Unplugged: The Beautiful World (#3, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty Three

Danny and Jackson are waiting for us by the hideout entrance, just as I suspected. When we rush in, they swarm us like a pair of hungry piranhas.
    "What happened? Why were you gone so long?" Danny leads us both over to a bench, and we sink down onto it gratefully. He crouches down in front of us and Jackson awkwardly trails behind him, silently vying for Danny's attention. I recount the beginning of the story, and then Matthew finishes from the part where he came in. At the end, Danny stays silent for a full five minutes. During that time, I observe the rest of the rebels. They rush around, rationing supplies and trying to build pathetic structures out of the slatted wood planks from supply crates. A crowd of frenzied women try to barge through the guards who stand firmly in front of the Leaning Shelter in the corner, begging for and demanding protection. Men line up along one whole wall of the warehouse, combat training with the meager gun supply. Oscar and Leah help teach physical defense techniques that I recognize from the Depot's training program.
    "Where is the radio?" Danny asks. The muscles in his neck tighten as he waits for an answer. I swallow, staring at my knees.
    "I dropped it," Matthew says quietly. Danny curses and leaps to his feet.
    "You serious?" He demands, eyes flaming.
    "It's not like they really heard anything!" Matthew retorts, rolling his eyes. He glances at me sideways, nervous. "Right?" I close my eyes, trying to suppress fear and remember my conversation with Luke.
    "Well, I... I, uh..." Matthew's, Danny's, and Jackson's stares bore into me. "First he taunted me. Then said that everyone thought I was dead. And that I don't emit a signal." Jackson snorts.
    "What are you--?"
    "Let her finish!" Danny yells, earning an angry glare from Jackson. "Go on, Enna. What else is in that radio?" I close my eyes and try to remember everything, but Luke's cold gaze keeps rising in my mind, distracting me.
    "I can't remember." Danny curses again and rises to his feet.
    "You have to!" He exclaims, pointing his finger straight at me. Then he slides a hand down his face, shaking his head. A pile of dread starts to settle in my stomach and I rub my arms, trying subconsciously to rid myself of the disgusting outside air, the taunts that Luke expertly designed just for me. Say hello to your mother for me...
    My fingers anxiously brush over my Resistance wristband.
    "Hold on!" I shout suddenly, eyes darting back and forth across the floor. "They know about the wristbands." Danny stops and stares at me intently, chest heaving. I stare right back at him, trying not to show the fear and guilt that tugs at my heart. For a long time I think Danny will break and start yelling at me again, but then he shakes his head sadly and addresses Jackson. His face looks paler than usual.
    "I think it's time for a meeting." Jackson's eyes widen like this is an unheard of phenomena. He chokes on his words.
    "R-right now?" Jackson lowers his voice and glances sideways at Matthew and I. "So soon?"
    "We have no other choice. There's a reason that Matthew and Enna had been led to us at this particular time. Plus, we have an ex-Depot trainee and a government insider on our side."
    "Can someone please tell us what all this is about?" Matthew asks, annoyed. "We're sitting right here, we can hear every word."
    "Who will take part in this meeting?" I ask. Danny shakes his head apologetically.
    "Can't tell you right now, sorry. Just know that you both will meet me there in an hour." He points to the Leaning Shelter, where more guards than usual swing their knives, waiting. His dark eyes grow wide and, somehow, honest. "And please, try not to get yourselves killed before then."

