Hardin's Dilemma

know all about us and are probably going to send in an army any time now. It took all of Leric’s authority to get the mayors to agree. Of course nothing can be done officially about it until they agree, and they do now. It sure took long enough. That second in command, that Martvy, he really pushed for it not to happen, but he was outvoted.”

  I found the courage to speak. “But why not just let the Humurom’s out?”

  Filn looked at me as though I had gone insane. “You can’t let them out. A few people telling the world about us is one thing. A lot of people telling it might have some people believing. Leric ordered all of the wall guards back for more training, so we can only hope he hasn’t come back in again. But now they are back where they are supposed to be so if anybody comes in now they aren’t gonna make it three steps before being blown up.”

  My heart dropped. My breathing grew shallow. “When does this start?” My voice was shaking.

  He scrunched up his face in concentration. “The bracelets change over in ten days I think, so right after that.”

  “The bracelets do what?” I accidentally shouted.

  “Yeah, it’s great right? You see the bracelets like you used to get in have a specific code thing in them to let people in. Now I’m not very good with all this computer stuff. I know that there is one underground somewhere that controls the whole thing, but I’m not too sure about it. Anyway there is another code set up for something like this. Basically in ten days something will be switched and all those bracelets we have now won’t work anymore. Only the new ones will. And we are going to take extra care of those. It would be sooner but it’s going to take a while for them to get enough for all the new recruits.”

  I could feel our plan falling apart with every word Filn said. “So you said, um, how long again?”

  “Ten days. After that all this will be ours. Now I see you both look worried. Don’t be, you two should be finished with dark room training by then. Kill a few of those mountain people for me.”

  Billus had to take my arm and lead me away. I don’t recall anything between talking to Filn and arriving at our room. The color had drained from my face and I was pretty sure my legs were going to give out any second. I took a seat on my bed.

  Theen welcomed us back. He started to tell us about all the great things they got to do like flying the Nawings. I wasn’t listening. Billus stopped him and told him what Filn had said. Zurrel came in from somewhere. Billus sent her out so we could talk. There wasn’t any sense in getting another person involved at this point.

  “There’s only one thing left to do.” Billus said after telling Theen everything we knew. “We have to get you two to the wall and hope nobody knows. There’s no point in going to Humurom if everyone is going to get killed trying to get out.”

  “Aren’t you coming?” I asked. I didn’t want to lose somebody who was so keen on helping.

  “Somebody has to be here to tell Filn your story. After you two are out I’m going to tell him that Theen had to take you out because you were really sick. That’s the only way anybody gets out of here. No point in getting everybody sick.”

  “I could stay here and help slow this down and Hardin can go back and tell Azureland.” Theen said.

  Billus shook his head. “No, nothing will slow them down. You need to help get Hardin back. Besides you don’t want to go through dark room training if you don’t have to.”

  This was beginning to sound hopeless. “How am I supposed to get to Azureland from here?”

  “You can’t go through Dizuria. Unless there is a special event there won’t be any trains coming or going from Diz City. You will have to go out in a different country.”

  Theen got up and paced the room. “So only ten days. That doesn’t leave much time for Azureland to do much. We don’t even have anything to prove what is going on.”

  “The only things we have are these outfits.” I lamented.

  “I got it.” Billus exclaimed. “We leave tonight. You two will take a couple bracelets and walk around the edge of the forest. Eventually you will find the wall. If you go through there you should be in Zamiastin. From there find a town with a railroad and get back to Azureland. From there it is up to you.”

  I let my head drop to the pillow and closed my eyes. Everything was falling apart again. The only good thing was that with a time limit I knew when things were going to happen. “How are we supposed to get out with guards everywhere?” I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands.

  “I think they only guard the populated areas like around cities. As far as I know Zamiastin does not have any cities near the wall. Now you two should take a nap and get ready. I’ll go and see if I can get some food and the bracelets.”

