The Lair

CHAPTER THREE

Carter

Six weeks later

I knew I was in trouble when I walked out the bay door and saw Lily waiting for me by the Hummer.

Spring had come early to the mountain—thank God—and the last deadly ice that had covered the parking lot had finally melted. Which meant we were doing more food raids and sending out patrols nearly every day. It also meant that the ice and snow farther up the mountain was melting as well. Which was why Taylor Tech and I were going up the mountain to the solar array he’d installed last fall. Taylor had landed at Elite for stealing, hacking, and reselling five hundred iPads from his old school district. If it had wires and a circuit board, he could hack it. And thank God for that, because if it hadn’t been for the solar panels he’d scavenged and then set up, we wouldn’t have any electricity at Base Camp. Living in the caves without light would be difficult, but without the air filtration system, it would be impossible. Just up the mountain from camp, the solar panels had been inaccessible for most of the winter. Which was why Taylor and I needed to check on them today, make sure they were in good shape, and hopefully have time to install a few of the new ones that had been scavenged in the last food raid.

While I couldn’t blame Lily for wanting to be outside now that the temperature was finally above freezing, I didn’t like it. Even though she was still inside the fence line. Even though I was right here. Even though there was no way a Tick could get at her, it still made my skin crawl having her out in the open like this.

“What’s up?” I asked.

She had her hands shoved into her pockets, and rolled up onto the balls of her feet. She grinned, tipping her face toward the weak spring sunlight. “Merc said you were driving up the mountain today. I thought maybe I’d tag along.”

“Are you kidding?” But her good mood was infectious and I couldn’t help smiling.

She sidled closer to me, stopping just a few inches away. Her fingers tiptoed up the front of my shirt and she looked up at me with her head tilted to the side, an impish smile on her face. “A solid two to three hours alone? Out in the sunshine? Away from Base Camp? No way I’d joke about that.”

My head swam in response to her words. Base Camp was safe, but it was almost impossible to be alone. Yeah, we could catch a minute here and there. Like this, this moment out in the sunshine, with the chaos of Base Camp a whole twenty yards away. But two to three hours? I hadn’t had that with Lily . . . well, since that night we’d slept side by side for a few hours on the Farm, right before we’d escaped. And, oh man, I wanted her alone.

I trailed my fingers up her arm. She had on a couple of layers of clothing, but, hell, layers could be peeled off. Her smile widened, like she knew just what I was thinking. And that combination—the smile, the hint of intimacy, the lure of time alone with her—it was like a mind wipe. There was some reason this was a bad idea, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of why.

“Hey,” a voice called from behind me. “We heading out soon or do I have time to grab some food first?”

I turned around to see Taylor walking toward the Hummer. He did a little double take when he saw Lily peeking out from behind my shoulder.

“Oh, sorry, man. Didn’t realize you were . . . occupied. I’ll just grab a bite to eat and be back in a minute, okay? Then we can head out. ’Cause we should get started soon. I mean, if you still want to . . .”

No. I didn’t still want to. I didn’t want to drive up the freakin’ mountain to install more solar panels. I wanted just five freakin’ minutes alone with Lily.

“Fine. Be back in five minutes.”

Taylor trotted off and I looked back at Lily. She smiled sheepishly. “I guess that means no three hours alone.”

“Yeah, I guess not.” I blew out a breath and stepped away from her. “Just as well.”

She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, it’s not like I’m going to let you go traipsing around on the mountain with me.”

She took a step back herself and did a double take. “Not going to let me go?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Maybe you better tell me.” She propped her hands on her hips. “Because it sounded to me like you think I need your permission to leave Base Camp.”

“Of course I don’t think that.”

“Good.”

But that stubborn look in her eyes sent fear dripping down the back of my neck. “But just to be clear, you’re not leaving Base Camp.”

She arched an eyebrow.

“I have to leave Base Camp eventually.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.” She stepped closer and dropped her voice, so that even if someone was out in the parking lot with us, they’d have a hard time hearing our conversation. “Have you noticed the way people treat me here?”

“Yeah. Everybody loves you. They think you’re great.”

“Right. I don’t know if it’s because they think I’m an abductura or just because I’m your girlfriend or what, but the Elites all treat me like I’m a friggin’ China doll and the Greens act like I’m Joan of Arc or something.”

