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  When she did that, I saw her. “Gretchen?”

  She froze in the middle of that cold stream they called a river.

  “Who’s there?”

  I chuckled and moved out from my hiding spot with my hands in the air. “It’s me. Kyan.”

  She squinted her eyes at me. “From Orchard?”

  “Yeah.”

  She laughed. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  I scratched the back of my head. “Well, you probably don’t want to know that.”

  She huffed.

  “Hey, are you headed out of here?”

  “Yes, and I’m never looking back,” she said, making her way to the river’s bank.

  “Wanna travel together?”

  She made it to the side, but the bank was steep; I offered her a hand and pulled her up. Huffing and puffing on the ground, she laid back and looked at the late morning or early afternoon sky—whichever it was. Things seemed so different there. In the apple orchards, I could tell time down to the nearest quarter of an hour. But things lost meaning in Vesuvius. All I knew was, the sun was high, and it was about as warm as it would get.

  “I think that would work—traveling with you, I mean. You’re going back to Orchard Village?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “A certain dark-haired Vesuvian wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would she?” Gretchen grinned and swatted my arm playfully.

  “It has everything to do with it.”

  “I know. I’m glad you found each other.”

  I was a little shocked to hear that from her. “You approve of Greater Lesser relationships? But, you’re a Greater.”

  Chuckling wildly, she laughed with her whole body. “I worked in the Olympian palace. That didn’t make me a Greater—maybe a fortunate Lesser—but, no, I worked in the Olympian palace as a maid; a Lesser maid, and a trusted one, but the lower class nonetheless. They treated me better than most, though. I have no room to complain.”

  “So the virus won’t affect you.”

  She shrugged. “That’s what they say. I guess Lillith had it engineered to kill their competition and not their slaves. So, when are we gonna get moving? I want to put distance between Vesuvius and me. Let’s make tracks.”

  I picked a piece of grass, bent it until it broke in several places, and threw its broken stalk on the ground. “I was waiting for someone, but he hasn’t shown.”

  “Who were you waiting for?”

  “Adam Kelley.”

  Gretchen stilled and then sat up, a solemn look on her face. That wasn’t a good sign. “Adam Kelley passed away. He gave his life overtaking a small company of soldiers that were going to slaughter the Lesser population at The Cliff.”

  I took a few deep breaths. Adam had been a good man. He’d been a good father to Abby when he did come into her life and had given up a relationship with her to keep her safe from harm—to save her life.

  She was going to take that hard. And I was probably going to be the bearer of bad news. That truth sank into the pit of my stomach like a stone.

  “What’s The Cliff?”

  “A quarry. The dungeon guards talked a lot. They said guards were ordered to execute the Lessers in Vesuvius. They led them to this quarry, The Cliff, which is just a giant rock wall. They were going to line everyone up and shoot them. But Adam told the Greater guards about the virus killing their loved ones. Most of them believed him, probably because of his position and clearance, and went to check on their families. Only a small group of guards decided to carry out the queen’s order to slaughter the Lessers, Upper and Lower. Adam and some other men overpowered them, but Adam was shot in the scuffle. He didn’t make it. Or so the dungeon guards said.”

  She paused.

  Shifting her position, she started talking again. “He tried to hang on from what I heard. He kept saying Abby and Kaia’s name over and over before he passed away.”

  My heart hurt, for not only Abby and her baby, not only for Kaia... It hurt for everyone. He’d been one hell of a man, someone to look up to. A hero.

  I hoped, one day, I could be half the man Adam Kelley had been.

  Ignoring the tears pricking my eyes, I sniffed and looked away. Gretchen wasn’t stupid. She knew I was hurting. But she was wise. She let me absorb it and take a minute to calm down on my own.

  When I was okay, I looked at her. “We need to make tracks.”

  “Yeah.” She agreed.

  I helped her up, and the two of us headed upstream. I hoped the southern flowing stream would take us north. Somehow, we’d find our way home.

