The Clean Ones

Chapter 9 / 10

"Cale... I'm sorry." I mumbled. We'd been driving for at least an hour now. Cars continued to zip by as we weaved in and out of traffic. It was truly fascinating seeing a car this close up. Several years ago when I was newly created, the Community government had deemed them too dangerous for the restored city, and ordered that they all be removed. Everyone that owned a car-though there weren't many people that did- was stripped of the privilege and was given a brand new bicycle instead. I understood now why this was necessary now. They looked extremely dangerous.

Cale grunted in response. He hadn't said more than two words to me since out argument. He only stopped to acknowledge me if I tried to apologize, or to ask if I had any money for the gas station. Of course, I didn't, which made me feel even worse about things. The least I could do is try to help him out.

Suddenly, the truck came to stop. Cale grunted again and pointed his hand forward in the direction of something in the distance.

"What is it?" I asked. Instead of replying, he inched the car forward and pointed again, this time at a building, faintly in the distance.

The building was the largest I had ever seen.

It towered over any other home or office building that I had become accustomed to seeing since coming to the safe house, and certainly did not resemble anything we had back home. When the truck pulled up to the front of the building, I couldn't believe my eyes. Cale watched in disgust as I marveled at the beauty of it. The tall spires that stacked on top of massive stone columns were simply mesmerizing, as well as the large, iron gates that enclosed the entire structure.
It must have been five stories tall, maybe even more. The architecture of the building resembled a grand castle that I read about in books as a child, though not quite as large, for it was not a wide building. If I had just wandered past the building, I probably wouldn't have thought of it as more than the home of someone very wealthy. Part of me was ecstatic at the idea of getting to go inside this building.

"We're almost there!" I squealed as the truck, which had moved forward again, finally began to roll to a complete stop. The ride was quite bumpy and jerked us around every few minutes. Nevertheless, the technology of the past hadn't ceased to amaze me. I wanted learn so much more about it; not only what it was, but how to use these incredible devices I was rapidly growing accustomed to.

"Really, Perri? You sound ridiculously enthusiastic about this." Cale muttered. It was the first time he replied to me the entire way here.

"Oh, hush. Who knows, maybe it won't be that bad!" I insisted.

"Well, little miss optimism," he huffed, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Why?"

"My parents were taken here on the day they died." He said softly. "How's that for not-so-bad?"

"Oh," I said. My cheeks flushed a deep rosy hue. "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"Of course you didn't. You don't seem to know anything, do you?" He snapped

"Look, I get we fought, and I'm sorry. I guess I understand what has gotten into you lately, but it's quite irritating. But I really don't want to go down this road again, so I suggest you shut your mouth and worry about yourself from now on." I replied. "And besides, how do you know how your parents truly died? Clearly you weren't there when it happened."

"Let's put it this way- you're not the only one who's had access to a Retrograde, remember?" He said, gesturing to my pocket. "And-" Before he could open his mouth to continue his answer, an armed guard came over and opened the doors of of the truck for us. "Alright, quit your bantering. We can work this out later, okay? Now, get out and shut up otherwise we'll all be in trouble." Cale whispered. We both hopped out of the truck without another word or glance and walked over to the massive gates. Another guard stood in front of the gates, but let us through without any hesitation after the guard whom came to greet us whispered something to him. Even though we stood right behind him, I couldn't make out what he said.
Beyond the gates stood a large fountain, at least three feet taller than I. It stood in the middle of the cobblestone pathway that was surrounded by four large patches of grass. Each one hosted intricately cut topiaries, all taking the shape of either moons or stars. Circling them was an array of multicolored flowers, all planted to be the same height and follow a specific pattern. The site seemed almost too pleasant to be one associated so closely with death. I could see Cale tense beside me.