What Remains Series (Book 4): Evasion

by Greene, Kellee L.

  She gave my jumpsuit another glance. Her eyes had gone to the number patch before she gestured for me to follow.

  I should have made the connection between the numbers on my jumpsuit and those stuck to the wall. In this place, I was a number, not a name.

  I should have asked Dillon more questions. He’d been a closed book because of his fear. It was almost as if he’d been too traumatized by it all to remember enough details. Or maybe some of the brainwashing he’d endured had worked… but not enough for him to want to stay inside.

  We walked down several short hallways. I’d made so many left and right turns that I’d gotten confused. I wasn’t sure I would be able to remember the way out.

  My heart started to race and I felt trapped. Coming to the base had been a mistake. A really big mistake.

  “Here you go,” the woman said pulling out a set of keys from her pocket. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding it for me.

  I gave her a nod and stepped into the room. She closed the door behind me and I was enveloped by blackness. I couldn’t see a damn thing.

  There was a click at the door and without testing the knob, I knew I’d been locked inside the room. The woman would tell someone I’d gotten out. I was sure I hadn’t heard the last about my sleepwalking adventure.

  A shaky breath escaped from between my lips as I reached my hands out around me to feel for something. “Dammit.”

  An extremely dim light clicked on and a man on a cot sat up slightly. His eyes were more than half-closed as he looked at me through the darkness.

  “Dillon?” he said. “Is that you?”

  Oh God, oh God, oh God.

  I was absolutely screwed.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I could pretend to be Dillon but when morning came, it would be obvious that I was not him. Maybe there was another way. I could tell him that Dillon had been removed and they sent me to take his place. Would that work? Would he ask someone about me and ruin everything?

  What choice did I really have?

  “No,” I said.

  “Oh,” the guy said resting his head back down on the pillow. “That’s right. He’s gone.”

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said.

  The guy pointed at a cot two feet away from his. “I guess that’s your bed now.”

  Was this guy the only one in the room? Dillon had made it sound like everyone was packed in like sardines. Or maybe that was just the way I had envisioned it when I listened to him tell us about this place.

  “What are you waiting for?” the guy asked. “Sleep while you can.”

  “Sorry,” I said carefully walking across the room as if I were afraid to trip over something.

  I lowered myself down onto the squeaky, uncomfortable cot. My new roommate turned off the light and the darkness returned.

  A light across the room clicked on and I jumped at least six inches off the cot. There was a thin woman gripping the sides of her cot as she stared at me.

  “Ignore him,” she said. “He’s a rule follower.”

  The light was so dim it barely lit her face. I nodded as if I knew what she was talking about.

  “I’m Laurna,” she said. “That’s Ned but I wouldn’t waste time trying to talk to him.”

  Ned’s bed creaked but he continued to pretend he was asleep.

  “This is Courtney,” she said jerking a thumb to her left.

  I could barely see the young woman peeking at me from over the edge of her blanket. Laurna hugged her knees to her body.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Kit,” I replied instantly wishing I would have come up with a fake name.

  “Well, Kit, welcome to hell,” Laurna said. “My suggestion is to get in good with the guards or the higher-level folks. It’ll make your stay here a bit more tolerable.”

  The girl in the bed next to her… Courtney snickered. “By that, she means sleep with them.”

  “She knows what I mean,” Laurna said.

  Sadly, I had known exactly what she meant. I couldn’t help but wonder if the woman I was looking at was Dillon’s wife. Or maybe sleeping around was just something all the women did.

  It suddenly felt like there was a rock in my stomach. What if women didn’t have a choice?

  What had I gotten myself into?

  “Are you going to be sick?” Laurna asked squinting at me through the darkness.

  “No,” I said unconvincingly.

  “Why did they drop you off in the middle of the night?” she asked.

  I shrugged.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Laurna said lying back down. “Try to get some sleep. God only knows what they’ll have you do in the morning.”

  She flicked off the light and once again, complete darkness swallowed me. I felt like a child again… afraid of the dark and what lurked within it.

  I didn’t sleep the entire night. There was a point when my imagination was getting the better of me that I considered reaching into my pocket to pop out one of the pills I’d carried with me. But I couldn’t. I needed to be alert and prepared.

  I knew when morning came because a light came on in the ceiling. It wasn’t bright and the illumination at gave off seemed to waver.

  “Wind power,” Laurna said when she saw me staring at it. “Or was it solar panels? I can’t remember.”

  “Is there a bathroom?” I asked.

  “It’s like they didn’t tell you anything,” she said pointing at a door that wasn’t very wide. “Bet you thought it was a closet.”

  I nodded and walked over the bathroom with my arms wrapped around myself. Laurna smirked at me as she shook her head.

  “We’re not the ones you need to be worried about,” Laurna said.

  “That’s not entirely true,” Courtney said in a shaky voice. Her eyes landed on Ned, who was sitting on his bed with his hands folded. He appeared to be waiting.

