Two Beating Hearts Read online

  I didn’t see the funny side.

  A human being with a Valid Clone was not allowed. A human being with a Defective Clone was inconceivable. The law didn’t allow it and neither did the people’s morality. The clone in his story would have been killed, the man would likely suffer a similar fate if he wasn’t locked up for the duration of his remaining life.

  The laughter was suddenly interrupted as five troopers dressed in their red battle uniform burst through the mess hall doors. Conversations stopped mid-sentence, forgotten with their arrival. All eyes followed them until they stopped at a table in the center of the room.

  “Get up!” the leader yelled. He stood over Rickards, flanked on either side by his comrades.

  “What’s going on?” Rickards asked as he brought himself to his feet. His dinner lay forgotten on the table in front of him.

  “Trooper Rickard, you are accused of being a clone sympathizer. By the orders of President Stone you must come with us.” Every word was barked at him in the clipped and sharp way we were taught in training.

  “I’m no such thing. You’re having a laugh, right? This is a joke?” Rickards repeated the words over and over again as he was dragged away. When his voice grew too pathetic, he was thumped on the back until he couldn’t speak anymore.

  Their uniform stomping echoed off the walls of the mess hall. For that moment, it was like we were all civilians and well aware of the power the troopers held over us.

  Nobody stopped them. I wanted to make a stand, do something but there was nothing I could do. The one lonely voice in amongst hundreds of others would do no good. I had to stay the course. No matter how much I hated myself for it.

  The urge to surge between them and stop their flight was overwhelming. My fingers clenched into tight fists, balling and un-balling underneath the table.

  Somebody had to do something.

  But nobody did.

  Including me.

  All eyes followed him out and remained on the swinging doors for a few extra beats.

  I knew Rickards.

  He was a decent guy.

  I would never have suspected he was a clone sympathizer. I doubted he even was one. Something he did caught the wrong attention and it created enough doubt to make the arrest.

  One thing I knew for sure: we would never see Rickards again.

  It could have easily been me.

  “Filthy traitor,” Watson spat the words out like they tasted horrible on his tongue. Spittle formed on his lips before he shoved another mouthful of food in.

  “Good they got him,” Reed agreed across the table.

  “Should execute him in the middle of the base, if you ask me.”

  “Cut off his head like he deserves.”

  “They’ll sort him out real good in the shanks.”

  “The shanks will be too good for him.”

  “Rickards. Who would have thought?”

  “It could be anyone.”

  “They all deserve to die like rats.”

  The comments whirled around the room like a hate-filled tornado, stirring up more loathing for Rickards and the clones. I remained silent, staying only long enough for my absence to not be noticed.

  I retreated to my room.

  It could have so easily been me.

  Chapter 6: Wren

  If there was anything I could have changed about myself, it would have been my face. Not my gimp leg or the ugly birthmark on my neck, but my face. If I wasn’t the exact replica of President Stone then I could have hidden in the village and nobody would have associated me with that horrible woman.

  It would also mean I could hide in plain sight.

  The shops were all closing for the night, everyone going home to the safety of their warm beds and delicious meals. Aria was a cold and lonely place after everywhere went home.

  When they were out, too.

  I tripped over my gimp foot, stumbling along the sidewalk while I tried to stop my fall. But there was nothing I could do, I fell onto the cold concrete and all the air was knocked out of my lungs in one big whoosh.

  A pair of feet stepped around the corner, stopping when they saw me. My eyes quickly snapped upwards as I pushed myself to stand. Running for my life might have been necessary at any moment.

  It was a girl staring at me, probably not much older than myself. Her hair was long and blonde, neatly braided at the side. Her dress was beautiful, all delicate blue and perfectly fitted to show off her curves. It was too dark to see the color of her eyes but I would have bet everything I had that they were the same blue as her expensive dress.

  She also bore the mark of a Valid Clone – a steel bracelet around her wrist that held a tracking device. It didn’t have a clasp and it was snug fitting, the clone would never be able to remove it herself. The steel was so hard that not even a saw would be able to break it. They only removed them when the clone was being sliced into pieces at the laboratories.

  They’d cut off her hand to remove it.

  They didn’t give those to Defectives.

  We weren’t worth the steel.

  She stared at me coldly, her eyes as hard as stone. “What’s wrong, Def? Can’t find your feet or are you missing them?” She laughed at her own humor.

  I didn’t.

  “What are you doing out by yourself?” I shot back. “Did your Maker forget about you? Ready to Serve Your Purpose yet? Or can you live to see another day?”

  “Funny girl.” She rolled her eyes. “At least I have a purpose. At least my Maker wants me. We spend every day together, shopping and dining at the best cafes. And what do you do? Wallow in the mud.”

  “I’d rather wallow in mud than be fooled into thinking my Maker wants me as a best friend.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.

  “Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you,” I said.

  I expected a sharp comeback but it didn’t come. Her gaze dragged over my filthy clothes and dirtier face. One lip was curled into a sneer. Her eyes stopped when they reached the floor, I looked down to see what had caught her attention.

