Reentry

by Heather Carson

  The woman laughed. “I promise it is not gruesome and you’ll have a few years before anyone expects you to give birth. Think of it as more like a reproductive health class. It never hurts to be informed.”

  The woman, Dr. Clark who insisted the kids call her Dr. C, began the discussion by going over how the female body functioned. Katrina only half listened as she was fairly confident that she knew how it worked. Glancing around the room, she saw Ethan standing in a circle of guards. His face was beet red and the men were laughing at him. Five other boys stood outside of the circle nervously shifting from foot to foot. Lt. Bayer caught her staring and winked at her. She quickly looked down to her feet. Her stomach was in knots again.

  When she looked back up, she saw Lark and his cronies along with Samantha from agriculture and two other guys leaving down Tunnel 6 with some of the guards.

  “They are in the military training group,” Becca whispered as she slid over next to Katrina. “They volunteered to do it. The training is on the surface.”

  “Why aren’t you with them?” Katrina whispered back.

  “Because I don’t want to have any babies.”

  “Why would you take this class then?” Katrina turned to face her.

  Becca stared straight ahead. “It’s safer here where no one is trying to win any awards. If I would have stayed in that group, I would have had to get pregnant and I’m definitely not ready to do that.”

  Katrina shook her head, her face aghast. “Did he do anything to you?”

  “No,” Becca smirked. “But what he did to Anna, he did it because he knew he could get away with it. He knew what this was all along.”

  “Ladies,” Dr. C called out to Becca and Katrina. “I know you think you know all this already, but a refresher course is important too. Please pay attention or I’ll have to send you to work crew.” The girls nodded and followed along with the rest of the lesson.

  *

  The exercise session was on the surface. Katrina couldn’t wait to get some real air, tainted with radiation or not. The guards, led by Lt. Bayer, ran a military style PT session for the kids complete with pushups, whistles, and lots of screaming. Katrina was dripping with sweat as the guards ran them around the dirt track that had been pounded out by feet during the exercise sessions they had missed.

  When she thought she might faint, the guards blew the whistle to announce hygiene time. As she made her way to the tunnel a shoulder slammed against her almost knocking her down. She spun around to see Lark glaring at her while walking backwards. His cold eyes pierced through the yellow and purplish bruising that spread across his cheekbones. Katrina chuckled as she went to catch up with James.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked her as they walked into the room.

  “Lark is still pretty upset with me,” she giggled as she climbed on top of her bed. “You should see his face up close.”

  *

  That night as they were getting ready for bed, Becca poked her head into the room and nodded to Ethan. He jumped up and ran over to the door that led outside. After he slightly cracked it to look outside, he gave Becca a thumbs up and then closed the door again. Becca motioned for the others to join her in the hallway.

  “They disengaged the locks somehow,” she explained. “They can come in whenever they want. It’s safer to meet in the tunnels. Supposedly we are allowed to do whatever we want during our own time but if they get suspicious that we are plotting anything we get in trouble.” Peter, Juan, Laura, and Marie were waiting in the hall. “Stay there by the door,” Becca said. “So you can run back to bed quickly if Ethan calls.”

  “What’s this about?” Jayden asked.

  “We need help,” Becca sighed. “We have been trying to come up with a plan to overthrow these thugs, but we really need your help to do it.”

  James laughed. “What’s wrong with the society that they are building for you? It sounds a lot like what you were trying to do before we left.” Becca glared at him.

  Marie put her hand on her hip. “Hello. Have you seen what they are trying to make us do? We are just breeding stock to them. They are going to make us have kids in a few years and we are supposed to raise them to follow this government’s every order. This is not at all what I had in mind when I thought about starting a family. And have you seen the gene pool that we have to choose from here? If I’m the one that has to do all the work of having children, they should at least have given me better options.” She crossed her arms as she glanced to Peter and Juan. “No offense guys.”