  MY ENTIRE BODY HURT. EVEN the small parts for which I had no name. The sour scent of vomit was the most pleasant in the room.

  That pathetic Lesser heifer had bound me to the headboard of my bed. I was covered in my own vomit, excrement, and a sheen of cold, sticky sweat.

  Screaming for help had not yielded any. It had only served to irritate my throat to the point that I could barely squeak, let alone speak. The skin on my hands just below the thumbs was bleeding, cut open and raw. Even coated in red, they wouldn’t slip through the metal orbs. I had rattled and beat the chain in the middle until my knuckles were raw and ripped open, too. They had banged against headboard slats and the wall itself.

  I had even tried to move the bed. But it was constructed of heavy mahogany and was too heavy to wiggle more than a few feet, scraping and scratching the floorboards that lay beneath.

  I was in the palace, seemingly alone. There were others in there; I was certain of it. But it was likely they were as sick as I was, or worse. Some were probably lying dead, scattered about the property. I imagined the feast the flies would have. Perhaps the same flies would spread over the lands of the nation and cause a Lesser disease, another plague.

  It would serve them right.

  It would not be a dignified death. It would be torturous. Hell on Earth. It would be exactly what they deserved.

  Another bout of nausea descended. I retched over the side of the bed and nothing came out. It was gone. There was nothing left in me but unadulterated rage.

  It was at that time the lights went out. A hush fell over the entire palace, over the city below, and seemingly over the world.

  How had the Lessers done this?

  I had suspected dissention for quite some time from those within our walls. But had no idea a handful of Lessers from the villages could have done what they did. They brought down the empire I had fought to build. In the end, I had underestimated them, and they had beat me at my own game.

  Rattling my shackles against the boards again, I screamed until my voice broke and then tried again, and again...

  I should have killed them all. Before they killed us. I should have sealed their fates like that of the Greaters in the other cities.

  Dry heaving again toward the floor, a buzzing filled my ears. Then a black cloud of flies blocked the light from my vision, swarming and swirling. Black.

  GRETCHEN AND I WALKED AS far as we could until night fell. It took me forever to find what I needed in the fading light, but I’d located a flat piece of wood for the base and a rock for the cap. I fashioned a bow out of a thick twig and my shoelace and had Gretchen find small pieces of dried wood and twigs for kindling. The bow drill wasn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t give up. I couldn’t. We’d both freeze. The temperature extremes were exactly that down there and summer hadn’t started.

  My hands were raw, red, and blistered by the time I saw smoke rising from the plank. Adrenaline kicked in, wiping the pain away, and I pushed through, sawing faster and faster until a tiny ember formed, glowing orange against the gray wood. Nice and easy, I blew lightly across the ember. It flashed, glowing brighter and then dimming. Just when I thought it would go out, I got a tiny spark and then flame.

  “Yes!”

  I blew gently, and it spread from one twig to the next until we had a small fire. I eased it beneath Gretchen’s pile. We took off, looking for bigger pieces of wood to keep our hea
ter fueled for the night.

  When we came back with a few arms full, it was time to turn in. The next day we’d need to walk farther, so rest was important. Traveling in the dark might be ideal, but we were both exhausted. Rest quickly became a priority we had to address.

  WHEN DAWN CAME, GRETCHEN WAS already up, stoking the fire.

  I stirred and sat up, wiping the sleep from my eyes. “You’re an early riser.”

  She smiled. “After thirty years of doing something, you get used to it.”

  “I guess. I’m not a morning person. Someone always has to wake me up, and it usually takes a while.”

  Gretchen looked up from the flames. “We need to get moving soon, but this feels so good.”

  The warmth did feel good. It soaked into the front of me, leaving my back to defend itself against the cool of the air behind me. It wasn’t winning that battle.

  “We need to get moving,” I said.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  We both sat there soaking in the warmth, neither of us moving. When we started walking, the lovely feeling would end.

  Gretchen stood up first. Grumbling, I followed suit. We stomped the small fire out and set off north. I was hoping, at some point, we’d come upon the rail lines and follow them somewhere. They connected the villages, so it might take a lot of walking, but we’d eventually find one if we followed the tracks.