  The pink brooch.

  It had fallen out of my bra and was lying on the sidewalk between us.

  We lunged for it at the same time.

  She won.

  The girl turned the brooch over in her fingers, examining it closely. “Pretty piece of jewelry, Def. I should show it to the troopers, they’d love to hear the story of how you stole it.”

  The time for lying was now. “I didn’t steal it, someone gave it to me. Give it back.”

  Another evil laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, sure. I know about you Defs, I know you’re all filthy, disgusting liars. You give us all a bad name.”

  “And you’re a brainwashed imbecile. You can’t even see what the humans are doing. Your Maker isn’t your friend, she’s only using you until she can cut you into pieces.”

  “You know nothing about my Maker.”

  “I know she will kill you the moment she gets sick and needs an organ. She’s not even going to think twice about it.”

  The girl pinned me in her gaze, ripples of anger flowing behind her sparkling eyes. She leaned in close, so near I could feel her breath on my neck. “Your days are numbered, Def. I’m keeping the brooch, you can keep your stink.”

  She pushed me to the side and then sauntered off, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

  Thoughts of running after her and grabbing the brooch filtered through my mind. But it wasn’t worth it. I wasn’t supposed to own anything, especially something as beautiful as the pink and gold piece of jewelry.

  Maybe she was doing me a favor.

  I started walking in the opposite direction.

  After the encounter with the Valid Clone, anger bubbled away in my stomach. Not really at her, but at the way humans had so well perfected their brainwashing that the Valids actually thought they were doing something amazing instead of being murdered.

  They were all the same, too. Vali
ds hated the Defectives, rarely giving us the time of day if our paths crossed – which was rare, we didn’t hang out in the same circles. That stupid girl was just like the rest of them. But, in the end, their life was going to end just like ours.

  At the command of her Maker.

  I wandered through the shadows of Aria, sticking to the places where the Makers wouldn’t care to go. A biting cold breeze started up after the sun had made its exit for the night. The wind whipped around causing the fallen leaves to spiral up off the road. I pulled my coat tighter around myself to try and keep the cold from seeping into my bones.

  A large warehouse loomed at the end of the street. I headed for it, keeping my head down and collar up. Not that I really needed to hide my face there, the Makers didn’t dare go into the warehouse district after dark. They were too afraid of the creatures that might be lingering.

  Creatures like me.

  I had to walk around to the side of the warehouse before finding a window broken enough for me to climb through. All the shards had already been removed, indicating I wasn’t the first person to break into the place by this method.

  The place was pitch black inside. My hands skimmed along the walls, trying to find the doorway into the larger compound. The further in I was, the better protection it would offer.

  My foot tripped over something solid, a box perhaps. I fell against the wall before I could catch myself. My limp foot throbbed from the sudden impact.

  It was too dangerous going any further. I slumped down to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest. This would do for the night. The wind wasn’t too bad through the window and nobody could see me in the darkness.

  I missed Rocky.

  We had slept side by side for so long that it was difficult to sleep without his gentle snoring now. I hoped he understood why I left without him. He wouldn’t forgive me for it, but surely he would know why I couldn’t take him with me.

  I didn’t want to be responsible for his death. I was a curse, a piece of dynamite, ready to inflict the maximum amount of damage to all those around me. Rocky didn’t deserve that. It was too high a price to pay.

  This, leaving, this was the right thing to do.

  Whether he could ever forgive me for it or not.

  It was difficult to tell whether my eyes were open or closed in the darkness. I tried to quiet my mind as I rested my head on my knees. I was tucked up into a ball, ready to spring into action at the slightest sound outside.

  At some stage I must have slept. I had to have done for the voices to wake me. They were faint at first, growing louder as they got closer to my hiding place.

  My ears strained to listen.

  Two men.

  Outside the warehouse.

  Traces of sunlight were doing their best to filter into the room. I wouldn’t have been hidden if anyone looked through the window now. I pushed to my feet carefully, trying to stay lower than the sill.

  I limped over to the window. The men were discussing something, using words I didn’t understand. I risked a peek over the ledge.

  They were troopers.

  What were they doing patrolling the warehouse district? Defectives rarely came into the precinct, even we knew they were dangerous. As soon as the factories closed for the evening, all the criminals roamed. They were far more dangerous than we were. For a start, all their limbs were intact.

  It looked like there were only two men. I should have let them pass by and slip out in the opposite direction. But their presence in the district was too unusual. I had to find out what they were doing.

  When they turned a corner and their voices were too small to hear anymore, I climbed out the window. My bad foot was still smarting from the fall but it would have to keep up. A bandage or some kind of compression around it would have come in handy.

  I limped in the direction of the troopers, being as silent and small as I possibly could be. They were still keeping up their animated conversation, hands moving as fast as their mouths. Whatever they were searching for had them hyped up.

  I hoped that something wasn’t me.

  We snaked our way through the oversized warehouses and factories. It wouldn’t be too long before the workers started arriving for the day. They wouldn’t appreciate seeing the troopers in their territory. Everybody knew troopers spelled trouble – especially Defectives.