  Peter smiled. “None taken.” He turned to James. “We never really cared about this society anyway. We just didn’t have any other plan on what to do. Sticking together seemed the best idea. Now anything else sounds better than this. This isn’t my country they are building.”

  “We wouldn’t be the only ones to fight back either,” Laura nodded. “Some of the guards were talking about another uprising in Shelter 23 or something. They were scared.”

  Katrina put her hand on James’ bicep. He locked eyes with her, and they stepped back into the shadows as the rest of the kids talked.

  “This could be it,” she whispered to him. “This could be the plan.”

  “It’s too risky.” James shook his head. “They have guns and we don’t.”

  “But we have to try,” she pleaded with him. “If it goes sour, we can always try to escape in the commotion.”

  James exhaled. “Bad plan, but I’ll try it with you.”

  Katrina smiled and they rejoined the group. She nodded to Dreya and Jayden.

  “Okay,” Jayden said. “We are in. What do we need to do?”

  Becca clapped her hands. “Nothing just yet,” she said. “We need Dreya first.”

  “Me?” Dreya looked confused.

  “We need everyone on board before we can strike. Obviously Lark and his friends won’t join us. But we still have ten other kids on the fence down here. They don’t trust me to lead them, but they did follow you Dreya. If you can be the face of the uprising, they might join our side. Then we can all work together to bring down the guards.” Becca winked at her. “We need you, mom.”

  Chapter 18

  “Why do you always do this?” Mia screamed at her older sister after they closed the door to the room.

  “Always do what?” Dreya asked her.

  Katrina started laughing as she and James climbed into their bunks. “She does always do this,” Katrina said. “She can’t help it though, it’s just who she is.”

  “What exactly do I always do?” Dreya stood by the door. “Help if I’m needed?”

  “It’s more than helping,” Mia said as she sat on her bed. “You always get too involved. You make everyone else’s problems your own. You always have to be the leader.”

  “I didn’t ask for this,” Dreya told her. “If I see a need for someone to step up, I will. Do you want me to say no?”

  “And hear about it for the rest of my life? No thanks. Do whatever you want.” Mia put the pillow over her face.

  Dreya looked around the room and Katrina smiled encouragingly at her before lying down. “I didn’t want any of this, but since we are here, I might as well do something.”

  “I know babe,” Jayden chuckled. “It’s just who you are.”

  Mia groaned from under her blankets.

  *

  During hygiene the following day, Katrina went with Dreya and Becca to the girls in Room 5. Laura and Marie pushed Anna, Willow, Sarah, and Carol into the hall.

  “Not this again,” Willow said as soon as she saw Becca. “I’m not fighting against the guards.”

  “We aren’t even going to have to really fight.” Becca leaned against the wall. “They aren’t supposed to hurt us. We are their livestock. They are supposed to protect us.”

  “Yeah but they can make life miserable for us,” Sarah said. “Even more miserable than it is right now.”

  “What’s the point?” Willow crossed her arms. “The world is crap out there and i
t may be bad here, but like you said we are safe here at least.”

  “Don’t you want to be in charge of your own lives?” Katrina asked. “Don’t you want to make your own choices?”

  “We are choosing,” Sarah laughed. “We are choosing not to make a dumb decision that could hurt us.”

  “What if there was a place that we could take you?” Dreya interrupted.

  Katrina’s heart beat faster as she stared at Dreya. Don’t tell them about the cabin, Katrina screamed in her head.

  Dreya smiled at her as she continued, “We found a paradise when we were out there. A place in the mountains with clean air and clean water. There are fish and rabbits and the government doesn’t know anything about it. We can take you there and away from here. You can live there and build the society that you really wanted. It will be safe. You’d just have to help us all get past the guards. We could leave. We could take their guns and their trucks. Then we could go to our own paradise and they wouldn’t be able to find us.”

  The girls were silent. Katrina didn’t take her eyes off Dreya.

  “Can you promise we will get there?” Carol asked.

