Chapter Thirty-One – The Break-up
Wednesday, April 18th
During our warm up, Charlie gets a lecture about his blackouts. I assume with all the expensive equipment being installed, constant power cuts aren’t appreciated. Stan basically threatens to move Charlie elsewhere if he doesn’t give it a rest. He speaks in front of us all, so we all know we won’t be able to discuss tonight again with each other. We know we’re leaving at four and hopefully it’ll be exactly like our practice run.
We stay in the gym all morning before I’m taken away by Martha. We go into my room and I’m too distracted to have to deal with her today.
“So how are you, Zoe?”
“Fine.”
“Anything you wish to talk to me about?”
“Nope,” I speak offhandedly and glance down at my nails to show her just how uninterested I am in having this conversation with her.
“How are things with you and Charlie?”
I want to say none of her business, but an idea creeps into my mind. I remember the words she wrote in her personal notes that Rose had been able to access. It sounded like she really had wanted Charlie and me together, like she was using reverse psychology on us by trying to split us up. What does that mean? Why is she eager to have us together? What does that get her?
“I’m not sure,” I speak honestly, devising an experiment.
“Is something wrong?” she asks curiously.
“I think you might have been right. I don’t really want Charlie and since I don’t want to hurt him, I think I’m going to break things off.”
“Really?” Martha sounds surprised.
“Yeah, I mean that’s what you want, right?”
“I want you both to be happy here. I simply don’t know that getting into a relationship right now is wise, especially with Charlie.” I feel her leading me with her words.
“What do you mean by, especially with Charlie?”
“Well, he is a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but I have noticed some things about him. He seems rather arrogant and self-centered.”
“You think?” I bite down on my remark that Charlie is the kindest and most caring person here. I know what she’s trying to do. She wants me to argue, to realize what a catch he is. She really is using reverse psychology on me.
“Yes, definitely not good enough for you. You’ve been through so much lately, Zoe, growing attachments isn’t wise in your state. You’re clearly still at the beginning stages of dealing with Dana’s death and that process is only going to get harder. Having a relationship with Charlie is a distraction you don’t need.” Martha speaks softly and I notice her watching me carefully.
I see through her words again. Reminding me how upset and alone I am is probably supposed to make me run back to him.
“You’re right. He is rather clingy, too. Not a very attractive thing in a man.” I smile at her and watch as her body tenses for just a split second before she smiles back at me.
“I’m glad we’re seeing eye-to-eye on this.”
“Me, too.” I try to make myself seem completely at ease. I lean back in my chair and let my arms dangle on either side of me.
“Right, well, if you wish to speak again, you know where to find me.” Martha stands up quickly and doesn’t wait for me to reply before she leaves my room. I quickly rush to the door to peek out and watch her storming towards the gym entrance. Interesting.
Noises from the lounge area distract me from following her back and instead, I head towards the sounds. It’s not lunch time yet so everyone should still be in the gym.
When I round the corner, I see two men over by the TV.
“Who are you?” I ask. They don’t have weapons on them and while one looks fit the other looks short and scrawny.
“No one important.”
“Shh, we’re not supposed to talk to anyone.” The fit guy glares at the scrawny one.
“What are you doing?” I demand, feeling nervous.
“We’re installing cam—”
“Shut up.” The fit one smacks the scrawny one hard at the back of his head and I wince for him.
“Thanks.” I walk away before I get him into any more trouble.
I begin to panic as I walk away. They’re installing video cameras, which means when we leave tonight, they’ll be watching us.
I enter the gym and my eyes go straight to Martha who is talking to Stan heatedly and I have a feeling it might have something to do with our talk. I walk over to the others who are having a drink break and I make a point of putting myself between Will and Rose for Martha’s sake.
“You guys are not going to believe this. They’re installing cameras in the lounge area so they can keep an eye on us. They’ll be watching our every move.” I look at each of them in the eye. We all know what that means.
Rose narrows her eyes and then pushes past Charlie and Will. She storms over to Martha and Stan.
“This is outrageous! First you put listening devices in our rooms, which is creepy, now you’re installing cameras in the living areas? What is next? Cameras in our bedrooms so you sickos can get off on us? I demand you get rid of them at once!” Rose waves her arms around angrily.
“We’re just trying to protect you all. Keeping an eye on you will help us to do that,” Martha speaks calmly.
“You seem convinced we’re safe here so why the hell do we need them? I don’t want them.”
“How about you mind your tone with my wife. We are here to protect your lives and all we’ve received in return is lip. You seem to think you’re being so mistreated here, I can show you mistreated if you’d like,” Stan snaps at Rose. Martha quickly puts her hand over his arm and Will and Charlie move over to Rose instantly. It’s like within a few seconds the temperature in the room drops about twenty degrees.
“Yes, we have cameras going up. Yes, there will be one single one placed in your rooms. And yes, you will suck it up and get over it. You are here to do a job and I’m sick of you whining. If you don’t shut up about it, I’ll shut you up.” Stan speaks carefully as though trying to control his voice. The effect it has is chilling.
