The Broken Peace Read online

  Confused, I shoot him an odd, squinty look. “What?”

  “Mavis heard it wrong when we first met, but I never corrected her because it was so loud in the kitchen, that I thought she was saying it right”—he shrugs with a goofy look on his face—“and now it is too late.”

  His little story causes me to cackle and guffaw, just as Sarah does. “I’ll tell her,” I say. “It’s no problem.”

  “No,” Hayden tells me. “It’s been days. It’s too long now.”

  “It’ll just get even more weird the longer you wait! I mean—”

  He shushes me as Mavis rounds the corner with a pot half her size. When she sets the pot down, I can’t help but snicker, causing Hayden to leave.

  “What?” Mavis asks me, knowing something is going on.

  “Oh nothing,” I tell her. “Aiden just had to get back to work.”

  “Got it.” She nods back to me. “You know, this is Aiden’s chosen career. He chose it as a permanent job this morning.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  She nods again. “Yeah. And you know what else? I get to go and choose my job tonight after my shift ends.”

  “Really? What kind of career are you going to choose?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know? Is that not the sort of thing that you need to know before you go in?”

  Mavis gets back to cutting. “Yes, but I am not really prepared for anything. I don’t have any real ‘education’ for anything other than being thrown out into the woods, remember?”

  “Well, most people from Bestellen are not really prepared for any jobs besides the ones they were originally assigned to, but thanks to the technologies Bergland has brought over, many of the jobs we now have are going to be a lot easier.”

  She scoffs. “Like what?”

  “Eh,” I pause, “like a, um, road paver or a construction worker?”

  Mavis chuckles. “Good job. Those may be the only two I can think of.” She throws some of the chopped vegetables into the pot. “Derek is a construction worker. He told me that they have machines that build all the buildings and that all he has to do is load them up with the proper tools and then his managers will punch in the instructions.”

  “See?” I nudge her in the arm. “Easy, right?”

  “Sure, but I don’t want to do that.”

  “Why not? The machines really do all the work.”

  She looks back at the cutting board and continues chopping.

  I know I was joking with her when I told her that the machines do all the work, but that claim sits with me. It is true.

  Having machines help build a new nation quickly is great, but what about after that? Do we keep improving upon these machines until they can do the work by themselves? Why haven’t they made robots that can help make food, do the gardening, do the cleaning, and do the driving all by themselves?

  If we do, won’t that take jobs away from people who need them?

  I shake off the thought of robots making humans obsolete and get back to cutting carrots when all of a sudden, a large crashing sound echoes through the room. Mavis and I both look for the source of the sound to find Hayden standing over a bunch of metal pans that he knocked over.

  “Good old Aiden.” I chuckle at Mavis.

  Logan

  I fold one of my final shirts and shove it into my bag. Eric and I are finally being dispatched today.

  I don’t have much to pack. Just a few clothes that the hospital and John have provided me.

  Once I finish putting them all in my bag, Eric and I head out. Since we were both injured working for the Taai, our benefits are extremely gracious compared to most. Along with the fact that we share the same benefits, neither Eric nor I have any family left except for each other.

  Over the period of time that Eric and I have spent together in recovery, we have become close. About as close as you can get when one person won’t speak very much. Though Eric speaks every now and then, I catch him muttering things to himself more than actually speaking.

  John came by earlier today and told us both that he has set up a small house for the two of us. He said, “It is completely handicapped accessible, and once we get Eric up and moving with his prosthetic leg, we can take off any and all ramps.”

  Though this was supposed to be comforting, I noticed Eric roll his eyes when John told us. Usually, when John sees disrespect like that, he will snap, but he can tell that scolding Eric won’t help anything.

  Other than McCullough and the others in our van who died during the first explosion, no other Taai was killed. A few of them were hurt, but Eric and I took the worst hits, which is why I assume John pulled all the strings he could to get us a house to ourselves without having to force us to pay for it just yet.

  He wanted the new house to be a surprise, so neither of us have seen it yet. All we know is that the only people who have keys to our house are Eric and I, and that is because John came by and dropped them off earlier.

  I can’t help but be excited about the new house, but just as Eric does, I play it off as if it is nothing. Though I say “play,” I don’t know if Eric is playing or not. I figured he would be excited to move into his first house outside of Bergland, out in the real world, but he hasn’t made any real effort to show enthusiasm.

  Neither of us are one hundred percent sure that leaving the rehabilitation center will be the best thing, but I know for a fact that we both want to get out of there and stop feeling like victims.

  As Eric and I get into the cab, I chuckle. “I’m actually going to somewhat miss this place.”

  Eric scoffs as he takes a seat and tries to scoot inward. “I’m not.”

  “That’s too bad, because you will be coming back quite often for physical therapy.” I elbow him as I take my seat beside him. “It’ll be like you never left.”

  Eric rolls his eyes. “You’ll be back here too.”

  I nod. “Yes I will, but at least I am not going to be crabby about it.”

