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  One Spark of Hope

  One Spark of Hope

  JAMIE CAMPBELL

  Copyright © 2016 Jamie Campbell

  Smashwords Edition

  Jamie Campbell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

  Section 927(a)(ii) Any citizen found acting in a way that can be construed as against the president and/or government will immediately be detained by the authorities and held indefinitely.

  Excerpt from Aria Legislation, 2053 Edition

  Chapter 1: Wren

  Everyone was scared.

  I got that.

  But we needed to make a decision while there was still daylight. The walls of Aria City loomed in the distance, too far away to see all the pain they contained, too close to guarantee our safety.

  “Anything could be out here,” one of the Defective Clones argued. “We need to return to the city. Better the devil you know, I say.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m not going back to that place. We’d be dead if we even managed to find a way back in,” another added.

  The discussion had been going back and forth for hours.

  I sat on a large boulder, giving my deformed foot a rest. We’d walked for hours to escape our pursuers and now we found ourselves outside the only city we knew. I’d never heard of anyone making it outside the wall before and now we couldn’t decide if it was a good or bad thing.

  My opinion was clear cut.

  I had to get back inside.

  Reece and Rocky were still in the city and I couldn’t leave them behind. They were in just as much danger as I was, leaving them wasn’t an option. Going back was something I had to do.

  The arguments continued around me.

  “We’re never going to survive out here.”

  “So you’d rather go back and let the troopers get you? We’re as good as dead if we turn back now.”

  “We need food and shelter before nightfall. Maybe we should stay here and discuss this more in the morning. It will be dark soon.”

  It would be dark.

  Too soon.

  Autumn sat beside me, perching on a boulder of her own. She was staying out of the arguments too, absorbing the opinions of others and keeping her own a secret.

  We were supposed to be in charge.

  Nobody cared.

  “What do you think we should do?” she asked quietly, her head leaning in toward mine for privacy. Autumn was one of the few humans who didn’t see Defective Clones as abominations. She’d placed her fate in with ours, which was probably a really stupid thing for her to do.

  I didn’t say that.

  I kept it in a tight ball in the palm of my hand so nobody would ever know.

  “The group should do whatever it can to survive,” I replied.

  She nudged me with her shoulder. “Come on, that can’t be what you’re thinking right now. You haven’t said a word since we worked out where we are.”

  “I’m thinking I have to go back and find a way into the city.”

  “Really? You’d return?”

  I nodded, thinking of the boys and how I hoped and prayed they were okay. I didn’t want Reece to give up on us, think we had vanished without a trace.

  Not after he kissed me.

  Not since I wanted him to do it again.

  Autumn picked up a dead leaf and started pulling it apart to occupy her nervous hands. “I have no idea what’s out here. Do you?”

  “None at all.” Asking questions about what was outside Aria’s walls was like asking for trouble. Nobody knew the secrets outside, nobody but President Stone and her government. All we were told was that it was bad, very bad.

  They said monsters roamed outside the wall.

  Monsters that ate humans and clones alike.

  They feasted on our bones.

  So the stories went.

  “We should take a vote,” Autumn said.

  “Majority rules,” I agreed.

  We stood together, the united front that we had been pretending we’d had for the entire day, including all those hours spent walking through the underground tunnel.

  Autumn brushed her hands together, cleaning the last few pieces of leaves from her palms. She stood on her boulder, clapping until she had everyone’s attention. Both Defectives and members of the Resistance upturned their faces toward her.

  “Let’s take a vote,” she started confidently. She was a good leader, far better than me. “Everyone who wants to return to Aria, raise your hand.”

  She gave them a few moments to decide, watching the few hands rise into the air. Out of the hundred people standing in front of her, only five hands were raised. None belonged to a Defective. It didn’t surprise me. Why return to a city that was trying to kill you?

  “Okay. Everyone who wants to stay out here and find civilization, raise your hand,” Autumn said. Immediately, the remainder of the hands pointed to the sky. “Staying it is then. We will head through the forest and look for a place to camp for the night. Then we’ll continue on until we find a town.”

  She jumped from the rock and made her way to the front of the crowd. A few grumbled their dissatisfaction but there was no further discussion, it was simply a fact now that we were remaining outside the wall. Sets of feet started shuffling in the direction she led.

  Sunny and a few of the others lingered, waiting for me to join them. She gave me the kind smile I had missed for so long. “Come on, child. We’ll all be okay now. There’s no troopers out here.”

  They expected me to follow, to accept the decision of the group and fall into place. I wanted them to be safe, and heading deeper into the forest was the best thing for them. Putting as much distance between them and President Stone was a good thing.

  For them.

  Not for me.

