Chapter 23

The Simulacrum is finally over.

Rubbing my eyes, I force them to focus on the gigantic wall that caged us in. It's taller than all the others we've seen, but there are no carvings on it this time. Not even the section number is written on it. The grass beneath me scratches against my back, reminding me that I should get up, though I don't want to.

"Aria, we need to keep moving." Jax brushes the dirt off his clothes and helps me up. Just like that, my childish bubble is broken. Mateo appears out of nowhere. His cheeks are paler than ever, and he wipes the red trail that spills from the corner of his mouth. Glowering, he rubs his hand against his pants and staggers to us like a drunkard. "The others are just ahead, and for those who failed the Simulacrum, the guards stuffed them into trucks and rode off into the sunset."

Jax rushes over to steady Mateo, but his brother looks no better than death on two feet. "What happened to you?"

"I went to see Scipio. Told her that I was leaving the Outsiders."

Wincing, he leans his whole weight on Jax and slumps against him. That's when I notice the gash on the back of his head. The Outsiders' mark has also scraped off his wrist, leaving a deep abrasion in its wake. Stepping slowly towards him, I press down hard on Mateo's wounds. His strangled screams erupt through the forest, but I keep my hand steady even as he crumples to the ground.

The wound on his head starts to close, though it takes longer than I thought. Soon, the rest of his body begins to heal. For now, he's content with sitting for a while and catching his breath. "Scipio will take the immunes by force now, and she thinks that's the only way to make Proxy do whatever the Outsiders want. She's fighting for Proxy to restore our bodies and make us citizens again. But she's doing it the wrong way."

"And you guys couldn't keep staying outside forever. Sooner or later, other countries will expand the radiation shelters to their borders, and you'll have no place to go," I say.

"I get it. She wants us to remember what we came here for, so she's doing everything to make sure we remain faithful to the cause. But this time, Scipio went too far. She'll take you guys as hostages, hoping she can force Proxy to give in." He shakes his head and moves to stand. "Anyway, I'll help you for as long as possible before the end."

The resignation in his voice is crystal clear. I'm about to ask him what he means, but the question remains lodged in my throat, taunting the tip of my tongue until I can't stand it anymore. "What will happen to you, then?"

"I'll be here, Aria, for as long as you want me to be."

Though I doubt she'll let Mateo go that easily, I won't press him further. As the wind picks up, he stares at the sky overhead. A beam of light comes down from the Eorius, sweeping across the field briefly until it stops at the next wall. We follow Eorius while it glides over the terrain, leading us through the pitch-black expanse of mutated trees and rotting logs.

The artificial Sun slows down eventually and stops in the middle of the forest. A vague shape materializes among the trees as we wait for it to continue moving. Eorius reflects off its black surface to reveal a partially cloaked building. It's as tall as the trees and has heavily tinted windows. No one can see the inside. I'm sure it'll be full of those government officials sipping their coffee and watching us. This isn't the only thing it's trying to show us because an abandoned town sits beneath its golden rays just beyond that.

Mateo leads us to search for a new shelter, and we tread slowly through the sea of empty homes. An old, rickety sign hangs on a wooden pole. I'm guessing that it shows the name of this place, but the words are too corroded. While walking through the area, I run my fingers absently against the walls until I find a location carving. Bending down, I scrutinize the rough knife marks that form the shape of a star.

Mother taught me technique, but I took the time to perfect it. As a child, she would bring me to the markets in the early mornings when the stall owners were getting ready for the day. I smiled, remembering the poem that she had taught me.

When playful words turn into sneers,

words strike their ears, but they do not hear,

carvings of old have nothing to fear,

listen to their song once more, my dear.

It meant that we would never lose each other, even in chaos. Mother would bend down and smile. "Aria, find your way to the last stall. After that, use the markings to remember the path back to the entrance. I'll walk next to you, but I won't tell you how to get there." Then, she handed me colored chalk to record my pathing. When I got older, I started using knives to mark every building I passed—a line for the first, a triangle for the second, and a star for the third...

That's how I'll remember where I've been and where else I need to go.

"Earth to Aria, are you listening?" Mateo asks. He waves a hand over my face, and I snap out of my reverie. Rolling his eyes, he leads us to the edges of the dome. "I said we've found a place to camp."

We approach a building well hidden by all the overgrown plants and bushes. It's two stories high, and the only thing inside is an ancient-looking piano.

Once we've set our things down, Mateo goes nearby to collect some wood for the spear traps while Jax focuses on sharpening our makeshift spears. It's not much, but we salvage the scrap metal we find along the way, attaching them to thick sticks. Our weapons are worse than prehistoric standards; our hunter-gatherer ancestors wouldn't be amused.

While Jax and Mateo set up some Raider traps, I slip away, searching for more water. Thankfully, the food is enough for now, and I'm hoping it'll last for at least three more days when this is over.

Mateo was right. Animals are scarce here, and I haven't seen any so far. As I trek deeper, the forest starts to grow awfully quiet. The leaves flutter in the wind. I dare not wander from the straight path, guided by the faint smell of cooking meat and burning oils. Someone is nearby.

