Fadeout

Chapter 28: Jamar

  “Where will they take her?” Jamar asked. He didn’t watch as Silas was removed from the room.

  “To the third floor where the empty Cars wait until we need their organs or they die.”

  Jamar nodded. He didn’t have the energy to do much more. A weight had settled around him either from watching the harvest or from knowing he could not keep his promise to Silas. He walked over to the bin where all the e-mems had collected. Each glass ball flashed images from Malina’s life. Jamar picked a few up. The bigger balls contained scenes like everyone running in the yard, eating in the cafeteria and lying on the bed in her cell.

  There were more personal scenes like individual faces in the medium balls. Several girls, a few boys, a middle aged man and woman who were probably her parents filled that size. A few even had Malina looking at herself in a mirror trying to fix her hair.

  But the smallest balls all had some image of Silas: a nine-year image of him staring up at the sky, a twelve-year image of him running across the yard, a recent image of him popping out of a garbage can and six-month-old image of his toothless mouth smiling at her.

  “Can I study these?” Jamar asked.

  “What for?” Lemuel’s tone was disinterested.

  “I want to know why some of these images were more important--or...stronger than others.”

  His father raised his eyebrows. “I’m glad you’re taking such an interest in this. Yes, you may take the bin up to your room and return them to Foxworth when you are finished. I’d also be very interested in hearing what you find. Give me a report when you’re done.”

  “I will,” Jamar said. Lemuel left the room with a bundle of papers under his arms leaving Jamar alone.

  At the very bottom of the bin was the first e-mem that came out. It was small, only an inch around and it had captured Silas as he stared at her just moments before the e-mem was made. The look of despair in his eyes was more than Jamar could bear. He slipped the e-mem in his pocket. There had to be something he could do to make it right.

  Silas had told him he wanted to escape, but Jamar wouldn’t help. It could have saved them from being caught and all of this would have never happened. Jamar wouldn’t have allowed the Marcus guy to go with them. There would have been no point to losing more Cars than necessary. But Silas and Malina would have been free, far away from the Machine and from Lemuel with all his schemes.

  They still could be. Jamar glanced at the doors, the last place he’d seen Silas. He could open his cell and give them the edge they needed to escape. He could still keep his promise, most of it. Perhaps Silas could forgive him for what happened. He’d find a way to release Malina, get supplies and then get Silas. He’d have to do it tonight. There was no telling what Lemuel would do with Silas in the morning.

  Foxworth entered the room and began wiping down the Machine with a cleaning solution.

  “Have this bin brought up to my room,” Jamar told him and he left. He was surprised to realize the sun had already set. A whole day had gone by, although he felt tired enough for it to be several days.

  He paused by his father’s office and then knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” Lemuel said.

  “Sorry for bothering you Father,” Jamar said poking his head around the door. “Did that boy talk about how they escaped?”

  Lemuel shook his head. “No, he’s in a coma.”

  “When he wakes up you should harvest him,” Jamar said. “There’s nothing worse than finding someone has gone back on their word.”

  Jamar shut the door and made his way to the servant areas. He snatched three uniforms out of a closet and a pillow case. Then he snuck into the kitchen area and filled the pillow case with food, mostly bread, cheese and anything else he could think of that might not perish.

  Then he slipped up to his room and put on one of the uniforms. He found a floppy hat in the pocket of one and pulled it low over his eyes. The bin of e-mems was on his desk and he went through them again. He held one up to the light and could see a thin film that ran through the middle of the circle. It was from this that the images were projected. Sometimes the images stayed the same but other times they moved.

  There was another e-mem just a smidge bigger than an inch that showed all the times Malina had seen Silas smile. Most were half smiles where it was just his eyes, but a few had smiles that reached the mouth too. He put that e-mem in the pillowcase.

  Taking the pillow case and the extra uniforms, Jamar snuck back down to the bottom floor. The house was silent, but it was only nine or ten. Jamar couldn’t wait. He knew they would need as much of a head start as they could get.

  He entered the Machine building and looked for a staircase. There were two doors on either side of the hall right by the main entrance. He tried the first one but it was locked. He hoped he didn’t need a key to get to the top floor. It would ruin everything and he didn’t think he could talk Silas into leaving without her. He tried the other door and it opened to a stairwell.

  With a short sigh, Jamar stashed the pillowcase and one of the uniforms behind the steps and then walked slowly to the third floor. He should have thought to bring a broom or tray of food or something that would give him an excuse for being there. The door at the top of the stairs opened to a well-lit, but empty desk and the rest of the floor seemed abandoned. Jamar walked from room to room. Most of the occupants were sitting in a chair or lying in bed. They all stared straight ahead and once in a while one would blink.

  Malina was standing in the middle of the room as if she’d forgotten what she was supposed to do.

  “Here,” Jamar said. “Put this on.”

  He held out the clothes to her and she stared at them.

