Maddie turned the data tablet over in her hands. It required her signature.

"Attention," a voice called over loudspeakers.

A row of no less than two hundred Volunteers jumped to their feet—Maddie included. She'd deal with the paperwork later.

Standing on her right, Ray-Lyn eyed the tablet. "What's that? A complaint?"

Without answering, Maddie stared ahead. The dome field began to form above them. Here, on the wall overseeing The Passage, it would extend past them and stop on the other wall keeping the citizens of the Outer Limits at bay.

This was a daily routine, and more out of duty than any requirement. Volunteers gave of their own rations for Vagrants to live. The Inner City paid nearly no attention to what went on beyond The Passage. As such, Volunteers cared—Volunteers gave back. From the fat food ration of nearly every Volunteer, they offered sixty percent.

Ray fidgeted. "What is that? A report? You've been quiet ever since...." Her voice trailed off until she said, "Why won't you tell me? I didn't even put in all the details about your mess up yesterday. The least you could do is tell me what I'm in for."

She was concerned about saving her own hide but Maddie had little patience today.

Without looking away from the forming dome field, Maddie handed the data tablet over. As she anticipated, Ray handed it back.

"Oh," Ray said.

Of course, she didn't have anything else to say. Ray's reading ability—or lack thereof—was well known with their pod. She recognized symbols though, much like everyone around.

"A death certificate? Didn't know you had any new kills. Not without me at least."

"It didn't involve you," Maddie muttered.

Ray glanced at the tablet and said, "You missed a spot. S'posed to put in the last name, too. Right? Saying it verbal'll do."

Unlikely as Maddie didn't know what last name to give. Something else took up her attention, the lack of motion.

Though the dome over The Passage had formed, no orders came to commence with the feeding.

Murmurs here and there meant people began to notice.

Ray asked, "What you figure's wrong?"

"All Volunteers, arm yourselves and pull back. Repeat, arm yourselves and await command."

Whispers came and went. "Today's feeder numbers have fallen to half."

"Only a fraction."

"The idiots are holding what? Rocks? What'do they plan to accomplish with rocks?"

"Maybe it's a joke."

"It's no joke. Look. Something's going on in there. Something's disrupting the feeding."

A loud siren sounded and a yellow light spun, reaching well into the Outer Limits. That was the signal—no food today.

Maddie stayed on that wall, even as the dome receded and fighters were called into the building. "They'll need food."

Ray-Lyn didn't look it, but she was the most reluctant to interrupt the morning routine. "They can survive long without it. Whatever's wrong, we've better get down there and hope we can resolve it fast. One day is punishment enough. Two days is going to be something else entirely."

Only a handful of Volunteers remained as they shuffled into the building.

"Sentinel 555. You are with child. Please identify your source and/or donor facility."

Maddie looked up from tying her boots. The numbers five-five-five etched in white on the black leather was hers. The same numbers of her mask on the bench was hers as well, but the announcement, that announcement must have belonged to someone else.

It took only one murmur before the room was abuzz with life. Looking from left, then right, she stood fully. Being the center of attention was new to her.

That announcement was wrong. She'd only been with one man...not even all that properly and he was supposed to be sterile. She'd only been with one man, and that was a courtesy, both to her and him, for what she had to do.

"Sentinel 555," LOLA's voice lulled yet again. "You are with child. Please identify your source and/or donor facility."

"Shut that blasted thing off. Swear to all, making a computer pant in a woman's voice is really the last injustice on earth. Get up, you." 556 etched into her helmet, L. Sinclair looked down at Maddie.

"Praise for the day, Laura," Maddie said, standing up straight.

Maddie was the only one who called her that. That was a consequence of being born on the same day with mothers dedicated enough to ensure their future right away.

"Howdy, Five." Laura grinned. "So you got knocked up?"

She meant it as a joke but all laughter faded when Maddie said, "I believe it is an error."

Laura gave her a long hard look. "But maybe it's not, ey?"

Maddie puzzled over that assurance until she noticed a reason for Laura's concern and maybe even one for LOLA's confusion—that weight gain. It was something she couldn't ignore now.

"Have you vomited at all?" Laura asked.

But Maddie met her gaze and was sincere when she said, "It is definitely not that."