* * *

    As soon as Danny and Jackson clear away, I take Matthew by the arm and slowly lead him towards the Recreational Quadrant, where people slowly walk in a lopsided circle. I suppose they do so for exercise, but I have something more important on my mind than stretching my legs. Silence engulfs us as we settle into a slow rhythm, circling around far from other eyes and ears. I can tell, innately, that it is not a benevolent silence. I try to break it carefully.
    "What happened to you? Why aren't you moaning in the Medical Quadrant?" Matthew stuffs his hands in his pockets and glances around to see if anyone is listening. I wait patiently, searching him. Hardly a scratch or bruise remains on his skin. Impossible. He leans his head closer to mine, lips almost touching my ear.
    "Victoria stole some medicine in those crates we were unpacking. Completely healed me." I tug my eyebrows together, impressed and shocked that Victoria did something so daring. I glance down at Matthew's side, where the bruises used to be.
    "Completely?" I slowly extend my hand, fingers hesitantly hovering just centimeters away from him.
    "It's okay. You can touch me," he laughs stiffly under his breath, guiding my fingers to the spot where he was formerly injured. "It doesn't hurt at all."
    "Amazing," I mutter, sliding my hand over his side, feeling as the muscles tighten and loosen with each breath. I force myself to look forward at the backs of the people we follow.
Focus, Enna.
"But still, that was dangerous what Victoria did. Could have gotten us in a lot of trouble. We're lucky that no one caught her."
    "And lucky that I found you before you got shot," Matthew says tersely. His voice shakes slightly, and I know it's from fear. And some anger.
Here it comes: a reprimand for my failed scouting trip. "What were you doing out there in the first place, Enna?"
    "Listen, I heard the officers and everything. I was tired of just sitting back, so I volunteered to figure out what was really going on out there."
    "Mmhmm, and what was that? What was really going on?" I've never heard that before: the biting sarcasm, the poorly-contained fury ...
    "I don't know," I admit, trying to step around the anger that builds in Matthew's voice. He sighs and glances at me.
    "Enna, I can't tell you how worried I get when you disappear like that. The only reason I found you was because I happened to speak to Danny." My stomach clenches.
    "I didn't disappear. Danny knew where I was. I was trying to be useful!"
    "Well, have you ever considered that you might be more useful alive than dead?" The sentence comes out sharper than he meant it, I can tell. But he covers it up seamlessly. "I mean, I'm stuck in a freaking hospital bed and you think it's okay to run around with enemy soldiers and helicopters? God, Enna!"
    "Are you serious? How do you expect me to sit here mindlessly while my city is being taken over? Why wouldn't I have wanted to go out there and do something?" All warmth has left me now, leaving my body full of a red, hot rage that somehow feels justified.
    "Maybe because you didn't want me to find your dead body out in the streets!" He snaps, quickly lapsing into silence. He stares at me but not quite into my eyes, his own hazel ones like cooling balls of flame. People stop and watch us, whispering our names and looking like droves of homeless paparazzi. But we don't notice them. Matthew's fists tremble and I look up at him helplessly, not knowing what to say. He starts to say something, stops, and then starts again.
    "I don't know what you're hiding from me--"
    "I'm not--!"
    "--or what's going on with you, but I need you to tell me. Right now. Everything." I bite my lip and look at the floor.
What am I hiding, if anything? Maybe my encounter with Father is affecting me more than I can tell. But, even if that were so, I shouldn't be forced to explain something that I don't  even understand myself! I look up at Matthew and force the sternest expression that I can muster onto my face.
    "There's nothing to tell." And then I spin on my heel and exit the circle that had started to form around us, forcing myself not to look back. I ignore the stares and comments that dart after me, too shaken to care. Obviously Matthew had noticed a change in me these past few days--possibly weeks--and hasn't mentioned anything. I wonder when things became different. When I almost killed him? When I discovered I had an evil twin attempting to control inhuman hybrids?
When I lost my mother?
    Anger and confusion plummet through my throat and I realize that I'm walking towards Leah, who is currently showing a young girl how to kick an enemy's legs out from beneath them. Maybe talking to my old friend will calm me down and prepare me for the meeting that will take place in less than an hour.
    "Hey, Enna!" She calls, smiling weakly when she sees me. I smile back as kindly as I can manage. "Just wait against the wall. I'm about to take a break." I quietly slide down against the nearest brick wall and watch Leah teach the girl a punching move. The girl is Becca, the one Danny had taken in from the streets. Her glasses slide down her nose every time she swings out, and she licks her lips with silent intelligence each time before she strikes. She doesn't just repeat the moves Leah shows her: she analyzes them and improves them with each try. When she glances over at me, a blush creeps up her neck and I can tell that her focus begins to dwindle.
    "Pretend she isn't here," Leah says to Becca, nodding at me.
    "Yeah, I'm just resting," I splutter. The young girl takes a few steadying breaths and then continues to fight. She's very good. I rest my head against the wall and glance up at the skylight. No helicopters in view. I wonder if soldiers are searching the city for a hideout. Or maybe they left already, pursuing "Target Two". What might that be? Maybe that's what we'll discuss in the meeting today...
    "Alright, run along. You did great for the first day." Leah dismisses Becca then joins me against the wall, sliding down and resting her head on my shoulder.
    "Are you invited to Danny's meeting?" She asks.
    "How do you know about that?" I try to hide my surprise.
    "Danny told me, of course. Oscar's coming too." We sit in silence for a while, contemplating. It's a tense silence, almost like we feel obligated to say something. It lasts for a while, until Leah eventually breaks it.
    "Um... Hope just told me that Sara..." She pauses and sighs, resting her head back against the brick. "She... Well, she didn't make it." I stare back at her, sorrow dripping into my stomach. Though I never knew Sara that well, she was a kind and brave friend. Leah must have gotten to know her far better than I ever did when I was gone.
    "Oh, geez." I shake my head, not knowing what to say. "I'm so sorry..." Leah nods and sniffs.
    "Yeah. Me too." We sit in another long bout of silence before I sigh and mutter, "Do you ever look at your life and then wonder, how on Earth did I get to this point?" I close my eyes. Leah starts to laugh, and soon the amusement infects me as well. My stomach hurts by the time I finish.
    "All the time, Enna. All the time." I nod, and Leah sits up. "So where's Matthew?" My heart starts to hurt and I perform a tense, apathetic shrug. Leah nods knowingly.
    "Had a little skirmish?" She guesses.
    "You could say that..."
    "You know it'll go away, right? You've been through too much to stay mad at each other." I turn my head to look Leah in the eyes. Her big, brown ones stare back at me.
    "It's not like that, though. I feel like we're growing apart somehow, and I don't know why. He says that I've been acting differently. Ever since the Base..." I pause before I can finish the sentence, too upset to continue. Leah ropes an arm around my back, and we sit there for a long time.