leader!" a harsh voice suddenly yelled at Zack; a guard came out of the trees toward them and they all whirled in fright. He headed for Max, reaching out to take the thing from her. She looked at him fearfully. "You will give me that contraband or return back to the training area-" But before he could finish, Zack ran forward between the guard and Max, kicking the man away from her hard. He went down, flying backward against a tree. Max looked from the man to Zack, but Zane was staring behind her, where he could see Lydecker looking at them through the trees, disappointment and anger etched on his face. Zane was frightened; Zack would surely go into solitary for what he'd just done.
Slowly, turning to stare at the man they all feared, Max released the shiny string and watched the red thing float up into the sky until it was obscured by the trees. An odd feeling came over Zane and a lump caught in his throat as he watched it fly out of sight.
Zane shook the memory away and took another sip of his drink. He heard
Jondy sigh beside him. Zane knew she missed Max- all her siblings- just as he
did. He watched the thoughts play across her beautiful face and wished he could
erase the worry from her eyes.
Jondy hated not knowing how many of her siblings had gotten out that night, or where they were now. She only knew that Jack and Eva were dead, Jace had been left behind, Max was alive, Zane was with her, and Zack was coming into Santa Fe to see them tomorrow. That left thirteen siblings who she hadn't seen in twelve years and who she had absolutely no idea about. She sighed and met her brother's dark, concerned eyes.
"I just wish I knew where they were," she said to him.
"So do I," he answered. Jondy looked down at her hands.
"If I just knew how many there were out with us, and if they're alright... I mean, I thought Max was dead all these years, you know? I saw her slip below that ice..."
Jondy ran over logs, her bare feet freezing in the snow, but she knew
it wouldn't really bother her for several hours. She passed the treeline and
found herself overlooking the clearing Zack had told them to meet in. She picked
her way down the slippery hill, seeing most of her siblings waiting for her
behind two fallen logs. Catching sight of Max beside Zack at the log closest to
Jondy, she headed in that direction and sat down next to her sister, clasping
Max's hand in her own; the two girls shared a smile. The sounds of to
helicopters that had been dispatched to capture them rang out over head, and
Zack sprung instantly into action, jumping over the log to face them. They
didn't have much time, she knew. He signalled them to get to the perimeter fence
and as far away from here as fast as they could run. He didn't know what was
beyond the fence anymore than they did, but logic told them all it had to be
better than Manticore.
Manticore was the place where they had all grown up, where they had been born and raised. It was the only place they had ever known. But one of the things that Manticore had taught them was that they should always know their enemy, but then Jack had been taken away because he was seizing. Zack had assured his siblings at the time that they would be making him better and then they'd return him to them, because he'd believed that. But Max snuck out that night and had seen him, dead and being dissected in the lab. She'd told Zack, Jondy knew, and then one night soon afterward Max herself had started seizing.
It hadn't been a hard decision for Zack. He only had to look at the facts of the situation: a brother had been killed for shaking, and now a sister was shaking. A guard entered the room to drag her off just as they had done with Jack, so Zack attacked them, stopped them from taking Max away, and Eva had backed him up, grabbing one of the fallen guard's guns. Zack had been confused ever since Jack had been killed, not quite sure if Manticore was on their side or not, something he had never considered before that incident. But then Lydecker killed Eva during the escape, and everything changed. At that moment, while he and Jondy supported Max's convulsing form between them and Eva led them through the dark corridors, pointing a gun at the people approaching them, and when she fell to the ground by a single shot, Zack knew. He knew his enemy then, and that enemy was Manticore. So, he'd decided it was time to go. And they had followed him, of course. They would have followed him anywhere.
Outside by the logs, Zack was pairing kids off and sending them in different directions, and out of Jondy's life forever, though she hadn't known it then. When he'd paired everyone else off and dispatched them, only Jondy and Max were left. He motioned for them to head south. She nodded and looked at Max, who shook her head; she wanted to stay with him. Jondy did too, but she knew that now was not a time to be arguing with one of Zack's orders. His expression made it obvious that he agreed as he glared at Max, repeating the signed order to head south more harshly this time. Jondy gave her sister a push; reluctantly, Max got to her feet, and they left Zack there alone by the log with the helicopters closing in on them.
