Marital Law Read online

  “You know about Colin?” I asked clearly confused.

  Grabbing my hand, Ellen gently led me out of the kitchen and into a large hallway. Over her shoulder she whispered, “I've been working with the Manumissionists ever since I went into the forest to kidnap one of them. Jeremiah recruited me to infiltrate the Capitol, to provide them with intelligence reports on the monitors, on Lucius specifically.”

  My anger towards Ellen flared up. Why didn't she tell me? Why would she keep this from me? It quickly subsided as I remembered how set I was in following the order set forth by Marcella Munford. Had Ellen told me was working for the dwellers, I would've most likely turned her over to the monitors.

  I was still a little hesitant. Could she be trusted? Was she telling the truth?

  “Everything's okay, girl. I can assure you that I'm not leading you into some sort of trap, turning you over to the monitors,” Ellen said quite convincingly.

  “It's just been so long. I was only twelve years old when they took you away. I was devastated when you refused to go back into the forest and take one of the dwellers. I was angry, hurt, and confused.”

  Turning to face me once again, Ellen wrapped her arms around me without waiting for me to return the gesture. She squeezed tightly and said, “I'm sorry I couldn't tell you everything, but you were still pretty brainwashed, buying fully into the Munford Order.”

  Tears filled my eyes and I no longer cared. “I've missed you so much. I can't believe you're really here, really back.”

  Pulling away, Ellen said, “I've missed you too, Sidnie. Now, sorry to cut this short, but we have to get out of here.”

  Remembering the real reason I had come to the Capitol in the first place, I stopped and said, “I, I can't leave, Ellen. I will help you get Colin away from here, but there's something I have to see to before I depart the Capitol.”

  Shocked, Ellen said, “If you stay here, they will kill you, Sidnie. You have to leave with us. What's so important that you have to take care of it at this time, right this minute?”

  A few ticks passed, as I contemplated telling Ellen my plan. Actually, I really didn’t have a plan, I just knew Marcella Munford had to go. Finally, I said, “I have to kill MOM, and with it, the Order.”

  “What? Have you lost your mind? You won't stand a chance against the monitors. Marcella has them stationed all throughout the Capitol. They conduct daily training scenarios to prevent an assault on the Capitol, and more importantly an attack on MOM.”

  This gave me pause. I wasn't afraid of the monitors, but I was no fool either. If they overwhelmed me with their sheer numbers, I wouldn't last more than a few minutes. “Do you know of any other way? I am responsible for the escalated attacks on the dwellers, and for Colin being here in the first place. Our people are currently in hiding in the forest as we speak. Hannah said an attack from the monitors is imminent. I pray I’m not already too late. The only way to end it all is to kill Marcella, and possibly Lucius too!” I said, raising my voice more than I should have.

  As she scanned the area numerous times, Ellen appeared to be in deep thought, wrestling with what I’d just dumped on her. “Shh! Listen, there might be another option. Follow me back to my quarters and we'll discuss. And by the way, it’s nice to hear you refer to them as our people,” Ellen said.

  When we rounded a corner and came upon a large wing dedicated to the Capitol servants, I stopped in my tracks. The lower half of all the rooms was completely see through glass. Right away I knew this was a bad idea. If we could see them, it was very likely they could see us as well.

  Dropping to the prone, Ellen pulled me down with her. The half covered with drywall, providing at least a small amount of concealment. I wanted to ask Ellen what on earth she was thinking in bringing me here, but I was afraid to speak, breathing even questionable.

  At the end of the narrow corridor, Ellen slowly got up, placed her hand on some sort of device and one of the windows suddenly started receding back into itself. It barely made a sound, but I still worried we'd just awakened everyone in the building.

  Inside Ellen's room, I still didn't feel comfortable standing. Looking in on the other staff personnel while they slept felt like more than just an invasion of privacy. It felt criminal. This was no way to live. I felt sorry for Ellen, having to endure this life for the past five years.

