Tainted Read online

CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘Wake up Elle!’ Gemma calls at me. I look over in response and realise she’s just thrown me the basketball and it’s sailed straight over my head.

  ‘You could at least try to help us win!’ she jokes, as I run to retrieve the ball.

  I can’t blame her for being frustrated by my lack of enthusiasm for the game today. I’ve been seriously distracted all day by Sebastian’s absence from school.

  Not once did I see him today, and I always manage to bump into him, or at the very least see him during breaks. Even tonight, when school finally finished for the day, I would’ve expected him to turn up for a game. Maybe he’s avoiding me?

  ‘Are you throwing that ball back anytime soon?’ Gemma yells. I still hold it absently in my hands.

  ‘Oh, right.’ I snap out of my troubling thoughts and throw the ball back to her.

  ‘You’re fighting a losing battle there Gems,’ Cam, one of the boys on the other team jests. ‘If you want to win you should come and join the better side.’

  ‘What can I say, I just love an underdog,’ she retorts. He raises his eyebrows in response, takes two long strides over to her and hoists her over his shoulder.

  ‘Put me down Cam!’ she squeals with laughter.

  The game is pretty much over after this as the two of them chase each other up and down the court flirting. The rest of us retreat to the side of the court.

  ‘I don’t think you’re the underdog,’ Jase, one of the boys from the other team, says to me.

  ‘Thanks Jase, but I really was playing pretty atrocious tonight,’ I respond.

  ‘True,’ he laughs. ‘Hopefully you’ll be better next week.’

  ‘God I hope so!’ I take a seat on the ground next to Amy.

  ‘I’m surprised you came out tonight,’ I say to Amy, as I ease myself onto the polished wooden floor. She never plays sport unless it’s during school hours, choosing to use most of her time studying. I practically never spend any time with her outside class.

  She looks out across the court, her eyes almost sad as she smooths down her long, black ponytail. ‘My parents are insisting I immerse myself in all aspects of my education.’

  I wrinkle my face up at the thought. It must suck having to constantly live up to parents’ expectations. I can’t imagine Amy ever being a disappointment though.

  ‘You’re pretty good you know. You definitely have the height for basketball,’ I say.

  ‘Just a shame about my two left feet,’ she grumbles. ‘Speaking of left feet. You coming to the dance?’

  ‘Yeah. When is it again?’ I’ve completely forgotten about it with the stress of Quinn’s testing.

  ‘A few weeks time. It should be good!’

  ‘Mmm,’ I agree. The school hosts a dance for all the high school students a few times a year, but I’m not really into the dancing bit so much. I do like the outfits we’re allowed to wear though.

  Usually straight after school on a Friday everyone heads to the costume room, where donated clothes from before impact are held. Each student is allowed to rent one outfit to wear to the dance instead of our greys. While the ARC doesn’t have enough outfits from before impact to use for everyday wear, the school does have enough available for special occasions.

  ‘I just hope I’m lucky enough to get a good dress for it,’ I say. So many of the clothes have fallen into disrepair, it can be a struggle to find something half decent.

  Amy nods eagerly in response. ‘Yeah, I probably wouldn’t go if I ended up with something bad. Some of the girls can be so mean.’

  She doesn’t need to elaborate, I already know exactly who she’s talking about: Kate Evans. I’m pretty certain she made two girls and a teacher cry at our last dance. That girl knows how to create trouble and, with her dad on the Council, she’s not afraid of anyone.

  Amy checks the time on her cuff. ‘It’s getting pretty late. I’m meant to meet my parents for dinner, and I really need to get started on that English assignment.’

  ‘I thought it wasn’t due until next week?’

  ‘It’s not,’ she shrugs.

  ‘You’re such a nerd,’ I laugh. ‘I should probably head off as well.’ I turn to the court and see Gemma and Cam have stopped chasing each other. Instead she stands there with her eyes riveted to him, her fingers twisting unconsciously through the ends of her hair. She looks completely infatuated, and he looks like he has it just as bad.

