The Culling: Book 1 (The Culling Series)

by Tricia Wentworth

  “Roughly 100,000 people,” I respond.

  “The smallest township has 100,000 people. What if there was an outbreak of something? Not a pandemic, but just a viral outbreak? Like Influenza-A or whooping cough? Fifteen nurses would have to take care of an entire hospital of patients? And really it would be more like half of that because they would take shifts. So eight nurses? That is a disaster waiting to happen.” She shakes her head.

  Holy crap. Between Marcia and her water purifying and Attie and her philosophy on the hospitals in the townships, these women are making huge strides in helping our country. It makes my irrigation technique seem inadequate. No lives were saved or helped from my idea, just carrots.

  “Why do you think they haven’t fixed this yet? I’m sure it has been an issue for at least the last two presidencies?” I ask as I remember President Maxwell’s comment about how it’s sometimes easier to stay within the bubbles of our own townships. Knowing all this new information, I feel like it will be hard for me to return to that bubble.

  “I don’t know. All I know is the more we could travel between townships, the better our lives would be. The more lives would be saved! But the more it is suggested, the more it is dismissed. If there were a solid reason, I would maybe accept it. But telling me no and letting people die without justifying it isn’t good enough for me,” she adds a frustrated gesture, “And completely viable babies dying will never be acceptable to me.”

  “Ummm, hellllllo, Madam President.” I shake my head for emphasis. “This is why you need to be Madam President. You need to do this. Use this platform to fix it.”

  We talk about hospitals for a bit more and compare what Omaha has to what Vegas has. I am astonished to learn what sorts of medical emergencies Vegas can handle. The difference is like a candle to electricity.

  The alarm from the timer soon goes off, startling Attie. “Holy cow. The time is already up. I’m sorry. We didn’t even really talk about you. You just had me going.”

  “That’s okay. What we talked about was way more interesting. I just water plants.” I smile and stand, giving her a hug. “Have a good night.”

  “See you in the morning,” she smiles.

  I leave her room with Sarge on my arm and wait for the elevator. As we wait for the doors to open, he gets me talking about my family arriving tomorrow. I am so excited I can barely breathe. I’m super exhausted from the last 24 hours but am smiling and happy nonetheless.

  The doors to the elevator open and Lyncoln is standing there, arms crossed, looking not at all happy. This is the version of Lyncoln that everyone is afraid of. Dark and mysterious…and moody.

  “Hey.” I smile at him, wondering what he is upset about. I decide to try the “kill with kindness” that Attie swears by.

  “Hey, yourself,” he says coolly and steps off the elevator.

  Did I do something to make him mad?

  “Going to see Attie for a social or for fun?” I ask, stepping in his path. I’m glad that there is zero jealousy in my tone. Although I am jealous that he can laugh and talk with her in a way he can’t with me, I know that their friendship is just that, a friendship.

  “Social.”

  One word answers again. My favorite.

  “Cool. I have Benjamin next.” I feel like I’m having a conversation with myself. He looked ticked off and I was making an effort to be nice since he brought me lunch.

  “You’re going to his room?” He stares daggers at me, clenching his jaw.

  “No.” I shake my head.

  “He’s coming to yours?” More glaring, but at least he formed a sentence this time. Goodness gracious, what have I done to make this beast mad?

  “Yes?” I ask, wondering what the problem is.

  “I’ll check in after.” More glaring.

  “Why? What’s the issue?” I snap, feeling annoyed. If he is mad at me, he could at least tell me why.

  He steps closer to me, continuing to stare me down. “I don’t like sharing.”

  Okayyy, if you can’t kill them with kindness, the next move is to smack them up top the head, right?

  “You already share me,” I blurt out boldly, glaring back and refusing to back down.

  This must amuse him because he smirks for the first time since our encounter. “With Henry. Who I trust. Impeccably.”

  “Well maybe you should try trusting me. Impeccably.” I poke him in the chest while I say it, and try to keep glaring, but his pecs are distracting.