“Okay, everyone just take a step back. How about you guys go and have some lunch.” Martha pulls on Stan’s arm and he quickly turns away from us, leaving through the side door with Martha trails behind.
“What the hell.” Rose looks shaken. I would be, too, if I had a front seat to Stan’s lecture.
“Come on, let’s go eat.” Charlie leads the way back out the door and down the corridor to our rooms. The guys are finishing setting up the cameras out in the lounge and I’m scared to say I can’t even notice where they’ve put them. I pull on Rose’s arm to stop her moving.
“If they’re setting up cameras in our rooms, we won’t be able to pack anything tonight. We have to do it now before the cameras are up and running, so tonight we can just grab our things and go.”
Rose nods at me and she leans in to whisper to Will. I tell Charlie what I told Rose and we all skip lunch to try and pack some clothes up. Since I’ve been here, no one has mentioned anything about washing to me. We don’t have a washing machine in any of the rooms we have access to and Martha hasn’t collected our dirty clothing. So far, mine is just sitting in a corner in my room. I still have a few clean clothes I’ve yet to wear so I grab them and fold them down and put them into my large handbag by my bed. I’m not sure what the boys are going to use to pack their things, it’s not like we’ve been given bags. I assume Rose still has her handbag if she was taken with it. I’m lucky my bag is so massive so it’ll fit quite a bit in it. I hold out my cell and resist turning it on to look at my photos. The urge to see Dana again is strong, however the fear of using up my battery is worse. I need to save looking at them for emergencies only because I might not ever get a chance to go home and look through my many photos of her again.
When it comes to my closet, I feel torn. Drew’s ashes are still in there, folded into my quilt. It feels wrong to leave him
here. He risked so much coming back and he lost Dana, too. By changing the future and changing whatever horrible things we all did, he lost his future with the woman he loved so much. I’m not sure where we would be if he hadn’t broken into The Windmill. We would only have heard Stan’s version of this story, we might have fallen straight into the same path we were on in his timeline; all of those people who had loved us enough to try to end that devastating future for us would have done it for nothing. He doesn’t deserve to be left here in this place.
I look around for something to put him in and jump when Charlie walks through my door.
“You okay?” He looks at my packed bag sitting on the floor.
“I want to take…” I point at the quilt showing through the open doors.
“You sure?” Charlie appears worried, perhaps wondering how sane I am.
“Yes. I’m just not sure how?”
Charlie glances around, too, and I appreciate that he’s not calling me crazy.
He leaves the room and returns a few seconds later holding an empty Pringles container. He holds it out and shrugs at me. I don’t think it’s the most respectful place for someone’s ashes, however without an urn handy on me, nothing here is going to seem all that appropriate.
I nod and he helps me pull the quilt out. I can’t help the shivers I get all over my body as we unfold the quilt and find the ashes there. I’m again surprised by how little is left of him. I don’t know if that’s a normal amount or if there is less because Drew’s body broke down quicker.
I try to scoop him up into the container and wish I was able to say something about him, some nice words, but with everyone listening, I keep my mouth shut. Instead, I think of Dana and feel like she might be here with me right now, saying her goodbye, too.
Charlie helps me as much as he can and, when I’m nearly finished, he lets his hand rest on the small of my back which brings me the comfort I need to keep going. When I’m done, we put the quilt out on the bed and I place the container in my bag wrapped up in a shirt. I blink away tears, feeling raw from my thoughts of Dana and Drew, so Charlie pulls me in for a hug while I cry. I know it’s silly to feel this incredible sadness, especially since Drew is still alive back home, yet I can’t help it. In the past two weeks I’ve seen two of my closest friends die.
I cry myself out sometime later and finally feel the grief slowly receding downwards. I know it’ll creep up another time, although for now, the wave appears to have passed and I wish I had a tissue to blow my nose. I’m sure I don’t look at all attractive to Charlie and he’s most likely wondering how to get away from me as quickly as possible. The thought reminds me of my earlier discussion with Martha and I lift up on my tiptoes to speak into his ear.
“I told Martha that I agreed we should cool it off together. She definitely was mad.”
“I wonder what she’s up to,” Charlie whispers back.
I shrug and grab hold of my bag, placing it back in the shelf by my bed. Rose barges in then and in her hands she’s holding two piles of money. She hands one to me and one to Charlie.
“What is…How did…” I leave my questions hanging in the air.
“You’re missing out on lunch, guys. Hurry up.” Rose nods at my bag and I quickly bend back down and place the money in there. I think it must be close to two thousand dollars. Charlie takes his and leaves to go in his room. I wonder if Rose had the money on her when she got here. If not, where else would it have come from? Who carries that amount of money on them?
I walk out of my room with her, along with Charlie. Will meets us in the hall and we all go into the meals area to have lunch.
Taken By Surprise Page 68