by S. E. Meyer
“You have no idea how I was raised. You know nothing about me!”
Anna split the skin at the hind legs of the first rabbit, peeling the hide back to its neck with a shaking hand, her jaw muscles popping below her flushed cheeks.
She whipped around to face Richard. “I know everything was handed to you on a platinum platter, never having to work a day in your life.”
She turned back to her task and finished dressing the rabbits, leaving the organs and entrails as a treat for Shadow.
Anna collected sticks and skewered the rabbits, setting them up on a spit she fashioned from branches.
“You're lighting a fire? Are you insane?” Richard asked.
Anna turned, pointing her knife at Richard. “Oh, you'd rather eat it raw, like Shadow?”
“Gross, I'm not eating that, and my gut says this is a bad idea. There are crazies everywhere.”
“Mine says I should have killed you back at the farmhouse.”
“What didn't you?”
“Because someone told me all life is precious.” Anna raised an eyebrow. “And I think I was still tripping on mushrooms. Either way, I'm regretting the decision, all you do is piss me off!”
Anna pulled out her lighter and set flame to a small pile of dry grass and sock lint.
“At least I would have some peace.”
Anna cooked the rabbits, fat sizzling along with her boiling, silent anger. When finished, she tried to eat as much as she could, however the fight with Richard stole her appetite.
Anna stepped to where Richard was sitting. “Here,” she said, handing him the other rabbit.
Richard waved her off. “I'm fine,” he replied, pulling a package from his jacket pocket. “I have pudding.”
“Fine!” Anna speared the spit into the ground an inch from Richard’s big toe.. “I'll be right back, I need some sand to put out the fire.”
Anna clawed at the ground near the fence where there was little grass and used her knife's handle to loosen the sand.
Thank God there's no frost yet.
She flipped her shirt, turning it into a cradle and filling it with sand before standing. As she turned around, she saw a thick column of white smoke rising above the trees.
Anna's jaw slacked.
She ran back to the fire. “No, no, no. Richard, what did you do?”
She arrived at the fire to find Richard with his pants around his thighs.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“You said we needed to put the fire out.” Richard shrugged. “I had some extra liquids on hand.”
Anna ran to the fire and dumped her sand filled shirt onto the steaming coals. “You're an idiot, Richard! You're supposed to put a fire out with sand if you're trying to remain inconspicuous. It chokes the coals and seals the smoke.” She looked up at the trees. “You just sent a steaming piss signal to anyone in a one-mile radius.”
Anna shook her head. “And pull up your pants, I don't need to see that.”
“I can't with my hands tied.”
Anna growled. “You're infuriating. How the hell did you get them down?”
“Gravity, and a little wiggling.”
“Well, I'm not untying you. I'm not sure if the Flieshmans is already affecting your ability to reason or if you're just that much of an imbecile!”
“You're yelling is more likely to attract attention.”
She set the shotgun on the ground and moved behind Richard, tugging his pants from each side. ”You think this is yelling?” Anna's pitch grew in intensity. “You have not heard me yelling!” Anna tugged harder on Richard's pants. “Now this is yelling!” she screamed into his ear with the squeal of Little Richard as she accomplished her task of covering the aforementioned.
“Freeze!,” a voice called out from behind them. “Don't move, we're armed.”
Anna snapped her head around to find four armed men with their weapons aimed.
“Told you,” Richard said.
“This is your fault. Pissing on the damn fire.”
“We might have heard them coming if you weren’t in the middle of a tirade,” Richard replied.
A man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans picked up the shotgun. “Shut up, both of you. Any more weapons?” he asked.
“She has a handgun in her jacket,” Richard replied.
Anna shook her head while rolling her eyes. “Now I know the Fleishmans is shutting down your higher reasoning.”
“Frisk them both,” the man holding the shotgun said.
Two men stood at a safe distance with their weapons trained on Anna and Richard as the other patted them down, taking Anna's knife and gun.
The man in the black jacket nodded toward Richard. “Check him.”
A bearded man wearing a camouflage jacket took a hold of Richard's left hand and pricked his finger. He squeezed the tip and smeared the drop of blood into an electronic tester. A red light illuminated within a few seconds. “Positive.”
The same man grabbed Anna's hand. Anna squirmed free and punched the man in the face.
“Feisty one,” the man said, touching his lower lip. “Hold her down.”
The two men holding Anna forced her to the ground. They secured her hand and pricked her finger. This time a green light illuminated on the tester.
“What? That's strange. She's clean.”
“Check her again. We've had false negatives before.”
The man repeated the test with the same result. “Nothing. She's negative for Fleishman's.”
The first man leaned over to check the result, shaking his head. “That's impossible.”
“Cuff them. We have to get back. The mayor can decide what to do.”
CHAPTER X
Six Humvees swarmed the curb next to a brick building on railroad street. The sergeant looked up at the windows as the squads set up a perimeter around the premises.
