Steph didn’t move. She stayed in the same awkward position she’d landed in. She didn’t blink, and her breathing was surprisingly controlled. It was as though Steph was playing dead.
“For Mother’s sake,” Keeper Marie muttered, kicking her with her boot. “Last chance. I’ve been kind and patient. I’ve tried to get you medicine. I’ve done everything for you ladies, and this is how you repay me?”
Keeper Marie hesitated for a solid thirty seconds before turning on her heel and walking toward the door. Her head moved from side to side.
“Watcher!” she called as she waved her hand.
“Get up, Farmer Ripley,” I whispered, but I knew even if she got to her feet, it was too late.
Keeper Marie opened the door wider, allowing the Watcher to enter. I didn’t recognize him. It must have been one of the new guys Commander Godfrey had been training.
The Watcher’s chin was soft and his roundish cheeks pink. His scrunched face made it look as though he’d smelled something rotten. He couldn’t have been more than a few days over eighteen. Even though I wasn’t much older, he looked like a child. What was the youngest age a person could be to become a Watcher?
“How can I help you, Keeper?” the Watcher asked, his hand lingering over his baton.
“Watcher…,” Keeper Marie paused, waiting for his name.
“Davis,” he replied.
“Watcher Davis, I’m in dire need of your help with one of my farmers. She’s being resistant, and I’ve tried everything,” Keeper Marie said, shaking her head. She looked just as disappointed in herself as she was in Steph. “I’m sorry I have troubled you.”
Watcher Davis grinned. “This is the job I signed up for.”
“She’s just having trouble adjusting,” Keeper Marie said as a flash of regret flickered in her eyes.
“Adjusting?” Watcher Davis asked.
“She’d been in the Capital recently,” Keeper Marie said, rubbing her hands together. “The poor woman was badly injured recently.”
Watcher Davis nodded along with her words. “I see. She’s refusing to work?”
“Yes,” Keeper Marie said.
“Get up, Farmer,” Watcher Davis said, kicking her lightly with the tip of his boot. “Time for work.”
“Pass,” Steph mumbled.
Watcher Davis reached down and lifted her with ease. He wrapped his arm around her chest, holding her tightly against the side of her body.
“Get your other farmers to work,” Watcher Davis ordered. He looked down at the top of Steph’s head. “I don’t give more than one warning.”
“I don’t give a shit what you do,” Steph said.
“Farmer Ripley!” Keeper Marie gasped. Her hand slapped over her mouth as her eyes widened toward the Watcher.
Fear. She appeared to be afraid for Steph, but was she really? She was the reason Steph was in this situation.
“I’m so incredibly sorry,” Keeper Marie said to the Watcher. “She is not acting like herself.”
“Get your farmers to work,” Watcher Davis said as he jerked Steph’s body toward the door. She didn’t fight him, but she also didn’t make his job easy.
“Yes,” Keeper Marie said, bowing her head. “Of course. Move along, ladies.”
We followed them out of the cabin. Steph and the Watcher went toward the torture buildings. They would interrogate her, but what that really meant was they’d beat her. They’d whip her. And they wouldn’t bring her back until she agreed to go back to work.
I repeatedly looked over my shoulder until they turned out of view. It felt like there was a rock in my stomach.
I knew what would happen to her. My finger traced the scar on my arm. I shivered as memories of pain shook through my body.
The searing sharpness of the whip slashing against her skin was a feeling I found easy to recall. It was blindingly hot. The back of her skull would tingle as she balanced a line between being awake and unconscious. If they pushed things too far, she’d fall into that darkness.
“Move your feet, Farmer Church,” Keeper Marie said, her voice cracking to a higher pitch. She hadn’t even turned around to look at me. Somehow, it seemed as though she knew where my mind was.
The Keeper’s bodies were always covered, but maybe Keeper Marie knew what I was thinking about because she could relate. Somehow, I didn’t think that was the case. It was possible she just knew me well enough to know what I was thinking about. I wasn’t a stranger to visiting the torture room.
Work went slowly. I looked around for Hawk at the food tents, but he wasn’t around. His group must have been behind schedule.
Seeing him would have helped time move faster. I wasn’t eager to tend to Steph’s wounds, especially without anything I could treat them with, but I wanted to make sure she was okay. That she hadn’t fallen over the line into the darkness.
As the day dragged on, the heat from the sun cooked my skin. Sweat soaked into my smock, and dirt stuck to my legs.
I stood at the water’s edge, looking into the sparkling blue lake. It was the closest I’d ever come to climbing the short wall and jumping into the water.
“Cory?” Ivy said, leaning into my view. “Time to go.”
I shook my head. She hadn’t said more than a few words, but I’d been so lost in thought none of them had registered.
“What are you doing?” Ivy asked.
“I’m so hot,” I said each word came out slowly. The movements of my mouth had felt awkward, as if my lips had moved long before the sounds came out.
Ivy grabbed my arm as the lake spun around me. “Let’s get you to the cabin.”
“I’ll get in trouble,” I mumbled.
“The workday is done,” Ivy said. “Keep your head down. I’ll get you out of the sun.”
