The Wall (The Woodlands) by Lauren Nicolle Taylor Page A

would have a hard time convincing Apella to go down that road again, if at all.
    She continued to point at each of us. Joseph, they thought would be useful in their surveillance group or maybe helping out in their hospital. Alexei was a wealth of information about the Superiors.
    “And you?” Her finger hovered as it pointed at my face. “I don’t know what they want to ask of you.”
    “ Ask?” I said, confused.
    “ Yeah. Well, I mean, they’ll ask you to help with those things but if you don’t want to, that’s fine. But you have to contribute in some way,” she said, waggling her finger at us as if we were children.
    In some ways , I suppose we were. We were fledgling Survivors who had been previously raised by an uncaring and ruthless society. Everything she said was so foreign it was hard not to be overwhelmed. But it sounded fair. And impossible. So different to what we were used to that it just didn’t seem plausible. Everyone looked nervous, playing with fingers, eyes darting around, looking for a way out. Choice was not something we were overly familiar with.
    I leaned into Joseph ’s shoulder, yawning. Hessa was playing with my fingers, looking under my flattened palm like he might find some hidden treasure there. Joseph laughed. “People will never believe you’re brothers,” he said, looking from one to the other.
    Deshi stood and yanked Hessa away from me. He made Apella and Alexei shuffle out of their seats and quickly exited the carriage.
    “ What’s wrong with him?” Joseph asked, confused.
    I thought I knew. “I’ll go check on him,” I said.
    Joseph shrugge d but there was a tautness to it. The muscles around his shoulders and neck were straining, like he was holding in something nasty he wanted to say. He was all edges and sharp bits. “I don’t get it. You and Deshi are close now? Apella looks like she’s been hit by a train and you’re not enjoying it? What’s going on?”
    Gwen took this as an excuse to slip out. I didn ’t blame her. That was enough questions for now.
    I swept his hair back out of his face gently. He shook me off furiously. “Rosa, just tell me.” He held my free hand, warmth and fluttering closing out the bizarre surroundings for a second.
    I wanted to cry, in truth, blubber and confess all the dark secrets. But this was not my story to tell. If Apella wanted to tell him, it was up to her. I looked at her and she shook her head. My body slumped as I exhaled. Think of a good lie. He put his hand to my face, begging me to look at him. I felt his lips brush the top of my head.
    “ Some things are just not worth hanging on to anymore,” I whispered. I looked at Apella, a big ‘thank you’ reflected in her face. It would kill him to know the sacrifice she had made for him. I slipped out of Joseph’s grasp like I was shimmying out of a dress, handed Orry to Apella, and went to find Deshi.

    There weren ’t many places for him to go. The tunnel was short, light shining through both ends. I remembered the other tunnel, the way it curved around for a mile. I couldn’t bear to leave it and leave her behind. And when I got to the end, I was blinded by the loss and the white light of morning tried to pull me from the ground.
    Deshi was pressed up against the wall with one foot up, holding Hessa, frowning deeply.
    “ What’s going on with you?” I asked.
    “ What do you care?” he snapped.
    “ You know, you sound like a child.” I came out here to be nice. So much for that.
    His dark face looked older. Older and grumpier. I stared at him for a long time, trying to stir a reaction. He glared at me for a while and then did something so unexpected that I nearly erupted into laughter. His face screwed up tight and I thought he was going to say something rude like he always did but instead he burst into tears.
    My eyes widened and I took a step back. I wondered if I should hug him or pat his arm but something told me this would not be received well. This was