  ‘Gemma!’ I call out. ‘I’m going! You coming?’

  She looks back and forth, torn between Cam and me. I try not to appear too pleased by the situation. It’s nice to see him finally making a move.

  ‘You know what?’ I continue. ‘I’ve got some homework I need to do, I’ll just catch you in class tomorrow.’

  ‘Okay, see you in the morning,’ she responds happily, unable to keep the excitement from her voice. We wave goodbye to each other and I follow Amy out.

  ‘What’s the deal with Cam and Gemma?’ she asks curiously.

  ‘I’ve got no idea. They’ve been flirting with each other for a while now. I guess I’ll be hearing all about it tomorrow though.’

  Amy chuckles in response. ‘Yeah I imagine you would.’

  After walking through several long, almost identical corridors we reach the Atrium, the point in which all wings of the ARC converge. I stand and admire the huge, bright hall that reaches up all the way to the ceiling of the ARC, several hundred meters above. Huge television screens line the walls and long glass-floored walkways that connect the wings for each level are suspended above.

  Masses of people rhythmically flow across the walkways above. I squint my eyes to see if I can count how many are walking on the top walkway, but there’s no one up there today. Even stories below, the tiny figures are hard to make out.

  The top levels have always intrigued me. Regardless of which wing you’re in you can’t seem to access them. When we were younger, April, Sebastian and I spent a day climbing up many flights of stairs in each wing attempting to reach the top. But no matter how hard we tried we always ended up two floors below the ceiling.

  Some man bumps into me. ‘Sorry,’ he says, walking on. I turn to respond but he’s already disappeared. As usual the Atrium is hectic.

  Amy points her thumb towards the West Wing entrance. ‘This is me.’

  ‘Oh, I’m heading over there.’ I wave my hand in the direction of the North Wing. ‘You’ll have to come out to basketball again soon.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe,’ she responds, looking unconvinced. She takes just a few steps away and is quickly lost in the crowd. As I veer towards the North Wing one of the screens catches my eye. I walk closer to it. Most just show feed from the surface, but no one is interested in viewing the boring, desolate wasteland above.

  As I near one screen I recognise the vast snow-blown landscape with its expanse of frosty cracks that quake across the ground. Dotted across the horizon are lone, charred and blackened trees and overhead clouds gather, dark and violent with ugly tinges of purple Lysart that constantly reminds us of the asteroid that doomed us all. They thunder across the empty wastes wreaking havoc on the deadened earth. So thick and heavy with sediment, tossed up into the atmosphere after impact, they never stop for breath, always smothering the earth far below. The surface. My uninterested eyes skim past the screen and on to the next one, which shows the ARC news.

  A woman sits in a smart black suit, in front of a soft blue background. Using a very serious tone of voice she announces, ‘A man was arrested today after attempting to break into his neighbour’s quarters.’ The screen flicks to CCTV footage of the man being arrested by officials. They are brutal as they shove him up against the wall. After several attempts to force himself free the man’s body slowly sags as he is sedated.

  The screen flicks back to the news reporter. ‘He is currently being held by officials and will face a hearing before the Council in the morning.’ She pauses before she continues. ‘In other news, ci
tizens are reminded that upon any symptoms of a fever they are to report immediately to the Hospital Wing. Symptoms include…’

  I ignore the television as the broadcast breaks back into regular reminders. What kind of idiot would try to break into someone’s quarters?

  ‘Elle?’ I hear Sebastian’s voice behind me. I turn to see him watching the screen from over my shoulder. ‘I was just coming to look for you,’ he says, half distracted by the news.

  My hand drifts up to clasp at my necklace as I watch him awkwardly. I have no idea what to say to him. Has he been avoiding me all day or am I reading into his disappearance from school too much?

  He frowns at the screen before focusing down on my face. ‘There’s something I want to show you. Would you come check it out with me?’

