Hope for the Best

by Vanessa Lafleur

  “You shouldn’t have come out in the rain,” Nick scolded in an admonishing whisper. “And how can you bring so much food? What are you eating?” A thin crease formed a V in his forehead.

  She rested her cheek against the bars to relieve her throbbing head, hoping Nick would think it was to muffle her voice. The small cell contained moldy walls with cracked paint, a bed, and inches of water rippling across the floor.

  “Your room is flooded.” She let her eyes close for a few seconds to ease the sharp ache behind her eyes.

  “My bed is tall enough, the water can’t get to me,” he assured. “Now quit changing the subject. Where did you get all of this food?”

  Usually Nick didn’t miss an opportunity to complain, so his insistence on ignoring the rising water accentuated the seriousness of his question.

  “I didn’t have an appetite today, so I had extra.”

  He sighed and the crease in his forehead tightened. “You know you’re shivering, right?”

  Lareina rolled her eyes and clutched the bars to keep her balance. “Of course I’m shivering. I’m soaked and it’s like forty degrees out here. Quit worrying about me.”

  Nick’s dirt smudged face pressed closer in the dim, wavering moonlight. “My escape depends on you staying out of this place . . . and staying alive. You promised you would be careful.” He sighed. “That you wouldn’t do anything stupid. Remember?”

  Despite her tired, watery eyes, the chilling wind that made her shiver, and the despair of Nick’s flooded room, she smiled. She imagined Nick reading the warning posters hung around the cafeteria. The clarity of his imagined reaction reminded her of the day they met and his insistence on following the rules in lieu of comfort. For Nick, black and white morals triumphed over staying alive.

  “What’s so funny?” His eyebrows lifted enough to erase the crease. Wind whistled across the cavities of broken windows and pulled Lareina’s hair across her face.

  Every time I bring you food, I’m stealing it. Even though it’s my own food, it’s a crime to take it. What do you think of those rules? She gathered her hair, twisted it, and dropped it behind her shoulder. “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

  Her decision to marry President Whitley gnawed at the edge of her mind. How would Nick react to the news? A shiver overtook her body and she pulled her thin coat closer, wrapping her arms around herself to hold it in place.

  “You should go get some rest.” Nick traced the edge of the windowsill with his finger. “I don’t want you to catch pneumonia or something.”

  Although her teeth chattered, she laughed. “That’s the most touching thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Nick grinned back at her. “I’ll think of something better for next time.” He pushed his wet hair off of his forehead. “Rochelle.” A serious tone returned to his voice. “Take a few nights off from visiting. Stay where it’s warm and get some rest.”

  How many others had given her similar advice? She shook her head, ready to protest, but Nick folded his hand over hers.

  “I’ll be all right for a couple of days.”

  His hand steadied her trembling fingers and she nodded in agreement. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m well.”

  “Be careful.” He squeezed her hand then sank down below the level of the window.

  Walking away from the barracks without Nick pulled at her soul as the mud pulled at her shoes. Guilt ached across her shoulders and worry clawed at the pit of her stomach. Just below the thick trees, she turned her head back to the building that seemed to deteriorate before her eyes. For the time being she couldn’t do any more for Nick. She had spent hours walking around Oak Creek, exploring every hidden corner whenever she didn’t have lunch with Whitley. She had located two sections where a tree could help her over the wall, but she couldn’t leave Nick behind. Hadn’t he cared about her? Hadn’t he helped her survive? The moon shimmered in the dark sky, refracting in thousands of rippling puddles. Soft voices drifted on the wind and Lareina stiffened as movement near the barracks swept across the still night.

  “I think there’s someone over here,” a voice shouted. “Yeah, I see someone. Right there!”

  Chapter 24

  Darting across the swampy ground, she scrambled deep into the trees. Behind her, feet splashed through puddles made invisible by the darkness. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground and used her elbows to propel her through the mud and under a protective screen of needled branches. Shivering, she positioned herself near the trunk of a large evergreen tree, pulled her knees up to her chin, and waited.

  Minutes passed and the shouting voices faded then vanished, replaced by the soft whap, whap, whap of raindrops dripping onto the mushy ground. Silence returned, but she didn’t move. Time closed in around her, heavy and ominous. Leaving meant the possibility of being caught and staying meant trying to cross the campus in daylight.

  Lareina stood and held a branch until the ground stopped swaying. Drifting silently through the darkness, she tried unsuccessfully to brush mud from her clothes. She watched the buildings closely as she weaved down sidewalks. The only squares of light came from hallway windows where lights remained on at all times. Soon every room would be glowing to life.

  The first glimpse of light appeared in the eastern sky as she reached her building. Pressing herself close to the cold bricks, she slid behind bushes and crawled until she reached the point directly beneath the bathroom window.

  Her fingertips pressed flat against the glass. She shoved her arms upward. Her hands slid along the glass, but the window didn’t move. Thinking she may have miscounted, she glanced around to verify she stood beneath the third window from the right. Once again, she pressed her hands to the glass. Shoulders, back, and legs all slid upward, but the window remained in place. Panic tightened her chest. She tried to pry her fingers beneath the window’s seal. She picked at a crack in the outer trim around the glass. Nothing worked. Someone had locked the window from the inside. Did they know? Had someone learned of her secret? Were they waiting to arrest her?

