The Unfavorable Read online

  “And everyone is okay with this?” I intervene, trying to keep myself from taking my anger and surprise out on him. I can’t keep listening to this without posing more questions. “My parents are aware of this and haven’t done anything to go find Micah?”

  “Yes,” Kayan answers, nonchalantly. “As adults, we understand Geha’s vision. Our goal, as a species on Leda, is to assist evolution to create the most advanced human beings. We can’t do that without weeding out those that are merely average.”

  I sit in silent shock, completely stunned by his matter-of-fact tone while he continues to paint like it’s nothing. As if the answer should have been obvious. Even with my above average score in everything Geha is looking for in an advanced human, I can’t even begin to comprehend this notion he’s revealed to me.

  If our leader, Nevada Geha, cared so much for our society, why would he do that to someone? To anyone?

  Even those with average intelligence have something to offer in the grand scheme of things. No life is worth throwing away.

  “Thank you for your time,” I stutter awkwardly, standing from my chair with my gaze at his feet instead of his piercing eyes. “I appreciate your candor. I have to go.”

  Before he can stop me or say another word, I dash from my position in front of the chair in the corner and rush out the door, slamming it behind me. I don’t hear Kayan reopen the door or call after me, so I must be in the clear.

  Hopefully, he assumes I’m going to come to grips with the news and not take it any further. Unfortunately for him, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that. Not knowing Micah could very well be alive.

  I don’t go home. I can’t. However, I have no clear destination, but I don’t stop moving hastily through the streets. Walking briskly, I make my way through the colony, weaving between buildings that stretch out before me. It might not be the smartest idea I’ve ever had, but I’m hoping it’ll clear my head after all the new information. I need to think.

  With no one out and about at this hour, the streets are devoid of life. Everyone is either in school or at their designated career. It is the only other area within the city, besides home, that I can be alone. But I can’t handle going home right now. All the memories of Micah will only cause another breakdown rather than comfort me, and Mom and Dad are no consolation either.

  Letting my feet lead me, I don’t even notice where I am or what direction I’m walking in until I see Central Hall standing tall before me. Although I was walking to clear my head, seeing the structure again piques my curiosity.

  The odds are likely that there could be another unlucky individual who receives another Unfavorable grade. I may be the only person who isn’t okay with the outcome of these ostracized people, but it still gives me a way to find Micah.

  Hope in my heart, I jog around the outside of the building. I have no idea where the Loyals come out, but I can only imagine it’s somewhere on the opposite side of where the entrance is located.

  If teenagers came for their Rites seeing their classmates dragged off to never be seen again, it would definitely cause chaos. That would be how the system Nevada Geha initiated would fall. The future leaders of our colony choosing to end the cruel cycle.

  Today must be my lucky day, although I don’t feel all that lucky. I’m rounding the corner of the building when I hear a door slam open against the outer wall. I duck behind the corner just in time to see two Loyals dragging a gagged girl away from the building. That explains why I’ve never heard screaming before.

  The Loyals pull her quickly away perpendicular from the building, and out of sight. I don’t even hesitate before I begin to jog after them. They follow an alley stuck between two tall walls that begins only a couple feet away from the building for several minutes, not once changing direction.

  Every once in a while, the alley branches off from the path the Loyals continue to follow, which allows me to duck into them to avoid being seen. They never look behind as they walk, but I don’t want to risk getting caught. I really have no idea what would happen.

  Finally, after five long minutes of the same scenery, we reach the end of the alley, but I have no idea what to do next. I hide within the closest branch of alleyway to where they stopped but can’t see anything that would give them a way out. A dead end is all I see.

  There’s no door or gateway, which confuses me greatly. I kneel down, my left knee against the dirt, to watch the Loyals at work. I’m several feet behind them, so I should be able to see anything that they are seeing. However, I’m a bit nervous that they will turn around, and find their way towards me and the branch I’ve hidden in, so part of my vision is blocked.

  The Loyals stop a few feet before the end wall. Without missing a beat, the Loyal on the right bends down and lifts a door up from the ground that I didn’t see before. They leave it open when they descend with the girl.

  It takes every fiber of my being to keep myself hidden within the alley branch. I want to follow and see where they take her, but a nagging feeling in my belly tells me that I would be caught if I do. I’ve never been one to trust instinct since our colony has tried to weed it out, but I can’t ignore it. The feeling is too strong to push aside.

  Although I have no evidence to support my worry, I stay put. I don’t have to wait any longer than a few minutes for the Loyals to return, but the girl is not with them. The door is replaced, and they return in the direction of Central Hall without speaking or looking down any of the branches to their sides. I lean flat against the wall to ensure I won’t be seen in their peripherals.

  When they pass me, I quickly switch to the opposite wall in case they decide to turn around and make sure the girl stays beneath the city. Since this process is understood as a necessity, they won’t expect anyone to be sneaking around for information, but I would rather not be seen. They will definitely ask questions about why a recently tested teenager is skulking around.

  I wouldn’t know what to say in response to their interrogation since I can’t tell anyone the truth. So, I don’t move until the sound of their feet against the ground fades into nothingness back towards Central Hall. Only then do I risk looking around the corner in search of the Loyals that led me here.