  “How do you sleep here? I mean, there's no privacy.”

  “Oh, you get used to it. Besides, there are certain spots where you can't be seen,” Ellen replied as she waved me into the small bathroom.

  It took me a while to figure out what I was really looking at. The thing sitting in the middle of the room, something my mother had told me used to be called a toilet, had water inside the bowl, and appeared to be in good working order.

  Curious, I moved about the room pulling and pushing on the levers protruding from each fixture, and when the water inside the toilet thing disappeared I was certain I'd just broken it.

  “Oh, no! I'm so sorry, Ellen.”

  “Ha! I had the same reaction when they first assigned me this room and gave me the grand tour.”

  Straddling the bowl, Ellen sat and said, “This is where you go to relieve yourself. You just do your deed in here, push that lever when you're done, and it magically disappears,” Ellen said as she pointed from the lever to the water inside the bowl.

  Awestruck, I didn't have any words for this incredible invention. After my shock and surprise subsided, I grew angry. “Why is it that only the Capitol has this capability? We have to dig holes in the yard and carry water from the creek every day! This makes me livid! I could strangle that wench!”

  “When the time is right, Sidnie. For now, we have to find Colin and help keep the children safe in the forest. I've been trying to get word to Hannah and the others, to give them the number of monitors coming their way, but my source is nowhere to be found,” Ellen said.

  “Isn’t there anyone else who can deliver the message?” I asked.

  “That’s why I think we need to meet with some people I know on the south side of the perimeter.”

  “Okay, let’s get moving,” I said softly.

  “Before we go, there's something you should know about Colin.”

  “What? Is he okay?” I asked not caring to mask my concern for a boy.

  “His brother Thomas was murdered about a year ago, and he's struggled ever since. He blames Jeremiah and Hannah, but deep inside I can tell he blames himself more. He's renounced his mission, everything to do with the Manumissionists. He has quite a lot of anger he's dealing with, and I'm not sure he will even listen to us at this point.”

  I took a second or two to ponder what Ellen had just told me. My heart ached for Colin and all he was going through. After what he’d confided in me about Thomas, I felt bad for him as well. Maybe Thomas will finally find some peace now.

  “Honestly, I don’t expect Colin to listen to me. After all, I was the one who turned him over to the monitors. I'm just surprised to hear that he's bought into their way of thinking, that he's turned his back on everything he was taught,” I said, struggling to imagine Colin as a true monitor. Struggling even more at the realization that this was all my doing.

  “You do know that it was Colin's decision to go with you, don’t you Sidnie? He didn't want to make you choose between your family and a life in the forest. Besides, his being here was originally part of Jeremiah's greater plan.”

  “Be that as it may, it still doesn't make me feel any less guilty. The Manumissionists did nothing but show me kindness and love, and I repaid them by turning the leader’s son over to the enemy.”

  “Well, there's nothing we can do about that right now, but we might just be able to save the children, and hopefully, Colin too, if we move fast,” Ellen said.

  Chapter 26

  It took Ellen another ten minutes to fill me in on exactly where we were heading, and then we low crawled our way back out of the living quarters area. Ellen had managed to stow awa
y a few new age weapons, things I hadn't a clue how to operate.

  Handing one of the weapons to me, Ellen instructed me to aim and place my finger over the trigger mechanism and sit back and watch the enemy fall. It didn't require me to squeeze, just hover.

  The selection of weapons Ellen had stashed away were definitely not something you wanted in the hands of a toddler. I couldn’t imagine the damage a child could do without some sort of safety mechanism on the hover tool.

  The tiny square box-like weapon was no bigger than a pack of cigarettes, something I'd once tried as a young girl with my friend, Kaylee—non-friend.

  We'd found an entire pack of the little sticks inside an old abandoned warehouse, and over the course of a few weeks had finally figured out what people used to do with them in the old days. They were terrible. My lungs ached for weeks afterwards and my clothes had such a stench, I never thought they'd come clean again. That was the one and only time I'd washed my own clothes, and I’d prayed my father wouldn't question my doing so. Fortunately, I’d managed to dodge any questions and put the foolish mistake behind me, but I would never forget it.

