Nor (Wattpad Featured Story, WriteAffair finalist)

Chapter 30: Takeover

I start awake at about eight or nine, even though I switched off my alarm last night. Or this morning. Whatever. Pia is still asleep in my bed, her hands curled up to her mouth, legs spread. I'm sure she's exhausted, so I leave her alone to take a peek outside.

The house seems quiet. I know my dad is gone, oblivious to my skipping school, but Maggie should be around. I have to be careful. I duck into the shower and slip into a warm dress, trotting out. Sure enough, Maggie is in the kitchen, looking through some Readers' Digest issues. "Nora! What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't feeling well."

"Oh. Fever? Cramps?"

"My throat was a little sore. But I think I'm better now."

"Oh. OK."

I stuff some cereal in my mouth, thinking about my guest and how I'm going to sneak her out. "So … are you going out today?"

"No. Why? You want to go somewhere?"

"No. I mean, yes. Possibly. By myself." I cough under her puzzled gaze. "I'll see how it goes."

"I just saw something on the news that should cheer you up."

"They're putting up guard-rails to prevent more people from committing suicide on the train tracks?"

"Uh, no. They caught most of the Watchers. They even killed the head!"

I furrow my brows at her perky tone, not sure how to respond.

"It was about time."

"Yeah. Um, I'm going to go lie down for a while, OK?" I take the cereal box with me, intending to use it to feed Pia. She doesn't wake up until noon, gladly accepting the Lucky Charms even without milk. She gets cleaned up, then puts on some of my clothes. As she drags on a denim skirt my father gave me that I never wear (I hate denim. I know I'm weird. Sue me.), she takes a good look around, really studying my room in the sunlight. "I didn't know you were such a U2 freak."

"Thanks."

"But they're good."

"Twenty-two awards."

She yanks on her leggings underneath the skirt, then pads over to where I'm standing, looking out the window. The streets have swelled a little with a lunch crowd, but the whole scene seems too calm to me, like a veneer hiding the real Kendall City. I turn to look at Pia. Her eyes are like sun-pools in front of the window, deep brown, rippling with unhappy memories.

"So what now?" I ask her quietly.

"I don't know."

"Maggie went into my dad's room a few minutes ago while you were in the shower. You want to sneak out?"

"Where?"

"We can try going back to the building."

"Back?" She recoils, terrified at the prospect. "They could still be there."

"OK, OK. We'll just drive by. Maybe I can ask if anyone saw where the others went."

"I'm sure they went home. I'm just not sure who escaped. Practically nobody."

"Somebody had to have escaped. You did."

Her forehead crunches, her eyes droop.

"All you have to do is find each other, Pia. Come on."

"But how? I don't even know where any of them live."

"OK. Then, maybe we need something. Like … a message. Some kind of sign."