"What about their overseer?" a man asked behind us. I had almost forgotten the others were there.
"Yes," Marshall said. "What happens when he comes looking for you? I'll be putting my people in danger if I let you stay here. As a fellow overseer, I would be obligated to turn you over to him."
"You won't be in danger," Bram reassured him. "Our overseer can't come here. Please. You've dedicated your lives to saving humans from death, that's very admirable. But then you'll turn around and send us—your own kind—to our deaths?"
Marshall sighed and pressed his lips together. He looked at the others standing behind us. "Listen, go into the kitchen. Help yourselves to some lemonade in the fridge and let us talk."
Celeste pointed us to the kitchen , where we sat at a large round table. The kitchen was almost entirely yellow with old-fashioned appliances and curtains with orange tabby cats on them. Celeste took a pitcher from the refrigerator and s e a t it on the center of the table. She also placed four glasses from the cupboard next to the pitcher before leaving. No one touched the lemonade. We sat quietly straining to hear the conversation from the living room.
"They're going to say no," Colden finally blurted out.
"I can't blame them," I said. "It's a lot to ask taking in a bunch of kids."
Bram sat back in his seat, thumping his boot against the table. He hated being told no.
"I don't know," Naomi said. "Bram made a good point. It seemed to make Marshall think."
After two more minutes of silence, Celeste stuck her head in the swinging kitchen door. "Come into the living room."
In the living room, four sitting chairs had been placed in a straight line in the center of the room. The adults took seats on sofas.
Marshall sat in the La-Z-Boy chair with his arms folded across his chest. "You need to understand that this is not some fly-by-night decision you're making. You can't decide a few weeks from now that you don't like this life and want to leave. This is a commitment. Most importantly, you must understand that once I inject you with the serum I've created, you can be killed just like a human. That's a big deal. It does take a good three to five injections for your mortality to kick in."
I drew in a deep breath.
"We understand," Bram said.
Marshall continued. "Also, this job is not as easy as it sounds. Just being in the right place at the right time isn't enough. Once I send you somewhere, you must be able to gauge the situation and figure out how to stop the death from occurring, and sometimes you only have seconds to do that. Sometimes stopping a death means putting your own life in danger. I'll be honest with you—we have lost a few Grims this way."
Naomi and I glanced at each other. That was something I hadn’t expected to hear.
"Okay," Bram said without hesitation. "What else?"
"This job requires training. I can't just send you out there. You must be alert and have quick reflexes. Also, I run a tight ship here. We do things decently and in order. You will all be expected to abide by the rules. We won't be treating you like children, even though some of you are."
We sat quietly and Marshall seemed to be done talking. "Well?"
"We'll talk it over with the others," Bram said.
Marshall stood. "You won't tell anyone about this place , and you have until tomorrow to get back to us. Come with your stuff. We'll have a place for you."
One of the men opened the front door , and we followed him out into the darkness. He used the flashlight to lead us back out to our car.
It was almost sunrise when we got back, but Bram called an emergency meeting for all the Grims. He told them about Marshall and his terms and how we had to make a quick decision. As I predicted, some were skeptical.
Amaro raised one eye brow. "Don't you guys find it weird that the Watcher showed up right after those people came here to fix Gannon's leg ? . I do."
A few others nodded in agreement. He had a point, but I knew Celeste and Leighton had nothing to do with that. "It was just a coincidence. These guys defy everything Grims stand for. There's no way they would be working with them."
"It might be kind of cool to live on a farm," Dorian said.
"I don't know," Ebony mumbled. "I mean, we don't know them. They don't know us. What if we don't mesh well? What if we hate it there?"
"Look," Bram said. He sounded tired. "If you can offer up a better option, I'm all ears. At the moment, we can't stay here. Dunningham knows where we are , and we're pissing him off more and more every second we're away. Not to mention what happened to his Watchers. This is the only place we have to go, so we need to take it."
After a few minutes of going back and forth, a vote was taken. Out of the seventeen of us, only three weren't in favor of moving to the farm. Bram told them they were welcome to stay in the houses, but I knew they would be left behind.
We spent a few more hours in the houses we had called home for a couple of months and spent the next day packing. Each hour I felt farther and farther away from my real home.
The following day , we loaded the vehicles with duffel bags full of clothes and all the personal belongings we had with us. When I stepped outside to bring out my last bag, Colden was sitting on the front porch watching Chase shove things into the back compartment.
I sat beside him. "You should come with us."
He shook his head. "I have to find a place that can sustain our people. I can't stay there if they can't."
I had no idea where he would find a place to house a couple hundred Hybrids, but I didn't mention up.
"We might have to split up," he said as if reading my mind.
"Maybe."
Naomi came out of the front door and sat beside me. "I miss having my own room. My own space," she said, staring ahead absently.
"Me too. I mean, even though we had our own space here, it's not ours."
Naomi nodded. "The compound won’t be ours either."
"I know. But we'll be safer there. We'll have Marshall and the other Grims as backup and we'll actually have a purpose. Just hanging out and goofing off isn't good for us. Grims get into a lot of trouble when they're bored."