  “Be careful.” I called as he left the room.

  I took his advice and took a nap. Despite all the thoughts rushing through my head I was tired enough to fall asleep within a few minutes.

  Something hitting the floor woke me up. Billus was back with a sack of food along with two bracelets. Zurrel was staring at me intently from her bed.

  “So you don’t feel too well?” She asked.

  “No he doesn’t.” Billus responded for me. “That’s no surprise though, we ran out of food quickly. I left him alone for one minute and he started to eat a plant that should definitely not be eaten. Now he is getting a very contagious virus from it and has to be quarantined right away. Theen is going to go and see to it that he does.”

  Zurrel nodded but continued to stare at me through narrowed eyes.

  “Alright, it’s about time to go. You ready Hardin?”

  I got up and pretended to be dizzy. “Whoa, I think I’d better get going.”

  Billus and Theen each put one arm around me and helped me out of the room.

  “Goodbye Zurrel. I hope we see each other soon.” I said as we left.

  Once outside I stopped the act. It was already dark. “What’s in the bag?”

  Billus took out a loaf of bread. “All I could get was some stale bread, so don’t take too long getting there.”

  He walked with us until we got to the edge of the forest. I don’t know what time it was but there was nobody around. We stood in an awkward silence near the trees.

  “This is it.” Billus said, sighing. “But before you go can you tell me what Azureland is like?”

  I smiled, remembering my first time there. “It’s great. There is so much there and everyone seems content with life. It has tall shiny buildings and nice clean streets. Out in the country there are miles and miles of nothing. But it’s a good nothing. Not like here. It’s an expectant nothing, waiting for the day when something will be built or brought in to make the area just another piece of society. I know you’ll make it there. And when you do I’ll take you on a Journey Train.” I laughed at the excited mysticism on his face. “It’s a huge train where people bake cakes and catch butterflies. It sounds strange but it’s amazing.”

  “I can’t wait.” Billus said. I could tell he really couldn’t.

  We shook hands and nodded in mutual understanding of our pasts. Pasts that collided just the other morning.

  “Don’t forget. You have around nine days now.” He said.

  “I won’t forget.”

  We said our final goodbyes and started for Azureland. I took a look back and could still see Billus staring after us. I wish there was a way to take him with us. I smiled and promised myself that in just ten days everything would be over and he would be in Azureland like he always wanted.

  It’s interesting how a year can change someone’s outlook on life. If I had met Billus right after Milton died I probably would have hated him forever. But now I didn’t. I was actually glad I met him and that he told me what he did. There was a sense of closure now. The shapeless forms that attacked us that day were actual human beings all along. They weren’t necessarily mean or evil; they were just forced into roles by torture and th
e need for survival.

  I walked a little faster, knowing that I was on a mission. We had enough knowledge now to get Azureland to some kind of action, I was sure of it.

  XVII

  It was hard to stay near the trees when it was so dark. We either ended up too far away or between the trees. Theen kept his arms out in front of him while I followed close behind holding the bag. I wished it was closer to dawn. I imagined us hitting the wall head first when we got to it. It had a faint glow from the outside but I don’t think it did from the inside. The glow on the wall next to Wall City must have just been the reflection of the city lights.

  “How was it in there?” Theen asked me, wanting a break from the eerie silence of the dome.

  “Not too bad. We got chased away from our camp by some mean guys, but nothing too bad. How was your training?”

  “Does that explain the bruise? Our time was fairly interesting. When we were finished with gun stuff we learned how to fly those Nawings. I didn’t learn much but it was still interesting. We were scheduled to start dark room training in a few days.”

  I told him what Billus had told me about the dark room training. Theen seemed glad to be away from it.

  “Zurrel is nice. We should have thought about letting her in on everything.”

  “I didn’t want anybody else to lie.” I said, scraping my arm against a tree I had gotten too close to. “You never know when someone might slip up.”

  The more we walked the more