“Can you wrap Jenna’s sprained ankle? She twisted it when she stumbled down the stairs.”
“Sure.” I grabbed a roll of bandages and crossed to the girl with a bag of ice on her ankle.
We worked for a few hours as a steady stream of people from level three came in. My energy dropped faster than normal. And a couple times, I needed to stop and catch my breath. I worried that the Outsiders might just be slowly killing us all, which added to the low-simmering panic in the pit of my stomach. At any moment, it felt as if the terror would erupt into a full boil.
Bubba Boom arrived. He appeared upset, and I asked him if he was feeling sick.
He glanced around the full room. “No. I heard you were all over Inside, looking for me.”
One of the maintenance workers must have spotted me. I rubbed my eyes. It was getting harder to sneak around Inside when everyone recognized me.
“Did I hear wrong?” he demanded, but somehow I sensed he already knew the answer.
“No. I wanted to ask you about Jacy and Sloan. And the air plant.”
“Did you consider the danger? It’s not safe for you to be running around without a couple bodyguards. Do you want Jacy to grab you again?”
Ah. The reason for his anger. “No. I just—”
“Let’s go for a walk.”
We headed west toward the common area in Quad A3. The hallway was empty and the few people in the area sat listlessly on the couches and armchairs. Stranger than the emptiness was the quiet. So used to the constant babble of voices, I felt as if every word I said could be heard by everyone.
We sat on a couch in the corner. I willed myself not to sit as far away from him as possible, but still left a half meter between us.
“Jacy’s goons caught me in the infirmary so I’m not—”
“You are now. Since you returned, we’ve had people in there to protect you.”
“I didn’t see anyone.”
His anger deflated a bit. “You’re not supposed to.”
“Oh.”
“Can you at least understand why I would be upset?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“You’re lucky word didn’t get back to Jacy. Must be all these headaches.”
“Are you getting them, too?” I asked.
“No. Not yet, anyway.”
“You’re one of the few who isn’t sick,” I said. “Is the air plant malfunctioning?”
“No.”
“How can you be sure? Everyone’s been complaining.”
Bubba Boom studied me as if trying to decide what to tell me. “Did Sloan or Jacy say anything to you about the network?”
“No. All they wanted was information.”
“About what?”
“What I’ve been doing these past few weeks.”
“What exactly have you been doing when everyone thought you were in the infirmary?” he asked. “You still haven’t told me how you know so much.”
Damn. I decided to stick to the truth as much as possible. “I’ve been searching for Logan.”
“And?”
“I haven’t found him yet.”
He relaxed a bit more. “The information?”
“I’ve been spending a lot of time in the air ducts, so I’ve overheard quite a bit.”
He considered. “Trella, I need to know who you believe. Me or Jacy?”
“You, of course! Jacy—”
“Was part of your rebellion. You were friends.”
Interesting word choice. Your rebellion. I acted confused. “Not since you told me about him and Sloan and the Captain. Not since he locked me in a storage closet, leaving me to die of thirst because he’s too much of a coward to finish me off. Where are he and Sloan anyway? Shouldn’t the ISF arrest them?”
“The ISF won’t touch Jacy. Plus Anne-Jade has enough problems right now. We plan to deal with them.” He took my left hand in his. “They both will suffer for hurting you.”
“We?”
He drew in a breath and let it all out at once. “Me, Hank, our core crew and…the Outsiders.”
I jerked as if surprised. “Outsiders? Who are—”
“They’re from the Outside and they’re angry about your rebellion. They have taken over the network, not Jacy.”
“They’re mad at me?” No need to fake the tremor of fear in my voice.
“No. Not at you.” He rushed to assure me. “They’re unhappy that our society has gotten out of control. Soon they will come Inside and fix everything!” His eyes glowed with conviction.
“Really? They’re coming inside?” I pretended to be stunned. Then I leaned closer as if suddenly enthusiastic. “Will they repair the air and power plant?”
“Yes, and put our society back in order. No Committee, no ISF, no scrubs or uppers, they’re going to fix it all.”
“How?”
“By returning our society to its original configuration.”
“Original as in Pop Cops?”
“No. As in the Outsiders once again being our Controllers, making the rules, enforcing the rules and the rest of you can return to work. I’ll be one of their chosen liaisons.”
Sounded like the Pop Cops, but I knew better than to argue with him. “When are they coming?” I asked instead.
“Soon. We have to prepare for them. And that’s where you come in.”