"I won't argue with that," Naomi said.
I worried about us fitting in at the compound. It seemed like a serious, no-nonsense place , and our Grims had grown accustomed to running amok and acting like idiots.
The front door closed behind us. I turned and looked up at Bram.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and looked around. "Well, this is it. Time to move on."
Naomi and I stood while Colden stayed seated. Bram looked down at him. "Listen, thanks for your help the other day. If it wasn’t for you guys—"
"Don't mention it," Colden replied bitterly. "We Foragers are always willing to risk our insignificant lives for you precious Grims."
"We didn't ask you to do it," Bram said. He sounded calm, not angry and annoyed like I expected.
"But Dunstan did," Colden said. "Anyway, he's not going to be to o happy about this. Have a nice trip."
Josh and Dorian were already in the SUV blasting the radio. The other cars pulled up in front of our house, ready to drive to the compound in a caravan. The vehicle was a tight fit with all our luggage, but we managed to fit everyone inside. Comfort wasn't an issue at that point. Chase backed the SUV out of the driveway. Colden sat on the porch watching us. I felt extremely guilty. They had saved our lives , and we were moving to a safe place that they desperately needed. As we pulled away, I watched our temporary home become smaller in the side view mirror.
24
"You have a truck bed full of weapons," a man said as he inspected our vehicles. We had been informed that before entering the grounds, our belongings would be checked thoroughly. I don't know what they were expecting to find. "We're going to have to confiscate those."
Chase looked at Bram sitting in the passenger seat. Bram shrugged. Hopefully I hoped we would have no use for the weapons. After a few minutes, the man waved us on , and we followe
d the dirt trail that led to Marshall's house.
Marshall and a man named Oliver led us into a large barn.
Nokomis gasped. "Are you kidding me? We left a nice house to sleep in a barn?"
Bram shot her a look , and she stopped talking.
"This may not look like much, but it's spacious and comfortable. You have plenty of space to sleep. There's working plumbing and electricity. Three meals a day in the dining room. There's a bathhouse with showers and toilets that you may use in the morning. It's late so we'll let you settle in and then tomorrow we'll go over your assignments. We try to be as self-sufficient as possible. We grow our own crops and raise our own animals, so you'll each have a chore to keep up with."
We put our bags down as Celeste, two women, and two men came in carrying pillows and blankets. Each of us took one from them, some complaining. It was going to be hard to go from sleeping in a comfortable bed to a pile of hay on the floor, but it was better than nothing.
Celeste gave us a small smile before leaving. "Don't worry. It's a lot more comfortable than it looks. Breakfast will be served at seven."
A few of us muttered a thanks before the five of them left, closing the double doors of the barn behind them. I heard the distinct clunk of the latch being fixed to the floor. We waited for Bram to say something. He glanced around at the room full of piles of hay. The horses were quiet in their stalls on the other side.
"All right, guys, there's plenty of room. Make yourself a spot and get comfortable."
I ended up between Naomi and Bram. I formed a small mound of hay, covered it with my blanket , and put my pillow on top. Joshua kept sneezing, probably from the hay. I felt sorry for him, but there was nothing I could do. Most of us slept in the clothes we were wearing , since there was nowhere to change in privacy.
The night was long and restless. I spent a lot of time thinking about my parents, wondering what they were doing and if they were okay. Josh sneezing constantly wasn't helping.
At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next time I opened my eyes , a small amount of light was coming through the slits of the roof. I guessed it was about six o’clock in the morning. Bram was sitting up on his blanket watching the door of the barn.
"Didn't you sleep?" I asked him.
He jumped slightly as if I'd startled him. "Not really. I heard someone outside the door. I think they're guarding it."
I sat up and used my fingers to unravel a tangle of hair. "Marshall did say we couldn't leave once we came. I guess they're just making sure we stay put."
"I don't like it," Bram said.
I threw my blanket back and reached for my duffel bag. "I'm going to go to the bathhouse to take a shower."
"Not by yourself. Take Naomi."
"She's sleeping."
Bram shrugged. "It's time for her to get up anyway." He took his pillow and threw it at Naomi's head.
"Bram!" I yelled.
Naomi stirred and threw the pillow off of her. "What's your problem?" she asked, scowling at her brother.
"It's time for you to get up. Go with Keira to the bathhouse."
Naomi muttered something about hating Bram under her breath, but she got up and gathered her things. The door of the barn was still locked, so I knocked on it. After a moment the door opened. A man whom I had never seen before stood there. He looked at me expectantly.
"We want to go take a shower," I said.
The man seemed to look at someone else I couldn't see. "Shower?" He finally opened the door all the way. I didn't like feeling like as though I w ere as in prison. "The bathhouse is over there," he said, pointing to a small white house in the distance. "You girls have twenty minutes."
Naomi and I exchanged glances. I knew the others weren't going to be happy with this arrangement. After all, they had left Nowhere with the promise of more freedom.
