slip past the monitors without anybody stopping them.
For Eli it was a tremendous relief, but Sebastian laughed. He’d never doubted it would work.
Once Outside, the first thing they felt was the oppressive heat. Eli had forgotten how muggy it could get. When they were younger their parents had twice taken the boys on company-sponsored perimeter tours. Both times, though, Mother made them wear environment suits—bulky, uncomfortable outfitswith big helmets—which made it hard to see or feel anything. They wouldn’t need suits today, Sebastian had assured him. They wouldn’t be Outside long.
Mud puddles dotted the otherwise dusty earth, remnants of last night’s storm. But now the sun shone so bright it took a while for Eli’s eyes to adjust. He blinked in wonder at the seemingly endless canopy of gray and blue. The real sky always seemed so lifeless to him, far less interesting than the artificial one Inside, in the dome.
At Sebastian’s suggestion, the boys rubbed dust and mud on their faces and arms so that anyone who saw them might mistake them for Outsiders. Then the three of them ran toward the air filter. It wasn’t far. Most of the interesting stuff from the explosion had been cleared away by then. Somebody had already cordoned off the area around the enormous steel column. Part of the base was blown clear off, with shards of metal and melted wiring hanging everywhere. A fresh tech crew had just arrived to work on it. There were still plenty of people shouting and calling out orders, with others looking dazed as they milled around, cleaning up. Most were in their InfiniCorp uniforms, but not all, so nobody noticed the three of them slipping behind the garbage bins and rubble.
“Look!” Sebastian said, pointing. “How cool is
that
?”
Off near the ruins, set back from the commotion at the edge of the dome, a crowd of five or six people in tattered environment suits stood in a circle and held hands. They were chanting something Eli couldn’t quite make out. Even from so far away, Eli could see that one of them had red hair and they all had the weathered complexion that came from prolonged exposure to sun and sandstorms.
Outsiders.
“What are they doing?” he asked, wondering if one of them was the one he’d seen under the city.
“Who knows?” Sebastian’s gaze had already moved on, looking farther ahead. “They’re desert rats. Let’s keep going.”
They crept along the edge of the chaos, trying to move as close to the filter column as they could without attracting attention. At first they thought they were too late, that all the bodies had already been taken away. But then Sebastian saw one. Not far from a supply vehicle, somebody had thrown a blue plastic sheet over a lump on the ground, but the wind had blown it open. They dashed over to the vehicle and peered around it.
It was an Outsider, a girl. One of her arms jutted out, and in her dead fingers she was still gripping an orange. Even though the body was mangled, the fruit didn’t seem damaged at all. Eli was mesmerized. Was she one of the nomads who sometimes set up wooden stands to trade things with each other, curiosities or supplies they’d found amid the wreckage? Or had she traded for the orange only moments before the blast? Was she a Fogger? There was no way to know. She looked like she was in her late teens, with long black hair that formed a fan around one side of her head. She might have been pretty, but now half her face was covered in blood. Her other arm, the one not holding the orange, had been blown off. Her eyes were open but she was obviously dead.
Eli couldn’t speak. Sebastian was quiet too, and even Marilyn looked solemn. Of the three of them, she was the only one who had seen death before.
It felt like they were looking at something holy. A sacred thing.
Pretty soon one of the cleanup robots wheeled over and covered her again. Two Guardians lifted her onto a stretcher and loaded her into a ground
For Eli it was a tremendous relief, but Sebastian laughed. He’d never doubted it would work.
Once Outside, the first thing they felt was the oppressive heat. Eli had forgotten how muggy it could get. When they were younger their parents had twice taken the boys on company-sponsored perimeter tours. Both times, though, Mother made them wear environment suits—bulky, uncomfortable outfitswith big helmets—which made it hard to see or feel anything. They wouldn’t need suits today, Sebastian had assured him. They wouldn’t be Outside long.
Mud puddles dotted the otherwise dusty earth, remnants of last night’s storm. But now the sun shone so bright it took a while for Eli’s eyes to adjust. He blinked in wonder at the seemingly endless canopy of gray and blue. The real sky always seemed so lifeless to him, far less interesting than the artificial one Inside, in the dome.
At Sebastian’s suggestion, the boys rubbed dust and mud on their faces and arms so that anyone who saw them might mistake them for Outsiders. Then the three of them ran toward the air filter. It wasn’t far. Most of the interesting stuff from the explosion had been cleared away by then. Somebody had already cordoned off the area around the enormous steel column. Part of the base was blown clear off, with shards of metal and melted wiring hanging everywhere. A fresh tech crew had just arrived to work on it. There were still plenty of people shouting and calling out orders, with others looking dazed as they milled around, cleaning up. Most were in their InfiniCorp uniforms, but not all, so nobody noticed the three of them slipping behind the garbage bins and rubble.
“Look!” Sebastian said, pointing. “How cool is
that
?”
Off near the ruins, set back from the commotion at the edge of the dome, a crowd of five or six people in tattered environment suits stood in a circle and held hands. They were chanting something Eli couldn’t quite make out. Even from so far away, Eli could see that one of them had red hair and they all had the weathered complexion that came from prolonged exposure to sun and sandstorms.
Outsiders.
“What are they doing?” he asked, wondering if one of them was the one he’d seen under the city.
“Who knows?” Sebastian’s gaze had already moved on, looking farther ahead. “They’re desert rats. Let’s keep going.”
They crept along the edge of the chaos, trying to move as close to the filter column as they could without attracting attention. At first they thought they were too late, that all the bodies had already been taken away. But then Sebastian saw one. Not far from a supply vehicle, somebody had thrown a blue plastic sheet over a lump on the ground, but the wind had blown it open. They dashed over to the vehicle and peered around it.
It was an Outsider, a girl. One of her arms jutted out, and in her dead fingers she was still gripping an orange. Even though the body was mangled, the fruit didn’t seem damaged at all. Eli was mesmerized. Was she one of the nomads who sometimes set up wooden stands to trade things with each other, curiosities or supplies they’d found amid the wreckage? Or had she traded for the orange only moments before the blast? Was she a Fogger? There was no way to know. She looked like she was in her late teens, with long black hair that formed a fan around one side of her head. She might have been pretty, but now half her face was covered in blood. Her other arm, the one not holding the orange, had been blown off. Her eyes were open but she was obviously dead.
Eli couldn’t speak. Sebastian was quiet too, and even Marilyn looked solemn. Of the three of them, she was the only one who had seen death before.
It felt like they were looking at something holy. A sacred thing.
Pretty soon one of the cleanup robots wheeled over and covered her again. Two Guardians lifted her onto a stretcher and loaded her into a ground
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