They ran through the snow together, Max just behind Jondy. They hit the perimeter fence and jumped onto it, climbing quickly toward the top. The metal was actually colder than the snow, if that was possible, put they pulled themselves up, knowing that getting over it meant their freedom from Manticore forever. They made it over, but Max suddenly stopped and stared fearfully behind them. Jondy looked, and her heart caught in her throat as she saw Zack on the other side of the fence, lying on the ground, convulsing. He'd been tasered, and he was surrounded by several guards, all with guns trained on his shaking form.
With no hope of saving him, Jondy bit back her tears, grabbed her sister and kept running. She knew she had to get them to safety so Zack wouldn't have been recaptured for nothing; by his proximity to their position she was almost positive that he had to have been shot saving them. He would have never allowed himself to be captured otherwise.
They just had to get a little further and they'd be out of range, safe. Jondy hurried along, but suddenly felt the ground shift and heard a sharp cracking sound from behind her. She whirled, terrified, and looked around for her sister. Nothing. Where was she? Jondy caught sight of a bit of cracked ice in the middle of the area they'd just run through, and hurried over to it, dropping down beside it. The water was still lapping at the sides of the ice; it had been broken only moments before. Her sister was definitely in there.
"Max!" she called in desperation. No response. Suddenly she was blinded by white light from one of the helicopters overhead. Hesitating for only a second at the place where Max had fallen through the ice, Jondy turned and ran, the searchlight following her. She choked back her tears as she ran for her life and wondered if she was the now only one left.
"And I never knew what happened to her," Jondy continued softly, shaking
the painful memory away. "But now it turns out she's alive. I just wish I knew
what happened to the others. Brin and Tinga... Ben, Krit..." She shook her head
and sighed. "I just wish I knew if they were okay," she said. "You know?" She
turned to her brother for a response, but a slow smile spread over her face as
she took in the image of Zane sitting propped up against the pillows on the sofa
beside her, his eyes closed, having amazingly managed not to spill his drink all
over himself when he'd fallen asleep. Jondy reached over, took his drink and
placed it on the coffee table. She picked up a blanket off one of the easy
chairs and threw it over him. Wenna curled up in his lap, giving his hand a
lick. Zane didn't stir; he was obviously exhausted. Jondy shook her head at him,
rolling her eyes even as she gazed down at him lovingly. She switched the light
on the endtable off and grabbed her novel, heading upstairs to her bedroom to
finish it.
"Where on Earth did you get fresh eggs?" Zane asked disbelievingly from the doorway, walking into the room and inhaling the scent of a great breakfast, practically salivating over it. She laughed at his dishevelled mop of tousled red hair and shrugged.
"Farmer's market, special price. I've had them for a little while. I was saving them for a special occasion." Zane grabbed a chair from the little breakfast table and sat backwards on it.
"Well, I guess this is a special occasion if anything is."
"Definitely," Jondy said, flashing a grin at him.
"You're in a good mood," he remarked, smiling.
"The best," she agreed, setting a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him. He turned to dig into it hungrily, passing some of it down to Wenna, thinking Jondy couldn't see. She rolled her eyes, but shrugged and grabbed her own plate, sitting down next to her brother. They ate in satisfied silence for several minutes, lost in their own thoughts and the satisfying meal. Suddenly, Zane's fork clattered to the table and he stood up.
Jondy frowned as she watched him, noticing the slight shake of his shoulders, which was quickly spreading over his whole body. He pulled a small plastic bottle down from the cupboard over the fridge; the pills inside rattled as his hands trembled and he struggled with the lid. Jondy got to her feet and opened it wordlessly. He shot her a grateful look, popped a few, and sat down heavily into his chair. Jondy grabbed a glass from another cupboard and filled it with milk, handing it to him. He drained it in a second, as well as the next two glasses she poured him. Then he was shaking too hard to hold the glass steady enough to drink, and he wouldn't let her do it.
"Do you want to lie down?"
"No, I'll be okay," he said, his words shaking because his teeth were chattering.
"Are you sure?"