The bathhouse had toilet stalls on one side and the five showers on the other. As far as I knew, we would be the only ones using the bathhouse. Marshall's people had bathrooms in their homes.
Naomi and I showered and got ourselves together. We were soon joined by a few other girls. We hurried to finish so the boys could have their chance to shower before breakfast.
Breakfast was served under a large pavilion. Everything was fresh. Eggs, bacon, ham, milk, freshly baked bread. Surprisingly , we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted.
As I ate, I took the opportunity to observe the other Grims. There were thirty-eight of them all together. With us, there would now be fifty-five people living in the compound. The other Grims stayed to themselves at separate tables and paid very little attention to us. They threw glances our way every now and then, but no one said anything. I noticed there were no teens or younger kids in the group, which might have been a big part of the reason why Marshall had been reluctant to let us stay.
When breakfast was almost over, Marshall stood to make an announcement. "After breakfast , you will all be assigned your chores for the week. Later on, I will call you into my office where you'll receive the serum. Please make sure this is what you want to do. Once I give it to you, there's no going back. Tonight, you'll begin your training. I'll have you shadow one of my people. You'll do that for a while until I feel like you're capable of handling jobs on your own, but most assignments require a partner anyway. Bram, you'll be first."
Marshall left his plate on the table and walked toward a small red building that looked like a shed. Bram followed.
Nokomis, Greyson, and I were assigned kitchen duty for the week. I quickly realized how many dishes fifty-five people could make. A couple, Sy and Eva, did all the cooking for the group. That was their one and only job, because cooking three meals a day for over fifty people was responsibility enough.
Eva rattled off a few curt instructions before going off to pick some vegetables from the garden.
I ran my hand under the running faucet , waiting for the water to get warm so I could put the stopper over the drain.
Nokomis leaned in to me as she placed dirty dishes in the sink. I wished she'd waited until I had the sink filled with water first. "I'm not sure about this, Keira. I mean, we're giving away a lot. Our inability to die. And for what? To live on some farm with Grims we don't even know?"
"Nokomis, if you're not sure, you shouldn't do it. Like Marshall said, once he gives you the serum, that's it. But if you don't, you'll have to fend for yourself. Are you ready to do that?"
Nokomis shook her head. "Bram said this was the right decision and that everything would be all right, so it will be, right?"
Before I could open my mouth to answer her, someone called from the doorway of the kitchen, "That's right."
I turned to see Bram rubbing the side of his neck. He took a seat at the kitchen table. I went over to him. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah. It wasn't bad at all."
I didn't believe him. I looked at his neck. There was a tiny red prick on the side , and it seemed a little swollen. I pulled his hand away from the puncture. "Don't scratch it , then."
I pulled out a chair and sat beside him. Greyson looked like as though she wanted to say something about me stopping in the middle of our chore, but she didn't.
"What happened?" I asked.
"He made me sign a pledge. Then he gave me the serum, but before we did that, we talked about some things. I told him that I won't have him treating us like prisoners or slaves. They won’t be locking us in or watching our every move once we officially become one of them." He looked at Nokomis. "Don't worry. It will get better."
That made me feel a little relieved. "Is that all?"
"He wants to meet with Dunstan and Doyle. That's all. I don't know what for."
I went back to doing the dishes.
It was after lunchtime when Marshall sent for me. His “ ' office ” ' turned out to be very high-tech, filled with computer monitors and all sorts of test tubes with colored liquids. I was sure Dorian would get a kick out of this place.
Marshall said n
othing as I entered. He stared intently at a computer screen. A dispatching device sat on the desk top beside him. It seemed like as if it had been ages since I'd seen one of those.
I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do, so I sat in the empty chair beside him. He looked down at the dispatching device and then typed something onto the screen: FEMALE; WASHINGTON, D.C. ; Sometimes that was all the information we got, and sometimes the dispatching device was a lot more specific. We had to watch, be diligent, and wait for the glow of impending death. That could occur anywhere from days to hours before a person died. We depended on the dispatching device to take us to the precise location of the person we needed to follow. Marshal wrote someone's name next to it—I guessed whoever he was assigning it to.
"Is that how you do it? Intercept death?"
Marshall looked at me as if he had only just then noticed I had even entered the room.
"You took that equipment from your colony."
He nodded. "Yes. It's the only way I can tell when a death is going to occur. I block the death notice from getting to its assigned colony. We get there and stop it before it happens. You can imagine how angry this makes the Grim community."
"It's the worst thing a Grim can do," I muttered, remembering the Covenant we had sworn to. The one I was about to break.
"But we're not Grims anymore. We're Interceptors , and you will be too." He handed me a piece of paper and a pen. "Read over it and sign the bottom."
I took the page from him , and he went back to his computer. There were five rules:
1. I will respect, honor, and obey the rules of the compound, which are subject to change at any given moment.
2. I will not reveal the location of this compound to anyone, not even under the threat of death. I understand that anyone posing as a harmless human can be a Grim in disguise.
3. I will do everything within my power, even risk my own life, so save the life of the person I am assigned to.
Keira Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book Two Page 18