“You’ve been avoiding me.” His voice was flat.
“No I haven’t.” I didn’t meet his eyes as I lied. “I’ve just been tired. Working in the hot sun all morning pulling potatoes. What they got you guys doing?”
He looked at his feet, and I studied his face as silent moments passed. Braxton had dark hair and eyes, and if you didn’t know we had the same mamma, you’d never guess we were related.
Finally he spoke. “Yesterday we went down to the bottom and dug a big pit. A green pickup was there, and we unloaded the back of it. Put a bunch of long, wooden boxes in the hole then covered them up with dirt.”
My breathing grew shallower with every word, and the space seemed to move outward from me like I might faint.
“Long boxes? Like coffins?”
“Maybe.”
I thought of Cleve being pulled away to load them. I studied his stony face still not acknowledging my presence. “Was it... a mass grave?”
“Don’t know.” My brother turned away from me.
Behind us, our fellow prisoners pushed us on. I tried to breathe normally, to ask questions. Cleve’s hazel eyes met mine, but they were hard, like something had changed in him.
My voice cracked as I spoke to my brother. “Do you think they were casualties?”
Braxton shrugged. “Could be casualties. If there were any signs of a war going on.”
“Any signs? What do you call all this? What’s happening to us here?
“Don’t know. But I haven’t heard a single shot fired or a single bomb exploding.” He looked at me, and his eyes widened. “It’s something else. Something that can’t be explained.”
My face pinched. “Like what exactly?”
“How do you think they can hold us without the police or the National Guard coming? They’ve got powers, that’s how.”
I looked down and saw my fists clenched white against my legs, and for a brief moment, I thought about the cows, thought about Cato greeting her brother. I relaxed my hands and rubbed my palms together slowly.
“That’s crazy, Brax. Nobody’s got powers. This was planned. A sneak attack. We’re going to get out of here and learn they’ve been working on this for years. Like those terrorists who bombed New York City. When we were unconscious, that’s when it happened, and now they don’t need to blow stuff up because everybody’s been caught off guard.” I had to stop for breath, but it hiccupped in my throat before I could say my last words. “Or killed.”
My brother shook his head. “It don’t add up. There’s no smoke in the sky. And what about our military? Who could do something like that from so far away?”
“Lots of countries. This is modern times. Who knows what all drones and missiles they’ve got now. They tried to do it from Cuba a long time ago, remember?”
“Nope. There’s something more going on. Something unexplained.”
We took our trays of steak and vegetables and started for the long tables. Cleve was still ahead of my brother, silently walking. “Tell me more about those boxes. What did they look like? What was in them?”
“Don’t know, but they were heavy. That main one, Ovett, said we’d better take a good look. Said they’d deal with rebels the same way.”
“What does that mean?”
He caught my eyes again. “It means you gotta quiet down about trying to escape,” he hissed. “You gotta do whatever they tell you to do.”
“No.” Determination tightened that fist in my chest as we took our seats. “We’re getting out of here, Brax. I’m finding Jackson and—”
He gripped my arm so hard I winced in pain. “You listen to me, Prentiss Puckett. It’s all over. This is World War Three and the Apocalypse and alien invasion all rolled in one. You can’t fight it.”
“Alien invasion?” I jerked my arm back. “You’re as crazy as D’Lo! What did that stupid guard say to you guys?”
“He said enough. And he did more. I’m not burying my little sister.”
My throat hurt and tears burned my eyes as I looked at the food in front of me. He was letting me down just like I knew he would. No surprise there.
Cleve’s eyes were on me, I could feel it as the others took their seats around us. I didn’t eat, and through my peripheral vision, I could see he didn’t either. Everyone wolfed down their steak and vegetables, but all I could think about was pine boxes and rebels.
“Where did you bury those boxes?” I asked my brother softly.
“I told you. Down in the bottom a ways from here.”
I couldn’t say my worst fear, so I went at it sideways. “Would you have known if Daddy was in one of them?”
He shook his head No as he chewed his steak.
