Page 11 of Dissent

Raúl’s eyes narrowed as his nostrils flared with his breath. “Don’t make me ask again, Mara. Or you’ll find yourself back in the basement.”

My heart seized as the color drained from my face. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry.

“What is his name?”

I glimpsed at Jacob, hoping he would help me, but he stayed quiet. His eyes poured out concern, and the look he gave me begged me to comply with our father’s request. I hung my head, closing my eyes. I didn’t want to go back into the basement.

I couldn’t.

With a deep breath and a long exhale, my chin trembled as I spoke. “Chase Beckham.”

The room went silent. I stole another glance at Jacob, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He looked lost in thought, gazing out at nothing, and that scared me.

“Don’t disappoint me, Mara.” Raúl’s voice was stern, but his composure returned, each word said with an immeasurable amount of weight in it.

“Yes,” Belinda interjected, causing Raul to narrow his gaze on her. “Disappoint us again, and I think you will find that your past moments of solitude in the basement won’t come close to the punishment you will receive.”

I gulped, feeling my heart pounding, the blood rushing in my ears as fear threatened to cripple me from the inside out.

***

Lying in bed, gripping my pillow for comfort, I flipped through the pictures I had of Chase on my mini-tab. My eyes roved over my favorite one, a selfie we took together. He was holding me from behind, his cheek resting against mine. Nothing could beat the smile I was wearing. It was genuine, feeling the joy deep in my core. I was so happy that day, but then, I was always happy when I was with him. He was the only one that lifted the sadness whenever I thought of my reality. And now I had ruined it. Any chance Chase had of being accepted as a match for me was gone. All I could hope for now was that he didn’t get into too much trouble.

God, I hated my life.

Was it wrong of me to wish everything was different? That I could just run away from here, never having to see my parents again? Was it wrong to want to feelaccepted?Loved?

Tears gathered in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I had cried enough today. There was no use in wishing for what couldn’t be. That future didn’t exist for me. And the brief glimmer I had of a possible happy future had just been flushed down the toilet. And to make matters worse, Chase never called. He said he would, but he didn’t. And that left me feeling empty.

My fingers found my pendant—thumb running over the antiqued gold—when someone knocked on my door, startling me. It was getting late, and it surprised me that anyone was up right now. “Yes?”

The knob turned and the door slowly opened, creaking ever so slightly on its hinges. Jacob’s head popped in, a gentle smile gracing his face when he saw I was clearly still awake. “Hey, what are you still doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep, but I could ask the same about you.” I sat up and pushed myself back on my bed, resting against the headboard. It was an invitation for him to sit, and he read it perfectly. Closing the door behind him, he flopped onto my bed, making himself comfortable.

“I’ve been working in the library with Father.”

“Oh? What’s going on?”

“Well,” he began as he rolled onto his side, supporting his head in his hand. “There’s been a significant increase in rebel activity. Not just in District 3, but in District 2andDistrict 1. That whole vandalism incident you saw yesterday isn’t the only one. There’s been more tagging going on, with the same words spray painted all over the damn place. With dad’s reelection around the corner, we’re having a hard time trying to figure out how to manage it.”

“Do you guys think it’s just Sympathizers?”

He took in a deep breath as he flopped onto his back, placing his hands on his chest. “That’s one theory, but we actually think it’s bigger than that.”

“Bigger? Like how?”

He tipped his head to the side, looking at me. “Don’t say anything, okay? This is total REG top secret shit, but…” He cleared his throat before lowering his voice. “We think it’s actual rebel forces getting past the wall.”

My eyebrows hit my hairline. That was crazy! No one had beeninoroutof Telvia in years. The giant wall Raúl had built following the war ensured that. People battled for what little resources remained after the Great Drought turned civilization into a wasteland. The country fell into civil war, different regions trying to claim dibs on what water sources were left. And before you knew it, everything changed. Everything broke apart, and one country became four regions—or factions—that agreed on very little and the tension remained thick. The West and South seceded from the United Factions of America, and Raúl was elected to the presidency. He had a vision of a safe, fully sustainable, and independent country that needed no support from neighboring regions. Thus, Telvia was born, and to protect it, he resurrected the wall.

My attention returned to my brother. “That’s impossible. How did you even figure that out?”

“We got an anonymous tip from someone, and the REG looked into it. Let’s just say he knew some stuff that is leading us to believe they’re getting into the city somehow.”

Crap…that was bad. “Sounds heavy.”

Jacob snorted, “Yeah, heavy for sure. Dad thinks they are amassing outside the wall and are trying to get more Sympathizers on the inside. If they do that, then that could be abigproblem.” He grew serious, and I could tell something was weighing on him. I stayed quiet, knowing he just needed space to gather himself. Sure enough, he inhaled deeply and began again, “You know, Father thinks we might have a war on our hands soon.”

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