Hope for the Best

by Vanessa Lafleur

  Chapter 21

  All food must be consumed inside the cafeteria Anyone who takes food out of this room Will be sentenced to life in the barracks

  The signs posted outside and throughout the cafeteria held a more ominous meaning on this particular evening. Taking food had always been a crime, but it had never stopped her before, and she wasn’t about to let a few posters stop her now. She stood in line, watched food pile onto her tray as it passed from one server to the next, then carried it to an unoccupied table. Watching the others fascinated her, but she didn’t intend to become friends with any of them. Making friends would only lead to two possible outcomes: they would either discover the truth and report her or be incriminated themselves.

  Everyone around her was caught up in conversations. Free of their work and enjoying the small window of social time allowed each day, no one wasted a minute paying attention to her. At least, that’s how it seemed at first glance. Four years earlier, Lareina had almost been caught stealing apples from an outside market because she failed to notice a man partially hidden beneath the shade of a nearby tree. On that day, she created a rule of her own: always double-check for witnesses. She glanced around more carefully, trying to feign casual observing, before quickly slipping her apple and dinner roll under the table then into her pocket.

  “Hey, Rochelle.” Tony sat down across from her. His voice sounded marching band loud to her ears.

  She jumped. How had he approached so quickly? Did he see what she’d done with her food?

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you.”

  Safe for now. Smiling, she scooped some pudding onto her spoon. “No need to apologize. I guess I’m just a little jumpy.”

  Tony leaned across the table. “Is it because of your lunch with the president today? Did he threaten you?”

  How did he know about that already? “No, nothing like that. He just wanted to know what I thought of Oak Creek.” She still wasn’t sure how she felt about the lunch and didn’t want to publicly commit to any particular emotion.

  “That’s it?” Tony sounded surprised and confused. “That’s strange.”

  Of course the invitation seemed strange to her. Even more strange was the president coincidentally being outside in the rain at the very moment she left the hospital. If he were paying attention to her schedule, she would have to be extra careful. But she would need to visit Nick as often as possible to plan their escape and to pass on food.

  “Tony,” she asked absently, “how long have you lived here?”

  “Since we moved from the other campus, so . . . two years now.”

  “The other campus? There are other Oak Creeks?”

  Tony laughed and took a bite of his apple. “By other names, yes. Four of them, all within fifty miles of here.”

  Taking a drink of water gave her a minute to process the new information. “The other campuses,” she said, repeating Tony’s terminology, “are they just like this one?”

  Tony shook his head. “Not at all. Oak Creek is relaxed compared to Rose Valley where I grew up. The others are military training camps. We’re just here for production support.”

  “Production of what?” She hadn’t bothered to learn what was produced in the factory buildings that lined one side of Oak Creek. It hadn’t seemed important.

  “Uniforms,” he laughed, “and weapons, of course.”

  Lareina nodded, beginning to understand. “Because The Defiance is coming to take Texas next.”

  Tony twisted the stem from his apple. “The Defiance, someone else, it doesn’t matter who. Unless a miracle happens, it’s only a matter of time until the state government collapses, but we have a good chance of holding our ground and expanding.”

  “Exactly how many . . .” she searched for the right word, “troops are training at the other campuses?”

  He leaned forward as if sharing a secret. “I can’t give you an exact number, but it’s in the thousands.”

  “And all of the digging over at the barracks,” she continued, trying to put the pieces together. “It’s for the war?”

  Tony sighed. He had made it clear he wouldn’t talk about the barracks any more, but he seemed to understand she would never stop asking. “If I tell you about the tunnels, do you promise to never ask about them again?”

  She nodded and gave Tony her most reassuring look.

  “Okay. We’re building our first underground facility with a hospital, living quarters, and production centers. It’ll give us a vast advantage over the enemy.”

  “Of course, I see how that would.” Now that she knew the purpose of the barracks and tunnels was so, well, mundane, she felt a little disappointed. She had hoped that knowledge would give her the critical key to help Nick escape. “Do people from the barracks ever get out?”

  Tony shrugged, and any enthusiasm faded from his expression. “Most of them deserve to be there.” His voice wavered with uncertainty. “They’re thieves and traitors. The last guy was a stowaway.” He stared down at his lunch tray and she wondered if he would have been sent to the barracks for rescuing her had she not protested. “We shouldn’t be talking about this. It’s dangerous.”

  She shifted her jacket across her lap, so the apple’s shape wouldn’t be obvious beneath the material. Tony knew nothing of danger or starvation or cold or desperation. He did, however, understand one thing that she never could: how to follow orders, so he would always be safe and warm and fed.

  Over the course of the next week, Lareina established a consistent schedule. She worked at the library by day, snuck whatever food she could at supper, went to bed early and dozed until midnight, then snuck out to visit Nick. He felt like an old friend, though he really hardly knew anything about her. Although their meetings always ended with him telling her it was too dangerous for her to come back, he never turned down a scrap of the stolen food.

  They tried to form an escape plan, but none of their ideas were feasible. She wanted to sneak him out at night, but she couldn’t find tools to cut through the bars on his window. Plus, Nick informed her that in addition to his locked door, there were guards posted just inside the building’s exits. Every glimmer of hope fell short.

