Back at the grates only Ret was left. He looked up through the ceiling at the clouds up above. He turned when he heard us approaching.
“You two go first. I want to be the last one.”
“You know for a place I’ve been scared of my entire life, this place is pretty nice.” I said.
“Oh, you’re the Hum?” Ret said, looking me over.
“I am.”
He stared at me with a bizarre expression. It was as if he had seen a ghost for the first time and was slowly realizing what it was. He pulled his eyes from me, once again with great difficulty, and looked at Orin.
“Thank you Orin. This would never have been possible without you.”
“I wouldn’t have known anything without Hardin.”
I wished he hadn’t said anything because it brought another strange look my way from Ret.
“And I wouldn’t have known if Humurom wasn’t in such a bad state.” I said.
Ret lit up. “So this even started with good news.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, I hoped he was.
Orin and I stepped on the grates and turned the knobs clockwise. I felt the freeing sensation of being lifted up out of the ground and jolting to a stop on the ground. I got up, shook myself and stepped toward the forest.
A couple hours later we stood in the small clearing, the wall loomed eerily in front of us. As Orin had said, there were no Dizurians anywhere. Ret stepped up to the wall and put a bracelet on.
“Everyone else is already out. It’s just us. I’m about to be the leader that got everyone out of Bozlin safely. I don’t know if there are words capable of describing this moment.”
“Just go.” Orin urged. “We’ll tell your biographer that you said something fantastic and heartwarming.”
Ret took an excited breath. “Tell them that I had everyone together and gave a great big speech and was torn between the two worlds.”
Orin took Ret’s wrist and put it up to the wall. He disappeared.
I looked back through the forest. The leaves swayed in a slight breeze. “I can’t believe no one attacked.”
“Be thankful.” Orin said. He disappeared through the wall.
I watched the forest intently, wondering where the Dizurians were. There wasn’t even a movement of animals.
“I am.” I whispered to the trees.
I backed up to the wall and put my arm up. I had one last glimpse of the forest before going through the wall.
VII
It was night in Wall City. I watched Ret and Orin being led away to the hotels. I retrieved my clothes from under the bridge and started for the government building. It wasn’t too cold that night. It felt good to be back in the city, away from any danger. The idea of going back in to force the Hums out was starting to seem feasible. As long as the Dizurians stayed away it would work perfectly. I didn’t care where they were or what they were doing; none of it would matter once everyone was out.
The lobby was quiet and dark. I took a minute and sat in one of the soft chairs. It felt so good to close my eyes and not worry. I laughed at my freedom, soon to be the freedom of all of Humurom. I jumped up, excited to tell Mama.
She wasn’t alone when I got to the room. The hunters from Humurom were there, and so was Nara. Mama came up to give me a hug when she saw me.
“Oh, good, you’re here. We were worried.”
“How was the Journey Train?” I asked the others.
“Great!” Peter exclaimed. “It was a blast. We caught butterflies, made cakes, and even made strange masks. Mine looks a little ghoulish, don’t you think?”
He held up a green and brown mask that looked like the face of something I would find in an abandoned laboratory.
“It is strange.”
“I didn’t bring mine, it was so bad.” Lace laughed.
“I made the best cake . . . on my fourth try.” Dala said happily.
“That’s only because I cooked mine too long.” Morome added.
They all playfully argued about cakes, masks and butterflies. I looked them over, glad to see how healthy and strong they looked. I never noticed how thin and gaunt they looked in the bunker, but now that I could see the difference I was amazed.
I remembered back to how I met them all. Before I left the bunker to make peace with the Cityers I formed a team of hunters to accompany me. I met Lace, and her cousin Morome, who looked great considering how injured he was when he made it through the wall. Peter was an old friend who I rarely talked to anymore before he joined the team. We had grown apart because of our different work schedules, but were now back to being the best of friends. Dala was the youngest. Her parents died when she was very young. Her guardian took her out hunting when she was still little.