“So?” She’d had a hell of a time on the Farm. And she’d lost Mel. If anyone deserved an easy time of it now, it was Lily.

“So, I need to be doing something.”

“You do plenty. You do KP duty nearly every day and—”

“I need to be doing something important. Whether I should be or not, I’m in a position of power here.” She gave me a small, sheepish smile. “I need to—you know—use my powers for good. Not evil.”

“Fine. But that doesn’t mean putting yourself in danger.”

“I’m not planning on being reckless, but I need to help. To do something concrete. Besides, I think seeing me do things will help morale. In case you haven’t noticed, things in the cave are getting tense.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I’m not an idiot.”

Her lips twitched just a little. “So then you noticed how skittish all the Greens are. I don’t think I’ve seen a single Green leave camp since we got here. Since that guy was exposed just before we arrived.”

I knew she was right; I just didn’t know what to do about it. I pushed a hand through my hair.

“They’re scared,” Lily said.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Hell, I knew the answer to that question. Of course Lily would be scared, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing something, not if she thought it was important. “Look, it’s going to take a while for people to get over it, that’s all. I’m not going to force anybody out of the caves.”

“Of course not; I’m not saying you should. But if the Greens see me outside, going on food raids or helping with the solar panels, it’ll help them get over their fears.”

“Their fears are totally rational.” Too bad Lily didn’t have rational fears to balance out her sheer guts. “It’s dangerous out there.”

“So what? We should all just hide in the caves and starve?”

“Obviously not. But I’m not going to send a bunch of untrained Greens into danger just because they have cabin fever.”

“So train them!” Lily threw up her hands in exasperation.

“The Elites—”

“The Elites are overextended. Right now, the Elites do all the food raids, they do all the patrols. It’s not so noticeable now, because there aren’t enough warm days for you to send people out every day, but spring is here. And there are only forty-three of you. And nearly a hundred Greens. We Greens have to pull our weight.”

She was right about the Elites being overextended, but I didn’t want to admit it because I didn’t have any clue how to fix it. “Look, right now I need to focus on getting these solar panels installed. When I get back, I’ll try to think of some way to encourage the Greens to do more.”

I turned and walked to the other side of the Hummer, hoping that if I looked busy, she’d take the hint and head back inside. But she followed me to the driver’s side instead.

“That’s the beauty of my plan,” she said, her voice eager. “You don’t have to encourage anybody to do anything they don’t want. Just send me out on the next food raid—”

A bark of hysterical laughter burst out of me. Lily on a food raid? Fifty-plus miles from the safety of Base Camp? Wandering around an unknown city searching for supplies she could pillage? What a nightmare. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“It’s the perfect solution. You know I can handle myself out there. And if the other Greens see me doing these things, some of them will want to do them, too. I know they will.”

“No,” I said automatically. “Absolutely not.”

“You need us to go find food, damn it.”

“No, Lily. Right now, the only thing I need is for you to be safe. For you to get your ass back in to Base Camp.”

“Carter, I can’t—”

“Lily, you have the Tick gene. If you get exposed, it’s all over. And I can’t live with that.”

“Well, I can’t live by hiding in a cave.” She stepped closer to me, her eyes blazing. “I can’t stand by and do nothing. I have to have some purpose here. And I know I’m right about the Greens. There is no way Base Camp can continue to function like this.”

I stayed silent and prayed like hell that she would back down. Instead, she bumped up her chin again and said, “And I can’t spend the rest of my life hiding from danger. I have to be doing something. I have to be working toward something, otherwise I might as well have stayed on the Farm.”

I could almost see the logic of her point. Almost. But this was Lily, and logic had nothing to do with it.

Over by the bay doors, I could see Taylor walking toward us, moving with exaggerated slowness and trying so hard not to stare it was a miracle he didn’t fall on his ass.

“Look, Taylor and I need to get up the mountain and KP needs the parking lot to start lunch. You and I can talk later.” I didn’t wait for her to answer, but instead raised my hand to gesture to Taylor. “Yo, Techy, let’s go.”

He took the hint, jogging the rest of the way to the Hummer and sliding into the passenger seat. A moment later, I drove off, leaving Lily standing alone in the parking lot. I didn’t really focus on driving until I saw the Elite at the gate lock her in.