The Last Red

Chapter 15: The Other Block

Kayla's P.O.V.

"I haven't yet decided," I say.

I have to admit it's nice talking to someone I don't have to hide from, but I'm not sure I can trust him. What if he wants to bring me there to benefit himself and then who knows what happens to me? 

I'm not going to put my life in the hands of someone I've only just met.

"In any case, I'm not going anywhere until I recover," I tap my wounded leg. 

I wish I still had Omnia in me. She'd heal me in a matter of hours.

It's in that moment that my eyes run to his wrist.

No scar.

"You still have Omnia," I sound almost jealous.

"It's not her," he clicks his tongue. "They re-programmed the software. All my previous data's erased."

"Where were you sent to?" I finally ask, almost forgetting about it.

"Base One," he says. "No surprise there. It's a place for top athletes. A pretty decent one actually," he slants his lips, "but it wasn't behind the wall."

I narrow my eyes. "So you just... left?"

He chuckles. "No, I'm afraid I had to pull a Kayla. Y'know, heavy prison break stuff."

I shake him off. "How'd you do it?" No way he thought of all the stuff needed for an escape that quickly.

"Easy," he shrugs. "I broke into the motherboard. Changed a part of the code, sent some robots to deep sleep," he chuckles mischievously. "They always let me near the dangerous stuff. I guess they learned this time."

Smart. If I had him on my team in KTL, we wouldn't have needed Kriss. And then Keet would've escaped with us. Then again, he might've been killed then. Just like Kory. Maybe it's better this way. 

"I can't believe they didn't use the chip against you."

He looks at his wrist, then eyes my scar in the same place. "Not everyone's out there to get us, Red."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes," he says without hesitation.

After some silence, I speak. "Is her voice still the same at least?" I feign disinterest.

"Not even close," he says. "It was a man. I'd show you but I don't get the signal all the way out here."

I raise an eyebrow. "That may be why you're still alive. The signal was down while you escaped and now they can't reach you even if they fixed to."

He laughs. "I'm sure they fixed it alright. The block's full of top performers."

I sulk my face thinking Omnia is lost. Forever.

He laughs. "You can be such a downer sometimes, you know that?" he gets up, dusting off his hands against his pants. "I'm gonna sniff around a little. You good here?"

"No, I'll join," I decide.

He gives me a questioning stare, but I reassure him. "I'm good for it."

He shakes his head. "You confuse me. You're this fearless to go sniff around the Wild, but too much of a coward to risk your life for assuring yourself the best life possible."

I get up, staring into the fire cracking. "It's not my life that I'm afraid of losing. It's my freedom."

He gives me the most pained look I've ever seen. "Guess we have something in common, after all."

I take out my disinfectant and clean my hands, then insert my contacts.

My eyes feel sore as I do, but I really want to see what's out there, so I suck it up.

We walk, or should I say he half-carries my limping self closer to the fence of the block in front of us. We circle at first at a safe distance, trying to see robot guards, but none catches our eyes.

"D'you think they have human guards?"

He lifts an eyebrow. "Anything is possible, but I doubt that."

As we approach cautiously, people in the yard start noticing us.

"You sure this is a good idea?" I mumble.

"No," he reassuringly taps my hand. "But you're safe with me. Well, as safe as you can be out here."

I somehow doubt that.

"Hey!" Koben hollers at a dark couple deep in a flirting conversation, leaning over the fence.

They frown seeing us.

The woman takes a step back, but the man straightens up. "Stop right there," he instructs us.

Koben doesn't listen. "We come in peace," he says. 

"You can't enter," the man says, taking a defensive stance. "We don't accept rogues."

Koben halts and I stop along with him. "We weren't planning to."

"We don't give out food," the woman joins the conversation. "But if you do enter, you might become food," she laughs and I notice the few teeth she has are completely grey. What in the world is she consuming? I think it's neither phigees nor nutrients.

"Koben, I think it's best if we leave," I whisper.

"You should listen to your girl," the man says, amused.

Just then, two other men appear at the fence, looking ready for murder. "You don't wanna eat and you don't wanna enter - what is it you want?"

"We just have a few questions, that's all," he insists.

"Why don't you enter, doves, and I'll see what I can do for you?" the new man says. There's an evil undertone to his voice.

I thought they said they didn't accept rogues - which one is it?

"Thanks, but we're in a hurry," I say before Koben can answer. "We won't bother you anymore," I take a step back, pulling Koben with me, but he stands his ground. 

"It's fine," he tells me in a low voice, then addresses them. "Why don't you join us out here instead?"

The man purses his lips in ironic laughter.

It's then that I realize - they can't exit.

"I'd love nothing more," he finally answers, "but there's more to this fence than it catches the eye," he taps on it.

"Chips?" I ask, a little relieved to realize they cannot reach us. "Why don't you remove them? We don't see any guards here."

They laugh. 

"Impossible," the woman taps her chest. "Goes straight into our hearts."

"But if you know a good surgeon..." the man chuckles viciously, "feel free to send him in."

"You're free to enter as well," the other man says and the couple looks at him in anger.

Koben grips my arm even stronger. As if I was planning to go - no way in hell.

"Thank you, friends," Koben says. "But we'll be on our way now." 

"Hey, where're you goin'? Come on in!"

Koben starts walking backward pulling me along.

"Go get Patrick!" the man commands and some rush back to the block.

 When we're far enough, we turn our backs on them and walk straight ahead.

He looks at me, upset. "Now you see? The Wild's a dangerous place for a single person without a tribe."

"Yeah," I snap. "Maybe you should stop exploring and just accept this as your life, while you still have one."

I bite my tongue the moment I said it. I can't believe I included him in my potential rogue tribe, just like that.

But he didn't catch onto it.

"Never," he says without thinking. "As long as I breathe, I'll keep striving for the Wall. Because I know there's a better life out there."

"Yeah. The turquoise flowers," I sigh in desperation.

"Exactly."

Pew!

A bullet passes by our heads and we both jump to the ground, letting go of our grip.

"Freeze!"

I look towards two armed silhouettes walking towards us. They're still pretty far.

Koben looks at me in full alert. "We need to run. Can you do that?"

"No, Koben, I can't," I say if it was a given. You'd think my limping was obvious enough. "You go, I'll be fine," I say a bit irritated because if he hadn't brought me so close to that block, I probably would have gone unnoticed.

"What kind of a guy do you think I am?" he says almost insulted, then turns around to face the robot guards walking slowly towards us. 

My eyes still hurt, but as they come closer, I finally see it. 

These aren't robot guards.

They're real men.

"Put your hands above your head," Koben instructs me as he does the same.