transport. Eli, Sebastian, and Marilyn watched it drive away, a cloud of dust rising from the ground as it went. By then Eli was feeling dizzy.
“Sebastian,” he whispered, “I want to go home.”
Sebastian didn’t argue.
Just as they were about to head back, though, they heard a voice calling out to them. “Hey! You over there! What are you doing?”
Eli looked up. About fifty feet away on the other side of a pile of rubble, a skinny Guardian with the wispy beginnings of a mustache had his hands on his hips. He was looking directly at them.
“Oh crap!” Sebastian whispered.
All at once Eli felt his heart pounding even harder. Caught! What would happen when Father and Mother heard they’d snuck Outside? Eli didn’t like to think about their reaction. This was bad. Very bad. And yet there didn’t seem to be any way out of it. They couldn’t get back to the gate without crossing the Guardian’s path. And worse, he was moving toward them now.
“Come on out from behind there!” he called again. “What department are you with?”
Eli was starting to panic. “He’s going to find out who we are. What do we do? What do we do?”
“Calm down,” Sebastian said. “I’ll tell you what we do. We run.”
“What?”
But there was no arguing. Sebastian grabbed his collar andyanked him back. The next thing Eli knew, the three of them were bolting across the hard ground, only they were heading
away
from the dome, toward the ruins.
“Hey!” the Guardian shouted. “Get back here!”
Head down, Eli ran as fast as he could. There was a pile of wood and metal refuse up ahead and, beyond that, the remains of a destroyed building. Somebody’s old garage, perhaps, or maybe a gas station. This whole area, the ruins around the dome perimeter, had once been part of Old Providence, but that was before the storms started ripping the cities apart, before they needed to build the protective domes. Up ahead Sebastian ducked behind the wall so Eli followed, running on adrenaline. Oh god, what were they doing? Surely they’d never get away with this!
Eli lost track of Marilyn, but around the corner he thought he saw Sebastian slip through the rectangular opening of a structure that might once have been a storefront. He headed in that direction, huffing and puffing, and climbed through. A moment later he was sprinting down a street of broken asphalt. He didn’t see Sebastian anymore, but he couldn’t stop. For all he knew the Guardian was right behind.
Soon he had to rest. He’d never run so hard in his life. In front of a little alleyway he doubled over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Bugs swarmed around him, and his entire body dripped with sweat. He glanced around at the wreckage. He was surrounded by sagging, vacant buildings and telephone poles that slumped like dead bodies. Shattered glass and debris littered the ground, and just ahead stood the crumbling brick remains of the front of an old house. To Eli it looked haunted, its empty doorway like a mouth, its missingwindows like eye sockets keeping blind watch over nothing. It gave him the creeps.
“Sebastian?” he called, still struggling to catch his breath. “Marilyn?”
No answer. Just the sound of his own breathing and the wind whipping through the rubble.
It was only then that he fully realized he was all alone. He was farther Outside than he’d ever been before. Surely this place wasn’t safe. It was spooky. It was
dead
. Or was it? Eli realized there were plenty of places where thieves or even murderers might hide, concealed places from which they might even be watching him right now. Everybody knew that life out here was cheap. The savages wouldn’t think twice about ripping him apart just to go through his pockets.
“Sebastian? Marilyn?”
he called again, a little louder this time.
“Are you there?”
Nothing.
He tried calling out to Marilyn with his mind, but either she couldn’t hear him or she wasn’t listening. Eli had
“Sebastian,” he whispered, “I want to go home.”
Sebastian didn’t argue.
Just as they were about to head back, though, they heard a voice calling out to them. “Hey! You over there! What are you doing?”
Eli looked up. About fifty feet away on the other side of a pile of rubble, a skinny Guardian with the wispy beginnings of a mustache had his hands on his hips. He was looking directly at them.
“Oh crap!” Sebastian whispered.
All at once Eli felt his heart pounding even harder. Caught! What would happen when Father and Mother heard they’d snuck Outside? Eli didn’t like to think about their reaction. This was bad. Very bad. And yet there didn’t seem to be any way out of it. They couldn’t get back to the gate without crossing the Guardian’s path. And worse, he was moving toward them now.
“Come on out from behind there!” he called again. “What department are you with?”
Eli was starting to panic. “He’s going to find out who we are. What do we do? What do we do?”
“Calm down,” Sebastian said. “I’ll tell you what we do. We run.”
“What?”
But there was no arguing. Sebastian grabbed his collar andyanked him back. The next thing Eli knew, the three of them were bolting across the hard ground, only they were heading
away
from the dome, toward the ruins.
“Hey!” the Guardian shouted. “Get back here!”
Head down, Eli ran as fast as he could. There was a pile of wood and metal refuse up ahead and, beyond that, the remains of a destroyed building. Somebody’s old garage, perhaps, or maybe a gas station. This whole area, the ruins around the dome perimeter, had once been part of Old Providence, but that was before the storms started ripping the cities apart, before they needed to build the protective domes. Up ahead Sebastian ducked behind the wall so Eli followed, running on adrenaline. Oh god, what were they doing? Surely they’d never get away with this!
Eli lost track of Marilyn, but around the corner he thought he saw Sebastian slip through the rectangular opening of a structure that might once have been a storefront. He headed in that direction, huffing and puffing, and climbed through. A moment later he was sprinting down a street of broken asphalt. He didn’t see Sebastian anymore, but he couldn’t stop. For all he knew the Guardian was right behind.
Soon he had to rest. He’d never run so hard in his life. In front of a little alleyway he doubled over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Bugs swarmed around him, and his entire body dripped with sweat. He glanced around at the wreckage. He was surrounded by sagging, vacant buildings and telephone poles that slumped like dead bodies. Shattered glass and debris littered the ground, and just ahead stood the crumbling brick remains of the front of an old house. To Eli it looked haunted, its empty doorway like a mouth, its missingwindows like eye sockets keeping blind watch over nothing. It gave him the creeps.
“Sebastian?” he called, still struggling to catch his breath. “Marilyn?”
No answer. Just the sound of his own breathing and the wind whipping through the rubble.
It was only then that he fully realized he was all alone. He was farther Outside than he’d ever been before. Surely this place wasn’t safe. It was spooky. It was
dead
. Or was it? Eli realized there were plenty of places where thieves or even murderers might hide, concealed places from which they might even be watching him right now. Everybody knew that life out here was cheap. The savages wouldn’t think twice about ripping him apart just to go through his pockets.
“Sebastian? Marilyn?”
he called again, a little louder this time.
“Are you there?”
Nothing.
He tried calling out to Marilyn with his mind, but either she couldn’t hear him or she wasn’t listening. Eli had
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