  “I’ll die trying.” Dreya looked to her. “But yes, I can get you there.”

  Sarah looked around at the rest of the girls. “Screw it,” she shrugged. “It’s a bad plan, but why not try? What do you think Carol?”

  “I guess if no one gets hurt, it would be worth a try. The clean water and fishing sounds good to me.” Carol smiled.

  Becca let out her breath. “And what about you Anna? You’ve been awfully quiet through all of this.”

  Anna blushed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think. I have always wanted what was best for everyone and for us to all just get along. I liked the idea of building a society where we could work together. But what they are doing, what the government or whoever they are now is doing, this isn’t right. They are forcing us to accept it like we tried to make you guys do. Sorry about that by the way. And I don’t want to accept this.” Anna looked up from the floor as she smiled. “This is Lark’s world now and I don’t want to be a part of that world.”

  Dreya laughed and pulled Anna in for a hug. “I’m so glad you figured out that you were better than that guy. You are so much stronger than him. No one has the right to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to. Except Lark, we should totally force that guy to eat dirt.”

  Anna giggled as she peeled Dreya’s arms off her. “Alright. But I still don’t want to fight. Can you figure out a job that I can do that doesn’t hurt anyone?” Dreya nodded as Becca turned toward Willow again.

  “What are you thinking Willow?” Dreya asked. “Are you with us?”

  Willow looked to her friends. “Ugh,” she sighed. “Whatever you guys want.” She turned to Dreya. “I’m still mad at you for pushing me out of the room but I understand now why you did it. I’m with you Dreya. But I’m not eating any rabbits.”

  *

  Becca practically went skipping down the hall. Katrina pulled Dreya’s arm back and furiously whispered to her.

  “What the hell were you thinking? We can’t take them up there. How will they even survive if they get there?”

  Dreya smiled reassuringly. “I had to give them something. They need hope. I will figure out a way to get them there, without compromising you or the cabin I promise. Once I get them there, they can figure out the rest. I’m still going with you. It will just be a pit stop that we have to make.”

  “This is not a good idea,” Katrina huffed.

  “I’m still working out the details,” Dreya sighed. “But you know this is the right thing to do.”

  Katrina nodded and started walking but Dreya held her back. “Hey, do me a favor and don’t tell Mia,” Dreya pleaded. “Give me some time to find the right words so she doesn’t freak out.”

  Katrina smiled. “Oh, she is going to freak out no matter how you say it.”

  Chapter 19

  Lark and his roommates were hanging out in the common room.

  “What were you doing down there?” Lark asked Becca as Katrina and Dreya followed her out of the tunnel.

  “Just girl stuff.” Becca shrugged. “What are you guys doing out here? Shouldn’t you be showering or something?” Anthony and Brett laughed.

  “Bet you wish he was showering.” Brett blew a kiss to Becca. Katrina could barely see Anthony’s face through the discoloration of the fading bruises. James got him good, she thought. Becca’s cheeks turned red and she stomped off toward Tunnel 2.

  “Hang on a second,” Lark called. Becca stopped. “Not you Becca. We already know where you stand. I want to talk to Dreya.”

  Becca looked back to the girls and Dreya nodded for her to go. Becca kept walking.

  “What do you want?” Dreya’s voice was cold.

  “I just want to talk to you.” Lark’s eyes traveled to Katrina. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”

  Katrina crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere. If you want to talk, start talking.”

  Lark leaned back against the bleachers and sighed. “You still plan on being a trouble maker?” Katrina stared at him. “I’d watch my step if I were you. There are serious consequences if you don’t behave now. One call to my cousin and I can have you out of here.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  Katrina bit her tongue as Dreya laughed. “Yeah. We already met Lt. Bayer. It seems like he has a thing for Katrina though. I’m not sure how strong that threat of yours is,” Dreya said.