  We only walked for two hours when we found a set of two tracks. North and southbound, it seemed.

  Gretchen was joyous, dancing wildly, like she’d won a bet or game. She almost tripped over her own feet, so that sort of sobered her up. I’d definitely never seen that Gretchen. That Gretchen was happy.

  Maybe we all could be.

  We walked until we were both sweaty. Though we’d washed off, I think I still smelled questionable. Walking through crap’ll make a guy self-conscious for a long time, I’d learned. We needed to find food, enough for two. It would be harder, but we’d do it. We didn’t have a choice.

  When we located a section of track lined with a small creek, we decided make camp, find food, and hunker down for the night. Gretchen was moving slowly, much more stiffly. She wasn’t used to walking fifteen or twenty miles a day.

  And we’d covered at least that distance.

  I told her to stay near the wood line and gather firewood and kindling. I was going to look for fish. Trotting down the incline toward the water with quick steps, I could see a school of minnows. That was a good sign. Not dinner, my dinner would be lurking somewhere, waiting to chomp the little guys.

  There were a few pools of standing, still water, undisturbed by the flow a few feet away. That’s when I saw him. Looked like a huge trout. He’ll do nicely. And with a fire, I wouldn’t need to eat him raw.

  I grabbed a thick, dead branch and broke off the twigs, making a club. Then I crept closer to the bank ever so slowly and, whack! I clubbed the sucker. Got him, too. He sank down and then popped back up belly first. The muddy water ran red in the pool, but I was thankful for him. He’d keep us alive another day.

  The bow drill wasn’t cooperating. Not like the previous night. It was being stubborn. I gritted my teeth and kept sawing away. Gretchen was dry, unlike the day before. It wasn’t as cold, I didn’t think, but it was getting colder, and the wind was blowing. Her teeth were chattering even though she smiled and tried to hide it.

  I felt a rumble beneath my feet and then heard the loud blowing of a horn blaring over the land.

  Looking at Gretchen, I saw she was already on her feet and waving for me to move mine. I didn’t hesitate. It was real.

  A train was coming. It was heading north, away from Vesuvius. And we were going to catch it. I just hoped it wouldn’t be the last thing we ever did.

  Gretchen ran. I could barely keep up. I was in better shape, but she was motivated. We sprinted along the track, waiting for the train to reach us, and it did. The engine eclipsed us but then began to slow, sparks flying from the rail as brakes bit the metal.

  But we kept running. “You go ahead and pull me up.” She panted.

  I nodded and jumped on the ladder of the last train car. I planted myself against the metal rails and reached for her. Her hands grabbed mine as she exerted a last burst of energy and leapt for me.

  I clamped my hands around her wrists and pulled. Her feet dragged for a second, but then I had help. Someone else grabbed her by the elbow, and he and I dragged her up and onto the caboose’s platform. We were on board.

  Glancing over, I saw a guy who was in his early thirties. His hair was just starting to silver in spots. I wouldn’t have even noticed if the rest of his head wasn’t stark black. He smiled, pushing his glasses up and offering Gretchen a hand.

  “Hi. I’m Bryce. I saw you when the train started slowing. You looked like you needed a hand.”

  “Well, thank you, Bryce,” Gretchen said. “I appreciate it. My name’s Gretchen, and this is Kyan.”

  She looked him over. So did I. He must have realized what we were thinking. Friend or foe?

  “I’m a Lesser. We all are. Some are Upper and others Lower, but we rank the same now.” Bryce smiled and pulled me to my feet.

  “Hungry?”

  My mouth watered. “Is the grass green?”

  He chuckled and waved for us to follow him. We did, without hesitation. He led us from car to car. It was no freight train; it was one of the Vesuvian passenger trains, elegant and richly appointed, emblazoned with the city’s symbol everywhere you turned—a deep V with a city’s silhouette rising from the center. The words “Enforcing the Future” curved across the top like the arc of a rainbow.