  Sneaking around at night turned out to be the easiest part. The Oak Creek security didn’t bother to set up any precautions against occupants breaking curfew beyond the attendants at the main entrances of residence buildings. People simply feared the consequences enough that they didn’t attempt to break the rules, and most probably didn’t see a reason to leave their rooms after nine.

  Louise remained grumpy and distant despite anything Lareina tried, so she just avoided her roommate and boss as much as possible. The president invited her to lunch three times that week, always treating her with kindness and respect, but never revealing information of any importance, even when she tried to direct the conversation. Although she enjoyed the best meals of her life, and even found herself enjoying the president’s wit and conversation, she felt frustrated that she hadn’t come any closer to freeing Nick.

  Twice, she arrived at the library to a vase of a dozen red roses on her desk. They didn’t come with a card, but she knew who was responsible. The other residents of Oak Creek had started to notice her, and some whispered behind their hands after she passed. But none of them confronted her, and she was perfectly happy not interacting with any of them. Despite everything happening around her, she was committed to rescuing Nick and getting both of them out of Oak Creek.

  Chapter 22

  Sneezing and sniffling, Lareina pulled herself out of bed one morning. Ten days of sneaking out had caught up with her. Although she wanted to sleep for a while longer, she shuffled to the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth as she did every morning. She hated that she had been in Oak Creek long enough to have a morning routine.

  Back in her room, she noticed the clock indicating she only had fifteen minutes to get to work. Louise went in early to open up
and set up for the day. In front of the tiny mirror above her small dresser, she quickly examined her appearance. During the past three weeks her face had filled out so she no longer looked gaunt and her hair, washed and brushed, fell over her shoulders down to her waist. She would be pretty if it weren’t for the dark circles beneath her eyes. The president had commented on them at their last lunch when she convinced him she was just tired from having a cold, which wasn’t entirely a lie.

  After stifling a sneeze in the sleeve of her pajamas, she pulled on the khaki pants and plain gray shirt that everyone except security wore. When she had been shown to her room after her orientation meeting, the clothes had been there on her bed, three pairs of pants and seven shirts. Her feet slid into shoes as she pulled her coat on and hurried down the hallway. She ran across campus, despite the ache of cold air in her lungs, and made it to her station at the front desk with thirty seconds to spare.

  The room felt warm and Louise was nowhere in sight. Lareina sat down and rested her throbbing head in her hands. She didn’t intend to rest for long, but every time she began to lift her head, she decided one more minute couldn’t hurt.

  “Hey, are you all right?” a loud voice boomed behind her.

  She spun around in her chair to find Louise standing over her with her hands on her hips.

  “Fine. Great. What do you want me to do today?” It took every ounce of willpower to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, so she only succeeded halfway.

  A strange expression came over Louise’s face. It resembled sympathy or at least the closest Louise had ever come to expressing concern. Just when she thought her boss might give her a break, Louise gestured to the mop and bucket by the supply closet.

  “People have been tracking mud in all week. The entire place needs to be scrubbed, but I want you here on the first floor where I can see you.”

  She had no other choice but to nod in agreement and get to work.

  At noon the president came and, as she had done before, Lareina walked with him to his house. As usual, he chatted about whatever came to his mind. She had opened up some, sharing forged memories from Rochelle’s life, but today staying awake proved to be difficult, and keeping a conversation going, when she couldn’t even comprehend what President Whitley said, became impossible.

  “You’re still fighting that cold, I see.” Lunch over, they sat in front of the fire drinking tea. His voice was full of concern.

  Despite her misery she tried sit up straight and keep her sniffling to a minimum. “Yeah, it’s relentless.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to take a few days off work? Until you feel better?”

  “Oh, I’ll be okay for today, and I’m sure I’ll be feeling better by tomorrow.” There was something comforting about the concern he always showed for her.

  President Whitley didn’t respond, but also didn’t take his eyes off her as she sipped her tea. She had grown used to the way he looked at her so intently, but today his gaze seemed more intense. She pretended to be absorbed looking at the fire.

  “You’re too pretty.” The whisper was so quiet she almost didn’t hear it. The president cleared his throat and drank some of his tea. “You’re too pretty to be bothered with working at all. You should be wearing beautiful dresses and posing for paintings.”

  Lareina felt her cheeks burning as she decided how to react. On one hand she had never been paid such a compliment, but on the other she barely knew this man who everyone else feared.

  “Excuse me?” She knew it was a weak response, but she needed more time to think.

  President Whitley cleared his throat. She noticed the way his cup shook with his hand and wondered what could possibly make the all-powerful leader of Oak Creek nervous.

  “I don’t want to rush into things, but I’ve been trying to tell you I’m in love with you.” His voice trembled slightly, but she felt a jolt as the weight of each word hit her. “I’ve never met anyone like you before, but I think I knew from the first day you would be the only one.” He knelt next to Lareina’s chair and took her hands in his. “I guess what I’m trying to ask is, Rochelle Aumont, will you marry me?”

