Citizen 4473 by Ann Hosler

Author:Ann Hosler [Hosler, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Ann Hosler
Published: 2023-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TAM

A three-quarter moon is emerging, its light creating elongated shadows of the trees in the park. My foot crunches on a snowy clump of brittle leaves, causing Willow to jump slightly on the nearby bench. She looks over her shoulder and gives me a weary smile as I approach.

Willow had disappeared when the barlight system in the sublevel notified us that it was almost nightfall. After checking her apartment, I came to her usual quiet spot. She’s visited here often since arriving in Avice. Now that additional people from her time have increased the stress level of the ward, I imagine that will continue despite the wintry chill.

She scoots over when I reach the bench and I join her. We sit quietly for a while and Willow leans into me with a shiver.

“The stars are brighter in my time,” she says. “And because of me, because I went to the wrong time and didn’t go back—all of these people are stranded here. No, Tam, hear me out,” she interrupts when I open my mouth to protest. “The World Union may have made that mistake, but that little bit of information they got from me has just created a cascade of problems.” She sighs and looks at the ground. “I don’t know how to make it right, but I need to.”

I tilt her face back up to mine. Her amber eyes are heavy with sadness. How can she even think that any of this is her fault?

“You didn’t choose to come here. You didn’t strap those people into a chair. You weren’t the sole reason that you didn’t go back.” Her eyes start to drop again and I tap her chin, making her refocus. “Willow, we had no idea what would happen when we cut off your wristband. That they would discover and use the little information from our time. But I do know that none of this is your fault.”

She hesitates, then nods slowly.

“Do you still want to leave, then?” I push down a wave of fear. She’s become such a natural part of my life that the thought of her no longer being in Avice scares me. “Is it that terrible here?”

Willow pulls away, eyes widening. “The wardens are horrible, Tam. You know that.”

They are. There’s no disputing that claim. I just hoped that everything else Avice had to offer—I had to offer—would be enough for her to stay. If Willow wants to go home, then I’ll do whatever I can to help her, but damned if she won’t take a piece of me with her as well.

“Tam,” she says, reaching for my hands and squeezing them in hers, “that came out wrong. I don’t know what conclusion you’re jumping to in that brilliant mind of yours, but despite how horrible the wardens are, there’s much more keeping me here.”

I blink and look up at her. “Oh?” I ask, voice gravelly.

“These newcomers… I might not personally know most of them, but they’re family, of a sort. We all lived in that hellscape of a city.

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