Free The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert

beat you to that one.”
    “They’re not iPods. They’re dream phones. At least that’s what I’m calling them.”
    “Is there something wrong with regular phones?”
    “Other than being easy to track and tap, no. Not at all.” He plugs a set of earbuds into one of the iPods and sets the device in my palm. “These are like the probes I use in the training center. The left one will put you to sleep instantaneously. This right one will take you to a shared dream space. Basically, any of us will be able to communicate with Cap, no matter how far away we are. Our territories won’t matter and no crazy linking skills are required.”
    I turn the iPod over in my hand. “How in the world do you know how to do this stuff?”
    “Computers are my friends.”
    “Aw, poor guy. Didn’t you have any real ones growing up?”
    “Make fun all you want, Sassy Pants, but computers are good friends to have. No unpredictable emotions, no confusing motivations. No manipulative behavior to muddy the water.” His dimples slowly disappear as he talks. His expression turns serious, cloudy. Far away. Like he’s lost in a world I know nothing about.
    I suddenly realize how very little I know about his past. Or anyone’s here, for that matter. We don’t talk about life before . It’s sort of this unspoken rule. The strange look on his face has me wanting to distract him from whatever unpleasant memories my teasing brought to the surface. “So let’s say I want to deliver a message to Cap. How would I do that?”
    The distraction works. His posture perks.
    “You would push this button.” He presses a button on the iPod in his hand. A light on the iPod in mine turns red. “As soon as Cap sees it, he would push his button …” Link reaches over and pushes the button on the iPod in my hand. Both of the lights turn green. His touch, however, remains. “Once you see the green light, you put on your ear buds and voila . You can communicate safely and securely in the shared dream space. No monsters allowed.”
    I glance up from our hands, suddenly very aware of the fact that we’re alone together in the dark. His eyes search mine. For what, I’m not sure. I just know that I’m being hit by a strange bout of self-consciousness and I’m never self-conscious in front of Link. Confused, I pull my hand away and set the device next to the bottle of pills.
    *
    The hub feels strange with so many gone. Almost everyone left before breakfast. All that remains is our four-person team, along with Sticks, Non, and Clive. When I asked Cap what would happen to him, he said Sticks and Non would “take care of it”. There was no need to elaborate. I picture Clive now, tied up in the training center with a probe attached to his right temple, awaiting his fate. Anytime he falls asleep, he’s transported to the dream dojo, isolated from the enemy. Another one of Link’s genius ideas.
    I follow Jillian down the hallway, wondering if Gabe’s body is still in the training center, too. Shuddering, I step inside the common room. Luka stands in the entryway next to Link. Both of them look up and spot me across the room. A few butterflies take flight in my stomach. Luka and I haven’t talked about his nightmare. And I was such a weirdo earlier this morning with Link. He was just showing me how to use the dream phones.
    With flushed cheeks, I take in my surroundings one last time, wondering if the foosball table will ever be used again. Or the books in the library. Will they remain closed forever? How long before the plants in the greenhouse wither and die? Will anybody besides us know that life existed down here at all? That below the ground in the city of Detroit, a group of people slept and ate and learned and fought?
    Jillian and I join the boys by the steel door—the very one Luka and I knocked on a lifetime ago, when we had no idea what waited for us on the other side. Now here I am, wondering the same thing.
    “You ready?” Sticks asks.
    I