"The suit's very specific. Any small change to its wearer brings on a massive amount of stress. Maybe—"

"It isn't..." Maddie said again, desperate to stop all the nonsense. False hope wasn't what she needed right now—not that it would be much of a hope if she found herself somehow pregnant, something that was impossible. "It isn't that."

Laura put a hand on Maddie's shoulder. She looked teary at first but unlike her sister, Ray, who showed wear easily, Laura was a pillar of strength. She squeezed Maddie's arm and said, "There's still a lot of fight in you."

Maddie didn't know if that was true. "It's my own fault."

"Don't talk like that, Five. We've got a briefing to go to. The sixes are coming through to help us. So make yourself presentable. Once we take care of that, we'll see about this, all right?"

Nodding, Maddie let out a held breath. "Understood." She caught Laura's arm before she could walk away. "Don't tell your sister. Your mother did a real number on her this morning."

Laura paused then smiled. "Took off her helmet again?"

"Need you ask?"

"It's just her way." Laura chuckled. "It's good that you visit them. I don't get around there much." She held Maddie's gaze for some time and said, "We'll get through this. Honest. We'll get through this."

And then she walked away—no doubt to tell the five hundred block the possible bad news. Tumors. Ten years had passed since they were ravished by illnesses. A switch to new helmets and food sources had made a world of difference. But it was expected. Breathe in bad air long enough, it'd take its toll. Nothing worse than the Outer Limits and beyond. The A-CAN, anti-cancer, medicine barely made a dent.

Maddie'd have to confess to that, too. She'd have to confess to why she was exposed and what she might have brought back with her without letting anyone know.

She grabbed her helmet and slammed the locker door. If she was lucky, she could reach the briefing room before Ray-Lyn got wind of any of it.

Unlikely. Maddie barely made it into the hallway before Ray caught up. "I heard LOLA. So you did go? Figured you wasted my gift. Didn't know those pleasure houses could screw up like this. But hey, that's pretty good. Maybe I should go next. We're about due to retire anyhow. We're well past the age. I'll go see about a donor tomorrow and we have one together."

"That's...that's unlikely."

Ray grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to stop. "What are you saying?"

Maddie refused to meet her gaze. Instead, she stared at the large double doors seeming to swallow a never-ending flood of Volunteers.

"Are you saying you wouldn't keep it?"

Eyes shifted to Ray, finally, Maddie struggled to answer. The reluctance in her eyes made Ray tighten her grip.

"You wouldn't. You wouldn't dare. What if somebody'd ended us in the womb? What if they'd decided we weren't worth the trouble? What gives you that right? It's like those mutts out there. We feed them like animals. All we need is to put out a damn troth for them next. And you don't go to the Inner City, but I do. I died every second I spent in there with Andy. Volunteers only matter when we have to shield them.

"The sevens and eights hundreds can stay in there thinking they're all fancy while the rest of us are out here struggling to keep these people alive. And it's for one damn reason alone: out of sight, out of mind. We don't exist to them until they want something. So don't you go cutting a life outta you because it's got no voice to beg you not to."

People passed them by, but Maddie couldn't hear any of them. The vice grip on her arm was all that was keeping the numbness at bay.

"It's a tumor, Ray. I've got the tumors. It's not a damn baby."

Ray's grip loosened, falling away before Maddie had time to take her words back.

Day in day out for thirty years they'd been in the 500s. This wasn't how things were supposed to end.

"Always figured I'd be the first to go," Ray muttered.

Maddie couldn't respond. More Volunteers came—most of the 500 block who patted her shoulder along the way. Somehow she started moving; Ray did, too. Both stayed locked in each other's gaze.

She shouldn't have said anything; she should have been a good friend and disappeared on a fake maternity leave and be forgotten.

"Maddison Gonzales: Sentinel 555."

The panel of Inner City politicians sitting comfortably in their offices eons away projected high up on the wall.

Ray stood by Maddie's side—that was foolish.

"Is that her?" one of the men on the screen asked. "That one?"

"Yes." A male Volunteer stepped into the clearing. As 600 blocks and ups rarely mingled with the 500s, the man's presence caused a stir among the ladies. "But we ask for some leniency."

The men on the screen sat silent.

"I am designation Priest. On behalf of the six hundred block, we'd like to resolve this as fast as possible," the Volunteer said.

Laura stepped forward, standing on Maddie's left. "It is not our way to question orders, but considering the severity of us discontinuing the feeding for an entire day, we'd like to know why."