  No Loyals in sight, I tiptoe towards the trapdoor. My adrenaline skyrockets, making me anxious that even the nudging of a pebble will alert someone to my presence. When I reach the door, I can see why I didn’t recognize it before. It looks exactly like the clay ground around it. Even the handle is difficult to see if you aren’t looking for it. I lean over and lift the door up just as the Loyal had a few minutes before.

  Inside is a tunnel with stairs made right out of the clay, twisting downward further below the city. My curiosity has gotten the better of me. Knowing that this is where anyone given an Unfavorable grade is taken nudges my feet forward and down into the descending corridor, carefully lowering the trapdoor on top of me.

  It takes me a few moments to realize that the air seems different than that inside Geha and within the dome. Heavier almost. I’m too driven by my need to know where the Unfavorable are taken to focus on it.

  With the door lowered, the stairway is almost completely dark. It takes several minutes for my eyes to adjust to the shadows. Once they do, I’m able to see bending shadows along the wall around the corner from me, suggesting there is some sort of burning torch ahead.

  I briefly wonder how often it needs to be relit to help light the way for the Loyals. Grateful for the guide, I follow it, not worried about the destination.

  Carefully, I follow the stairs until it finally comes to an end at a small, enclosed room with a large torch situated to the right – a key dangling from a hook below it. Its walls and ceiling are entirely made of clay, and the wall opposite me isn’t a wall at all, but rather a gate.

  On the other side, I can see and hear people working, groaning, and mulling about, but I can only hear them when my foot touches the last stair.

  The closer I go to the blocked entrance, t
he hotter the room seems to get. It’s almost too much to handle. I feel like I may suffocate if I don’t get fresh air soon. I’m not used to the heat or humidity pushing its way past me and up the stairs to Geha.

  Fighting against my nerves, I grab the keyring and make a dash towards the gate. I hesitate only a moment before the bars, seeing the room expand before me.

  Analyzing the measurements, I estimate the room to be about ten yards in width, and 100 yards in length, with immense Boilers – just as Kayan said – made of metal built into the clay on the wall to my far-right side. Seeing how high the room is to accommodate the Boilers, there’s no wonder why the stairway down is so long.

  Focusing away from the machinery, I see several dozen men working inside the room on different things. Some are shoveling coal into the Boilers, while others are moving coal from large piles, closer to the left-hand wall, towards the Boilers.

  There’s no pattern, rhyme, or reason to those doing different duties. The ages range from pre-teen to late sixties, and every one of them is doing what they can to get work completed.

  Is this what keeps Geha’s power and resources working on a cloudy day, or when there’s no wind?

  Curiosity leading me completely now, I unlock the gate with the keys as quietly as possible, as to not alert the workers. I remove the key from the lock and place the ring into my sweater pocket before carefully opening the gate just enough for me to squeeze through.

  The iron bars look extremely old – like it would squeak and groan with even the slightest movement if I’m not cautious. Once inside, I squat while I close the gate, waiting until I hear the click as it shuts. I push on the door, but it’s locked again. I’m really happy I decided to take the keys along with me on this journey, now.

  I duck behind a pile of coal a few feet away from the gate. There are dozens of them scattered around the room, ranging from two feet tall, to six. Just as before, while following the Loyals, I have no idea what will happen if I’m caught, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I don’t know anyone, so there’s no one I can trust.

  From what I can tell of the gangly bunch, these must be some of the Unfavorable who have been rejected from Geha. If I’m caught, who knows what they would do with me. They might try to use me as leverage to get back into the city or worse. Still, my interest keeps driving me further into the Boiler room.

  Oh, I guess these Unfavorable would be called Boilers, I muse.

  I’ve heard whispers and rumors of them but have never seen one before. That makes a lot of sense. Either way, they might have some kind of clue about where Micah is, or even Alec, or what happened to them after they were sent here. There’s no way I’m going back to Geha without doing more research.

  I take a deep breath and hold it, making a dive for the closest pile of coal. Not used to the terrain and surroundings, I’m unable to get my bearings. I fall forward and roll behind the pile rather than simply hiding behind it. I’m able to hold in a yelp, but just barely – I end up biting on my lower lip to keep quiet.

  It isn’t long before I taste iron pooling on the tip of my tongue. Not wanting to leave any evidence of my visit, I swallow the thick, metallic liquid. I’m beginning to doubt whether I’m going to get very far. Maybe I need to find somewhere to hole up and regroup.

  Searching along the only wall I can see, on my left, there’s a door almost hidden within the clay wall – it’s the exact color of the walls but has a somewhat edgier look to it. It’s about a third of the way into the room, so I’m not that far away now. I look over the pile of coal I’m hidden behind to make sure no one is watching me.

  Thankfully, everyone is still focused on their work, so no one is even looking anywhere in my direction. I take a leap of faith and run for the door. It opens surprisingly quietly as I escape into the room, shutting the door behind me.

  It closes as silently as it opened. I lean my head against the cool metal, gulping in deep breaths to relax my anxiety. I feel like I’ve run a three-minute mile.