  He half-smiles this time and backs down. “I will see you in a little bit, okay Reagan?”

  He seems to be coming out of his funk. I get out of his way and turn to get on the elevator but stop before I get in.

  “Lyncoln.”

  He stops and turns back around. “Yeah, Regs?”

  “Please pull out the stick up your butt before then.”

  I don’t wait to see the look on his face or how angry I made him, I just get on the elevator with Sarge and position myself so I can’t see the look on his face. I bit his head off, but I did at least say please. So there’s that.

  When the doors close, I breathe out the breath I was holding. Sarge is trying hard not to laugh. I can tell by his cheeks and the creases in his eyes as he hits the buttons to go back to my room.

  “Something you need to say, Sarge?” I ask, feeling like I could take on the world after my run in with Lyncoln. I mean, who treats someone so coldly like that for no apparent reason? One minute he is bringing me lunch and the next he is trying to brush me off. What the actual heck?

  “Whoo-ie, girl. You have ‘balls of steel’, as they say.” He is still trying to contain his laughter and failing miserably at it.

  “No. I just constantly struggle with not strangling that man.” I shake my head in frustration.

  “When you aren’t ogling him that is,” Sarge reminds me.

  I try to be mad at that but it makes me smile. He’s absolutely right.

  “I’m not sure which I do more of,” I joke.

  This makes him laugh harder. He puts a hand on my shoulder, “Welcome to dating.”

  ****

  I have Sarge get some drinks after seeing the example Attie set and tidy up my room nervously though there isn’t much to tidy up. I just want to crawl in bed and go to sleep instead of talking with Benjamin, of all people, but I know it really isn’t optional.

  He knocks right on time.

  “Hey,” I say, gesturing him in and propping the door open.

  “Hey, Reagan.” He comes in, sits down, and grabs a soda. “Thanks for this. How are you doing really? I mean, you seem like you’re fine, but how are you really?” he asks concerned as he looks at my bruised eye.

  I look in his baby blues and realize he is very charismatic. He always asks the right questions at the right time. He’s…calculated. I think he and Renae might just be perfect for one another. Calculated chameleons the both of them.

  “A little sore, but really I’m okay. It looks worse than it feels.” I am surprised with his sudden concern.

  “Well if Lyncoln hadn’t gotten to Grady, I sure as heck would have.”

  His statement annoys me. Benjamin was a bully on the playground during school. All of a sudden he is the all mighty protector?

  “Ummm. Okay.” I shake my head and take a deep breath.

  “What?” he asks confused.

  “Kolton McKinney,” I say and watch his reaction. “I don’t understand why you would protect me when you let a helpless kid like Kolton get bullied by your group of friends. But then again, the presidency wasn’t on the line then, so you didn’t have an image to uphold.”

  My words are a little harsher than I intend them to be, but I’m tired and it’s been a long day. At least I got the point across.

  He looks down in shame. “I can’t really argue with you on that. It’s true. I didn’t help Kolton. I didn’t instigate it either though.” He shrugs.

  “And you are just different now?” I blatantly ask and am surprised
by how honest and rude I am being. My argument with Lyncoln earlier has my claws still out.

  “School isn’t easy. I was just doing what I had to in order to get by.” He shrugs, still avoiding eye contact.

  “No. You were doing what you needed to in order to stay popular,” I correct him.

  “You’re right, as usual. But since I graduated, I haven’t hung out with any of those people, nor do I want to.” Then he looks at me and adds, “Will you continue to judge me on your perception of me and who I was in Omaha, or will you get to know who I am now?”

  This takes me aback and I realize I haven’t been fair to him. I just have a gut feeling about him that I can’t shake. But is it fair to judge him for one wrong choice? He’s right, he didn’t do anything to Kolton, but he didn’t do anything to help him either. I have just written him off as guilty by association.

  “You have a point.” I sigh and tuck my hair behind my ears. “I guess I don’t even really know you that well, Benjamin.” I shrug. “Sorry.”

