Free Escape from Harrizel by C.G. Coppola Page A

there?”
    She follows my gaze, her eyes growing wide
again. “Oh no! That’s where they work. West for Rogues and East for
Kings.”
    “Are those their names?”
    She nods, biting her lip.
    “What about the other two?” I glance to the
North and South entrances.
    “Uh… no,” she shakes her head, eyeing the
South wall quickly, “I don’t think they’re used for anything… but I
still wouldn’t go in there. It’s safer out here, with everyone
else.”
    “Then where should we talk?”
    “Uh…” she looks around, “there’s really no
safe place. We can talk by the West Wall but we just have to be quiet .”
    “Okay,” I lead the way and surprisingly the
dancers let me pass. When we reach the green checkered wall, I lean
against it. Crossing my arms, I keep my voice low. “Tell me about
the Market.”
    “It’s a way to buy things,” she whispers.
“Food, mostly. But you can get almost anything. You buy items—we
call them tokens—by performing services for the Clans. They’ll ask
you to spy on someone or find something out. Sometimes they’ll want
you to get someone to a certain place at a certain time. But it’s
never easy and you almost never want to do it.”
    “Then how come people do?”
    She looks at me with woeful eyes. “They’re
hungry.”
    Shit.
    “Are the Dofinikes aware of the Clans?”
    She nods.
    “And they’re fine with it?”
    Again, she nods.
    Of course Jeb and Clarence wouldn’t tell me
about Harrizel hosting its own black market economy. Why would
they? That would only serve to aid me and neither have done
anything to help me. Well, everyone else can sell their soul to
work for their food. I’m going to find my sustenance. In the
jungle, once I leave tomorrow night. But still, curiosity has got
me asking.
    “So you just walk up—”
    Raj stops me, indicating I should speak into
her ear.
    “So,” I lean in, doing as she requests, “you
just walk up to one of the Clans and barter for a piece of
bread?”
    “No…” she shakes her head, “nothing like
that. You never deal directly with the Clans. It’s always
done through the Scouts. They’re like… the middle-men. They deliver
the requested token—gupple or marowine or whatever—and tell you
what you need to do.”
    “What if you don’t do it?”
    “Then the Clans come for you.”
    “Okay,” I exhale, lost in all the questions
racing through my head, “then… how do you find a Scout? Is there a
list posted somewhere?”
    “They come to you .”
    “Meaning?”
    “The Clans choose who they want to
work with. You can’t go asking for tokens. You’ve got to be
selected. Recruited .”
    “Wow…that… seems like a lot of work just to
eat.”
    She shrugs. “It’s what we have to do.”
    “Doesn’t anyone…” I lean in again, cautious
to ask, “just leave ?”
    Raj shakes her head adamantly. “The
Dofinikes watch you. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier.
From the labs on the top floor. That’s how they know,” she keeps
her voice low, “ plus …”
    “What?”
    She glances around, then back to me. “The
gate is rigged. They know if you try to pass through it. Some have.
Then… the next day… they were gone.”
    Gone?
    Okay, things have definitely spiraled to a
new level. Not only is the gate rigged, but they’ll take us if we
try to escape? But how can they get us if we’re already gone? If I
keep going, straight into the jungle, they won’t be able to catch
me. I could still do it. I could still disappear out there… and
then… and then I don’t know…
    “So…” Raj goes on, “no one even tries
anymore. There was a rush of people a while ago who thought they
could just make it past the gate. They did. The last thing we saw
was them running off into the jungle.”
    “So how do you know the Dofinikes took them?
Maybe they’re still out there?”
    She shakes her head, her face dropping.
“They bring them back. At night. If you’re on the North wall, you
can see it