“Would you have known if... anybody was in them?”
He shook his head again.
I nodded and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. Swallowing the hard knot in my throat, I sniffed the pain away. Jackson wasn’t in one. I wouldn’t even think it. He was out there alive and waiting for me.
“Three bites of everything,” a male voice cut in behind me, making me jump.
I was just getting ready to make a smart comment back when Cleve reached forward and threw his tray of food against the back wall with a loud SLAM!
We all jerked to attention as metal crashed into concrete, sending steak and veggies scattering across the floor.
“You can’t DO THIS TO US!” He shouted as he grabbed a fork and broke his glass of milk.
White liquid splashed on the table, and I jumped out of my chair away from the spill, pressing my back to the wall. Everybody sat in shock waiting for what would happen next.
Several of the guards moved forward, and I saw one touch the side of his neck, just below his ear. He seemed to speak as he made his way toward the drifter. Cleve’s shoulders moved up and down with his fast breathing.
“I’m leaving this place, and YOU CAN’T STOP ME!”
It was like he’d gone crazy. His voice was ragged, hoarse.
“I’m a FREE AMERICAN CITIZEN! I’m NOT going in a BOX!”
Walking backward, he’d almost reached the double doors when they opened on their own. The fair-haired leader Ovett appeared behind him, smiling his sinister grin. I couldn’t breathe as I watched it unfold. I clutched the sides of my head unable to stop it, unable to warn him.
Cleve tried to run, but four guards surrounded him. Two held his arms as he struggled, thrashing with all his might. He managed to throw one off, into the side chairs, but a shot of light glinted off a shiny object in Ovett’s hand.
“Rebellion will not be tolerated.” Ovett’s voice rolled out in a low growl.
At once I recognized what he held. It was a large syringe—the kind Doc Green used to put down horses. His arm flew quickly into the air then he jammed it down into the base of Cleve’s neck, right at the top of his spine. A shout of pain, a whimper of fear, and I watched him drop instantly.
“NO!” I screamed, sinking to the floor, my entire body shaking violently.
Ovett stood over Cleve’s lifeless body, the now-empty syringe still clutched in his fist. After several moments, he took a step back and turned to face us all.
“Rebels will be dealt with swiftly and finally.” His voice was cold with authority, and his white-blue eyes slowly met every horrified gaze that might dare follow in Cleve’s footsteps.
They landed on mine, and the fire of death sparked in them. I knew he was daring me to make a move. I couldn’t get up if I tried.
Ovett’s last words slammed against my ears. “Take the body to the storage unit.”
* * *
Alone in her mission, Prentiss has to figure out a new approach if she plans to escape the prison camp alive. She does not expect to find an ally among her captors.
Strategies change and secrets are revealed in “Learning to Spy.”
Get “Learning to Spy” Now: Amazon | Google Play | iTunes | Nook | Kobo
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Did you love Captive? Then you should read Learning to Spy by Leigh Talbert Moore!
Alone in her mission, Prentiss has to figure out a new approach if she plans to escape the prison camp alive. She does not expect to find an ally among her captors.
Strategies change and secrets are revealed in “Learning to Spy.”
Red Dawn meets L O S T in this New Adult action-adventure romance from Amazon bestselling author Leigh Talbert Moore. Contains mild language and themes appropriate for readers aged 13 and older.
Read more at Leigh Talbert Moore’s site.
Also by Leigh Talbert Moore
Behind the Stars
Captive
Learning to Spy
Harvest Moon
Jackson
Into the Woods
If I Fly
Dragonfly
Dragonfly
Undertow
Watercolor
Mosaic
The Truth Series
The Truth About Faking
The Truth About Letting Go
Standalone
Rouge
Behind the Stars
Watch for more at Leigh Talbert Moore’s site.
About the Author
Leigh Talbert Moore is a wife and mom by day, a writer by day, a reader by day, a former journalist, a former editor, a chocoholic, a caffeine addict , a lover of great love stories, a beach bum, and occasionally she sleeps.
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