  “Well, let me remedy that for you.” He smiles. “You know I have three siblings. You know I work in the fields just like you do. Things you may not know about me include that I love reading anything and everything, I love little kids and their chatty honesty, I have a thing for fixing up cars, I like card games, and I am constantly and relentlessly worried about my mom, especially now that I’m here.”

  “Marianne?” I ask, confused with his last statement.

  “Her cancer escalated to stage three right before I left. So my getting far in the Culling would really benefit her. Especially if I could somehow get her to Vegas for treatment. My dad is a mean jerk. Even meaner when he drinks, but my mom is the best person I know. I’d do anything for her,” he says it sadly and I feel worse for being super judgmental of him.

  I think of the conversation I just had with Attie about the hospitals in the townships. I’m from Omaha and had no idea. I feel bad for judging him on the little things when I had no idea about the big things he was going through. We all know his dad is mean, never abusive but right on that ledge, but his mom being sick is another thing. He has to be putting so much pressure on himself to do well in the Culling.

  “I had no idea,” I say sympathetically.

  “Well, no one really does. I have very few friends here I trust with that information.”

  So why does he trust me with that information?

  “May I ask my family about her tomorrow?” I ask, trying to be nice.

  “Would you?” he asks, his face full of concern for his mom.

  “Absolutely. It would suck not being able to talk to her knowing that she isn’t well.” I nod.

  “That’d be awesome. Thanks,” he shrugs, “What about you? How are you taking this whole crazy thing?”

  We talk for a little bit about the other girls and the training and the tests. Although we take tests almost every day, neither one of us thinks that is the worst part of this. We also talk about the simulator and what is to come. He asks my opinion of the other girls, specifically Renae. I encourage him to keep getting to know her better. Then he starts asking about Lyncoln and Henry and I get uncomfortable. He is the last person I want to talk to about my love life.

  “Both seem to be into you,” he says with a laugh. “The rest of us never even had a chance if we wanted one.”

  I sigh for a response. I will talk about this with Attie and Vanessa maybe, but not Benjamin. I shake my head as if trying to get out of talking about this.

  “Well, have either made a move yet?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

  I blush which seems to answer the question for me. Dang traitorous blush. Why, oh why, can’t we change the subject?

  “No way! Which one?” He claps his hands together. “I bet it was Lyncoln. He’s freaking scary aggressive. Was it Lyncoln?”

  Again, I don’t answer and try hard not to blush.

  “Do you not trust me?”

  I don’t, but I don’t want to tell him that.

  “I just don’t want to talk about it. It’s my own personal business and even I don’t want to deal with it right now. I’ve had a heck of a week and the last thing I want to do is talk about this. I was in the hospital all night for observation after hitting my head. I’m beat.” I yawn and find that although I was faking it, it ends up being a real yawn by the end of it as I really am that beat.

  “Crap, Reagan. I’m sorry. We’ve been talking for almost twenty minutes now. I’ll leave you to get some sleep.”

  “Thanks, Benjamin.” I smile nicely and stand.

  “Have fun with your family tomorrow. I’m so jealous.” He gives me a hug that lasts a few seconds longer than I want it to.

  “I’ll ask about your mom,” I say as I move out of his embrace. I may not like him, but his mom is a sweetheart.

  “Thanks.”

  I see him out and decide to change into pajamas. I have made a mental decision that I’m not going to open the door when Lyncoln comes to check in. I have had enough of his moodiness for one day.

  Knock on it, he does.

  He tries for almost a whole minute before getting impatient. Knowing that I have to be in there if Sarge is outside, he decides to threaten me.

  “You do know that I have clearance to go into any room I want at any time?” he growls.

  I didn’t know that. But I still don’t move.

  “Hold on. I’ll just go get Henry, too. That way we can all hash this out together,” he says through the shut door.

  This gets me. He might be bluffing, but the last thing I want to happen is to have both of my boy toys in my room while I’m wearing pjs, especially when I’m currently ticked off at one of them. It’s not a gamble I am willing to take.