  Eric finishes scooting over and looks out of the window with nothing to say.

  “So”—I sit in beside him and hand the driver the piece of paper with the address of our new house—“are you happy to be getting a prosthetic leg?”

  Eric shrugs. “I’ll be happy if it works.”

  With Eric ending the conversation, the driver gets us to buckle up, and we take off. Eric and I look around to see how much the city has changed. I haven’t gotten out much, and I don’t think Eric has gotten out at all since the hospital explosion. The number of new finished buildings is baffling and extremely impressive. The roads are beautiful, the structures are gorgeous, and there are bronze-colored streetlamps lining the roads, along with the occasional raised decorative box clock on a street corner.

  As we drive and see all these magnificent structures, I am reminded that by tonight, I need to have a career chosen. John has submitted a list of careers that I can do to the career officer I will be meeting with. After submitting the list, he made sure that the officer understood that those were the only jobs I am allowed to do, all because John wants me to take it easy for a while.

  Out of the jobs John gave me, I can’t decide what I want to do. I know I don’t want a job where I will be working a lot. I am too sore to even think about working all day, but the main reason I don’t want to have a full-time job is I don’t want to leave Eric alone for too long. He is already depressed enough; leaving him alone won’t help anything.

  After driving for a few miles, we turn down a road, lined with freshly planted trees, looking like they have been planted less than a month ago. We keep driving to find a small circle of houses at the end of the street. The house the driver pulls up to is a small fancy-looking stone building with a red shingle roof. Compared with all the other houses in this area, it is extremely small, but it is still much bigg
er than the house I grew up in in Bestellen.

  “Here we are,” the driver tells us. He gets out of the car, just as I do, and he pulls Eric’s wheelchair out of the trunk. After setting it in front of Eric, we watch him deny help and struggle to get back into his chair.

  Once he is settled, the two of us pull out our small bags, thank the driver, and wave him goodbye. He takes off and pulls out of the neighborhood just as quickly as he pulled in. Eric and I wait and stare at our new house from the front in awe. The windows are perfectly square and clean, the grass appears to have the same deep shade of healthy green coloring as the grass from the woods outside the wall, and lining the sides of the house are fancy bushes with pink flower buds frozen closed on them.

  I take a few steps forward to get out of the chilly air, following Eric’s lead up the perfectly paved driveway. When he gets to the door, he pulls out the house key and unlocks the door. Assuming he was about to head in, I bump into Eric who remains parked in the doorway.

  Before I get the chance to ask him if he’s okay, he sighs. “I figured the first house I got to live in, the first real house, the first time I entered it, I wouldn’t be wheeling myself in.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Mavis

  As my shift comes to an end, Sarah hobbles over to me with a pained expression on her face.

  I set down my rag and turn to her. “Are you okay?”

  “My feet.” She places one of her hands on my station and leans, trying to relieve some of the pressure. “I’ve been on them all day every day, but something about being out of the mountain is making them hurt worse.”

  “I’m sorry.” I lean against the table as well and look down at her feet. She wears closed toed shoes that cover her entire feet, but it is obvious that her ankles are swollen. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “No.” She shakes her head and straightens her posture. “I’m sorry to whine. I was actually coming over here to tell you that once you are done cleaning your station, you can go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I nod. “Thank you, Sarah.”

  She nods back and hobbles over to Sam, where it looks like they have the same conversation we just had. I pick my rag back up and wipe all the crumbs off the table, onto the floor, and begin to spray down the stainless steel surface.

  Just before I get the chance to start wiping, a familiar voice echoes through the room, causing both Sam and I to jerk our heads toward the kitchen entrance. My eyes quickly fall upon Janice as she makes her way into the kitchen.

  “Mavis! Sam!” Her smile grows as her joyful voice bounces off the walls and she makes her way over to the two of us. She wraps her arms around us both and squeezes us tight. “How are you two? I missed you both so much!”

  “We missed you too,” Sam tells her as he pulls out of the hug. “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in weeks!”

  “I am the assistant secretary of education, remember?” She chuckles. “I have been having to sort things through and organize a bunch of stuff. I have had so many different tasks since I got here that I can’t count them all. The main thing that Hash and I have been doing is prepping everyone from Bestellen.”

  Sam’s jaw drops in a smile. “You two did all of that? You two were the ones who prepped everybody and explained stuff to them?”

  Janice shakes her head with wide eyes. “No, no. Oh wow, no. We have teachers from Bergland who have spread out and have been teaching for us. They have also been gathering up the citizens and helping them set up school schedules. It is a lot of work. The two of us couldn’t do it all.”

  “Oh yeah, is everything going okay?” Sam asks her. “Meaning, you haven’t had too many people fight you on all this?”

  She shrugs. “Most everything is running smoothly. A good sixty-five percent of Bestellen fought with Bergland during the war, and most of the thirty-five percent that was against Bergland was either an official or a citizen of Metropolis or Verwend.”

