Pipe Dreams by Destiny Allison Page A

on the bed. She rummaged through drawers and cabinets, assembling what she thought she would need. As an afterthought, she retrieved a bundle of family photographs and her grandfather’s knife. The knife was precious and she had kept it well hidden. She threw everything into the pack. There was no food. The administrators had planned well, requiring all meals be taken communally in the cafeterias. The small bits she had managed to steal were for Hercules.
    Vanessa hesitated before dropping the meat on the fire escape. Chances were another creature would eat it. Hercules would come to the window in the morning. When she did not appear, he would meow and wait. Eventually, he would stop coming, knowing he had been abandoned. Like her, he would have to fend entirely for himself.
    She closed the window, crossed her small living room, and walked out the door. Outside, all was quiet. Where would she go? What bare room or dank basement would she now call home?  How would she find food? The problems she faced were staggering. Vanessa knew nothing of survival. For lack of a better option, she headed toward the park. It was, at least, familiar. She no longer cared about the dangers lurking there. Dangers lurked everywhere.
    Moving into the trees, she found an open space that smelled of growing things. Easing her sore body onto the soft grass, she used her blanket as a pillow. Tree branches intermingled above her, their green bounty blackened by the night. She gasped, lost in the mesmerizing fabric of the star-filled sky. Awed by the infinite possibilities spread before her, she contemplated what life would be like outside the carefully ordered lines of what she had known. Now, one of the Fallen, her fear receded. Once again, she belonged.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 11
     
     
    Though cold and tired, Jeremy would not leave. He had not expected Vanessa to walk away from the NSO without assistance and was filled with tenderness for her courage. Tonight, he would stand guard over her. Tomorrow, he would approach her.
    An hour before dawn, he stretched his stiff body and cracked his neck. His eyes burned from the long vigil, but he was jubilant. Soon, she would give him what he needed. He stood to examine the woman sleeping near him. She was curled in a ball with her hair cascading over her face. Cautiously, he crept closer and scooped her backpack and blanket off of the ground. Without her belongings, she would be even more receptive to what he had to say.
    Taking a last look, he stepped back into the foliage. When he returned to the basement, he would assign Michael to surveillance. They could not afford to lose Vanessa in the great maze of the inner-city once the sun crested the buildings and lit the day.
    As he turned into the alley that led to the Gate, Michael descended the fire escape at the back of the building. Jeremy set down the pack and blanket and put his hands on his hips.
    “Good morning,” he called. Startled, Michael scrambled down from his perch.
    “Shit. What are you doin ’ up?”
    “Could ask you the same thing.”
    “Just needed some space last night, man. Ain’t no big thing,” Michael said.
    “Not sure I agree, but I don ’t have time to think about it right now. I’ve got to catch a few hours. Kovalic’s sleeping in the park and I need you on her.”
    “What happened?”
    “I’ll explain later. You’ve got to get over there. I don’t want her waking up and disappearing on us. You’ve got to stick on her, Michael. This is our chance.”
    “Yeah. Right. I ’m on it.”
    Jeremy gave Michael the details on Vanessa ’s location. Then he picked up the pack and blanket and slipped his narrow frame through the Gate.
    As Michael jogged to the park, the dark and silent world stretched toward morning. From bushes near the clearing, he sighted Vanessa lying in a heap in the wide, open space. She was either stupid or brave as hell. He didn ’t know which, but it didn’t matter. When they had her, Jeremy would be