  “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?” I say, swinging the door open angrily.

  I find him standing there looking exhausted. His shoulders look heavier than usual. He’s holding a tray with a plastic shaped thing I don’t recognize and a small box.

  “Yes, but no.” He shrugs.

  “Are you going to come in, or what?” I ask snappy, still somewhat annoyed.

  “No. You need to sleep. I just brought you a heat pack for your eye and some more chocolate cheesecake. I thought you would probably want that eye less bruised for seeing your family tomorrow. That and you have a ball to go to on Friday, gorgeous.”

  I’m shocked. No bossiness? No smart comments about what I told him in the hallway? No more moodiness?

  “Thank you,” I say softly, stunned.

  “I’ll just set it on your counter.” He comes in three feet, sets it by my small kitchen sink, and then returns to his previous spot, all while I haven’t moved, partially because his smell is intoxicating and partially because I can’t keep up with his moods.

  He picks up my hand and kisses my palm. “I’m sorry I was out of line with you earlier. I had a rough day and took it out on you. Not my proudest moment. Sleep well, Regs.”

  And before I have a chance to pick my jaw up off the floor, he’s gone.

  Chapter 15

  The next day drags on as I wait to see my family. It has only been a month since I’ve been gone. How much has changed since then! I’m not sure who I am more excited to see, my mom, my dad, or Ashton, if he will even be there. It’s a Monday so maybe he will need to stay home and do the chores. Or maybe he won’t come since he was here for the lie detector test. I don’t even know, but I’ll take whoever I can get.

  Henry and Lyncoln corral me between them again at breakfast. I wonder if other people think our situation is as weird as I do. No one says anything, well, except for Vanessa teasing me whenever she gets a chance. I think people are used to it. I wish I was.

  In the morning we have another verbal, which means a lot of waiting around. This one is a bit peculiar as there are all sorts of questions on what you would do in war-time situations, or how you would treat prisoners. I manage to make Mr. Winters smile at least once even though it’s a very serious ver
bal. I answer honestly but have no idea if I give them the answers they want to hear.

  I get to skip lunch since I will be getting a late lunch with my family. I go to my room to tidy up and make sure I look good enough that my mom won’t bicker at me. My eye already looks a little better, but is still tender and is darker and more yellow than red looking now. Frank has been doing an amazing job concealing it. I straighten the cream colored blouse tucked into the long, navy pencil skirt I’m wearing and try to fix my hair. I slide on a pair of navy heels and am lotioning my now baby soft hands when I hear a knock at the door.

  Assuming it’s Lyncoln coming to boss me around some more, I open the door with an annoyed look on my face.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Henry smiles, showing off his to-die-for dimples while his green eyes dance.

  “Oh, hey,” I smile back, somewhat relieved to find Henry instead of Lyncoln. Lyncoln is just a roller coaster of emotions.

  “Expecting someone else?” He winks at me as he comes in. I prop the door open as is the mandate when a boy is in your room.

  “No.” I shrug then realize what time it is. “Time-out, shouldn’t you be at lunch?”

  “Yes, but I ate quickly so I could come talk to you before you leave for DIA. Would you believe me if I told you I missed you? It’s weird. Even when I know you aren’t somewhere, I keep looking for you anyway.” He shakes his head and smiles shyly. He stands half leaning against one of the chairs in my sitting area. He crosses his legs and puts his hands in his suit pockets. His honey colored hair is styled slightly to the side and adds to his look.

  Why is he so darn perfect? Could he at least have a zit or something?

  “Plus, I didn’t get to talk to you much this morning.” He cocks his head to the side. “Someone was a bit distracted.”

  I laugh. “I’m just excited. And the morning took forever.”

  “I’m glad for you. I wish my family was as excited to see one another as yours is.”

  “You’ll have it someday, Henry. I just know it,” I say affectionately.

  “What do you mean?”