"Eat your breakfast before it gets cold," he answered. She nodded after a moment, sat down across from him and continued eating with far less enthusiasm than before. She looked at him sympathetically, knowing how it felt to have a seizure but also knowing that he would just have to wait for it to wear off.
"It's 11:30," she said by way of conversation. "Zack said he'd be here in the early afternoon. A couple of hours."
"Yeah." Zane smiled tensely. "Can't wait."
"Me either." There was a momentary pause; Zane's seizure wasn't slowing down. In fact, if anything, it was worsening. The milk and pills should be taking the edge off, she thought, and soon. If they didn't within a few minutes, she knew, it meant they weren't working. But they always work. Her brow furrowed in worry.
"... Jondy?" Zane's strained voice cut through her thoughts.
"Sorry," she said, shaking her head to banish her concerns. "What?"
"I said could you get me some more tryptophan, please?"
"Of course." She stood quickly, grabbing the open bottle from the counter and spilling five or six of the pills onto the table. He scooped them up and downed them shakily.
"Maybe I will lie down," Zane said tensely, getting slowly to his feet, leaning heavily on the table as he did so. He took a step toward the living room and almost fell over. Jondy quickly grabbed his arm, throwing it over his shoulder, and staggered into the living room with him, barely getting him onto the sofa. He was heavy.
"The tryptophan should start working soon," she said when she'd laid a blanket on top of him and tucked it around him. He smiled uneasily up at her as his body continued to convulse.
"Don't worry," he said. "I've had worse."
"Do you want some more milk?" She started to stand.
"No, it's okay, just stay here," he said. Jondy smiled down at her little brother and sat on the sofa beside him, taking one of his shaking hands in one of hers. She laid her other hand against his clammy forehead and frowned. His skin was freezing.
"It's okay, Zane," Jondy said softly, stroking his half-inch of
reddish hair as she cradled theeight-year-old in her arms. It was the middle of
the night, pitch black outside. Max sat next to them, holding Zane's limp hand
gently as the boy convulsed on the bed. She looked up at Jondy worriedly.
"Don't let them see me," Zane whispered as he shook. Max tucked the blanket closer around her brother's shoulders and glanced over at Zack, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed.
"We won't," Jondy said, tightening her hands around Zane.
"We should wake him," Max said. Jondy followed her gaze.
"He'll just worry. There's nothing he can do that we're not already." A tear slipped down Zane's cheek, catching Max's attention. She reached down and wiped it away.
"Don't worry," Max whispered to him. Jondy leaned down and laid her cheek against the boy's hair and starting making low, soothing sounds. She was humming, though they didn't know the word for it then. Her eight-year-old little-girl voice was melodic and beautiful as she sang softly to her brother. Max looked up at her in surprise.
"What's that sound you're making?" she asked.
"I don't know, but it'll make him feel better," Jondy answered, though she didn't quite know how she knew that. Max looked down at Zane, seeing that it was true: the boy's eyes had fluttered closed and though his body was still shaking uncontrollably he seemed more content that he'd been a moment before. Max smiled at Jondy and started to make similar sounds. There was no tune to it, as the girls had never heard music, but as they continued out of sync Zane appeared to calm slightly, and he fell asleep shortly, his seizure stopping soon afterward.
Zane let out a long, shaky breath ending in a sigh as his body slowly
settled down, his convulsions becoming less violent.
"I'll warm up your breakfast," she said, starting to rise, but he shook his head.
"No, I don't feel like eating." He let go of her hand and rubbed his temples. He'd almost completely stopped shaking now, to her immense relief. He turned onto his side, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. "I'm just going to take a nap, okay?"
"Sure." She squeezed his shoulder. "I'll wake you when Zack gets here." He didn't answer her because he was already sleeping, exhausted from the seizure. She stood and walked over to the kitchen, setting his plate of food down for the dog. She felt like crying. Why did everything good always have to turn into something bad for them? Jondy stifled a sigh; wouldn't any event in their lives be just purely good? It seemed like they only ever got half-goods. Oh well, she reminded herself, trying to be optimistic though it was hard sometimes. A half-good is better than what we had back at Manticore. She cleaned up the mess she'd made in the kitchen and glanced at the clock: 12:07. Zack would be here soon.
