The blue numbers on the back of his hand said he was also a lowrate.
“Where did you come from?” the man with the box asked. His voice sounded like rocks grating together.
“The search party right over there,” Rena answered, standing up again to point toward the city. “I’m so sorry. She does this every once in a while. Wanders out here. It’s really embarrassing.”
The third man looked where Rena had pointed. His right hand was blocked by his body, his rating hidden.
“Search party?” the man with the box asked.
“I know,” Rena said, smiling and rolling her eyes. Then she turned to Kirti. “Your dad’s here this time. And he brought the police with him. You’ve got to stop taking off like this.”
Tears began rolling down Kirti’s face, glistening against her skin. She’d been too frightened to cry before. Now the adrenaline was passing, and the sudden rush of emotions was causing her body to shake.
“Oh! I know, honey. I’m sorry,” Rena said with outstretched arms, walking right past the man in front of Kirti, who made no effort to restrain her. She embraced Kirti. ”You must be so disoriented. It’s OK now.”
Kirti clung to Rena as if she had lost her balance and was about to fall off the ledge of a building. But it was the muggers who’d actually been thrown off balance—they had no idea what was going on. And now was the time for Rena to move her friend away from danger.
“Shh,” she said in a soothing, motherly tone, stroking Kirti’s long, straight hair. “Don’t cry. I’m sure these gentlemen aren’t upset. You only bothered them for a few minutes. But let’s remember our manners now, OK? I want you to thank these nice men for finding you before you got lost out here.”
Rena moved Kirti a few steps closer to the city as she consoled her. Kirti was too distraught to understand she needed to play along, so Rena smiled at the men. “Thank you for finding her. Really. We might have been out here all night.”
She began leading Kirti toward Esh before the men were able to react. Then she raised her hand and began waving. “Over here! I found her!”
The resulting silence was deafening. Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes as the muggers waited to hear a response from a search party that wasn’t there. Rena waved her hand again and yelled to fill up the quietness.
“Hang on there, girl!” shouted a gravelly voice behind them.
Rena turned to find that she and Kirti had only gained a few meters of distance from the men.
“Let’s see your number,” he said, jogging over to them.
Rena stuck out her right hand, while she tried another verbal deflection. “Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about the reward.”
The man took her by the wrist, but gentler than expected. “What reward?” The scanner in his other hand was forgotten for the moment. Behind him, the other two men were leaning forward, clearly intrigued.
Rena tilted her head toward Kirti. “Her dad’s offering credits for whoever brings her back unharmed. I’m sure he’d be grateful to you guys.”
The man’s grip loosened.
“He’s really generous. Come on. You should meet him,” Rena added, starting to pull away.
The mugger frowned, as if he didn’t like the idea of going closer to the city, but his eyes lacked conviction. He was actually considering Rena’s invitation. Once inside Esh, he would lose his nerve and run away, of course. But out here, away from the view of other citizens, his greed made him imagine the possibilities.
“Get your hands off her!” yelled a familiar voice.
The man’s grip tightened.
All three men turned around.
Dal came out of the fog at a brisk walk, from where Rena had left him. His posture was hunched, and it was obvious he was prepared to do anything to save Rena.
The man with the box was still holding Rena’s wrist as he watched the newcomer approach. The next mugger reached under the back of his jacket and removed a knife from his waistband. Light reflected off its dull, metal surface. It seemed to happen in slow motion, revealing the sharpened edge and the cruel point that would easily pierce Dal’s flesh.
People may try to hurt you.
It was that voice in her head again. The man from her childhood. The one whom she couldn’t quite remember. The man whom her parents and counselor said never existed. But he must have, because his words were there in her memory. Calming her. Focusing her thoughts. Allowing her to concentrate on every detail she needed to notice. Rena suddenly understood what to do, and she didn’t hesitate.
She wrenched her arm around in a small circle and grabbed the man’s wrist, breaking free of his grip at the same time. Yanking backward on his arm, she used the leverage to lift her foot and drive it downward against the side of his knee, snapping it with surprising ease.