  “Put it on,” Jamar said each word slowly and carefully. If she didn’t do it then he was going to let Silas figure it out, but she reached out and took the uniform. She began to stick her foot in the pants and pull it on over her clothes. That would be close enough.

  The next issue he would have was her implant. He did a quick search of the drawers that revealed nothing. Then he walked back to the nurse’s desk. He hoped it would have to have something to remove the implants. The metal in the implants was too valuable to let it rot with a Car after they were dead.

  In the second drawer there was an implant remover, it looked more like a small hook with a guiding laser. Jamar returned to Malina’s room to see her standing where he’d left her and wearing the uniform.

  “Bend your neck,” Jamar said and she complied. He pushed her hair out of the way and switched the implant remover on. It beeped when he pointed it at her neck and the beeping got louder and louder until it let out high-pitched pops. Then he pressed the button and the hook dug into her neck and pulled the implant out. He half expected Malina to cry out, but she didn’t.

  “Follow me,” Jamar said.

  She stayed one step behind him and at the bottom of the steps she blocked his way out when he went to get the pillowcase.

  The hall was empty so they started for the boys ward. At each of the exam rooms, Jamar peered in the window. These doors were different from the ward doors. Their galvanized metal knobs looked like they might need a key, something Jamar didn’t have. He peeked in the last exam room and saw Silas sitting on the edge of a cot, a tray of untouched food beside him. He was staring at the wall and didn’t look like he’d moved an inch since he got in there. Jamar tapped on the glass and turned the knob, surprisingly the door opened.

  Silas didn’t even bother to look.

  “Silas,” Jamar hissed.

  “What?” He didn’t stop looking at the wall. It was as if his eyes were glued there.

  “I can help you escape.”

  “What does it matter if I escape? They’ll just find me and bring me back.”

  “I’ve brought your sister. She’s in the hall.”

  “Malina?” A dim spark hit him and he stood up.

  He tried to walk past Jamar, but Jamar tossed the uniform in his chest. “Put
that on first.”

  Like his sister, Silas put it on over the clothes he was wearing and then he pushed past Jamar to get into the hall.

  “Malina?” he said as soon as he saw her. She looked at him but it was the same look she gave Jamar or the uniform.

  He reached out and touched her shoulder. She didn’t flinch or smile. It meant nothing to her. Carefully, as with a newborn, Silas pulled her into a hug and she let him, although her arms stayed at her side.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Silas whispered into her hair over and over.

  Jamar sighed. “We have to move if this is going to work.”

  Silas stiffened and let Malina go. “Why do you care?”

  “I made you a promise--”

  “And look how well you kept that!” Silas motioned at Malina.

  “I’m sorry.” It was the first time Jamar had said the words and actually meant it.

  “I asked you to keep her safe. You made me think I could trust you, but no. I heard what your dad said. The whole thing was your idea.”

  “It wasn’t my idea.” Jamar started to walk down the hall. Their voices could attract the wrong kind of attention. Silas followed him and so did Malina.

  “Then who’s was it?”

  Jamar let out a short laugh. “My father has ideas for his ideas. There are whole books of them. He already knew what he was going to do, I just happened to say it out loud.”

  “Just tell me this. Why should I trust you now?”

  “Because you saved my live and I want to return the favor. And because we’re friends.” He straightened his back and tried to keep calm. Silas was distraught, perhaps a little in shock over seeing his sister like this, but he would be fine especially once Jamar had the chance to explain how she was better off this way. He would come around.

  Jamar jerked the hall door open and held his finger to his lips. He tiptoed down the main house hall, past his father’s office. Silas didn’t bother to walk silently. It was as if he was asking to get caught again, only this time he would be taking Jamar down with him. Jamar gave him a look, but Silas ignored him.

  There was a creak and a door down the hall opened. Jamar and Silas jumped behind a decorative cabinet, but Malina stood in the middle of the hall. Inwardly Jamar groaned. He dashed out and tried to pull her with him, but Tymas walked into the hall and saw them.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded and he stomped toward them.

  Jamar did an awkward bow and touched his hat so it covered his eyes. He held up the pillowcase and gave his voice a hoarse, gravelly tone. “Just finished gathering the laundry, sir.”

  Tymas frowned. “Why are you working so late?”

  “It’s a big house sir.”

  “You are never to enter the main areas when the owner is here. Understand? Now get back to the kitchen. And don’t think I will let this slide. I’ll have a word with your superior in the morning.” Tymas brushed past them and exited the main house.

  Jamar murmured another “Yes, sir,” at Tymas’ back and once the hall door closed Silas joined them. They reached the main doors and Jamar gently opened them. He checked to make sure the way was clear and he motioned for them to join him. It was raining, but Jamar figured that was good. It would make it harder to track them. Jamar waited until they were past a bend in the road out of sight from the Cartiam.

  “Here,” he said holding out the pillowcase, but Silas didn’t take it. Jamar sighed. “What?”