Priest looked up at the screen. When he received one definitive nod from the politician in the center, he turned to Laura and said, "Very well. It's all over our area. Word has it that someone in your block is spreading information about how to disarm Volunteers. We wouldn't take it seriously, usually, but as a precaution we decided to suspend the feeding today until we can confirm any informants on your end."

"Take it seriously," Maddie warned. "Gus—Augustus Butler is a late Volunteer."

Murmurs broke out and even Ray turned to regard her in doubt.

"You said he was in the class," Ray muttered through gritted teeth.

"No. He was one of us."

"A Volunteer?" A man on the screen burst out of his chair, his belly practically dragging him down. "Living in the Outer Limits? How did he get in?"

All eyes fell on Maddie, but she had no answer. They wanted one, and for whatever reason, she said, "He walked in. There's nothing on the other side of the district—that wall was never completed."

"As it is a drop to one's death," Laura muttered. The glare she gave Maddie meant it was best not to dig deeper—to shut up.

Priest looked at Maddie, thoughtful. "We never get to work together on the nice assignments, Mad. I don't want the bloodbath that it'll take to make an example out of anyone dumb enough to attack a Volunteer. You're gonna fix this. Right?"

Maddie swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll go in alone. I'll find Gus and I'll...I'll make sure people realize he's nothing special. His hand is forfeit."

"Take his life," a woman on the screen suggested.

Another person yelled and another until it was a chorus of chaos.

"If it's all the same," Priest called, "we can quell this and play it off as a dumb infraction if we leave him roaming. Otherwise people might believe what he says and they'll have legitimate useful information about us. Embarrass him. Take his credibility. That's how we'll take his power."

One politician sat back in his chair. Another followed until all was silent.

"Very well," the woman said. "See to it. Not a single morsel to eat until it is done."

Laura protested, "That could take days."

The screen faded, cutting off her words. Maddie was embarrassed for her.

"Sixes are here to help," Priest offered.

"No. No. An army of us sweeping through will frighten people. I'll go in. I'll get Gus, and I'll take care of this," Maddie promised.

"Alone? That's suicide," Priest said.

"I'll go with her." Ray stood to her full height. "She won't be alone."

Priest looked between them. "This is insane."

"Priest..." Ray said, "Sentinel 666. Mad's called Mad, and it's not for any irony. If she says she'll do it, she'll do it. And I'll help her."

"You're one to talk. Taking off your helmet on the field like you always do doesn't instill confidence in you, either."

Laura had nothing to say, neither did Maddie.

"We all stand here squabbling while people go hungry," Ray reminded them. "Because if we don't get this guy, we're not allowed to give aide. You know they'll order us to go in and restore the rules. Which would you prefer?"

It was poor form to cuss a subordinate in polite company so Laura waited until they walked the armory alone to raise hell.

"Idiots."

Maddie didn't catch all of it, but she got the general gist. That ended when Laura caught hold of her before she could put her helmet on and walk through the iron doors blocking out The Passage.

"If you leave without Ray...."

"Would you rather I bring her?"

Laura didn't dare accept the challenge. "But what's all this going to prove, Five? Think of where you're going."

"I know where I'm going." Mad let out a sigh. "I'm tired. I'm tired and I'm sick." Her throat went dry with the confession, "She didn't even acknowledge me. Not even one look. She couldn't spare me a glance."

"Mad...." It wasn't often Laura used that awful nickname. She probably wanted to yell but was too torn up to. "It doesn't mean you don't matter to her." After hesitating, she confessed, "Why do you think I don't go? Mother won't even see me. Ray she'll talk to. Run a few jokes. But with me, she says nothing and I know it's because she doesn't want me to dwell." Hand on Maddie's shoulder, she said, "Come back inside. Let us issue a summons for Gus. He's gotten cocky with that escape. He'll probably take it. He'll come right to us and we'll figure something out."

Maddie watched Laura's chest—that was easier than seeing any pity in that gaze.

"He won't come. We acknowledge him with force, they'll think we're afraid."

"We are afraid," Laura admitted. "A Volunteer.... A Volunteer living with Vagrants? I've never seen anything like it. We don't do well with civilians. That's why we're never allowed in the populous for any of us who survive to retire. Ray was out of her mind for trying to start something with a civilian. And you see how well that went. If Andy's family wasn't so powerful, she would have been ordered to end that relationship, too."

