course never in real life. And usually they were entered in sealed tunnels or manned by people in biosuits. Adrien pushed me onto the hard gray seat and shut the door behind me. He ran around the front of the vehicle and got in the other seat beside me. I felt a little less tense about toxic exposure once we were inside the vehicle. It appeared well sealed. I hoped it had a good air-filtration system. Adrien tapped on a key panel beside the wheel; then he looked over at me.
“Ready?”
I managed a small nod, feeling anything but ready.
“Oh, your seat belt,” he said, reaching across me for something. I didn’t know what he was doing. His chest was close to me right as I breathed in and he smelled so … good. Not good-food-smell good, but good in a different way. I swallowed as tingles drifted down my body. He pulled the belt across me and clicked it in. Then he was settled back in his seat and we were in motion.
I watched in stunned fascination, trying to take in everything at once. I’d ridden the subway my whole life but it was nothing like this. The motion of this vehicle with its rapid acceleration and deceleration made me queasy—and that was without considering all the wild things I saw out the windows.
The Surface world was full of geometric shapes, square and rectangular buildings, some with triangle roofs reaching up into the sky. I averted my eyes from the sky. Looking at it made me feel nauseated from anxiety, so instead I focused on the straight streets and the buildings at eye level. Everything was concrete, gray as my underground world, except for the occasional shock of green—weeds coming up through the concrete, trees and overgrown brush on the sides of the road. Overall, though, it was clean. The paved street we drove on was smooth. The buildings looked well kept. Operational, just like Adrien had said.
Still, it was all eerily deserted. In my sublevel world, people were always crowded together—orderly, but crowded. The only place of solitude was in our tiny efficient housing units, and even there, I could only be truly alone in the few square feet of my personal quarters. I simply couldn’t fathom the space and emptiness of the Surface. The tall buildings looked like monstrous uneven teeth jutting up. It was a nightmarescape, cruel and uninviting.
Occasionally we passed other vehicles on the road, but the glass of each car was so darkly tinted I couldn’t see the people inside. Adrien’s knuckles whitened on the wheel every time one went by. I finally stopped looking out the windows and focused on him. I couldn’t tell how long we’d been driving in silence—twenty, maybe thirty minutes? His face was taut, almost blank. For a second, he looked like he was connected to the Link, but then I noticed him chewing his bottom lip.
He was tense. He’d seemed so confident ever since he’d burst into the official’s room, it was strange seeing him looking anxious.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come. Maybe he didn’t really know what he was doing. How much did I even know about him?
“Are you in acceptable condition?” I finally asked, my voice sounding overly loud in the small space of the car.
“What?” He looked over at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just on edge. I don’t like being out in the open like this.”
“I don’t like it, either,” I said. “There’s so much space.” I dared a glance upward out the window, then pulled back quickly. “It’s too big.”
He laughed. “No, I love that kind of openness. I’ve felt so claustrophobic the past few weeks. I hate being underground and not being able to see the sun. It’s so godlam’d cold down there too. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
“But you said—”
“I just don’t like driving on roads I know are monitored. Makes me feel exposed. I think we made a clean escape and this vehicle looks regulation from the outside, it should pass their satellite cams without a
“Ready?”
I managed a small nod, feeling anything but ready.
“Oh, your seat belt,” he said, reaching across me for something. I didn’t know what he was doing. His chest was close to me right as I breathed in and he smelled so … good. Not good-food-smell good, but good in a different way. I swallowed as tingles drifted down my body. He pulled the belt across me and clicked it in. Then he was settled back in his seat and we were in motion.
I watched in stunned fascination, trying to take in everything at once. I’d ridden the subway my whole life but it was nothing like this. The motion of this vehicle with its rapid acceleration and deceleration made me queasy—and that was without considering all the wild things I saw out the windows.
The Surface world was full of geometric shapes, square and rectangular buildings, some with triangle roofs reaching up into the sky. I averted my eyes from the sky. Looking at it made me feel nauseated from anxiety, so instead I focused on the straight streets and the buildings at eye level. Everything was concrete, gray as my underground world, except for the occasional shock of green—weeds coming up through the concrete, trees and overgrown brush on the sides of the road. Overall, though, it was clean. The paved street we drove on was smooth. The buildings looked well kept. Operational, just like Adrien had said.
Still, it was all eerily deserted. In my sublevel world, people were always crowded together—orderly, but crowded. The only place of solitude was in our tiny efficient housing units, and even there, I could only be truly alone in the few square feet of my personal quarters. I simply couldn’t fathom the space and emptiness of the Surface. The tall buildings looked like monstrous uneven teeth jutting up. It was a nightmarescape, cruel and uninviting.
Occasionally we passed other vehicles on the road, but the glass of each car was so darkly tinted I couldn’t see the people inside. Adrien’s knuckles whitened on the wheel every time one went by. I finally stopped looking out the windows and focused on him. I couldn’t tell how long we’d been driving in silence—twenty, maybe thirty minutes? His face was taut, almost blank. For a second, he looked like he was connected to the Link, but then I noticed him chewing his bottom lip.
He was tense. He’d seemed so confident ever since he’d burst into the official’s room, it was strange seeing him looking anxious.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come. Maybe he didn’t really know what he was doing. How much did I even know about him?
“Are you in acceptable condition?” I finally asked, my voice sounding overly loud in the small space of the car.
“What?” He looked over at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just on edge. I don’t like being out in the open like this.”
“I don’t like it, either,” I said. “There’s so much space.” I dared a glance upward out the window, then pulled back quickly. “It’s too big.”
He laughed. “No, I love that kind of openness. I’ve felt so claustrophobic the past few weeks. I hate being underground and not being able to see the sun. It’s so godlam’d cold down there too. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
“But you said—”
“I just don’t like driving on roads I know are monitored. Makes me feel exposed. I think we made a clean escape and this vehicle looks regulation from the outside, it should pass their satellite cams without a
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