Z 2134

and knew he was a traitor. Duncan was short with Liam and clearly angry over something, but still helpful while navigating the winding tunnels toward their possible salvation. After a forever that was likely little more than an hour, Liam stopped in his tracks and turned to Duncan.
    “I guess you saw,” he said.
    “I don’t wanna discuss it.” Duncan didn’t bother to stop walking.
    Liam followed a step behind, quiet for five minutes or so until he couldn’t take the sour of all the unsaid between them. He stopped again, set his hand on Duncan’s shoulder, then pulled the man back toward him. “They were threatening to kill Chelle’s baby — my baby. ”
    Duncan stared at Liam, barely able to meet his eyes, let alone hold them.
    “And then they did,” Duncan said. “You brought a sword to a gunfight, then made a deal with the devil when you found out your weapon wasn’t a match. How did that work out for you, Liam? How did it work out for all of us?”
    “What did you want me to do? Risk my child? The woman I loved?”
    “You did the worst possible thing, Liam. You played God, burning the thin bridge between all of our lives.” Duncan’s voice was sharp enough to cut into the countless things he wasn’t saying.
    Liam said, “I didn’t know they’d kill Jonah’s wife. Or that they’d raid the church and kill Rose and Iris.”
    “Your hands are bloody.” Duncan shook his head. “You should have come to me, should’ve told me. I could have helped, no different from what I’d do for anyone else. I could’ve protected your baby, gotten Chelle and the baby out of The City.” Duncan leaned into Liam and lowered his voice. “I had to do it eventually, anyway.”
    “What are you talking about?” Liam almost mumbled, every word falling out slower than the one before, each holding something horrible inside it.
    “I got Chelle out, right before I left,” Duncan said.
    Liam swallowed loud enough to hear, even if Ana couldn’t see it in the shadows. “I sent her to West Village,” Duncan said.
    “Why the hell did you do that?” Liam said, or maybe snarled. “The passage is dangerous!”
    “So was her staying behind The Wall, at least once you said you were done spying for them and made your death march.”
    Liam fell silent, tasting Duncan’s words on his tongue.
    Ana was embarrassed to ask, though not enough to keep the words from her mouth. “What’s West Village?”
    Duncan turned from Liam to Ana. “It’s a village populated by City 6 dissidents and refugees. We’ve got nearly two thousand people living there now, beyond The City’s reach. That’s where we’re headed.”
    “It’s the village I told you about,” Liam said. “The one I wanted to get Chelle and the baby to.”
    “How long has it been there? How has The City not discovered it yet?”
    “It’s been there for two decades, with a smart system of ever-growing independence. We’ve taken plenty of precautions, it’s well hidden, and The Barrens are big, bigger than you realize. Lack of perspective keeps you from seeing the big picture, Ana. Same as everyone else. The Old Nation had a song that said, ‘from sea to shining sea,’ and those seas sandwiched thousands of miles between them. It’s impossible for The State to be everywhere at once. Sure, they’ve sent orbs out to find the Village, plenty, but we’ve always been able to stop and seize them, then reprogram them to help us track and capture other orbs. Eventually, they stopped trying.”
    “So, we’re gonna live there now?” Ana asked.
    “Yes,” Duncan nodded.
    “If The Underground has this secret place, why not bring more people over? Start a new proper city?”
    “Limited resources.” Duncan shrugged, as if the answer was obvious. “We can’t allow everyone in if we expect the resistance to last. We’re selective, and there’s a long process to get out of The City and inside the Village. New citizens are expected to contribute, and we must be certain they won’t betray The Underground. Few people know where the Village is, and the only way to access it on ground level is through these old catacombs and train tunnels. Besides,” he added, “most people are happy behind The Wall since they can’t see through the wool over their eyes. Few even try.”
    Ana glanced at Liam. He was somewhere else, off in his own world, probably thinking about Chelle and what would happen once they reached the Village.
    Ana turned back to Duncan.