Maddie shrugged Laura off and put her helmet on. "We send one Volunteer after Gus and it's containable. They'll see he doesn't matter for any real show of power. They'll see it as a punishment enacted. Nobody'll dare draw blood because of the consequences. I'll find him and I'll fix this."

She walked to the doors and nodded to the two Volunteers to let her out. One glance back showed Laura holding her breath before raising her hand.

Metal ground on metal; a short time later the door closed.

The Passage was filthy. Rather than consider what with, Maddie started for the wall leading to the Outer Limits and picked up speed. She jumped up, finding purchase easily. So long as she kept in motion, the suit would do the rest. She scaled the full ten feet without trouble.

"Curfew in effect." LOLA's voice looped; and not just in the civilian language, but all the dialects.

The eerie stillness might have meant Maddie'd get through this in one piece—not that she cared any longer.

Rifle on her back, and gun still on her hip, she marched on. Not much of the sun made it through but she didn't need it.

"Curfew in effect."

Maddie pushed back her disappointment in the blind obedience. No, she didn't want the bloodshed. She didn't want the feedings to stop. She didn't want to see Volunteers gunning down scores of people should one idiot try to attack.

But she wanted something—she wanted to see some dignity.

The deeper she went in, the more free she felt. There was a sense of loss that came with it, a secret longing telling her to turn back lest she never make it out again. Turn back to what? Feeding people who despised her only to die of tumors from that job? Or maybe she should go back for the biyearly events with the other ranks—her pod of five hundreds could shuffle around awkwardly with the sixes. The fours with the sevens and so on.

There was no damn point.

A roar stole most of the stillness. It was the river. The Outer Limits had no proper river. But it was their water supply mostly. After a certain point people dumped refuse which was carried out and into the beyond by the drop.

It was the edge of the world for the Vagrants here. All that kept that sharp drop at bay was an unfinished wall—that would never be built.

Sitting atop it, was Gus, an emergency helmet on his face. "That's far enough."

Maddie paused in her stride. "I can do this as respectfully as you'll allow me."

Foot on the wall where he sat, Gus rested his elbow on his knee. "You've got some nerve. You walk in here like there's no danger. I can bust up that helmet and cut your throat."

A quick scan of the seemingly bare area betrayed some truths...people were watching.

"You could try," Maddie said. "But one way or another, I'm taking what I've come for. You should know better than anyone...losing a fight isn't an option for me and mine."

Gus still refused to look in her direction. "I was just looking for some extra food."

The gravel in his voice calmed Maddie somewhat. "And now you've caused the feedings to stop. People might follow you for a moment, Augustus. But after they get hungry enough...."

Jaw working, Gus stood. A gun gleamed in his left hand. Maddie's fingers twitched but it was too late to draw her weapon. He was a Volunteer...maybe just for an instant but he didn't earn that by chance.

"Augustus," Maddie warned, "what you do here cannot easily be undone."

"If you make a move, I'll crack that helmet. You'll grab your gun and miss me. We'll fall to the floor and when you finally take a whiff of this lovely air...your throat will lock up and I'll shoot you in the head. And then what?"

And then he could show the Volunteers' mortality and desperate people would rush The Passage to their doom.

"More than likely you'll shoot, I'll charge, and when I catch you, I drag you over the edge with me," Maddie said.

Gus turned to her, finally. "Let's see."

Zip.

Something tore into Gus's right shoulder.

Maddie didn't care what it was. She charged.

Gus regained his senses enough to try to run. He was no match for the suit. Maddie caught him, yanking him close to her.

"Stop, or you'll tip us both over," she warned.

Zip. Zip. Zip.

Looking away from Gus was no option, but a sharp wail forced Maddie to do just that.

A Vagrant peering over a slab of stone long broken off from the wall took a bullet in the head. Then another Vagrant. Five more fell much in the same fashion.

When it finally stopped, Ray lowered her rifle and took off her helmet to spit in their direction.

Maddie trembled from the shock. They were helpless. They were absolutely helpless. Half-starved Vagrants looking for a shred of hope.

Ray pulled her helmet back on and took aim for Gus. "Learn your place, boy," she said.

Gus looked from her to Maddie. His body tensed up and Maddie held on, more out of sympathy than malice.

And then Gus jumped.