  I needed to go back and find Reece. But they weren’t going to accept my decision. Looking into Sunny’s hopeful face, I knew there was only one course they could see.

  My feet started moving to join them. I would see that they were safe, then I’d return. I would be swift, fast, and quick. Once they were all secure.

  I had to know they were safe first.

  Everyone was exhausted, our pace was painfully slow. I kept to the back, my heart hurting with every step I took away from Reece. Every footfall felt wrong, the opposite of what I needed.

  Soon.

  I would return.

  The forest grew dense, the floor covered with ancient fallen trees and shrubs. Even if I had two good feet I would find it difficult walking. With one deformed foot, it was nearly impossible. Autumn was right to keep our progress slow, even though I was certain she was chomping at the bit to move faster.

  Nightfall would arrive soon. The sun was already just a mere shadow on the horizon as it sought to go to bed for the night. A bed sounded so good right now. I could have slept forever once I laid down.

  We walked in what we hoped was a straight line and not in circles. Surely if we just kept walking we had to end up someplace else? Aria was growing smaller in the distance, so we had to be getting somewhere.

  It was getting difficult to see through the thick forest. Even those with the best sight were slowing down. We should have stopped earlier, made a camp for the night before it grew this dark. That would have been
the smart thing to do.

  We had to hold hands to stick together. If someone took a few wrong steps now they could have been lost forever. We huddled together in the darkness, wishing for daylight or some end to our endless walking.

  As my foot broke another twig on the ground, I heard something. It wasn’t just the rustle of feet anymore, it was something else.

  Something alive.

  “Did you hear that?” Sunny asked beside me.

  Unfortunately, I did.

  Monsters.

  “It sounded like a growl,” I replied. The words were barely out of my mouth before someone shrieked.

  “Run!” Autumn screamed from the front.

  In the slivers of moonlight I could see complete chaos. Everyone raced in all different directions, crying and screaming as a large animal ran through our group. He was grunting and growling with every breath he took. His skin was as black as the night, just a mere blur as he moved.

  Aria didn’t have wild animals. They had pets, perfectly behaved domestic animals that were more for show than protection. This animal was something I’d never seen before, attacking us with so much ferocity that I didn’t doubt he would tear us apart with his claws if given the chance.

  I ran.

  There was no decision about which direction to run or how best to get away from the creature. It was pure terror driving me, urging my feet to go faster and make sure I wasn’t one of the unfortunate ones to be within a claw’s reach of the animal.

  I collided with someone, our feet getting tangled together before we both fell to the ground. We didn’t get up again, choosing to hide on the forest floor and stay completely still in our hiding place.

  The growling was coming from a distance now, along with the most gut-wrenching scream I had ever heard. He had caught someone, biting into them with the force that only a wild monster could accomplish.

  “We should help them,” I said under my breath.

  “It’s too late. They’re already gone,” the girl replied. I recognized the voice as Autumn’s before the reality of her words sunk in. The animal was already padding through the forest, away from the rest of us.

  It was too late.

  I said a silent prayer for the poor person who had saved the rest of us from the monster.

  Autumn stood, the leaves rustling underneath her movements. “We should keep going a little ways and then stop for the night. Just in case the animal comes back.”

  “He’ll be able to smell our trail no matter where we go,” I replied. “He’s probably not alone, either.”

  Monsters were supposed to be everywhere.

  It was difficult not thinking about all the wild creatures that might be in the forest surrounding us. We might have only seen and heard one, but that didn’t mean there weren’t many, many more just waiting for their opportunity to strike.

  We were walking meals.

  And there was no place to hide.

  “We’re still walking anyway,” Autumn declared. I wondered if she was thinking about the blood that was probably spilled just a few feet away. That was what we were really trying to get away from.

  She called everyone back together and we started walking again. As everyone checked for their friends, it was determined the missing girl was named Thistle. She was a Defective Clone. We’d lost one of our own.

  It seemed like the worst kind of injustice to escape the troopers only to be eaten by a wild animal. There were far too many predators in the world.

  Far too many to ever feel safe.

  True to her word, Autumn stopped after putting some distance between the attack site and our base for the night. Preparing for rest was as simple as lying on the ground where we stood and trying to find some comfort on the hard floor.

  My stomach was aching from hunger and my mouth was as dry as a desert. The few supplies we’d managed to bring were long gone. Tomorrow we would have to find supplies, a stream for water at the very least. Otherwise we wouldn’t survive to see another night.

  Or another monster.

  I closed my eyes and let sleep take me over, exhaustion winning out over my other needs.

  It was the bright rays of sunlight that awoke me in the early hours of the morning. It dappled through the lacework of the trees, greeting me with a wink and promise of another long day.

