The Defiant by Lisa M. Stasse Page A

David’s way. Everyone only knows one piece of the puzzle.
    I walk out of the room, holding the letter, and go into the dingy bathroom. I know this is the one place I won’t be bothered by anyone for a moment. I sit on the closed toilet and tear open the envelope.
    I’m not sure what I’m expecting exactly, but my heart is racing. I slide out a sheet of paper folded in threes.
    As I do this, an object falls out of the paper and onto the ratty carpet. I lean over and pick it up. It’s a thin metal key on a chain, like the kind that might open a safe-deposit box. I hold it in one hand, as I unfold the piece of paper.
    It’s blank.
    I turn it over. Nothing. I feel disappointed, and a bit insulted. I don’t know what I expected. Some kind of message, at the least. But there’s only the key. David didn’t even leave me a note.
    Sighing, I stand up and put the chain around my neck to keep the key safe. I fold up the paper and the envelope and put them in my back pocket.
    Typical David, I think. But then I realize that maybe he didn’tknow what to say. I assume the key has something to do with the bomb—or whatever it is—that I have to detonate. I must keep the key safe and make sure it doesn’t get taken from me by anyone.
    I’m about to leave the room, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My hair is messy and I pull it back, trying to smooth it down. I see circles under my eyes from tiredness and worry. I look like a stranger. I try not to think about Liam and what he’s going through right now. Soon enough I will be joining him in the Hellgrounds.
    I hear a voice call my name. It’s Kelley.
    â€œThey’re here!” she says, from outside the bathroom.
    â€œI’ll be right there,” I tell her, looking at myself for a final time.
    Then I leave the bathroom and step into the hall.
    Kelley is standing there. “Someone is waiting for you.”
    â€œAlready?”
    She nods. “Come this way.”
    I follow her through the house and out a side door. I step into the cool air. The sky is gray, but rays of sunlight occasionally poke through the cloud cover.
    A flatbed truck is parked in the driveway, carrying a load of large square boxes and straw. Shawn is standing outside talking to the driver, a burly man in a thick jacket and a cap.
    â€œAlenna?” the driver calls out.
    â€œThat’s me.”
    I walk over to him. He sticks out his hand. “It’s best if you don’t know my name,” he tells me, “but it’s an honor to meet you.”
    I shake his hand.
    â€œYou can call me Tomas if you want, but it’s not my real name. Let me show you how we’re taking you to meet the other rebels,”he says. He moves around to the back of the truck. “Look. Right in here.”
    I peer into the back. He shoves aside a few boxes to reveal a narrow hiding place beneath the cargo.
    â€œIt’s an old-fashioned method, but it works,” he says. “We’ll never get stopped by the police, even though technically, we’re an illegal vehicle.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œThe UNA elite like to get unprocessed foods from farms in the country. Not for the citizens, just for themselves. That’s where my truck comes in. It’s meant to take fresh goods from the country to the lavish homes and apartments in the city where the local leaders of the UNA live. Fresh fruit, fresh vegetables. Everything they deprive the regular citizens of. So I bring them their fresh produce, but I’ve also used this truck to transport about fifty rebels, right under their noses.” He smiles, like he’s laughing at a joke. “Not all at once, I mean. But one by one.”
    I nod. I can tell he has no idea that I’m going to be captured today. He just seems happy to meet me and help me reach the rebels. I wonder what he would think of David’s plan. What will happen to