  As I stood back upright, I glanced at the room nearest me and saw another woman standing near the glass, staring right at us. I froze for a second, thinking maybe she hadn’t seen us. When her eyes went from me to Ellen, I knew that was just wishful thinking.

  Placing my index finger to my mouth, I said, “Shh,” although I highly doubted she could hear me. To my surprise, she nodded her head and went back over to her bed.

  “Whew! I thought we were undone for sure.”

  “I wouldn't worry about Samantha. She keeps to herself, rarely even speaks,” Ellen said softly.

  “In that case, maybe we should enlist her help.”

  “Possibly later. Right now, we don't want to run the risk of getting caught, and another body would increase our chances of doing just that,” Ellen whispered.

  Since the servant’s uniform Ellen had given me came complete with a head covering, I was fairly certain if we came upon anyone, they would think me just another staff member. The only problem was the time: it was three in the morning and I was pretty sure no one was allowed to be out roaming the halls at this hour.

  As we prowled the palace building, I couldn't help but take in my cousin's appearance. She no longer had the massive biceps, and her waistline appeared to have gained a few inches. She was still strikingly beautiful, her hair now close cropped and her brown eyes had maintained that same fire. At least they hadn't extinguished that.

  Ellen’s extra inches were no doubt attributed to her work in the kitchen. There's no way I could ever do such work—I’d be bigger than the entire house. I could envision it: taste testing each entrée, each dessert, and eating double portions just because I could.

  We spent quite a bit of time searching for Colin, but when Ellen stopped in front of his room and pointed to his empty bed, I feared the worst. There was no telling what mad mission Lucius might have sent him on.

  The next hour was spent searching other spots within the Capitol where the monitors were often seen, but all of those turned up empty as well. Knowing time was short, we had no choice but to meet with the people on the south side.

  When we came upon the rear exit door to the palace, I fully expected a horde of monitors to be standing on the other side with cigarette lasers similar to the one Ellen had given me. To my pleasant surprise, there wasn't a soul stirring on this night.

  After Ellen punched in some sort of security code, we suddenly found ourselves staring out at the south side of the Capitol. I’d been here before and recognized the derelict homes right off.

  I'd seen MOM in her high place of royalty as she spoke to us over the large broadcast system she'd installed throughout Providence South. I'd never questioned the technology involved in this system, hadn't even given it a second thought. But as I looked back at the large platform, my anger once again soared at Marcella Munford. She had so much while her people had little to nothing.

  “Are you coming?” Ellen turned back and asked.

  Not realizing I'd stopped, I snapped out my thoughts and ran over to join her. “Sorry. Just fantasizing about all the ways I’d like to kill Marcella Munford again.”

  “No need to apologize. We just need to get to the outskirts of the Capitol. We have people there. They might be able to get Jeremiah and the others word of the monitors,” Ellen said.

  I'd been to the outskirts before, but it had been well over a year. My mind immediately went to Elisa, and my heart ached. As we neared the area, I once again took in how run-down the area was. For appearance purposes, the homes around the Capitol were supposed to be in pristine condition. This was definitely not the case.

  There was what looked like a distinct line separating these homes from the rest inside the Capitol area. I knew on the other side of that line was where the mean girls had approached Elisa and me, and part of me still wanted to go punch their big mouth leader in the kisser. “Why are these homes the only ones in such ill repair?”

  “When Marcella Munford got word that someone in this area was working with the dwellers, she decided to ostracize the entire region. She stripped this entire area of water and access to Capitol trading. Everyone here has to grow their own food and travel to the river in Providence South for their water,” Ellen said disgustedly.

  “For appearance purposes, I'm surprised MOM would want visitors to the Capitol to see all of this.”