  Before Sam can speak, I chime in and ask Janice, “Where are all the people who didn’t agree with Bergland?”

  “General Wilson is taking care of that.” She smirks. “I wasn’t trying to sound menacing. Wilson and the new government has them labeled as traitors, so they will be spending time in prison.”

  Sam’s face makes the expression that it makes just before he chimes in, so Janice speeds her speaking up. “They aren’t being tortured or abused or anything, they are just being held until they are no longer considered a threat.”

  “How long will that be?” Sam asks her. “And what exactly will deem them fit to come back to society?”

  “Once they have a full understanding of Bergland, they should be ready to submit.” She crosses her arms as someone in the back sprays someone else with the sink hose. I can almost hear Sarah’s frustration with these immature beings. Janice brings her attention back to us after a moment of watching the madness unfold. “Some have already been released. It was mainly people who only fought with Bestellen because they were scared that if they didn’t, they would die.”

  Sam raises his finger to interject once again, but Janice jumps in. “They are still being monitored though.”

  Sam’s finger lowers as he nods with an impressed look on his face.

  “So,” I say, “the extremists are staying in prison?”

  She nods as we all listen to Sarah scold one of the new workers. This is the first time that I’ve ever actually heard or seen her angry. I can’t help but turn around and watch as her face turns bright red and she tries to calmly tell the workers not to do that.

  Janice pulls us aside and gets our attention away from the mess. “So careers! Is this the one you guys chose?”

  “Nope,” Sam tells her. “I haven’t chosen yet.”

  I wave them back to come with me so I can finish wiping down my table. “Nor me. I am actually going to go and choose my career right after I finish my shift.”

  “Oh really?” Janice grows with excitement. “That’s great! What are you going to choose?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know yet. I am not prepared for anything.”

  Janice watches me wipe the table down for a moment and sighs. As I throw the rag back into the cleaning bucket, she asks me, “Do you want to keep working with food?”

  The water from the bucket splashes back up at me, getting a small chunk of the vegetables, from earlier today, on my arm. “No,” I tell her, flicking the chunk of food off me, “not really. I have had enough of it, but if I can’t think of another career, I will come back to do this until I figure something else out.”

  As I place the bucket back on its little hook, I grab the broom and dustpan and bring it over to sweep all the trash and crumbs from my table.

  “Well, that’s okay. The counselor you will meet with can help you find something.” Janice kicks out a small piece of trash from the side of the table. “They can figure out what you are best suited for and what you would probably enjoy the most.”

  I nod as I continue to try to get the trash from every corner and area as I can. If this career officer can help me like Janice says they can, then I am actually kind of excited for this.

  “So”—Janice turns from me, back to Sam—“do you know when you are going to go and choose a career?”

  “Not yet, but I will be going back to the offices soon for a meeting about a hospital transfer for my mom. I will ask them then.”

  “Okay.” She gives him a smile. “I’m happy to hear she is okay. One of the first things I did when I got here was check and see if your mother and Logan’s grandfather were okay.”

  I nod as we all look at each other with a silent acknowledgment that Logan’s grandfather is dead.

  The awkward moment passes, and Janice looks back at me. “So how are you two adjusting to the new country?”

  I finish sweeping my area and force all the junk int
o the dustpan. “It’s okay. I am enjoying my time so far.” I rise back up to a standing position and take the mess over to the trash can. “I’m staying with my friend Derek and his mother. They will be living in the capital for a while, but I don’t know how long.”

  Most likely they’ll be staying here for the rest of Ms. Page’s life. Derek told me the other night that he would make more money staying in the capital and working as a builder than he would in any other state. He said that he has to stay here so that he can afford a caretaker for his mom.

  Derek was not made to live in the city. That is why he bought the most secluded house in the entire capital, but he is making sacrifices for his mom. Another reason that he lives just outside the city is so that his mother can visit. She has always wanted to live in or near a city, so he is making sure that happens.

  “That’s nice,” Janice tells me. “Are you planning to move back to where Bloot was? State Four?”

  “No. I will be staying with Derek to help him care for his mother.”

  I don’t have very many good memories in Bloot anyways.

  “What about you, Sam?” Janice asks.

  “I want my mom to live in the city with me,” he immediately blurts. “Everything is fine, but I don’t want to be away from my mom. I want to give her the best, and the new capital will be the best.”

  She chuckles at his optimistic claim and nods her head. “That sounds logical.” Janice looks around the room and takes another deep breath. “All right, kids, I am very happy to see you both, but I really need to go get back to work.” She opens her arms and gives us both one last hug. “Once things settle down, we will have more time to talk.”

  “How will you find us if we change jobs?” I ask her.

  She smiles at me and begins backing out of the kitchen slowly. “I can ask the offices where you guys are. They’ll tell me.” She pauses and looks at us with a slightly serious expression. “Speaking of which, you guys can go to the AO and request that your information be private. This way, no one can ask about you and then get your address and where you work unless you put them on your list of people who can access that information.”