The Compound

Chapter THIRTEEN

LATER, I SHOWED UP AT LEXIE’S DOOR IN A T-SHIRT AND jeans. I was barefoot. My hair was down and I tucked it behind my ears.

Lexie opened the door, wearing a white terry robe.

I had one just like it. We all did.

Her hair was damp and loose, looking like she’d showered recently. She seemed a bit unsteady. She ushered me inside, not saying anything. Janis Joplin was loud on the stereo.

I hadn’t been in her room since the first night in the Compound, when Dad had taken us on the tour. There had never been a reason for me to go in there and she certainly never had a reason to invite me. The room looked different. The Arabian Nights theme had been replaced by abstract murals with earthy tones. They were skilled renderings that impressed me.

“Did you paint these?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, we hired outside help.”

I studied the artwork more. She must have spent a lot of time on it. Strange to think such a change had occurred without my knowing about it.

But then, the walls of my cocoon were thick.

She sat down on her bed. The cover was a simple white crocheted bedspread over a pink satin comforter. Dozens of pillows in various colors, no doubt carryovers from the harem motif, covered the headboard. Lexie crossed her legs and stretched her robe down to cover them.

“Dad told me… about his solution to the food problem.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll do it, you know. If that’s what it takes. I already decided.”

I took a step toward her. “You can’t!”

She crossed her arms and leaned back. “You don’t get a say.”

I sat down on the edge of her bed. “Please. Just listen to me.”

Her chin tilted down and she looked sideways at me. She shrugged. “Fine. Talk.”

“Lex, everything about it is wrong. Cloning a human is… frickin’ twisted. In so many ways. It’s like playing God, creating another life like that.” I shook my head. “And the reasoning behind it, that’s even worse.”

“Want to hear my reasons?”

I did. “Yeah.”

She held up one finger at a time as she said the names of the three children in the yellow room.

“I don’t understand.”

She sighed. “Don’t you see? If I start producing clones, I can save them. Lucas and Cara and Quinn. We won’t have to… use them.”

I shook my head. “How do you figure that?”

She shrugged. “Well, don’t clones grow faster than the real thing? So they would get bigger faster and…”

My words were a shout. “There haven’t been any human clones before! No one knows what will happen. Maybe it won’t even work.”

Her words were a whisper. “I have to try.”

I leaned forward, staring at my feet. My hair fell around my face so that I was inside of a tent. A shelter of my own making where I could hide. But not really. “This is so messed up.”

Something rattled. “Tic Tac?”

I sat back up and laughed. Because at that point, it was laugh or cry.

“What’s so funny?” Lexie poured some into her hand and tossed the container to me.

I caught it as I pushed my hair back. “That’s what was in your special treat box. Tic Tacs.” I picked up the container and shook several directly into my mouth. The refreshing minty taste was a holiday for my sheltered taste buds.

She waited.

Was she expecting something from me? “I’m not letting you go through with this.”

“Dad will make me, anyway, so it’s no use even—”

“Dad can’t make you.”

She chewed on her lip. “Hello. He can make us do whatever he wants. He’s in control here.”

I was a little taken aback by how resigned she was, like she had no choice. “I thought you said Mom was.”

Her eyes got teary. “He told me that Mom knows what he wants us to do. That’s why she’s not talking to him. And she knows she can’t stop him.”

It dawned on me. So that’s why Mom didn’t want Dad to know about the flour. She knew he was already considering extreme measures involving Lexie. The flour situation alone would have driven him to his decision. The results of the inventory did it instead. “I can stop him.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “How?”

“Remember your little speech? You were right, I do have to choose. And I choose not to be on his side.”

She shook her head. “What if we do run out of food? And this was our chance to save ourselves and we wouldn’t do it and…”

“Lexie, he’s been lying to us, lying to us about so many things. I think I believe the world is not as he says. That it’s not that bad outside.”

“I think I believe?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s supposed to mean something when we’re starving or dying from radiation sickness if we do get outside?”

I hid my face in my hands and groaned. “I know. I know it sounds crazy.” My hands slid down, uncovering my eyes. “It means you have to trust me. You have to be on my side.”

Her head dipped to one side. “I don’t know, Eli. At least Dad has a plan.”

My hands slammed into the bed on either side of me. “I do, too!”

“What is it?” She crossed her arms.

Could I trust her? Trust that she wouldn’t go running to Dad? “I think… I think I can get connected to the Internet.”

Lexie gaped at me. Her mouth fell open slightly.

I nodded. “Dad told me it’s up, just a bit spotty. He won’t let me on it. I think he’s hiding something. If I can just get to his office when he has it powered up, I can find out.”

Her hands flew out, palms up. “Find out what?”

“I don’t know, just talk to someone. See what their situation is. If they’ve heard about the rest of the world…” I trailed off.

It all sounded pretty lame, even to me.

Lexie leaned back. There was an odd expression on her face. “One day.”

What did she mean by that? I held up my hands. “What?”

“I’ll give you one day, twenty-four hours, to find out what you can. And if this is just one of your stupid stunts to get what you want, you will be so sorry. I swear.” She frowned. “You can leave now.”

I headed to my room to figure out a plan. Just past the Supplements’ room, I narrowly avoided a collision with Dad.

“Eli, you okay?”

I willed my heart to slow down. For some reason, I was afraid he could read my thoughts. I lied. “I… I spent some time with the Supplements.”

Dad smirked. “That Lucas is a kick, huh? Smart kid. I daresay, smarter than you even were at that age.” He scratched his head.

My head cocked to the side. “You spend time with them?”

Dad made a strange face. “What, I’m not supposed to go near them? That’s a little unrealistic, don’t you think? Who do you think watches them while the rest of you have music?”

My mouth dropped open. I didn’t understand how he could be with them, take care of them, yet still… “But how—”

He blew it off with a toss of one hand, as if it were nothing; a mere gnat on an elephant’s ass. “When the time comes, we’ll do what’s necessary. Until then, I wouldn’t go to the nursery too often. It’ll make it all the harder for you.”

That conversation confirmed one thing: I really didn’t know my father at all. I watched him walk toward his office. Then I chided myself for just standing there. It was the perfect opportunity to try the Internet again. The laptop was under my bed. I also grabbed a legal pad and a pen and took a few seconds to put my hair in a sloppy ponytail.

First I peeked around the corner. The office door was closed. Music was playing. Sounded like Neil Young. At least it was loud, which made this as good a time as any. I sat in the same place as before and switched on the laptop, making sure the sound was muted.

My breaths were shallow.

Come on. Come on.

There it was.

Wireless Network Now Connected.

Holy crap.

For a few moments, I sat there, not believing. The world was once again at my fingertips. What did I do first?

My hands trembled. Partly from the words on the screen and the power they conveyed. Partly from Dad being so close. Before I could make my first move, my instant messaging icon popped up.

Welcome TwinYan2! The following buddies are online:

With a shaking hand, I scrolled down.

TwinYan1

Eddy?