The Glitch (The Glitches Series Book 1) Read online

  Raj glances at her and says, “If you hadn’t split off from everyone last time and brought back a stranger after sundown, you wouldn’t be left behind this time.”

  Eyes narrowing, she folds her arms across her chest and sticks out her tongue at him. Then she smiles. My chest tightens and I rub it with my fingers. I want to be like Skye—to know I can smile and make fun of others. But I feel as if I am still not really sure of my place. All I have is a purpose—and I don’t know what to do with it.

  Turning his back on Skye, Raj tells me, “You’re coming. Skye’s not. But I’ll be with you to show you the program.”

  He winks at me and heads off to one of the tunnels. I still haven’t figured out where they all lead.

  I start to follow, but Skye grabs the sleeve of her jacket, which I now hold. “Don’t worry. Raj knows what he’s doing. He’ll watch out for you. And don’t let Wolf see you sweat.”

  She jerks a thumb to one side. I glance over and see Wolf watching me. He wears his skins, just like always. But today his arms are bare and I see more muscles. It’s as if he wants to look intimidating. And he does. His size seems to swallow up the room, though that’s ridiculous, but there’s just something about him that is larger than everything else.

  When my gaze meets his, Wolf seems to hold very still for a moment. But he turns away and starts down the tunnel Raj took.

  Skye gives my back a push. “Later.”

  I follow Wolf, rushing to catch up with him, glad I have boots. The floors are always cold in the caverns.

  Somehow Wolf knows when I’m right behind him. Without looking back, he shoves a bag at me. It has one long strap and a flap covers a large pocket.

  I take it and ask, “What’s this for?” Wolf wears one just like this, slung across his body. I put on the pouch the same way.

  Wolf doesn’t even glance at me. “It’s for whatever you find out there. Don’t lose it.”

  “What if I find something that won’t fit?”

  He stops so fast I almost run into his back. Turning, he stares at me, his dark eyes glittering in the light from behind us in the Center. My face warms. But I will not look away from him. It seems like I see something that might be humor in his eyes. It disappears too fast for me to be certain.

  He pushes a finger against my breast bone. “Stay close. Do what you’re told. Don’t make me regret this.”

  “The way I am now?” I mutter.

  Turning, Wolf strides down the tunnel again. I have to jog to keep up with him, but when I’m close I ask, “What if I don’t want to go? I mean, I do want, but does anyone ever say no?” Glancing at Wolf’s back, I see his shoulders hunch slightly. Just how much can I push him? I am tired of staying out of his way and being the one who shouldn’t be noticed.

  Wolf glances back at me. His eyes seem darker and they narrow. His nostrils flare, but his voice comes out slow and soft. “It’s out with us or you’re welcome to go out on your own. Everyone gets to make a choice.” He strides away.

  My steps falter, but only few. I think about what Bird said about the group being important. That still doesn’t seem right to me. What about each person? There’s no time to even think about arguing, so I hurry after Wolf. The tunnel turns and twists, but I can hear the slap of Wolf’s boots on the hard stone. It grows dark this deep in the tunnel and I have to feel for the wall to find my way. Maybe we’re heading for the hole I came through my first night here.

  The tunnel turns and light blooms as the walls fall back into a space that is not quite a room. I have to blink to adjust my sight, but Raj and Bird, Bear, and two other Rogues—a female and a male—stand in the center under a hole where light shines down.

  Bird grins at me, and Wolf waves a curt gesture at the other Rogues. “Bobcat and Lion, and you’ll remember Bear.”

  I give Wolf a long stare. Is he making a joke about me remembering and Bear? He isn’t smiling, but his eyes are bright again. I am sure he’s laughing inside—at me. I glance at the Rogues. Bobcat is the female. She is almost as tall as Bear, though nowhere near as wide. Lion—the male—just stares at me, his expression empty. He dresses like Wolf in skins and his tawny hair is almost as wild as Bird’s, but he doesn’t have ribbons in it.

  Wolf turns to the Rogues and says, “Lib’s new. She’ll stay with Raj. Keep an eye on her.”