  “Since this area is along the backside of the gate, she has closed them off from the tour. Marcella had Lucius put up that wall over there, to separate these people from the rest of the Capitol.” Ellen said, pointing to the east at an eight-foot tall wall that ran at least 1,000 feet in length.

  “Seems like a lot of trouble to me. Why not just kick all of them out of the Capitol instead?”

  “And miss the opportunity to make an example to others? Marcella Munford will exploit anyone and anything just to show her strength, her control. Besides, she believes by keeping them here inside the gates of the Capitol, she will eventually find the culprits and execute them publicly,” Ellen said.

  “Is it wise for us to be here? I mean, I'm fairly certain MOM has her spies out searching for dissenters,” I asked as I scanned the area. Dawn was setting in on us, and I knew we needed to be out of plain sight soon.

  “Fortunately, there's a back door into this zone. Follow me.”

  Ellen led me east about five hundred meters and then turned south for about fifty. When she stopped in the middle of nowhere, I initially thought she'd gotten turned around, lost. But she wasted no time as she cleared the leaves from a hidden door in the earth. “Give me a hand,” she said, motioning me down to her.

  We both wrapped our hands around the corner of the steel looking structure and pulled upward. It gave grudgingly, its weight almost more than we could bear. Looking over at Ellen, I could still see remnants of her once massive arms bulging from the strain.

  Once we had it up enough to crawl through, Ellen placed her back underneath and said, “You head on in, while I hold it.”

  After I made it inside, Ellen maneuvered her way in, while continuing to balance the door on her back. She slowly lowered it back in its place, and within seconds, I heard the sound of leaves rustling and feet moving about from above.

  “It's just the entrance guards. They make sure the passageway is covered, to keep the monitors from finding it,” Ellen said.

  It was dark inside the tunnel, so I decided not to advance while Ellen lit a small torch that had been pre-positioned along the dirt wall. As soon as light flooded the corridor, two men suddenly came into view. They wore traditional monitor garb, had large batons poised to strike.

  “What the—?” Ellen started as the two men advanced towards us. “They must've found the passageway, been waiting for us to come down.”

  The thought of using Ellen's Incapacitator gadget crossed my mind, but I dismissed it because I wanted to take out
some frustration on the two men. I was ready to explode on Marcella and they were about to become her stand-ins.

  I stepped to the right just as one of the monitors swung his baton at my head. I quickly grabbed his arm, wretched the club free and slammed it into the face of the other advancing monitor. A knee to the abdomen doubled over the one whose arm I was still holding, and with him in that position, a hard whack to the side of his head sent him out for the count, along with his friend.

  “Bravo! Bravo!” Ellen said, clapping her hands together.

  “Thank you, but you could've helped, you know.”

  “And rob you of all that excitement? No way! I could tell from the look on your face that you needed that,” Ellen said smiling.

  “I won't lie—it did feel good,” I replied, looking down at the two men. There was a point when I would've questioned going up against the monitors, but not now. I welcomed it.

  We navigated through the tunnels for a good fifteen minutes before finally coming to another set of stairs. Ellen led me upward, repeated the door holding process, and when we came out we found ourselves standing in the middle of someone's living room. There were five people huddled around, and all looked eager to see us.

  A woman appearing in her mid-twenties was the first to speak. “I'm so glad you made it. We heard some of the monitors found the tunnel and worried you might've gotten caught.”

  “How did you even know we were on our way here?” I asked, confused.

  The female spokesperson said, “We have our own monitors throughout the Capitol. We saw Ellen leave out through the back of the building, and since servants aren't supposed to even be out of their quarters at night, we knew something was up. I just regret that we somehow missed the two monitors accessing the tunnel.”

  “I can assure you that they were no problem at all. Sidnie easily dispatched those two. Can you have your people dispose of their bodies?” Ellen asked.

  “They are in the process of being transported to the outer region of Providence, where even the monitors don't dare travel. My people will strip them of their clothes and leave them bound at the outer perimeter. The Badlanders will have their way with them,” The woman said, void of emotion.