He crumpled to the ground, and Rena held on to his wrist, pulling on it to launch herself forward into a run.
The man with the knife began to pivot toward the sound of his friend’s screaming. He only made it halfway around before Rena got to him. She jammed one of her hands into the crook of his arm and shoved his fist inward and upward with her other. The man’s elbow collapsed, and the blade punctured his thick jacket and the side of his rib cage. He flinched, letting go of the knife as he let out a painful grunt. Rena grabbed the handle and gave it a twist before jerking it free.
She was now only six strides from the final mugger.
The man was glancing back and forth between her and Dal, trying to judge which one was more of a threat. Rena was still moving at a run, but Dal’s pace had slowed after what he’d just witnessed. The man turned and came at Rena, his right arm cocked back, fingers clenched into a fist. His height and thick clothing made him seem like a giant.
Massive knuckles came down at Rena’s face.
She planted her foot and dodged to the side while bringing the knife upward. The mugger’s rating left a trace of blue light in front of her eyes, the punch barely missing her face.
The man lost his balance and fell forward on his hands and knees. It was only then that he noticed the blood gushing from the underside of his wrist, compliments of Rena’s new blade.
Rena turned and drove her foot as hard as she could into the man’s exposed abdomen, trying to knock the wind out of him. As he fell on his side and clutched his stomach, she glanced at the other two muggers and verified they were still on the ground.
“Rena!” Kirti screamed, her hands pressing against the sides of her face.
Dal had come to a stop and was staring with his mouth open wide.
“Run!” Rena shouted at them both. “Let’s go!”
002
Rena wouldn’t slow down until they were all well inside of the city, with no indication of pursuit. Fields of dirt and rusting metal contraptions, surrounded by chain-link fences, gave way to concrete buildings with broken out windows. Then old brick structures appeared, with faded business signs and peeling paint. The structural beams of the Canopy were lower over the Outskirts. Most citizens were grateful that it shielded the city from the harsh environment. Channeled rainwater to useful locations. Provided warmth for everyone who lived beneath it. To Rena, it felt like a cage.
As they moved inward, the ceiling rose higher above them. The air grew warmer. The streetlights on every corner began flickering to life now that the sun was down. Broken sidewalks and crumbling asphalt gave way to maintained streets dividing neighborhoods of single-story houses.
Kirti lived farther in than either Dal or Rena. By the time they reached her place—an apartment in a fancy, three-story brick building with carved stone accents—she seemed to have recovered from the afternoon’s unusual event. Her large, brown eyes had cleared. Rena couldn’t even tell she’d been crying. Her long, black hair looked as straight and beautiful as ever. Even her clothes were still immaculate.
“My parents are going to kill me,” she said, looking at the 000 on the back of her hand.
Rena brushed at the dirt on her own pants. There were s
tains on the knees that begged for an explanation. “I’ll give you some of my credits.”
“Me too,” Dall added.
“No. That’s alright. I should have known better than to …”
To leave the city? Rena wondered. To go out into the Barrens? To hang out with you? To make friends below my rating? Kirti’s unfinished statement left an awkward silence, and Rena wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the rest of it. “I’m sorry.”
Kirti didn’t acknowledge the apology. Instead, she smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles from her thin, white jacket, took a deep breath, and turned to walk up the front steps. When the ornate door closed behind her, Rena looked over at Dal.
His lips were pressed together. “She’ll get over it.”
“I hope so.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, heading back out to the neighborhood where they both lived. Rena looked up at the framework of the Canopy. The metal lattice structure was slightly darker than the semitransparent panels revealing the dark gray of the cloudy sky above them. In another hour, none of it would be visible. That was Rena’s favorite time of the day, when it felt like there was no Canopy at all. No enclosure to hold her. No ceiling to indicate how far away from society’s center she really was.
“How did you do that?” Dal asked, breaking the silence.
Rena didn't have to ask him what he was talking about. She'd been wondering that herself. “I don’t know.”
“I mean, those guys were huge. And dangerous.”
“Yeah.”
“So? Why