Callum grunted in anger. “It took them over a month to track down my parents and arrange an appointment at the clinic. They don’t pay for the removal, by the way. My parents have to take out a huge loan for the hospital, and they can’t leave the city until it’s paid off. If they didn’t both have remote jobs, I’d be stuck wearing this thing for another year. Why should I work for the government when they don’t even take care of their own people?”
Enzo sighed loud enough for Charity to hear it. “Because if good people don’t work for the government, then things will never change.”
Well, that comment said something about Enzo. He was one of the people who thought the governmentcouldchange. He would probably never want to move to New Salem or live in a breakaway state. So where did that leave her?
When the truck got near the city entrance, Charity pretended to wake up. The trees had thinned, revealing the fifteen-foot city walls. Gray and brown buildings protruded over the lesser structures like rows of stained teeth. Cities always looked so unnatural, with their rectangular, jutting buildings. Everything was dingy and graffitied.
The group pulled up to a gate with several lanes going in and out. Security guards sat in booths checking the vehicles.
Charity accessed their entrance order on her father’s phone, and the guards waved them through without comment.
All the old movies made city life seem so glamorous. Beautiful people in sophisticated clothes chatted in penthouse apartments that overlooked the glowing buildings. In real life, the view on the street was a lot less appealing.
Office buildings huddled side by side, seeking warmth from each other. A flat, dirty river of pavement spread everywhere. Scattered, spindly trees stood around, as though they’d wandered in and gotten stuck between the cement slabs of the sidewalk.
Charity clipped the phone on the dash so Enzo could use the map. He hardly seemed to check it.
She studied the map. “There’s a supermarket a mile from the hospital. We’ll go there after we drop Callum off. Any idea where we can find black market drugs?”
Callum answered instead of Enzo. “Try a place called Speedy’s Pharmacy. The slavers went there for stuff.”
She looked it up on the map. Speedy’s was in the heart of downtown, only about five miles from the clinic. “Thanks for the tip.”
Callum leaned over, looking out the windows. “At least my time spent with criminals was good for something.”
When they pulled up to the hospital, a middle-aged couple was waiting outside between the building and the parking garage. The man, tall with reddish-blond hair and a beard, stood beside a curvy woman with tan skin and a mop of curly brown hair. Their hopeful eyes scanned the area.
“Stop!” Callum told Enzo. He rolled down the window and waved to his parents. “Mom! Dad!”
Before the truck even came to a complete stop, Callum leaped out and ran to his parents. He put an arm around each, and they enveloped him into a sobbing hug. It was perhaps the most touching thing Charity had ever seen. She watched them unabashedly until Enzo pulled into the parking garage, and she lost sight of them.
He drove the car expertly into one of the spaces. “I’m glad I got to see that. It’s a reminder that…” He didn’t finish the sentence.
Charity hadn’t planned on speaking to Enzo unless she had to, but curiosity got the best of her, “A reminder of what?”
He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “A reminder that trying to break into your father’s gun safe to save Callum wasn’t so stupid. Saving others is worth some personal sacrifice.”
She didn’t comment, and the two walked the rest of the way to Callum’s family in silence.
When they reached the Newmans, Callum’s mother turned to Charity, looking like she’d like to discard conventions and throw her arms around her. “You’re the one who saved Callum? I can’t tell you how thankful we are.”
Mrs. Newman’s hand went to her chest, emphasizing her words. “We’d like to repay you. I don’t know what we can do for you and your family, but there must be something. Perhaps once we find a place to live, you could stay with us, and we could help you get some sort of training so you can work in the city.”
Mr. Newman put his arm around his wife. “We don’t mean to imply that harvesting isn’t a good job if that’s what you want to do. If you’re ever looking for more options, though, we’ll see what we can do to assist you.”
Their offer was touching, especially since they had to take a loan out to pay for Callum’s surgery. They weren’t people with a lot of means.
Well, Charity’s father was right about her being able to tell whether they were good people, which meant she’d have to talk to them about New Salem. But she wouldn’t do it with Enzo listening.
She turned to him. “I’ll stay at the clinic for a few minutes to tell the physicians what tests my mother already did on Callum so the Newmans don’t have to pay to have them run again.” It was a flimsy excuse. The doctors wouldn’t take a country nurse’s word for anything. Charity handed him the key and the shopping list. “I’ll meet you at the grocery store when I finish.”
Since the store was only a mile away, she could walk the distance.
His chin dipped in surprise. “You’re just giving me the truck? You trust me to get the stuff?”
“I won’t be that long. I’ll bring the money with me.”
His gaze locked on hers, and he seemed to know she had other motives, but he headed back to the parking garage. She walked with the Newmans into the clinic. They’d made good time driving. The surgery check-in wasn’t for another couple of hours.