Page 29 of Crossed (Matched 2)


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“We have to leave now, Cassia,” Indie says behind me.

“No,” I say. “We can’t leave them here. ”

Were they the Rising?

“This is how Anomalies die,” Indie says, her voice cold. “The two of us alone can’t change it. We have to find someone else. ”

“Maybe these are the people we were trying to find,” I say. Please. Don’t let the Rising be gone before we’ve even had a chance to find it.

Oh, Ky, I think. I never knew. So this is the kind of death you’ve seen.

Indie and I run across the top of the Carving and leave the bodies behind. Ky’s still alive, I tell myself. He has to be.

Only the sun is in the sky. Nothing flies. There are no angels here.

Chapter 15

KY

We don’t stop moving until we’ve put distance between us and whoever’s in the township. None of us speak much; we go fast and follow the main canyon. After a few hours I get out the map to check our position.

“We seem to be climbing up all of the time,” Eli says, a little out of breath.

“We are,” I say.

“Then why don’t we seem to be getting any higher?” Eli asks.

“The canyon walls are rising too,” I say. “Look. ” I show him how the farmers marked elevation on the map.

Eli shakes his head in confusion. “Think of the Carving and all its canyons like a big boat,” Vick tells Eli. “The part where we entered was low in the water. The part where we’re coming out is high. See? When we climb out, we’ll be above that huge plain. ”

“You know about boats?” Eli asks.

“A little,” Vick says. “Not much. ”

“We can rest for a minute,” I tell Eli, reaching for my canteen. I take a drink.

Vick and Eli do too. “Re

member that poem you say for the dead?” Vick begins. “The one I asked you about before?”

“Yes. ” I look at the mountain settlement marked on the map. There’s where we need to be.

“How did you know it?”

“I came across it,” I say. “Back in Oria. ”

“Not in the Outer Provinces?” Vick asks.

He knows I know more than I’m saying. I look up. He and Eli stand on the opposite side of the map, watching. The last time Vick challenged me was out in the village when I talked about the way the Society killed Anomalies. I see the same flint-hard look in his eyes now. He thinks it’s time to talk about this.

He’s right.

“There, too,” I say. “I’ve heard about the Pilot all my life. ” And I have. In the Border Provinces, in the Outer Provinces, in Oria, and now here in the Carving.

“So who do you think it is?” Vick asks.

“Some think the Pilot is the leader of a rebellion against the Society,” I say, and Eli’s eyes light up with excitement.

“The Rising,” Vick agrees. “I’ve heard that, too. ”

“There’s a rebellion?” Eli asks eagerly. “And the Pilot’s the leader?”

“Maybe,” I say. “But it doesn’t have anything to do with us. ”

“Of course it does,” Eli says, sounding angry. “Why didn’t you tell the rest of the decoys? Maybe we could have done something!”

“What?” I ask Eli wearily. “Vick and I have both heard of the Pilot. We don’t know where he or she is. And even if we did, I don’t believe the Pilot can do anything but die and take too many people with him. ”

Vick shakes his head but doesn’t say anything out loud.

“It could have given them some hope,” Eli says.

“What good is that if it there isn’t anything to back it up?” I ask Eli.

He sets his jaw stubbornly. “It’s not any different than what you tried to do with rigging the guns. ”

He’s right. I sigh. “I know. But telling them about the Pilot wouldn’t have done any good either. It’s just a story my father used to tell. ” Suddenly I remember how my mother would paint illustrations while he talked. When he finished telling the story of Sisyphus and the paintings dried up, I always felt like he finally had some rest.

“I heard about the Pilot from someone back home,” Vick says. He pauses. “What happened to them? Your parents?”

“They died in a firing,” I tell him. At first I think that’s all I’ll say. But I keep talking. I have to tell Eli and Vick what happened so they’ll see why I don’t believe. “My father used to gather all the villagers together for meetings. ”

I think of how exciting it always was, everyone sliding in along the benches and talking with one another. Their faces would light up when they saw my father come into the room. “My father figured out a way to disconnect the village port without the Society knowing. That’s what he thought, anyway. I don’t know if the port still worked or if someone told the Society about the meetings. But they were gathered together when the firing started. Almost everyone died. ”

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