  The girl, Bobcat, fixes a stare on me and her dislike washes over me like a cold wind. She is tall and skinny with short, dark hair and dark eyes in a narrow face. Everything about her seems pulled thin. Bear ignores me, and Lion turns away to go with Wolf. So does Bird.

  I glance at the floor, my cheeks burning now even though I have not been in the sun. They don’t want me here. They don’t like me. But I have nowhere else to go, and I am determined now to prove I can be useful. Then they’ll want me here.

  Wolf strides down yet another tunnel and the Rogues follow. Feet dragging, I start walking, too. Raj falls into steps next to me.

  “Where are we going?” I ask in a whisper because no one else is talking.

  Raj shakes his head and puts a finger to his lips. It seems we’re not supposed to talk.

  The tunnel goes on a long way. It’s dusty walking behind the others. I have to swallow to keep from coughing. It’s dry and there’s nothing here to scavenge. The tunnel darkens. Raj bumps his elbow into me every now and then to help me not walk into a wall.

  At last I see light ahead again. The tunnel widens once more. I have to squint. I am used to seeing only the darkness. The tunnel stops suddenly. Looking around, I just see walls and a hole overhead. Nothing else.

  Wolf steps into the circle of sunlight that leaks down from the hole. He reaches above him and pulls. A rope falls into the dust. Knots are tied at regular intervals and make the rope seem heavy.

  Leaning over to Raj, I whisper, “I don’t know if I can climb.”

  Bear shoots me an annoyed look, but Raj puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. Skye said Raj would look after me, so I have to trust that.

  Wolf goes up first. He jumps up, grabs the rope and goes hand over hand, quick and efficient. He makes it seem easy and I can’t help but admire his skill as he disappears through the hole. I expect another Rogue to go up after Wolf, but they stand still, bodies tensed, staring up at the light.

  I turn to ask Raj why we’re waiting, but a rock drops down into the hole. It hits the dirt with a puff of dust. A second rock falls. Bear reaches down and sweeps up both rocks. He chucks them back up through the hole.

  This time, only one falls back down again. It has to be a message of some kind, and I start to wonder what’s outside that makes the Rogues so cautious.

  With a glance upward, Bear grabs the rope and climbs out. Bobcat goes next, moving even faster than Bear or Wolf. Lion grabs the rope, tugs on it once and goes up, and Bird follows him up. She grins at me before using both her hands and her feet to climb the rope.

  Raj motions for me to go up next. He’ll go last. I nod, glad that I’m not going to be the last one out and left her to struggle out on my own.

  Grabbing the rope, I find it’s rougher than it looks. Harsh against my palms. Am I strong enough to climb? My stomach ties a larger knot than those on the rope. I gulp down a breath and look up. Closing my eyes, I see again what the others did—jump, pull, wrap my ankles around the rope, get a boot on a knot, grab and pull and push. Opening my eyes, I find I’m already at the top.

  Sunlight beats down on me, warming my scalp. I swing there for a moment, and a strong hand reaches down, grabs Skye’s jacket by the shoulder, and hauls me up and out.

  Wolf keeps hold of me. I’m on my feet now, but so close to him I can smell his scent. It’s musky and I want to lean closer to breathe it in so I’ll always know this. I stare at him, blinking in the sudden brightness of the sun. Wolf seems almost a dark shadow, but the sunlight brings golden touches to his skin and hair. He looks away and drops his hands from me. I sway and almost want to grab for him, but that would make me seem wea
k.

  Instead, I straighten and turn to watch Raj come up out of the hole. Lion grabs Raj and pulls him out. At least I’m not the only Glitch being hauled around.

  Wolf squints as he looks around. He gives a nod with his head and starts to walk in a direction. We follow.

  Everything is what I remember from my walk here with Skye—dusty ground, hard rock, distant mountains that seem almost purple. Every now and then metal juts up from the land, twisted and bent and shimmering in the sun. For a moment, other images flash in front of me—green and smooth paths and people walking past, hurrying with purpose, their cloth tunics fluttering. Is it a memory?

  My mouth is already dry.

  We keep walking until we reach a space that is straight and smooth. A road. The word pops into my head. On either side of it, rock walls rise up, striped by sediment and years of erosion. Cool shadows wash over the road. Stepping out of the sun, I let out a breath and glance back.