  Laurna flapped her hands at the bathroom door. “Hurry, it’ll be time to go soon.”

  “Go?” I asked.

  “To work,” she replied saying each word slowly. Her suspicions about me growing with each passing second.

  I exhaled and forced a smile. “Oh, right. I didn’t sleep well.”

  “What’s it like out there?” Laurna asked as I reached out for the doorknob.

  “Shh!” Ned hissed sharply. “You know you’re not allowed to ask that. I will not hesitate to report you.”

  “I will not hesitate to report you,” Laurna mocked in a nasally voice.

  Laurna turned away and sat down on the edge of her bed. She lowered her head and folded her hands in the same way Ned was. Courtney hurriedly did the same.

  I closed myself into the bathroom and sucked in a deep breath. My eyes fluttered mostly from exhaustion. I need to hold on to something but the only thing in the room was a metal toilet without any water inside.

  Plumbing? Something told me I didn’t want to know how it worked exactly.

  I stretched my arms out to each side and pressed my palms against the cold, painted gray wall. My head tilted back and the dim light above me seemed bright in the tiny room.

  What if someone was overweight? Or even claustrophobic? The bathroom was like a casket standing on end. The only difference was the toilet inside of it.

  There was no mirror… no sink.

  I could feel the blood rushing through my body. It made the back of my neck hot.

  There hadn’t been a window. Maybe escaping this place once I found Polly wasn’t going to be as easy as I initially thought.

  I closed my eyes and tried to visualize Maddie. She was probably screaming at Blake. Shouting that they needed to come for me. And she probably also asked him why I had done something so incredibly stupid.

  Then there was Jay to wonder about. Where had he gone? Was he still waiting in the forest or had he gone back to the church to tell Blake and Maddie what had happened?

  I hoped he’d gone back.

  I hoped he hadn�
��t tried to get inside.

  I hoped he hadn’t gotten lost or found by one of the sick… or worse discovered by one of the people from the base.

  What would I do if I saw him inside?

  I’d made such a big mess of everything and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to clean it up. If I was stuck inside the base forever, at least I knew that Maddie would be in good hands. Blake would take better care of her than I had for most of her life.

  I exhaled slowly and quickly used the bathroom. My legs felt wobbly as I exited the coffin-like room and made my way toward my cot. I needed to sit down before my knees gave out and I crashed to the tiled floor.

  Once I was on the bed. I could hear movement in the hallway. The doors were thin. Was that a good thing?

  “Look down,” Laurna advised only seconds before the door opened with a buzz.

  No one entered but the voice from the hallway was deep and harsh. “Exit!”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Laurna, Courtney, and Ned all stood at nearly the exact same moment. I copied them but I was a few seconds behind. They walked out of the room single file and I trailed behind.

  In the hallway, I was afraid to look up. I dared a quick glance without moving my head. The hallway was lined with people from their rooms with their backs against the wall.

  I did everything the same as Ned. I leaned back, keeping my shoulders straight and I kept my head down with my hands folded in front of my body.

  I could hear the guards moving about but for the most part, they didn’t say anything. Black boots moved across the floor in front of me and stopped in front of Laurna. He whispered something to her.

  “Yes, sir,” she said in a voice that was softer than the one she’d used in the room. In fact, for a second, I hadn’t even been sure it was her because the voice had been so much different. It was like the strength and confidence she’d had in the room had been left inside.

  “Move!” the guard at the far end of the hall shouted.

  Everyone turned sharply to their left. I mimicked the movement and prayed no one noticed how out of sync I was.

  Something jabbed into my back and I tried to ignore it. The more I ignored it, the deeper it dug in between my shoulder blades.

  I turned and looked at the man behind me. His mustache curled ever so slightly at the ends. It was like he belonged at the circus.

  “Looks like someone needs to return to training,” he said pushing the stick harder before releasing it. He slapped the baton into his other hand and smirked.

  I looked back down at my feet. “Sorry.”

  “Your new,” he said. It wasn’t a question… it was a statement.

  “Yes,” I said pausing only a quick second before remembering to add the sir.

  He stepped forward and looked at the front of my jumpsuit. At first, I thought he was checking me out thanks to what Laurna had said in the room but after he looked away, I realized he was only looking at the number patch.

  “Farm. Huh,” he said before walking over to someone else.

  We got to a place where the hallway split into different directions. Some of the people started going one way, other a second way, and some continued straight.

  I started to follow Ned but a baton dropped down in front of me. It was the circus ringleader again.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

  “Sorry, sir,” I said and continued straight, which was the direction he indicated.

  “Distracted today?” he asked.

  I watched Laurna, Courtney, and Ned as they turned off in different directions. I hadn’t known them really but at least I hadn’t felt completely alone like I did with Mr. Curly Mustache.

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  “How come?” he asked.

  “Didn’t sleep well,” I replied.

  He smirked and raised a brow. “I can help with that. When I’m done with a woman, she sleeps very soundly and with a smile on her face.”