Familiar voices float through the wind, just shy of the clearing ahead. Trying to make my steps as silent as possible, I duck behind the thick undergrowth near the back and remain perfectly still. It's two Outsiders donning their usual cloaks and masks. One of them looks like Scipio.

They're holding a mutated wild boar, possibly returning it to their camp. When they round the corner, I slowly trail behind them, taking a mental note of the direction that they came from. Occasionally, Scipio turns back and stares into the distance. As she turns back, I hold my breath, not daring to move an inch. With every step, the crackling of leaves makes me feel more exposed, bringing me one step closer to my grave.

As the smell of burning flesh assaults my nose. I keep low and press on. A man sits in a cage, his Proxy uniform torn and caked with dirt. His long fingers snake around the rusted bars. He grips them so tightly that his knuckles turn white, and his hands start trembling. With a gag and a blindfold on, his desperate cries are muffled and quickly drowned out by the merciless cackling of the fire nearby.

"Met the quota yet?" Scipio asks the Outsider next to her.

"We will, especially since this one cracked." She snorts, pointing to the officer in the cage. He gets on his knees and clasps his bound hands together, begging for his life. Sauntering over, she pulls out a knife and slits his throat.

I bite down on my lip to stifle a scream. Backing away, I suddenly feel the cold tip of a knife scraping the nape of my neck, where it teases my skin with its sinister caress. Goosebumps prickle everywhere as a twig snaps from behind me. My hands go up in mock surrender while I stare at my weapon. Its clean, sharp edge gleams beneath Eorius's light. A tempting offer to fight back.

From the corner of my eye, I spot a flash of the assailant's cloak—one of the Outsiders. Before I can choke out an answer, his knife slashes against my back, and a scorching sensation ignites my skin. Gritting my teeth, I launch myself at him and tackle him to the ground.

Sweat stings my wound. It renews my agony as I stack my weight against the man's trembling arms and flailing legs. My knife glides over his skin, releasing bursts of crimson onto the grass. He winces and twists out of my grip. Again, he lunges forward. Daggers fan out between his fingers, but not before I dive for the undergrowth. He stands in front of me, arms folded and shifting unsteadily on his feet. Maybe, he isn't used to losing so much blood.

A scorching sensation starts at my feet, igniting every inch of my nerves. I feel it again around my legs as it crawls up my veins. Agony erupts in my joints. My knees are the first to give out, then goes the rest of my body. I lay sprawled among the dead leaves, limbs tangled and shaking. It hurts to breathe as if my lungs were being ripped to shreds, and blood blooms over my clothes. Nasty gray tendrils weave through my suit and stain it burgundy. The Outsider must've rubbed some mutated ivy on his knife.

"That does it." The amusement in his voice is unmistakable, and his boot crushes my fingers. A cry threatens to escape my lips. My body shakes and trembles, but I keep staring at the Outsider's violet eyes. "Get it over with." I spit the words out, but he just chuckles.

"I won't kill you because something else will."

With that, he disappears into the trees. Taking one glance at my fingers, I grimace at how they're bent at awkward angles, broken beyond anything I've seen in the fighting ring. Joint by joint, my body repairs itself, and the skin closes around the cuts. My bones shift into place, mending themselves. Pain screams into the emptiness beyond.

I'll need a food sachet to regain some strength.

Making a quick and quiet retreat, I'm grateful for the singing crickets and cicadas that mask my exit. I make my way back to their main camp, where I see them with the wild boar. But after searching for some time, I still can't find anything. At least there is a small stream nearby. I tested them with flowers before taking some water with me.

When I return to the campsite, the traps are almost done. Mateo continues making minor adjustments to his handiwork. Our shelter for the night is completed with a makeshift lattice made of plant material, providing the basic setup for a shield against the elements. I sit inside, still thinking about what I've heard. For a while, it's just my thoughts keeping me company while I grab a food packet. The strength returns in trickles. Still, it's not fast enough.

Mateo and Jax soon join me, but I tell them everything before they can ask me about the injuries. As they listen, their faces turn from concerned to alarmed.

"She's starting this faster than I thought she would, so that's why she's getting careless," Mateo offers, his gaze growing hooded as he takes a stick and starts scribbling in the dirt. He draws the Outsiders' insignia and crosses it out. "The only thing we can do now is to survive and make more weapons and traps."

Jax and I head to the edges of the forest, gathering some suitable sticks for some short-range knives. We'll need some venom if our spears aren't sharp enough, and our best bet would be mutated serpents. We hunt down a snake camouflaged among the branches. Its poison doesn't kill, but the ensuing hallucinations always do. People usually ended up walking off the edge of cliffs or stabbing themselves until they died.

As we tread deeper, the ground suddenly becomes sticky, forcing us to stop. The clear sap of a carnivorous plant coats the surrounding area, and it traps animals and insects before digesting them.

Jax points to the area a few feet away from where we stand. Someone lays face down in the dirt, entangled under thick stems and sap. His entire body is submerged under the liquid. Blood oozes from where the plant thorns pierced his skin. Jax supports me while we move through the area, especially since he's the more agile. A hand extends from the bushes along the way, giving us a weak wave.