  The only other way inside was through the front door where the building monitor would be sitting at her desk ready to question Lareina’s reasons for being out without permission. She rubbed her forehead and examined her mud-covered clothes. Pink light spread across the horizon, birds chirped on the roof, and her mind failed to spin a believable lie.

  With no other options and time collapsing around her, she snuck up to the door and peered inside. The front desk sat vacant. Unable to believe her luck, she pulled the door open and darted down the hallway to the stairwell. Climbing four flights of stairs in only minutes, she strode down the empty hallway, allowing herself to anticipate the relief she would feel when she could collapse into bed. Still trying to catch her breath, and hoping Louise would still be asleep, she reached toward the door to safety, comfort, and rest.

  “Hey, stop right there,” an authoritative voice ordered.

  Her hand slipped from the doorknob. Her legs wobbled as if the floor shook and for the second time that night, the ground appeared, for a second, to rise up toward her. Slowly, too exhausted to consider escape, she turned to face her accuser.

  A tall woman with straight blond hair stood in front of her. Lareina recognized her as the building monitor who glared at her every evening when she returned from the cafeteria. “What are you doing out at this time?”

  The stern voice demanded an answer, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. The lies that always formed so easily were gone, her mind blank and fuzzy.

  “Answer me,” the woman ordered.

  The fluorescent lights buzzed inside Lareina’s head, the hallway dimmed as if someone slowly lowered the light switch, and she steadied herself against the wall. She didn’t even notice her door open until she felt the cool breeze of someone stepping up beside her.

  “What’s going on out here?” Louise’s frightening tone would have definitely won in a competition with the building monitor’s.

  “Is thi
s your roommate?”

  “Yes, Ella, this is my roommate, Rochelle.” Louise’s voice was a low growl. She took a step forward so she stood in front of her like a protective shield.

  Lareina wanted to run, but the room had become lopsided and blurry. Blinking, squinting, closing her eyes—nothing helped. She bit back a groan.

  “Maybe you can tell me what she was doing out in the rain at this hour,” Ella demanded.

  “I’d be happy to. I sent her to the library to check the basement,” she explained, so casually it sounded like the truth. “I couldn’t sleep thinking of the disastrous flooding we had last year, so she volunteered to check it out.”

  Ella looked around Louise’s shoulder letting her eyes burn into Lareina’s. “And how was it?”

  “Everything is f-fine. N-no water inside.”

  “So where did you encounter the mud that’s plastered all over you?”

  “I slipped . . . on my way back where the rain washed some mud over the sidewalk.” She had noticed the poor drainage issue the day before and knew anyone who investigated would find the scene just as she reported.

  Ella’s posture, expression, and voice remained stiff and cold. “That better be true. I’ll be watching you.” She tossed her threats down the empty corridor then stalked away.

  Louise turned her attention to her roommate, placing a hand on her arm and guiding her back into the safety of their room. By that time the blurriness in her head and trembling in her legs transformed standing into an impossible torture.

  “Where have you been? It better have been worth it for me to lie for you like that.”

  Lareina tried to answer, but stumbled forward as everything went dark. When she opened her eyes, Louise stood over her. Somehow she ended up in a chair instead of on the floor.

  “Are you all right? Rochelle, can you hear me?” Louise’s exasperation collapsed into bemused concern.

  As the room came back into view, she nodded.

  Louise helped her to her feet and out of her muddy jacket. “We’ll talk about this later. Go take a shower. I’ll wait until you get back.”

  In a daze, she gathered a towel and some clothes, walked down the hall to the communal bathroom, showered quickly, and returned to her room.

  Louise nodded toward Lareina’s bed where the pillow had been fluffed and the blankets folded back. “Go to sleep. You’re too sick to be of any use at work. Don’t leave this room today. We’ll talk when I get back.”

  Lareina agreed and crumpled onto the bed, sinking into sleep before Louise even opened the door.

  Late in the afternoon, she woke to gray skies obscuring any glimmer of sun. A lack of light emphasized the dinginess of her small room with its dark corners and scratched furniture. Drifting in and out of sleep, she listened to angry rain patter on the roof and clank through downspouts outside her window. No matter how she tried to preoccupy her mind, her thoughts continually circled back to Nick being forced to live in a flooded room. A week and a half had passed since she promised him they would leave Oak Creek, and still they had no workable plan.

  The barracks were similar to her own building except each room was half the size and a locked prison cell. Guards were posted inside to watch the exits. Nick shot down any plan she came up with to sneak in and pick the lock. He was right; it was too dangerous. Maybe she could teach Nick and he could unlock his own door? But no, Nick would mess it all up somehow.

  When the doorknob jiggled, she burrowed under the covers and closed her eyes.

  “I brought you supper,” Louise announced. Shoes squeaked against the floor. She pictured Louise pulling them off and dropping them as she did every day. “Don’t pretend you’re asleep. We have a lot to talk about.”