  Lark snorted. “It’s not a threat. Just stating facts. Anyway, they don’t get a choice or a chance at love. We do.” He winked at Dreya. “Speaking of that, is Jayden still following you around like a lost puppy?”

  “Jayden is fine. Thank you for asking.” Dreya smiled.

  Lark put his hands behind his head. “Hmm. Well let me know when you want to get with a real man. I’m looking for a strong woman to have my future children with.” Katrina’s jaw dropped open and she started to respond as Dreya stepped forward.

  “A real man! That’s what you think you are? You are nothing more than a spoiled child who thinks he can take anything that he wants. You disgust me. Anna was right, this is your world now. A world where everyone is forced to take a crappy deal just to survive. You can shove your world right up your…” Katrina pulled Dreya back and tried to guide her toward the tunnel.

  “I’d be careful what you say, sweetheart,” Lark yelled after her. “You wouldn’t want my cousin to think you girls were up to no good.”

  Katrina turned to face him after she got Dreya to calm down. “You aren’t going to say anything to cause problems because if you do, you’ll never stand a chance with her.”

  Lark smiled and blew a kiss. Katrina caught Dreya as she lunged forward and dragged her down Tunnel 3 with the sounds of the boys’ laughter echoing behind them.

  *

  Before they reached the door, Katrina put her hand on Dreya’s shoulder. “You okay?” she whispered.

  Dreya nodded. “I can’t believe I snapped like that. This place makes me feel crazy. I really hate that guy.”

  Katrina laughed. “I completely understand. We all hate him.” Dreya took a deep breath as they entered the room.

  “How was it?” Jayden asked climbing down from his bed.

  “It went good,” Dreya said calmly. “The girls are all in with us.”

  “Of course they are.” Jayden smiled at her. “You are a Rockstar. How could they say no to you?”

  Dreya ran across the room and grabbed Jayden’s face in her hands. She gave him a long smoldering kiss and pulled away leaving him breathless.

  “Eeww,” Mia yelled throwing her pillow at them. “Get a room why don’t you?”

  James saw Katrina’s face as she walked to her bunk. “What really happened?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.”

  *

  The two boys from agriculture were tougher to crack than the girls had
been.

  “Tell me again how we are supposed to grow crops on the side of a glacier in this paradise of yours,” Shea said.

  Katrina sat on the floor of the hallway next to Dreya and sighed. “You probably can’t grow them on that side of the mountain but a little below in the next valley or maybe on the opposite slope would work.”

  “Without seeing the terrain ourselves, how do we know it would work? You said the water is clean. Did you test it? How do you know that it is safe?” Christopher asked.

  Dreya leaned her head against her knees. “We drank it and we aren’t dead.”

  Christopher shook his head. “That is a horrible study and we still don’t know the results. You could drop dead tomorrow.”

  Katrina stretched her back out against the wall to crack it. “It’s not like you would be able to grow anything out here in the desert.”

  “Well we don’t technically have to grow anything here. Out there we will,” Shea leaned against the door frame.

  “Oh my gosh.” Dreya raised her head to look at him. “We just keep going in circles with this. Will you guys fight with us or not?”

  Christopher touched Shea’s bicep and whispered in his ear. Katrina saw Shea’s sly smile to Christopher that quickly disappeared as he looked forward.

  “We’ll fight,” Shea nodded. “We just want to know what we are fighting for.”

  “The right to choose how you want to live your own life,” Katrina said standing up. “You are fighting for freedom.”

  *

  “Welcome to day 31 in the shelter,” Nanny’s voice echoed her familiar morning salutation. The fluorescent lights burned Katrina’s eyes, so she pulled the pillow over her face.

  James lifted it away from her as he handed her the breakfast packet. “Time to get up, sleeping beauty. We don’t want to be late to Brain Washing 101.”

  Chapter 20

  There was an uneasy commotion in the common room as they entered that morning. Becca was standing near the bleachers with Laura and Marie. She walked over to Dreya when she came out of the tunnel.