  I smile to myself, confident I’ve successfully infiltrated the Unfavorable world without being seen. When I turn around, I notice that the room is much smaller than I anticipated, but it’s not the first thing I observe.

  Yes, the room is relatively empty, and the opposite wall from me is covered in black piping crisscrossing each other against it. It’s extraordinary to see how much space it takes up within the tiny, four feet width, six feet length hole in the wall.

  None of this grabs my attention like the shirtless, sweaty, muscular man holding a wrench near the piping. He’s standing in front of a console with, what must be, a monitor on it near the back wall and situated to my right. He’s staring at me in the same manner that I am him: as if we’ve just been caught doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. However, I’m relatively certain I’m the only one who doesn’t belong here.

  A lantern hanging from the ceiling is the only light source within the room. It’s angled slightly, giving the man’s tawny skin and amber undertones a rich glow. Even though he’s probably approximately five feet away from me, I smell wheat.

  He must work outside the Boilers as well, with the Drudges. There’s no other reason the clay surrounding us could smell that way. It makes me want to close the gap between us and smell his hair, touch his skin.

  I bite my lower lip to distract myself from the strange feelings and thoughts that I’m experiencing, tasting a bit more blood. My thoughts linger on his height; he is only a few inches taller than me, and I suspect he’s only a few years older as well.

  Even my gaze follows the contours of his body, momentarily lingering below his waist when I snap myself out of my reverie, and back to staring into his gray eyes swirling with green.

  The silence continues uncomfortably long. I want to say something, but I’m worried he might call for help from his fellow Boilers to take me away. The room is slightly chillier than the previous room, because of the clay and metal door keeping the heat at bay. I would be grateful if I weren’t so terrified.

  Why hasn’t he said anything, or called for friends?

  I can’t help but wonder what he’s doing down here in the first place. With such a physique, there’s no way he wouldn’t be glorified in Geha for one thing or another. He would probably make a fabulous Loyal.

  What is he doing down here with the Unfavorable?

  There’s no way I can’t believe for even a moment that he would be given the Unfavorable grade. There are so many questions I want to ask him, but not one of them escape my lips. I wait impatiently for some reassurance, or sign, of what my future will hold, gaze locked with the shirtless man’s.

  Chapter 5

  Ryder

  Today was supposed to be like any other day. The routine was beginning to get old, but I knew what to expect. No one working as a Boiler understands how to work the pipeline, so it’s my job to make sure it keeps working. We don’t want Loyals barreling down here looking for trouble when something isn’t perfect. Been there, done that, and it doesn’t end well.

  I’m about to check the monitor after adjusting a few of the pipes to make sure everything is as it should be, when a girl bursts into the room. One I have never seen before and dressed in some strange dull-colored clothing. She must be one of the fancy ‘Favorable’ from Geha.

  What on Leda is she doing here?

  My first instinct is to get her away from the door. Someone up above will be looking for her, so it’s a great opportunity to negotiate some better food rations for all of us outside the walls that protect their city. Yet, I can’t move my legs. I see her standing before me, and she doesn’t feel like a stranger at all. Her porcelain skin and long brown hair are beautiful – like something out of a dream. Have I dreamt of her recently? Just looking at her, I can sense that there’s something different about her.

  I shake my head to rid myself of the initial shock of her intrusion. Well, of her arrival anyway. It’s a welcome distraction from my normal, menial work, so I defin
itely wouldn’t count it as an intrusion. Keeping my cool, I decide to make conversation with her. There’s no way she could hurt me – I have complete advantage in this situation. I might as well enjoy myself in the presence of a lovely girl.

  “Is there something I can help you with?” I ask, keeping my voice low and gruff. I don’t want her to be afraid of me, but there’s no reason for her to be too comfortable either.

  “What?” she breathes, still stunned from our encounter.

  I chuckle at her uneasiness and feel my lips twitching into a half smile that I do my best to hide by glancing at the floor.

  I thought the people of Geha are supposed to be witty and intelligent in any situation?

  Wiping my chin with my freehand, I attempt to smooth out the laughter in my cheeks, so I don’t embarrass her. I shake my head again, wondering why the hell I’m so concerned about her feelings.

  “You’re clearly from Geha,” I clarify, pretending to go back to work by staring at the monitor and waiting for her to react. “What are you doing here?”

  She doesn’t respond right away, causing my nerves to tense up with each moment that passes by us. I look up from the monitor to see her staring at me still. It’s like she’s analyzing me in a way that will tell her whether I’m trustworthy or not. The people of Geha are strange, if they are all like her. I’m unsure whether I would enjoy that or not at this point.

  “I’m looking for answers,” she squeaks out. I guess she decided to trust me. Which is good – I have no intention of harming her or selling her out. “I saw a classmate of mine get dragged down here. I wanted to know where the Loyals were taking him.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” I sigh, compassionate of her situation. Although I’ve never been there, I know what it’s like to lose a friend to the unknown.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll probably never see her again,” I mention matter-of-factly. Her face is renewed with a similar shock she experienced when she first entered the room and turned to me. I give her a bit, a moment to process the information. “How did you get down here?”