  We rounded another corner and I stopped dead in my tracks. It wasn’t just the two of them there, but dozens of troopers. They were all assembling in the open lot, guns slung over their shoulders nonchalantly.

  So many in one place was not a good thing. Something was going on, this wasn’t a normal raid. For once, this might not have had anything to do with the Defectives. I really wanted to inch closer so I could hear what was going on but I didn’t dare. They could shoot a lot quicker than I could run.

  The smart thing was to back away and put as much distance between them and me as possible. That’s what every sensible part of me screamed inside my head.

  I needed to listen to reason.

  My feet started moving, backing up and away from the gathering of troopers. It didn’t matter where I went as long as it was away from the warehouse district.

  A hand suddenly clamped on my mouth from behind. Arms as strong as rocks wrapped around me, pulling me backwards as I struggled to get out of their grasp.

  I couldn’t let them take me.

  It had to be a male. His body was so much bigger than mine as it pressed into my back. He easily lifted me off the ground, making it seem effortless to carry me backwards along the street. Making it impossible for me to get away.

  He pulled me down an alleyway.

  I had no chance of escaping.

  “Shhh. I’m not going to hurt you but you have to be quiet,” he whispered in my ear.

  That voice.

  I recognized it.

  It could have been the stupidest thing I had ever done but I allowed my body to go limp in his arms. I relaxed my muscles, showing him that I was going to comply with whatever direction he gave me.

  After a few moments, he released me. I immediately spun around to face the trooper who had let me go. His finger went to his lips in a shushing motion. I clamped my lips together, making it clear I was obeying.

  “Will you wait here? I’ll come back,” he asked. Up close I could see my own reflection in his dark eyes. They were so dark green they were almost black. They searched me, waiting for some sign that I understood him.

  I nodded.

  Once.

  “Okay. Don’t go anywhere.” Our eyes locked together for exactly one second before he turned around and left me there in the alleyway.

  It was a trap.

  Every voice in my head screamed at me to run as far away from there as possible. The guy was a trooper. He didn’t care about Defectives. He didn’t care about me.

  It had to be a trap.

  A trap I was standing in and waiting to be sacrificed for whatever ulterior motive he had. Perhaps in little to no time I would be completely surrounded by a hundred of his friends and threatened with my life to go with them.

  They wouldn’t kill me.

  Yet.

  They would deliver me to President Stone, triumphant in their abilities to trap the clone with the gimp leg. What big men they would be, pushing me ahead of them until I stumbled over my own deformed foot.

  Stone had placed a bounty on my head. Even if the guy did return alone, perhaps he wanted to claim all that money for himself. He could retire on that kind of money. Live comfortably in the city for the rest of his life.

  It was far more than troopers usually received.

  After they served their term, if they weren’t dead or injured beforehand, they were allowed to retire to the Farms. They swapped their gun for shovels and lived the remainder of their lives tending soil to supply the city with food. It was not an easy life like Stone wanted them to believe when they enlisted. I’d heard more stories about what atrocities happened at the Farms th
an I’d had hot dinners.

  Rocky would be so worried about me being gone this long. Even when I left for the night, I always returned the next day. I was rarely out of his sight for too long. It had been that way for our entire lives.

  There was no reason for me to believe this trooper was any different to the others. No logical reason at all.

  Except…

  He had let me go once. He had offered that small child comfort when he was supposed to be scaring her. Something deep in the pit of my stomach told me to stay. That he would return alone and tell me whatever he had to.

  I was stupid.

  Reckless.

  A sitting duck.

  Certain.

  Noises of male voices talking flitted down the alleyway. I pressed myself up against the wall, trying to merge with it so they wouldn’t see me. My movements felt clunky and loud. I wished I could move with the same ease as the trooper. He seemed to glide instead of walk, making everything look easy.

  The voices drifted off with the wind. My relief was short lived as I realized I had been there for too long. He said he would come back soon. This wasn’t soon. It was interminably long.

  He wasn’t coming back.

  I needed to find a way out of the warehouse district without getting caught. If I stuck to the shadows then maybe I would make it. I could blend into the trees, pretend I was invisible.

  But there were so many troopers.

  At least one of their beady eyes would spot me. It only took one for them to tell the others. I would be far outnumbered. They would have me in their clutches before I even reached the end of the street.

  Staying there meant certain death. Leaving meant certain death. It was choosing the better of two evils. But I had to try to survive. I had made it this far, I wasn’t going to succumb today. Not when Rocky would be left wondering what happened to me.

  I made for the alleyway entrance, moving as silently as I could manage. My stomach rumbled for something to eat, the noise far too loud when I had to be so very quiet.

  A shadow fell over the entrance. I stopped dead in my tracks. Perhaps if I was still enough they would pass me by. Maybe assume I was nothing more than a trick of the light.

  The shadow grew bigger and bigger until it took the shape of a man. He looked like a disfigured monster, all black and straight lines. My stomach settled in my throat and burned with fear.