He raised an eyebrow as a light flashed on and off five times in an upper bedroom. The sergeant turned. “They’re signaling help from outside the building. We can't wait. Execute. Move in. Move in,” he yelled while jogging towards the lead squad.
Delores walked into the dining room. “Busy outside this morning.”
Jax wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean?”
Delores pointed at the window. “The street is full of people.”
Jax jumped from his chair and ran to the window, sliding back a curtain. His muscles tensed. ”Oh, no. They've found us.” He ran to the kitchen where everyone assembled for breakfast. “Quick, get everyone. We have to leave now.”
The group shuffled down the stairs to the grow op room.
“Do we have everyone?” Damarion asked.
“Everyone but Jax,” George replied.
Jax jogged through the dining room to take one last look outside. The window exploded, raining shards of glass onto the living room floor, followed by a smoking canister of tear gas. Jax covered his mouth with his shirt, running back towards the kitchen. Noticing Damarion left his phone behind, he snapped it off the table as he passed. Jax's eyes widened, glancing at the call history.
“Here's Jax,” Damarion said. “That's everyone, lets go,” he said, touching the subway tile near his shoulder.
A hidden door swung open and everyone shuffled through, closing it behind them as a team of masked soldiers entered the tunnel.
“Clear,” a soldier announced.
The sergeant removed his mask while tugging a phone from his pocket. “We found them.”
Cornelius's voice crackled on the other end of the connection. “You have them?”
“Well, no, we don't have them in custody. The place is empty, but this is no doubt their base of operations. We recovered tablets, plans and an entire illegal growing operation. We're searching every inch of the place, trying to figure out how they got out.”
“Find them and bring them all to me alive.”
Cornelius ended the call, jogging into the ballroom. “James, search forty-two Railroad street.
What do we have for sewer systems in the area?”
James tapped at his screen. “Looks like some smaller rain water gutters, but that’s all.“
“Nothing else underground near that building?”
“Nothing, Sir. Wait, let's overlay the old city planning blueprints.” He turned the screen to show Cornelius. “Look at this. The old subway system. There's a hub directly below Railroad street.”
“Send a message to the sergeant. They're in the old subway tunnels.”
◆◆◆
The troupe jogged down the tunnel, arriving at a large opening that branched into four corridors. Jax led them down the one to their right, stopping at another doorway. He ushered everyone through into a maintenance room.
“We should be safe here for a little while,” Jax said.
Damarion glanced around the darkened room with only two LED's to aid his vision. There was a smaller room off to one side with shelving, where Jax had left the explosives.
Damarion stepped toward Jax. “We have to get these set in place. Do you have the maps?”
Jax nodded. “Here's your phone,” he said, handing the phone to Damarion with lowered eyebrows.
“What's wrong?” Damarion asked.
Jax shook his head. “Nothing. You stay here with the Morton's. I have the maps on my tablet. I'll take Isabelle and George and set the charges.”
Damarion nodded. “I'm afraid we don't have much time.”
CHAPTER XI
Four Years Earlier
Two men escorted Margaret Morton through the mansion front doorway, dragging her by the arms. Cornelius stood, awaiting their arrival from the main ballroom.
“Good morning, Mrs. Morton. Welcome to my home.”
Margaret wrestled her arms away and pointed a finger at Cornelius. “You won't get away with this.”
“I already have. Now, do you know why you're here?”
“What do you want?”
“You've been a busy little bee, Mrs. Morton. You have been sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and now your reach has exceeded your grasp.”
“What are you talking about?” Margaret spat.
“I'm talking about what you have been doing in your spare time. Your research. You've been finding things out about me I would rather keep quiet. I need you to tell me who you have been working with. If you reveal the names of your co-conspirators, I will let you go.”
“I don’t understand what you're talking about.”
Cornelius shook his head. “Oh, Margaret. I already know, there's no point in denying it.”
“How did you find out?”
“A little Pipit passed it on.”
“I'm not telling you anything.”
“If you won't cooperate, I will put you in the Chamber.”
“You can do whatever you like, but you won't get anything from me and it won't be long before my people come and get me out of here. You can't kidnap a police detective.”
“We'll see about that.”
“Get her on her knees.”
The men forced Margaret to kneel.
Cornelius grabbed a hold of Margaret's brown locks and forced her head down, exposing her neck. He pulled a small gun with a large needle from his pocket and jabbed it into the skin below her hairline.
“Take her to the Chamber.”
As the men shuffled Margaret away Cornelius turned to his butler. “Are you sure the implant will work?”
“Yes, we tested it. If she escapes, or if there is a rescue attempt, the GPS tracker will tell you where she goes.”
“And the proximity bead?”
“You can set it off remotely. Otherwise, If she leaves these grounds, the bead will dissolve and a lethal dose of poison will kill her within hours.”
“Perfect. Either way, I win.”
CHAPTER XII
Anna's Present
They walked for miles, being led through the forest and brush before Anna and Richard stepped out into the foot of two large hills. A narrow hollow wound its way between them and this was the direction their abductors were heading. It was dark in the hollow as the sun had long since passed its narrow crack of opportunity between the thick pine forests growing on both sides of them.