  The hole we climbed out of has disappeared. Now I see why Bird said we need each other. I would never find my way back on my own. Ahead of Raj and me, the Rogues keep walking, glancing up at the sky every now and then.

  Glancing at Raj, I ask, “What are they looking for?”

  He looks at the sky and then says, his voice soft and low, “We make a point of not making noise when we’re going in and out. And we’re all watching or listening for drones.”

  An image hovers close—something black in the air, something like the sentinel I saw within the platform after the connect, but round. “Drones.” I let the word roll around my tongue, hoping it will stir more memories, but nothing comes to me.

  Raj gives a low laugh. “You really don’t know anything.”

  Pushing my shoulders back, I shoot him a sideways glance. “Hey, I know things.”

  He actually laughs, and Bird glances back, her eyes bright as if she wants to be in on whatever is funny. Leaning closer, Raj whispers, “Right, you know your name.”

  Raj doesn’t smell as good as Wolf, but his scent is nice, too. It stirs something in my memory, but it slips away too fast. Does he smell like electronics? Brushed metal? My cheeks warm, and I put a hand up to shade my face. “I know your name, too.”

  He nudges my shoulder with his. Bobcat calls back, her voice a low hiss, “Keep up!”

  It seems we walk a long way, following this road that isn’t quite a road, past rocks and sand and sand and rocks. The ground starts to rise. Sweat beads on my forehead and slicks my back. I haven’t breath to talk, so I focus on one foot in front of the other. Raj’s boots and mine make a shuffling sound, but the Rogues walk in utter silence. At last we come to a rise, and Wolf lifts a hand. Everyone stops. Bird pulls out a bulging skin. The Rogues pass it around. When it comes to Raj, I can smell the water. Raj drinks only a little and passes the skin to me. I want to drink it all, but I copy Raj and only drink a little. I pass the skin back to Bird and turn away.

  In the distance, the wall rises up. I can’t see the platform where I met Skye, but I know it must be there, dwarfed by that metallic, gray wall, which spans the horizon.

  I turn to Raj and ask, “Are we heading there? For water?” I lick my lips. That was what Skye had said she’d wanted to get—water. It seems to be the rarest thing in the world.

  Will going back to the wall or one of the platforms help my memory?

  Raj shifts the strap to his pouch and adjusts it. His dark skin gleams and his scent seems stronger now. He wipes the beads of moisture from his face. “Mostly water. We probably won’t find any the AI doesn’t control, but we’re looking for food, too. Snake, lizard and yucca or cacti if we can find them. Gear, too. Pieces left out to rust or anything that might be useful. You just never know. If we’re lucky we might find a big cat, or a few rabbits. But the main thing is water.”

  An image flashes into mind—blue pooling water. My body aches with longing. It’s such a lovely picture. I don’t want to banish the image, but it’s distracting.

  Raj’s words—harsh and hard—pull me back to the hot sun and the barren land. “The AI’s gone wrong. It’s the real glitched system.”

  Confused now, I glance at him.

  He lifts a hand. “Sort of. Mostly, the AI needs water—we all do. The Norm can’t survive without it. So the AI hordes it, just like it does with everything.” He gestures with a hand to the rocks and sand and twisted ruins. “It looks like this because of the AI. There used to be huge cities and plants, trees, grass—but the AI takes everything. One of these days, we’ll get to the AI’s core and bring in back in line. We’ll make it work right again.”

  The skin on the back of my neck prickles. Biting my lower lip, I’m not sure why Raj’s words leave me so uneasy. I shift on my feet and glance at the huge wall. That must be the Norm. I know that. But the AI—I’m not really sure who or what that is. And why would the AI want to take everything from the world?

  Licking my lips, I glance around again. The dry heat seems to want to suck the water from me. The sand shifts under my boots.

  Why does the AI want everything this world has to give?

  A shiver slips down my back again. Turning away from the wall—the Norm—I don’t want to talk about it or even think about it right now. It just seems overwhelming. Like Raj, I shift the pouch strap and say, “My feet are already beginning to ache.”

  At this, Raj smiles. “Mine, too. But, well, you’ll see. It’s not much farther. We just don’t want to leave what we have too close to any Central.” He looks at the sky. “It’s not safe.”