“Okay,” I said, letting her lead me away.
Keeper Marie’s boots appeared in front of us. “Let her go, Farmer Sterling. She can walk on her own.”
“I think the heat’s getting to her, Mum,” Ivy said.
“Don’t you think I’ve been through enough?” Keeper Marie hissed. “Let her go.”
Ivy dropped my arm. I told myself if I kept my eyes down and focused on each step, I’d make it, and that was exactly what I did.
I sat down on my bed. I ripped off my smock and wiped my brow with it.
“Geez, Cory,” Ivy said, turning away.
“Sorry,” I said, grabbing a new smock off the shelf and quickly pulled it on.
“Feeling better?” Ivy asked, daring a look.
I nodded. “A little.”
“I could see about getting you some water,” Ivy said.
“It’s not worth it,” I said. “The last thing I want is for you to get in trouble too. You know how they can be about the water.”
“We have a community water source for this purpose,” Ivy said.
My eyes met hers. “And you know how they feel about us leaving the cabin after work.”
“I’m fast.”
I shook my head. “I appreciate it, but no.”
My mouth snapped shut at the sound outside the door. I knew without looking up that Steph was back.
5
Watcher Davis entered the cabin. I kept my head tilted down, but my eyes were shifted up just enough to see everything he was doing.
He glanced at each one of us as he dragged Steph to her bed. Her body was limp and her eyes were empty. It wasn’t until after he tossed her on her bed and she turned away from him that I knew she was alive.
Watcher Davis turned quickly and dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The sounds of his feet scratching against the dry earth faded.
Blood had soaked through Steph’s smock. I crouched down beside her bed and peered over her.
“Oh, Steph,” I said softly as I peeled parts of her smock away from her body.
She turned toward me, her eyes slowly opening. The blankness was still in her eyes.
“It wasn’t enough,” Steph said.
Her head painfully moved from side to side. Steph winced as she swallowed.
“No,” she said. “I’m still here. It wasn’t nearly enough.”
Her eyes closed, and the muscles in her jaw loosened. I shook her gently.
“Steph? Steph!” I turned to Ivy. “Maybe you should see about that water after all.”
I understood Steph’s plan. She was going to do everything she could to go back to the Capital. In her mind, that meant getting close to death. What she didn’t realize was that wasn’t going to happen again.
The only reason they’d sent her because of the circumstances surrounding her injuries. The crazy Watchers had been responsible, but now she was doing it to herself.
If she got that close to death again, they wouldn’t send her to the Capital. Farmers, servants, and diggers weren’t typically sent to the city for care… they were left to die.
I’d have to convince Steph to stop her reckless behavior, but I wasn’t entirely sure how. She was beyond determined to get back to the Capital, even if it was only to return to her room in the clinic.
That determination was going to get her killed. And it wouldn’t take long if I couldn’t find a way to convince her to stop.
After we helped clean her wounds and change her into a clean smock, Ivy and I took turns watching over Steph throughout the night. We didn’t say it, but we were both worried she wasn’t going to make it. What I didn’t say was that even if she did, I was still afraid she’d refuse to get out of bed come morning.
Thankfully, when the sunlight came through the window. I saw that I was wrong.
Steph was in massive pain. She wouldn’t talk to me, but she did stand at her bed before Keeper Marie arrived.
“Morning blessings, ladies!” Keeper Marie said, smiling at Steph. “I am so incredibly pleased to see you are well again.”
Keeper Marie was brainwashed. Delusional. The four of us were being taken care of by a crazy woman that didn’t give a shit about what happened to us.
The day went as usual, except Steph wasn’t herself. She looked smaller. She kept her head down and didn’t even try to talk to me once, which wasn’t surprising since she considered me at least partially responsible for what happened to her.
It was after lunch I saw Hawk. My heart skipped a beat when he flashed the signal.
I needed to meet with him, but the tree circle felt like it was a different place. Still, even though I was uncomfortable, I’d go.
It was as easy as ever to sneak away. Even since the night everything went wrong, no one expected me to be out. No one had ever known I’d even been there. I wasn’t being watched because no one knew I’d been there.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to come,” Hawk said, giving me a quick hug. He started pacing back and forth. “I’ve met with Watcher Jones a few times now, and I think he’s going to be able to get us out of here.”
I exhaled. I wanted to feel more hope than I did. “In this lifetime?”
“Apparently, it’s a long process,” Hawk said. “They have to be careful to not leave a trail. They need to make sure that there are no asked questions about our disappearance from the farms.”
“People don’t just disappear from the farms. Someone will ask,” I said.
Hawk shook his head. “Except, they won’t, or when they do, it’s shut down immediately because the Keeper or Watcher being asked the question believes they’re helping keep a death hidden. Would you ask your Keeper if suddenly one of your cabin mates disappeared?”
“Well, I might, but others wouldn’t, I suppose.”
“And your Keeper wouldn’t tell you anything important,” Hawk said, glancing toward me. His eyes rolled. “Because you’re just a farmer.”
I nodded. It was the truth. Keeper Marie wouldn’t talk to Ivy, Steph, or Farmer Watson if I vanished. She’d likely have me replaced in less than a day.