  Ironic choice of a slogan since they had no future. I’d taken it from them. The worst part? Something was wrong with me. I didn’t even feel remorse, just relief. That’s how I knew something was amiss. Any normal person would feel terrible for killing thousands of people; wouldn’t they?

  We sat down at a table in a car packed with people from one end to the other. But I was lost in thought. It wasn’t until Gretchen’s hand landed on my shoulder that I realized I’d been so distracted I’d forgotten where I was. Giving her a hesitant smile, I accepted the plate of food Bryce placed before me. Gretchen did the same, and we gulped down some water so fast, he’d already signaled for someone to get us more.

  Gretchen dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, catching the rivulets that had slid down from the corners. We’d been hungry and thirsty for too long. I wasn’t sure what her story was. She didn’t say, and so far, I hadn’t asked for more information. The news about Adam was bad enough.

  I didn’t miss the motherly arch of worry on her brow as Bryce settled across from us. “Where are you from?” he asked.

  “Orchard Village,” I answered.

  He ticked his head backward. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  “Leaving Vesuvius.”

  Bryce looked me over. I wondered if he saw me for what I was—a mass murderer, an assassin, someone without an ounce of conscience or regret. He must’ve realized we weren’t going to just open up and talk to him.

  The red get-ups were swarming around us. But Bryce’s eyes were green. There was no golden ring around the middle. He was a Lesser.

  “Where are you going?”

  Bryce chuckled before answering and interlocked his fingers. “Anywhere but Vesuvius. We’re hoping some villages will take some of us in until we can figure out what to do. But staying in that city is no longer an option. Most Greaters are dead or almost dead. The stench is something the strongest of men can’t stomach. Flies have started feeding on the filth and the bodies.” He shook his head and shuddered.

  “I wish we could find out who unleashed the virus into the city.” He admitted, jaw ticking.

  I shifted in my seat and shot Gretchen a sideways glance. She didn’t even know it was me. But does she suspect it?

  “Why? Does it matter who did it? It’s done.”

  He laughed. “You don’t trust very easily, do
you? I’d like to shake his hand. That’s all, Kyan.”

  Part of me wanted to thrust my hand out toward him, but the other side of my brain told me not to. I listened and kept my hand in check. It squeezed the roll of bread like it was an anchor, tethering my fingers down.

  Bryce stretched his back and looked at the two of us. We made a strange pair, that was for sure.

  “So, can you drop us off in Orchard?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Yeah. We just have to make a few stops along the way.”

  Gretchen piped up, her mouth stuffed with some sort of pastry. “Beats walking.”

  We all laughed.

  Bryce was a talker. He was also full of pertinent information, and the word classified didn’t apply since the Greaters were pretty much extinct. I knew he’d care if Lillith were sitting beside him, though. He and a team of nine other men were sent to Everest, Fuji, and Helena to survey the damage caused by the Greater virus.

  “The worst part of it all was the stench. We could smell the rot before we reached the city gates. It was overwhelming, even in the two northern cities that were cooler. When the train approached, the gates to each city were wide open. The Lessers had made quick trails out of that place. Who could blame them?”

  Gretchen urged him on. “So, was everyone dead?”

  “All the Greaters, yeah. Dead and half rotted. Some had been picked apart by animals.”

  Her eyes widened. “What sorts of animals?”

  Bryce chuckled. “All sorts, I suppose. Dogs, scavenging birds, flies, anything looking for an easy meal.”

  She shuddered and her face took on a green tint.

  I smiled and asked, “What were the death tolls?”

  “Everest was the worst. We stopped counting at fifty thousand and hadn’t made it all the way through the city. It was just too much for ten men to comb over. When we sent a comm with our findings to that point back, we were given clearance to secure the city and leave. Fuji and Helena were the least populated of the cities, probably because they were so far west. We counted over thirty-two thousand in Fuji and thirty-one thousand in Helena. There were more, of course, but that was enough for the Vesuvians.”