  I hesitate in my response. I don’t like agreeing to things when I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. It’s Sebastian though, so I trust him. I’ve barely begun to nod when he grabs my hand and starts guiding me towards the West Wing. ‘We have to be quick.’

  I stumble over my feet as I attempt to keep up with him. He doesn’t seem upset at all about this morning. It’s like it never happened.

  ‘Where are we going?’ I ask, as we weave our way between the throng of people.

  ‘You’ll see…’ is all he says as he leads me under the large pillared archway and up the extravagant marbled staircase that marks the entrance to the West Wing.

  I suppress a groan as we enter. I’d probably prefer to be kicked out onto the surface than to visit the West Wing. The whole place is so pretentious, not to mention a complete maze. I always manage to get lost on the rare occasions I find my way over here.

  The obvious wealth in the area has always succeeded in making me feel unwelcome. All the people who were considered important enough to get an invitation to bunker down in the ARC when the asteroid hit live here. Nowadays I have no idea what most of them were once famed for, but they all still act like they’re above everyone who lives in the North Wing.

  Sebastian gives my hand a reassuring squeeze and turns back to look at me with his cheeky smile. ‘Stop stressing. I’ll have you back to your beloved North Wing in no time.’

  I glare at him and then look away, refusing to meet his gaze. I hear him chuckle as he tugs me into a faster pace.

  We walk for a while down several corridors, each just as lavish as the next. Large slabs of white marble tiles cover the floor and the doors are all made from frosted glass. Elaborate chandeliers hang from the ceilings of popular intersections and once priceless paintings are hung in special, protective glass boxes that line the walls of most walkways.

  Sebastian comes to a sudden halt and I in turn slam into his back. ‘We’re here,’ he states, simply.

  ‘Where’s here?’ I ask, edging my way around him to take a look. I fail to see anything special about where he’s brought me. The corridor is very much the same as every other in the wing.

  Sebastian points to the door closest to us. ‘Do you know where that leads?’ he asks.

  I shake my head and take a closer look at the door. It’s just like the other frosted glass doors in the wing, however, as I look more carefully I notice the biometric security lock that protects it. My stomach drops and begins to feel empty. There are only a handful of places in the ARC with so much security on them. I’ve never been into one and I’m fairly certain I never want to.

  ‘What’s in there Sebastian?’ I ask him, already dreading the answer.

  He’s already taken a step towards the door and is looking at it the way a kid’s eyes devour the sight of an unopened Christmas present.

  ‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ he says, secretively. ‘I’ll give you a hint though, the ARC blueprints I’ve been studying for my engineering apprenticeship say it’s restricted…’

  ‘Restricted?’ I repeat. This is so not a good idea. ‘How would we even get in there?’ I say, eyeing up the security.

  He wriggles his fingers in front of my face. ‘Some of us have contacts.’

  I reach out and touch Sebastian’s arm, stopping him from moving any closer to the door. ‘This is a bad idea and you know it. We shouldn’t be messing around with a restricted zone,’ I warn.

  He turns back to look at me. ‘Aren’t you sick of all their lies?’ he asks. ‘Don’t you want to finally get some answers? I thought you of all people would understand.’

  ‘I do understand, but it’s restricted Sebastian. It’s too dangerous. No answers are worth this.’

  Sebastian struggles to hide his disappointment with what I’ve said. ‘I didn’t ask you here to try and get you into trouble. I thought you would want to come. You’ve always been up for bending a few rules.’

  ‘Hardly,’ I scoff. ‘I think we both know it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything that would get me more than a few extra community service hours, worst-case scenario. Going into a biometrically secured room is bad. You don’t even know if anyone’s in there.’

  Sebastian considers my face before he continues, ‘Elle, I don’t want you doing something you’re not comfortable with. You don’t have to come with me.’

  Before I can answer he turns and boldly walks towards the door. I want to delay, to consider the options before committing to such an idiotic act, but I already know I won’t let him go in there alone. Damn him.

  With not even half his courage, I follow. There’s no way in hell this is going to end well.