  My skin prickles again. There is danger out here, danger that I don’t really know about. I look at the sky, too, but I see only pale blue. The wind picks up, pushing my hair into my eyes, brushing heat and stinging sand over my skin. It whistles through the rocks behind us.

  Wolf gives a wave and we start walking again.

  The road turns down and into a very narrow space that at last opens out just like the tunnels did. Straggly plants grow here. The ground is flat, too, and I realize this is part of a platform, but the metal is hidden under sand.

  Two boulders squat next to the sandy platform. There’s something odd about them. I tip my head to one side and squint. They don’t seem natural. Wolf reaches for one boulder and grabs it. He gives one jerk. I gasp. The illusion is shattered. The rock becomes dirt-colored cloth and reveals a small box with black, metal bars around four, large tires and a seat that might be leather or canvas. Edging closer, careful not to touch it, I glance at a single set of handlebars that jut up. What might be a light sits on the front. It’s a vehicle. I glance at Wolf, irritation stirring like an itch under my skin. He couldn’t have told me?

  “See? No more walking,” Raj tells me and nudges my side with his elbow.

  I glance at him. “You couldn’t have told me?” I’ll let my irritation out at him. Raj’s smile fades. I glance back at the vehicles.

  There are three of them…and seven of us, and it doesn’t look like these cages on wheels are designed to hold three people. That would leave one person still on foot.

  “Bird rides with me,” Wolf announces. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out something that looks like a bunch of wires. He untangles them and hands them out. I glance around. Others are putting them on their heads. “Speak through headsets, but keep it short. Batteries don’t last forever. Raj, you keep the new Glitch.”

  “Lib.” Raj says the word with a sharp bite in his tone.

  Wolf just keeps talking. “Bobcat and Bear, ride together. Lion, you’re scout. If there’s trouble, run. Use the supplies judiciously.”

  Lion nods, but I am still staring at the headset and trying to make sense of everything. Lion scrambles up and over some of the actual boulders and disappears from sight. That’s why we only need three cages on wheels.

  I turn to Raj. “Where did he—?”

  “Lion’s scout, so he’ll stay here. If we don’t make it back before dark, he’ll run and tell the rest of the clan and they’ll move.”
r />   I want to ask him more. Where will they move? What about all the tunnels, will they have to make more? And why wouldn’t we come back? But Wolf has already climbed onto one of the vehicles and Bird slips behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to hold on. Bobcat and Bear are similarly paired, and Bobcat is in front with what looks like the controls.

  Raj helps me put on my headset and motions for me to follow him. The headset has one part that sits over my right ear and something else close enough to my mouth to touch skin. I figure it’s something I can talk into and hear others through.

  Climbing onto the vehicle, Raj does something and it wakes with a hum. I slide on. The vehicle vibrates underneath me.

  “Hold on,” Raj says. I slide my arms around his middle, holding him only loosely. Wolf takes off in a cloud of dust.

  Raj makes the vehicle leap forward with a roar. I tighten my grip around Raj. He’s lean and hard to hold. Wind whips into my face. I can see why we have headsets now. The wind makes it impossible to talk without them.

  I’m not sure the vehicles are better than walking. My feet feel better, but they kick up sand that stings my face. I’m glad I have Skye’s jacket to cover my arms and pants and boots. I duck my head behind Raj and that helps but I can’t see much.

  We bounce over the ground, my butt hitting the seat and my teeth shaking from the ride. Raj seems determined to stay right on Wolf’s tail and Bobcat skims over the ground next to us.

  Wolf’s voice crackles over the headset. “Bird, are you getting anything?”

  After a pause, Bird says, “Head east to the Tower.”

  Leaning forward, I ask Raj, “What’s the Tower?”

  He waves a hand—he hasn’t heard—and tells me, “Use the buttons. Green will let you talk to me. Red lets you talk to everyone.”

  I fiddle with the buttons. They’re small and I don’t want to let go of Raj. If I do, I’ll probably fall. That doesn’t sound fun to me. Finding the right button, I ask the question again and tell him, “I remember… some things. Flashes of things. But not the tower.”