  I sat up and looked around at the sleeping bodies scattered around the forest. They would continue to follow Autumn and the promise of safety no matter what happened. Defectives were strong, we were brave, and we didn’t give up.

  They didn’t need me.

  Reece did.

  The decision was easy to make. I couldn’t take another step away from him, knowing he was in Aria and I was walking further from him.

  I had to go back.

  There was no other option.

  I would never be able to live my life without him now. The truth of that statement hit me like a punch to the belly. The troopers couldn’t take Reece away from me, I couldn’t let them separate us any more than they already had.

  Autumn was already awake when I found her. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she said by way of greeting. My decision must have been written all across my face.

  “Yes, I am. I have to,” I replied, hoping it would be enough of an apology for leaving her and the rest of the group.

  “You’ll never find a way inside the fence. It’s too dangerous, Wren.”

  “I don’t have a choice.”

  She clamped her lips together, refusing to allow any more words to escape accidently. I liked Autumn, I would have followed her wherever she went if Reece was with me.

  “After I find Reece we’ll catch up with you,” I said. “I promise.”

  Autumn nodded as she came to the realization she couldn’t change my mind. She hugged me, wrapping her arms around mine and stepping so close I could feel the warmth from her body. It still felt strange to be so close to a human and not fear them.

  “Good luck, Wren. I hope I see you again.” She let me go and offered a smile. I took it, returning the gesture with one of my own.

  We parted ways with no fanfare or tears. Just sheer determination from both of us that we would succeed in our own missions.

  I couldn’t see the wall around Aria from so far deep in the forest. I started walking, hoping I was still headed in the right direction and Reece hadn’t given up on me yet.

  Chapter 2: Reece

  The entire force of the President’s Trooper Division was out searching. Apparently someone had destroyed Laboratory Foxtrot and fled with a bunch of Defective Clones.

  They wanted to find them all.

  And then execute them.

  I was proud of what we’d accomplished.

  If we were caught there would be no trial or jury. Our deaths would be swift – unless they found a reason to torture us first. We’d made them angry by attacking Lab Foxtrot, they weren’t going to stop looking until we were found.

  I could hear a group of them clearly. Their boots stomping on the ground in rhythm. They marched slower than my heartbeat as it raced. There was only a thin wall separating us. Only a few layers of wood concealing our hiding place.

  After we discovered the underground bunker had been obliterated by the troopers, we had to find a place to hide eighty-three Defectives, the leader of the Resistance, and myself.

  It wasn’t easy.

  The resting place we could come up with for our tired collective was an old warehouse in the industrial district. Everything stored there had to be at least ten years old. There was more dust in the air than oxygen.

  Troopers were hitting all parts of Aria. Our saving grace was the fact they didn’t know who we were yet so they didn’t have any clues about where we might be hiding. Once Lab Foxtrot got its security system up and running again, they would work out pretty quickly who was responsible.

  Then we would be in real trouble.

  Still, even having the troopers so close could not take my mind away from Wren. Th
ere was no guarantee she was alive, all I had to go off was Joseph’s assurance that she probably escaped via a tunnel under the bunker.

  His word didn’t mean much to me anymore.

  Even though Joseph had helped me spring everyone from Foxtrot, it didn’t mean he could be fully trusted. He’d let his men leave and abandon the Defectives. A true leader would have inspired them to fight.

  Until I saw a body, I had to believe Wren was still alive. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to go on. She was my world now and my sole mission was to save her people and get back to her.

  I had to do it.

  We were all silent as we hid in the warehouse. The Defectives were worn out, tired from their long ordeal. The troopers had destroyed their village only yesterday and we’d been up all night trying to find a suitable hiding place.

  They more than deserved a rest but we couldn’t stay here for too long. Food and water was the next necessity after sleep and we didn’t have much of either.

  The footsteps of the troopers started to fade into the distance. They would be back eventually, but for now we had a window of respite.

  I turned to Joseph sitting beside me with his back leaning against the wall. He looked much older than he normally did, which was quite old to begin with. “We’re going to have to make some decisions about what to do next.”

  Joseph nodded slowly, closing his eyes momentarily while he rested his head against the wooden wall. “We need to regroup with the other members and discuss our options.”

  “We need to find Wren.” The voice came from behind me, for once I didn’t mind the interruption. The Defective that had spoken up was Rocky, supposedly Wren’s best friend. All I had was his word on the matter.

  “I agree,” I said. “Half the Defective Clones are with her, along with members of the Resistance. We should find them before we decide on anything.”

  “They are not a priority right now,” Joseph replied.

  “Yes, they are.”

  “If they made it out of the bunker, they will have found someplace safe. Just like we did. Autumn will lead them back to the others for a regroup. We will meet up with them there.”