  “Dirk!” a deep voice from behind called out.

  “Sir?” Mr. Curly Mustache said.

  There was a small hesitation. “Shut up.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said with a tinge of an attitude.

  Mr. Curly Mustache brushed his arm against mine and I pressed my lips together, trying to hide the fact that I was cringing. I would have liked to push him away from me but I was afraid of what would happen to me if I did.

  He continued to stay at my side through the hallway. I kept my head down and my hands folded only daring to flick a glance upward when I noticed the change in lighting.

  There was a set of glass doors that were being held open as the line of farmers exited the building. My palms began to sweat. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

  I wasn’t even sure how I was managing to blend in thus far. My jumpsuit was too big. My shoes were different.

  The guards led us over to a big field. There were several people already out there wearing large hats with round brims.

  “See you later, beautiful,” Mr. Curly Mustache said before turning and following the other guards back to the large building.

  There were six people in hats and they started walking toward us at the same time. The others were standing there in the same position.

  “We’re just going to continue to work on this field,” a man with a hat said. “So, grab a shovel and get to work.”

  I followed the others toward the sizeable yellow shed. A woman stepped into the doorway and started handing shovels to each person. She said something and they walked off.

  When it was my turn, she gave me the shovel and pointed to the edge of the field. “Work on that area over there.”

  I nodded and walked off following the person who had been in line ahead of me. The dirt under my steps was soft and somehow crunchy. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t anything planted in the field.

  There were at least fifty of us spread out in the area. All quietly working without having anything to eat or drink.

  Had they just been working the ground the whole time they’ve been at the base? Was this just something to keep them busy? Maybe they couldn’t plant with the cold temperatures and winter not that far off. Perhaps they were simply preparing for when they could… at least that was my best guess.

  The others were digging up the ground and then stirring the dirt around like a bowl of thick stew. I did the same. It didn’t take long for the muscles in my shoulders and arms to begin to complain and beg me to stop.

  “Hey,” the guy near me said, carefully looking around to see if he were being watched. “Who are you?”

  “I’m new,” I answered quickly.

  “I can see that,” he replied. “I’ve been working out here since nearly the beginning. We started over there and now we’re here.”

  I gave him a small nod before looking back down at the ground. A million questions were floating around in my head but I couldn’t ask any of them.

  “That’s not your jumpsuit, is it?” he asked stepping closer.

  “It’s mine,” I said harshly.

  He shook his head. “I know that number. Dillon was a friend of mine.”

  I turned my back. Mr. Talkative already knew too much.

  “Is he okay? Did you do something to him?” he asked.

  I bit my cheek and refused to answer.

  “Did you kill him?” he asked.

  I turned abruptly. “No, I didn’t kill him.”

  I quickly calmed myself and looked back down at the ground. Me and my big mouth.

  “He got away, didn’t he?” he asked.

  I nodded and he smiled.

  His shoulders relaxed slightly as he stopped digging the earth. “Then there is hope for all of us. What’s your name?”

  I pointed to my number patch.

  He laughed. “I’m Ross.”

  “Kit,” I said looking him up and down before returning to my digging. “Things out there aren’t easy.”

  “Are there still sick people?�
��

  “Yes,” I said.

  Ross looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. “Why did you come in here?”

  “I’m looking for someone,” I said wondering what the hell was wrong with me. It wasn’t like I could trust this random guy, yet here I was, telling him everything.

  Ross quickly turned away. A thin man with a hat walked between us. He studied Ross for a long moment before turning to me.

  “Dig a bit deeper,” he said taking the shovel from me. “Put all your weight into it. Like this.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said after he finished. I would have much preferred to roll my eyes at him for explaining how to use a shovel.

  “Now, show me,” he said crossing his arms.

  I threw the shovel into the dirt the same way he had, stomping on it to get it down deeper. My triceps tightened as I yanked the shovel out and rotated the dirt.

  “Good,” the thin man said walking away with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

  Once he was far enough away, Ross caught my eye. He kept his voice low. “That guy’s an ass.”

  A small smile curled at the corners of my lips but I quickly pushed it away.

  It was about midday when I stabbed the shovel into the dirt and stretched my arms over my head. The muscles were weak and shaky and my stomach was grumbling.

  I looked out toward the trees from when I’d come into the base and I thought I saw something move. I blinked several times trying to focus but there wasn’t anything there. It had probably been an animal of some sort.

  “Get back to work,” the thin man shouted at me.

  “Yes, sir,” I said quickly grabbing the shovel and looking back down at the ground.

  I could sense he was coming closer. He slithered up next to me like a snake.

  “We don’t stop, not even for a second,” he said. “You know that by now, don’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t want to use the whip,” he said. “Not with everyone watching like this. That would be embarrassing for you, wouldn’t it?”

  I nodded. My palms started to sweat and I was sure they were staining the wood with their dampness.

  “I’m going to let it go this time,” he said only seconds before a bell rang from a distance. “Go. Eat. See you again in twenty.”