Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(82)
“What we need is a distraction,” Bells says. “For everyone to think we’re somewhere else, or maybe to see us go toward the other exit…”
“If only we had multiple Bells, and they could all shapeshift into us and fool the adults into chasing us in the opposite direction,” Abby mutters.
Christine wiggles her fingers. “I mean, this isn’t an exact replica, but, at a distance, it’ll do.” A sweatshirt and sweatpants rise from Bells’ clothing pile, and the fabric does a little dance. One of the arms waves back at them.
“That’s brilliant,” Emma says.
“I know,” she says.
Bells hugs her. “Great. You can distract them and then join us—”
Christine shakes her head. “I’d love to, but it’s going to take a lot of effort and I’ll be too tapped out to go anywhere for a good long time.” She winks at them. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to it. This is gonna be the most fun I’ve had while I’m here.”
Abby nods, her jaw set in determination. “We ready then?”
Jess pulls out several backpacks from under a sleeping bag in the corner. “Do we need anything else?”
“I think we’ve got it,” Bells says. “Let’s go.”
The hovertrain in Bitterroot is a gleaming monstrosity; the exterior is covered in dust and who knows what. Emma scans the datachips that Brendan loaded with their fake tickets, and they all hesitate, watching the turnstile process it. It beeps, and they move through the gate. There are people milling everywhere, getting on trains headed in various directions: New Bright City, Nuevo Angeles, and even as far south as Guadalajara.
They find their seats on the train: a small compartment with benches and a table. The scenery passes by quickly: snowcapped peaks and rugged terrain, thicker and thicker forests. Sometimes Bells thinks he can see the remnants of a pre-Collective town, filled with nothing but ghosts now.
On the overhead radio a woman speaks in a tour guide voice. “And we have just passed what used to be the border between Canada and the United States… we are currently in the Northern Cascades, and if you select tracks 3B you can learn more about the history of the Northern regions… approaching New Vancouver and will arrive in one hour.”
Emma and Jess whisper about the plan, what to expect. Abby is asleep. Brendan is hyper-focused on reading a newsholo he’s borrowed from the people in the next carriage. Bells watches the sun set in the forest; it looks unreal, like a movie set.
They pass through New Vancouver; Bells was asleep on this part of the journey the last time he was here, and he’s now impressed at just how green it is. Plants grow everywhere, up the sides of buildings and on balconies and rooftops; gardens sprawl in all directions.
He doesn’t see the telltale sparkle of solar panels, but maybe the city doesn’t use cheap ones as Andover does. The fancy panels can look like anything: rooftop shingles or glass windows.
“Where do they get their power?” Jess says.
“Tides,” Emma says without looking away from the holobook she’s reading.
The ocean looks like an endless sky, if the sky was alive and rolling with energy and might. Tidal-power plants stick out from the ocean. These bright-orange towers dot the coast, and, if Bells squints, he can spot people scurrying back and forth on the closest ones.
“That’s cool,” Bells says. “Guess they never have to worry about storms causing power outages. Tides go on forever, right?”
“Powered by the moon. And natural magnetic fields,” Emma says.
The train hurries up the coastline, and soon they’re arriving at Aerial City. Bells is struck again by its constantly shifting nature: the kids on hoverboards, the lifts rising into the trees like clockwork. With Bells retracing his steps and Jess’ direction, they find their way to the great forest. Here their luck runs out; where the League sent lifts to the training center, the five of them have to travel by foot.
The first hour is a grand adventure, walking through the trees, smelling the fresh mountain air, and gently teasing about what it must have been like for Bells to spend the entire summer up in the trees. Above them, the track the lift took across the forest is visible; they’ve still got a ways to go.
The air is damp, and the mist whirls around the trees, as though it has a mind of its own. Bells shivers. He remembers how scared he was. The lift terrified him. It scares him still, just thinking about it.
Jess was the only one who liked hiking, who liked seeing those edges, who dared to go farther. The most daring thing Bells was able to enjoy? Going fast on his motorcycle, and that had taken practice. Up? Up is a different story. Because inevitably, someone is going to go down, and they’re likely to be in pieces at the end.
Bells is not a fan of that idea.
A tendril of mist lingers around a neighboring tree, as though it can’t decide which direction to go. It swirls up and down and then disappears.
Bells misses the heat of the desert, the bright colors of the sunset, and the endless sun shining down. This … it’s beautiful, but it reminds him too much of the time he spent in training, when he had to pretend to be someone else every day.
They eat a quick dinner of protein bars, and night falls around them. He can’t see the stars , just looks into endless darkness and hears the rustling of the leaves.
Emma is fluffing up her jacket.