“So how did it go?” Nara asked from the corner. I had forgotten she was there.
“Not great.”
The room grew silent fast. All eyes were glued to me.
I told them all the story of what happened the last few days. I could see their faces lose the excitement of the Journey Train and find the cold dark stares that were so familiar in Humurom.
“What about our families?” Lase asked.
“I know.” I stressed. “I’m going to talk with the president or Gilik sometime tomorrow and ask if I can get help next time to force them out. We weren’t attacked once. That may be a good sign.”
Lace looked around in disbelief. “And if he says no?”
I knew how they felt. It wasn’t long ago that I felt the growing defeat of not being able to help a family member. “Look,” I said dismally, “I’m not going to let your families stay in there. The best plan we have is to go back in with guns and force them out.”
Morome stepped forward. “All right. I wouldn’t mind going back in there with all the power. Let Matilik say the Hunting Office is closed with a gun in his face.”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “That might be the best way to do things now.”
I was glad to hear they were on my side again. If that plan hadn’t been thought up I don’t know what they would think of me.
There was a knock at the door. It was Mr. Jess.
“Hardin, your friend Stud is downstairs in the Care Wing. He must undergo surgery immediately, but you can see him now if you would like.”
I thanked him and he left. “Anybody else want to come?”
“I’ll go.” Mama said, standing up.
“And you only got him out?” Lace said skeptically.
“I told you how that happened.” I said defensively.
Peter shook his head. “And after everything he did for us he gets treated like that. You’re a dangerous person to have around, Hardin.”
“Matilik sure seems to think I am.”
Mama and I left for the Care Wing. It was actually in another building adjacent to that one, but could be reached by going through an underground tunnel, the entrance of which was on the first floor.
The Care Wing was full of doctors and nurses all wearing different colored uniforms. They rushed to and fro, attending to a lot of the people fresh from the wall. We found Stud in an area reserved for people about to go in for surgery. He wore a simple white gown and looked even worse in the rooms lighting.
“Hello Stud, how are you?” Mama asked as we approached.
His eyes widened. “Patricia, you look great.”
I wasn’t used to hearing my mother’s name. It sounded weird to me for some reason.
“I wish you did.” She said, patting his hand.
“The only reason I look like anything is because of Hardin. He saved my life.”
“He’s good at that.”
This conversation was getting too weird for me. “Have they told you anything?”
“They said my legs are in bad shape and I may never walk again. They are both broken and badly infected.”
“They’ll fix you up.” I promised.
He pointed to various things in the room that he had never seen before. “How about this place. It’s so great. I thought many times about what it might be like, but its better.”
Mama leaned in as though about to tell a secret. “Wait till you try the food.”
Stud nodded excitedly. “I don’t know if I can.”
The doctor came in and sent us out.
On the way back to the elevator I had a sense that someone was watching me. I turned to see a girl looking my way. She appeared to be several years younger than me with blonde hair. I glanced at her, hoping she would look away, but she didn’t. We stared at each other for several seconds. She didn’t look mean or dangerous. Her expression was emotionless. I tried to find something there, a frown or a smile, but there was nothing. The elevator came and I jumped in. The door closed. I could still see her looking at me. I had never seen her in my life. It was a strange enough experience to unnerve me. I let it drift from my mind and refocused on Humurom.
Back in the room I sat with Nara in the corner. “Is there any way you can get me a meeting with Gilik?”
“I don’t know; his schedule is tight right now. He’s going to spend a lot of tomorrow checking on the Bozlins.”
“Then I’ll go to one of the hotels and find him. Do you know which ones they are in?”
“The closest is a block from here. You know that tall brown one we pass every day?”
I thought for a minute and remembered which one she was talking about. “I’ll see him there then.”
“Nara looked worried about something.
“What is it?” I asked.
“What is everyone going to say about them?”
I hadn’t thought much about the media. If the journalists in Azureland knew