When he came to, the sun was glaring down on him.
Shit – did I pass out?
He shielded his face, and pushed himself up off the ground, crackers in hand. He ate as he limped to the stairs. He stood at the top, wondering how many there were.
Too many, and I've already taken too long.
Micah turned, approaching the elevator shaft. The doors were wedged open, though the elevator itself sat at the bottom. A long rope dangled down the dark passage, one end of it tied off in a loop. Micah swallowed the last cracker, and untied a pair of thick gloves tethered just inside the shaft. He put one foot through the loop and squeezed both sides of the rope before transferring his body weight inside.
His other foot pushed off, and for a heart-stopping moment he dangled in the darkness, praying his hands held enough strength to squeeze. He loosened his fists and began his descent.
When his feet hit solid ground, he let his breath out, flexing his hands. He'd have to reset his escape route later. He took one step outside, then another. The crackers were already taking effect. When the sun hit him again, he stretched.
"Where is she?" he asked the guard by the tower, waiting his turn to go up.
"Went to the river." The guard stood, slinging a backpack over his shoulder.
Micah nodded. "We need to start manning the tower 24-7. Plan on having someone there nights, even when I'm there. They can go up top."
"It'll get difficult as more of us leave for the silo."
"I know, let's make it a priority though – until the last group is gone. We’re way too close to One Less."
"I'll put together a schedule," the guard said, as he headed up the stairs.
Micah started for the river. When he approached, Kaitlyn was helping several women with laundry.
"What took you so long?" she asked.
Micah raised his eyebrow. She hadn't even turned around yet. "Sorry…I was rotating guards, and made a schedule. They'll be up there all day and night, now."
"Even when we're there?" She turned around with a teasing smile.
"There’s another level," Micah said. "Guess we'll find out how soundproof it is."
Kaitlyn wiped her face with the inside of her arm. Her hands were dripping wet with cold river water. "I can give it back, you know." Her voice had lowered, forehead creased. "This energy thing goes both ways."
He looked at her pile of already-washed clothes. It was three times the size of any of the other piles. Before he answered, she turned back to her work like she couldn't sit still. Kaitlyn bent over the river, shoulder and back muscles flexing as she ran a blanket up and down the grooves of the oak washboard. Micah remembered making the thing out of a door.
"Slow down, girl. You're making us look bad." The woman next to her nudged Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn smiled. "I don't really have my own stuff to wash, anyway." She only wore a sports bra on top. The intricate tattoo compass contracting and expanding as she moved. She turned, throwing the blanket on top of her pile. The sun glinted off her shoulder, revealing the raised tissue. Shawn's mark.
The smiled died from Micah's face.
She is going to need as much help as she can get; and if this is the best way I can help her…
Kaitlyn scooped her hands under the sopping wet pile of material and lifted, carrying it over to the drying area. Micah followed, hands empty. He watched as she threw blankets and clothes, positioning them over the lines. Pieces of metal track from one of the roller coasters were lashed together and balanced from one tree limb to the next. Wind over the open river would help to dry the clothes. Their days of using Airs were over. They couldn't risk One Less detecting them now.
"Well?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Well what?"
She turned, hand on hip. "Do you want it back?"
Micah shook his head,. "No – I want to give more."
It was Kaitlyn's turn to shake her head. "I don't think you'd survive it."
"We'll figure something out," Micah said, bending to pick up a cotton shirt from the pile. He raised it slowly, his hands heavy as they moved above his shoulders.
Kaitlyn took the shirt from him before it touched the line. Micah's hands dropped to his sides. He wasn't used to be being so…useless.
He took a deep breath. "We can find a way for more to lend their energy to you. There is an entire army here. Let's tap into them."
Kaitlyn shook her head. "No, I'm—"
She cut off as someone passed. Natasha, carrying a load of new laundry to the river, the scarred side of her face bared to Kaitlyn and Micah.
Kaitlyn waited until Natasha passed, then hissed, "I'm done with armies." She hung the last of the shirts, smoothing it out on the line. "If Shawn wants to destroy hundreds of lives, let him. I won't do it again."