  His blue eyes studied her, searching for an answer. Her heart pounded so fast it matched the throbbing in her head, but she forced a smile as she considered the man before her. She certainly didn’t feel the same affection toward him, but she also believed he wouldn’t hurt her. Saying yes could put her in a position to access information and maybe even resources she needed to free Nick and put Oak Creek behind her.

  She had fooled people before. In the last three months, she hadn’t had a problem introducing herself as Rochelle to every person she met. It couldn’t be all that hard to play the part of devoted bride to be. Fighting every instinct in her body, she nodded, not trusting her voice.

  President Whitley breathed for the first time since he posed the question and grasped her hand between his. “I’m so relieved! I mean, I’ve known since the day we met that we belonged together, but I didn’t know if you would feel the same.” He beamed at her. “My brother is coming for a visit in two weeks. We’ll have a party the night before to announce our engagement and then get married in the summer.” He paused. “If that’s all okay with you, of course?”

  Pretending to be an excited new fiancée, Lareina intertwined her fingers with his. “It’s all perfect. I can’t wait.”

  Chapter 23

  By the time she returned to the library, people crowded every table and couch and a long line stretched from the checkout counter. Louise was nowhere to be seen. She’d lengthened her lunch break by three hours, leaving her boss alone for the entire afternoon. Tiptoeing to the main desk, she pushed through the swinging door, and slipped into the cushioned chair before beckoning to the first person in line. She’d only checked out books for two people when she heard Louise’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

  “Rochelle,” Louise said calmly. “I need to see you in the back room right now.”

  Knowing she didn’t have a choice, she stood and walked into the room behind the front desk. Louise followed and closed the door behind them.

  Lareina smiled, hoping to disarm her boss. “We should probably be out there—you know it is the busy time right now.”

  “We,” Louise laughed, a harsh sound. “I’m doing all of the work. Everyone knows that you and Whitley have some kind of thing going on, but the president wouldn’t excuse even his closest friends from three hours of work. I’m reporting you, and you’re fired.”

  The words rolled off of her as an involuntary smile formed over her lips. “He might consider firing his closest friends but never his fiancée.”

  “Excuse me.” Louise’s face reddened in confusion and anger.

  “I’m engaged to the president. He’ll fire you before he fires me.” In books, she had read about people’s jaws dropping in surprise or disbelief, but she had never experienced it in real life until that moment.

  “You’re . . . you . . . you’re . . . what?” Louise held the palm of her hand against her forehead and stared at her employee as if she’d spoken a newly discovered language. After a moment of stunned silence, Louise whispered, “Go back to work. Just go.”

  She did as she was told and returned to the front desk to resume checking books out. A few minutes later Louise came out of the storage room, but she walked straight to the stairs and didn’t reappear until they closed the library.

  By the end of the day, the adrenaline rush of being proposed to by the president and then standing up to Louise had faded, leaving Lareina drained and nauseated. She forced herself to the cafeteria to get food but could only swallow three bites of applesauce. Though no one sat at her table, she noticed several people watching her and had to be particularly discreet when stuffing her ham sandwich, banana, and baked potato into her pockets. Louise had probably told everyone the news.

  Looking forward to the warm, comfort of her bed, she remained in the cafeteria just long enough to ensure any observers would
believe she had eaten the food on her tray. She hurried through the chilly evening air and stumbled into the warmth of her building and then her room. Louise hadn’t returned yet, which was a welcome treat. Steadying herself against a wave of dizziness, she kicked off her shoes and hung up her jacket, then fell into bed to rest her eyes for a minute.

  Rain pounding against glass tore her from a sound sleep. She sat straight up, struggling to orient herself in the darkness. Louise breathed steadily from her bed on the other side of the room. Unable to see a thing, Lareina brushed her hand over the surface of her nightstand until she felt the cold metal exterior of the flashlight she kept there. Aiming the light above her bed, she clicked it on and adjusted the beam until it illuminated the clock.

  Two in the morning.

  She should have been out to meet Nick two hours ago. Stumbling around in the dark, praying she wouldn’t wake Louise, she slipped into her shoes and pulled her jacket over the shirt she’d worn all day.

  Following the usual pattern, she slid through the bathroom window and outside into torrential rain. On the positive side, no one would be able to see her even if they were looking. She battled a torrent of precipitation slamming into her face harder than needles from the evergreen trees, and wind that threatened to sweep her off her feet with every step she took.

  By the time she reached the barracks, the rain had thankfully slowed down to a light mist, but the chilly wind sliced through her soaked clothes that hung from her body like wax dripping from a candle.

  “Nick,” she whispered outside the barred window. “Nick, are you awake?”

  Immediately his face rose into view on the other side of the bars. “Rochelle, where have you been? I thought they caught you.” His voice shook and his wide eyes followed every flutter of her eyelids. “Are you okay? You look awful.”

  “I’m fine, everything’s fine. I just fell asleep.” Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out the banana, baked potato, and now soggy sandwich and handed them to Nick. Water cascaded through downspouts with a metallic rush, pooled all around the barracks, and streamed through the window in mini waterfalls.