They walked another mile before coming to an open gate.
Anna noticed the rusting hinges and untended fencing that crossed the hollow. They rounded a bend and Anna's eyes widened. Set in the area between the hills sat a small town. The hollow was just wide enough for the one main street that ran along it. Rows of homes and businesses sat on either side, backed into the hillside.
“You live here?” Anna asked.
The men ignored her, bringing them both to the door of a building with a large sign out front. The sign read: 'New Easton Police Department.'
A group of people approached, staring at Anna as they passed.
They seem healthy.
Two men pulled Richard aside and brought him into the jail. Anna abductors escorted her a block down and brought her into a modest home. They escorted her into a room with no windows.
“The mayor will come to see you. Stay here and wait.”
They locked the door behind them, leaving Anna in darkness.
It was only a few minutes before she heard the latch click and a tall young woman with broad shoulders and long blond hair entered the room.
“Hello, my name is Sheila, what's yours?”
Anna stood motionless.
The mayor took a step closer. “Welcome to our town.”
Anna studied the woman before her in the premature dusk of the valley. “Not much of a welcome.”
Sheila nodded. “You are our guest here.”
Anna lifted her bound wrists. “More of a prisoner”
“Precautionary. It took years to resurrect this town. Fix up the houses, find solar panels for modest lighting and access to running water. This place is a utopia, isolated from the large walled cities. We all work together for the good of this small community. We pride ourselves in that.”
“What is his place?”
“This is the town of New Easton.”
“I couldn't help but notice you have little security for a town you've worked so hard to build. Your fence is barely high enough to defer deer, let alone the crazies and your cheap gate is ready to fall off its rusty hinges.”
Sheila stretched out her arms. “How can we welcome people into the heart of our town with an impenetrable wall around it?”
“What if you're attacked by crazies?“
“We're armed and protect ourselves, but we leave our town open to new possibilities by keeping an open door. You never know who you will meet.”
“But the people out there have Fleishman's!”
Sheila nodded. “Yes, not unlike your friend.”
Anna wrinkled her brow. “How are you all healthy? Why don't you have Fleishman's?”
Sheila looked deep into Anna's eyes. “The real question here is why don't you?”
Anna remained silent, maintaining eye contact.
“I need your cooperation if you wish to be a guest here and join our town. At least tell me your name.”
“I have no intention of joining your town, or telling you anything.”
“What were you doing out near the perimeter fence?”
Anna diverted her gaze.
“We found your symbols in the dirt. M. W. Are those your initials? Who were you trying to meet up with?”
Sheila waited for a response, but none came.
“Tell you what, I'll take the cuffs off. Let's go for a walk. That way you can see our town and meet some of its residents.”
Anna moved her wrists in front of Sheila. The mayor raised an eyebrow as she produced a key. “I'm trusting you here. Don't make me regret it.”
Sheila removed the handcuffs and Anna followed her out into the street, rubbing her wrists.
They passed a family with two small children. “Good day, Mayor,” the man said with a bright smile.
&nb
sp; Sheila returned his grin. “Hello Darren. Good day to you.”
Darren looked at Anna, extending his hand. “We have a new member?”
“Yes,” Sheila replied. “This is, um.”
“Anna,” Anna said, taking Darren's hand. “But I don't think I'll be staying long.”
Darren wrinkled his brow. “Oh? Why not? This place is amazing. We all work hard, but we have everything we need. And there's no Fleishmans. Believe me, you're better off here, than anywhere else.” Darren placed an arm around the woman standing next to him. “This is my wife, Michelle, and these are our two rug rats, Ellie and Jen.”
Anna shook Michelle's hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
Darren broadened his grin. “Well, we're going down to the park to hit the swing sets. Good to see you, Sheila.” He turned to Anna. “And nice to meet you, Anna. I hope you stay.”
Anna nodded. “Nice to meet you too. You have a wonderful family.”
The mayor led Anna farther down the street. A group of men waved at them, before going back to their conversation with bright eyes and wide smiles. Anna looked in the opposite direction to see four children skipping down the sidewalk as their mothers stood on the corner, clucking the day's events. The group of women broke out into laughter as Sheila led her into a small shop.
“Good day, Mayor. What can I get you?”
“Oh, nothing for me Brian. I'm just giving a tour. This is Anna.”
The shopkeeper looked at Anna with crisp blue eyes. He wiped his hands on his plaid jacket before extending a hand. “Nice to meet you, Anna. You will love it here. I run the shop, this is where we buy, sell and trade goods.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. “You use money?” Anna scanned the label on a bag of flour. “Twenty dollars seems expensive for flour.”
The shopkeeper laughed. “No, we don't use money. Our currency is time. Everyone here receives credit for time worked, doing everything from farming to sewing. We have people that keep the utilities going, public services, teachers, maintenance and repair people.