  Lareina opened one eye, then the other. “How did you know I was awake?” She sat up and leaned against her pillow.

  Louise handed her a sandwich and a stack of five crackers. “Lucky guess.”

  She looked down at the food in her hand, remembering the rules from the cafeteria.

  “Don’t think you’re the only one who can sneak food.” Louise walked back toward the door. “If you like that, just wait until you see what’s in the hallway.”

  She propped the door open and carried in a vase loaded with white daisies and pink carnations, sat it on the desk, and pulled a card out. “I hope you feel better,” she read. “Get plenty of rest and I’ll see you soon. Love, Marcus.” Louise sat down on the foot of the bed. “So, you’re on a first-name basis with the president?” Her sarcastic tone indicated she didn’t believe it.

  “That’s generally how it works when you’re engaged to someone.”

  Louise smiled. “I understand why you don’t trust me. I don’t know if I should trust you, but I want to stop you from doing something entirely stupid and extremely dangerous.”

  Lareina took a bite of her sandwich. She didn’t trust Louise, but then again she didn’t trust anyone. Sitting back against the wall, she shook her head. “Thank you for helping me this morning, but I can take care of myself.”

  “That obstinate attitude of yours reminds me of my little sister.” The first few words came out as a snarl, but her voice softened by the end of the sentence.

  Louise’s ever-changing emotions annoyed Lareina, but she worried how much more her roommate might know. “What do you want me to say?”

  “I want the truth. I want to know why you’re stealing food and sneaking out to the barracks at night. I want to know why any of that is necessary when you’re engaged to the president.”

  Lareina felt the color drain from her face as if blood stopped pumping through her body. She thought she had been so careful and yet Louise had complete knowledge of her actions. How? She meant to ask, tried to ask, but her vocal chords refused to make a sound.

  “I’ve done it before just like you’re doing now.” Louise studied her as if trying to determine whether she could continue. “A year ago my sister tried to escape from this place. She almost made it to the train. When they caught her, they locked her in the barracks and forced her to work but gave her very little food. I snuck out every night to visit her. We spent hours planning her escape.” Louise’s smile vanished. “We were to meet at the tree line after she took the lock apart. I could see her running toward me from where I hid and I thought it was really going to work. Then I heard the gunshot. We didn’t get far before she collapsed. I held her hand and listened to the searchers shouting and watched their flashlight beams getting closer.” Louise’s fist clenched. “I had to leave my own sister to die by herself with those brainwashed guards.” Louise’s tear-filled eyes looked out the window.

  “I’m really sorry.” The words sounded flat and meaningless, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Louise had only ever been rude and aloof to her, and the idea of her having a sister, a sister who she had snuck out for and watched get shot, was too much to comprehend. She thought about the girl who gave her the pendant. She’d barely known her, but seeing the wound, knowing that she would die . . . For days she’d woken up in tears.

  Louise nodded, composing herself. “Now, what’s your game? What’s your business at Oak Creek?”

  Glancing over at the flowers, she twisted her hair and pushed it behind her shoulder. She told Louise about Nick and Aaron, saving the story of her impulsive decision to marry the president for last.

  Louise stared at her and tried to speak twice, but no words came out. “Why?” she finally managed to utter.

  “Why did he ask me or why did I say yes?”

  “Yes,” Louise answered, then added, “Both.”

  Lareina sat back and smiled. “Apparently I’m the love of his life. I thought at the very least I would stay on his good side and perhaps gain an upper hand at escape.”

  Tapping her fingertips together, Louise leaned forward, looking off into empty space. “It could work. This could be the advantage we’ve been waiting for.”

  “We?”

  Louise looked at her roommate as
if she had forgotten she was in the room. “There’s a whole group of us here who want out. People living in the barracks and people living in the general population. Do you think you could steal something from the president’s house?”

  Although she didn’t yet know the layout of the president’s house, she knew she would be spending more time there, and maybe she could ask for a tour. “I think I could manage.”

  Louise clapped her hands together, becoming the first person who was excited to share a room with a thief. “How about Nick? Can he help us from inside?”

  “Nick is kind of helpless.” She tried not to laugh. “When I first met him, I had to rescue him.”

  Louise nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if you can get a key to free others from the barracks, then I have a plan. If you’re willing to work together, that is. What do you say?” She held out a hand.

  Did she really have another choice? Lareina was out of ideas and Louise seemed sincere. She gripped her new ally’s hand. “I’m in.”

  Chapter 25

  As she had promised, Lareina stayed away from the barracks until she felt better, which ended up being three days. On her second day back to work, the president came to take her to supper. She exchanged a knowing glance with Louise before following him through the door. Outside they walked arm in arm, but in the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

  “I thought we were going to supper?”

  “We are, but it’s a surprise.”

  Although she played the part of spy and con artist, she enjoyed the sun on her face. Early November brought the warm dry weather they should have had the month before. President Whitley led her to his house, but instead of going inside, they went around to the backyard where a checkered blanket and picnic basket waited.