“It’s a bit more challenging to get us into the city, though. They need to create paperwork, believable identities, new clothes, and whatever else we need to look like we fit in,” Hawk said. “We need to look like we’ve been there the whole time.”
“I have to change my name?” I asked.
“I would assume so,” Hawk said. “At least your last name.”
I chewed my cheek for a long moment. “Have they gotten started on the process yet?”
“I don’t think so. He said they want to make sure we can be trusted. It’s some kind of secret organization,” Hawk said, furrowing his brow. “They want to make sure we aren’t tricking them or something.”
I laughed. “Why on earth would we do that?”
“We wouldn’t, but they want to be sure of that,” Hawk said.
“They must not understand the hell we’re living in then,” I said, crossing my arms.
Hawk continued his pacing. “I just wanted to let you know it’s going to take time and that we just need to hang in there. I’ll get you updates as often as I possibly can.”
He stopped abruptly and walked toward me. Hawk pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips to mine.
My mind flashed back to my night with Hawk. Hot. Sweaty. Passionate. It was an experience I’d never forget, but after, I’d told him it would just be that one time. Somehow, though, I couldn’t stop myself from melting into him.
There was just too much going on with Steph, the new Watchers, and whatever happened to Watcher Brody. I just wanted to let it all disappear, even though I knew it wouldn’t last.
Hawk let go and began pacing again. “Sorry, I know that’s against your rules. It’s just, well, you know how I feel.”
Did I? I managed to keep the question to myself.
I cleared my throat and touched my bottom lip. I could still feel the heat from his lips.
“I was wondering if we could bring Steph with us,” I said, biting my lip.
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t think so. It was hard enough to convince Watcher Jones to consider you.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling an invisible weight drop on my shoulders.
“Maybe when we get to the Capital, we can figure out a way to bring her over too,” Hawk said when he saw the look of disappointment on my face. “I’m sure we could figure something out for her, eventually.”
“She’s not doing well here,” I said.
Hawk pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s hard for a lot of people.”
“It’s easier when you have a grain of hope,” I said.
“You shouldn’t even tell her about this,” Hawk said, turning away. “They could get in serious trouble, and it could ruin our chances at getting out of this place.”
“I haven’t said a word, but I don’t feel great about it. She deserves to leave here just as much as I do, if not more,” I said. My eyebrows squeezed together as I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “What are they doing this?”
Hawk cocked his head.
“Why is Watcher Jones helping us leave the farms? What’s in it for him?” I asked.
Hawk stepped around me and continued pacing. “Apparently, his older sister was murdered on the farms a few years ago. He vowed to do whatever he could to help people. I guess they’re going to try to change things eventually, but to do that, they want to get as many farmers, servants, and diggers into the city that they can.”
“What are they planning?” I asked, swallowing down the sourness bubbling up at the back of my throat.
“I’m not sure exactly,” Hawk said, wiping sweat from the back of his neck. “There is one rule we must follow if we agree to go along with all this.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Hawk’s feet stopped. He hesitated before turning to me. “We must agree to help the rebellion at any time, all the time, even if there are risks. We agree to join them.”
6
I waved my hands in front of my face. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not a
greeing to join any kind of cause I know nothing about.”
“Cory,” Hawk said with narrowed eyes. “This is our freedom we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know what I’m signing up for,” I said. “What kinds of things would we have to do? Did you even ask?”
“I didn’t because I thought we wanted to get out of here,” Hawk said. His nose wrinkled. “Cory, I’m confused.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry, I guess I’m only first realizing now that we’ll never be safe. We aren’t safe here, and we’ll never be safe in the Capital.”
“So, what do you suggest we do?” Hawk asked, throwing his hands in the air. “Go out beyond the fence?”
“No.” I shook my head vigorously.
“Then what?” Hawk asked. “I’ve already accepted the terms. Watcher Jones will want to meet with both of us. You can ask him about your concerns then.”
I looked down and kicked at the dirt with the tip of my boot. “When is the meeting?”
“I’m not sure. He’ll let me know,” Hawk said. “Cory, I really think you should come with me to the Capital.”
“I just want to hear what he has to say first,” I said.
“Please don’t back out,” Hawk said, looking into my eyes.
He grabbed my hand and held it between his, stroking the back with his thumb. Hawk peered into my eyes, pleading with me to stick with him.
“I’m not going to back out,” I said, feeling my breath getting caught in my throat. My body was conflicted, but my heart wanted to get out of the farms as soon as possible. “I just want to know what it all entails.”
Hawk’s shoulders sagged. I crouched to meet his gaze.
“I’m excited to get out of here with you, really I am. If it were happening right now, I’d go. I’d do anything not to have to carry another bucket of water for the rest of my life,” I said, turning slightly. “But I’m worried too. Worried what they’ll ask us to do. If we stay here, we risk our lives. We leave, and we risk our lives.”
Hawk pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. He pressed himself into me.
“I don’t want to risk losing you,” Hawk said before passionately kissing me.
After The Fires | Book 2 | The Trials Ahead Page 3
