Hunted (Parallel Series, Book 3) (Parallel Trilogy)

by Christine Kersey

  “We were also told we’d be given two at each meal. With the old power bars we were given just one at each meal.”

  “And did everyone eat them?”

  “Of course. We ate everything they gave us, otherwise we’d be hungry.”

  “Tracy said you only had power bars sometimes. Was that typical?”

  I thought back to the week before when I’d made a deal with Beth to give her my power bars if she would leave me alone. “No. It was a punishment for me.”

  “Punishment? For what?”

  Still embarrassed about the whole thing, I decided to tell them anyway. What did it matter now? “There was this girl who was bullying me and she said she’d leave me alone if I gave her my power bars, so I hid mine in my room. I’m not sure why, but one of the workers searched my room and found them. At the nightly counseling session I was told that since I hadn’t eaten my power bars, I’d get only power bars for the next two days.”

  Jack leaned forward in his chair, listening intently.

  “At first I thought it was a punishment because they didn’t let me eat any regular food,” I continued. “But then I found out that they put drugs in the power bars that make them addictive and make you more compliant, and that’s when I realized they were experimenting on me.”

  “Experimenting on you?” Tracy said, shocked. “What do you mean?”

  “I didn’t know of anyone else who wasn’t getting any regular food but instead only got power bars. And then, on the second day of my restricted diet, Dr. Bradley drew blood from everyone in my counseling group.”

  “This is unbelievable,” Jack said, sitting up straight.

  “But how do you know they’re addictive?” Tracy asked.

  “Well, on Monday…” I paused and shook my head. Was it only four days earlier that I’d found myself craving the power bars? “On Monday, the second day when I only got the power bars, I really began craving them. I even stole a few from a storage room so I could have them later.” I looked at their faces to see if I could tell what they thought of me for stealing, but they seemed to be too caught up in my story to care about that.

  “Later that day I ate a couple of the ones I’d taken earlier and I remember feeling really weird. Kind of mellow and like I didn’t care about anything. Then, that night at the counseling session Mrs. Reynolds told me I could go back to eating normally the next day and I would only be given one power bar at each meal.”

  Tracy shook her head. “Wow. I can’t believe they played with you like that.”

  I thought about the Saturday Challenge and the pit of live spiders I’d been forced to step in and wondered what Tracy would think about that. I decided to hold that story back for another time—there was only so much of the craziness that someone could take in at once.

  “But how do you know for sure that the power bars are addictive?” Jack asked.

  “The next day I overheard two workers talking about it. That’s how I found out. And then, once I knew they were addictive, I didn’t eat my power bar at breakfast, but put it in my pocket instead. I couldn’t just throw it away because then they’d know I didn’t eat it. But then a little while later I started feeling really sick—shaky and sweaty. I ended up eating the power bar and I felt better after that.”

  Tracy and Jack looked at each other, shock clear on their faces. “Were you able to stop eating them after that?” Tracy asked.

  “I wanted to, but then at lunch Enforcers came in and made sure everyone ate their power bars before they left the cafeteria.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Jack muttered as he shook his head.

  “What happened after that?” Tracy asked, clearly captivated.

  “In the counseling session that night, Mrs. Reynolds gave me four power bars—she said it was to make up for the fact that I’d only been given one at each meal that day instead of the two everyone else got—and she told me to eat them immediately.”

  Tracy gasped. “And did you?”

  I thought about how worried I’d been about eating four all at once when I knew what the government had put in them. “I didn’t have a choice. What was I supposed to say? ‘I know these have drugs in them so I won’t eat them’?”

  “What did it do to you?”

  “I felt like I was drunk and then the next day I overslept and was late for my shift in the kitchen. But the weird thing is, when I got there, my supervisor said she’d been told I’d be late and that it was okay.”

  “I think you’re right, Morgan,” Tracy said. “They were experimenting on you.”

  I nodded.

  “Why do you think they chose you?” Jack asked.

  “I guess because I was one of the criminals. And I guess because it just worked out that way when I’d hidden the power bars in my room.”

  “Did you get sick the morning after you had the four power bars?” Jack asked.

  “Well, first my counselor, Mr. Madsen, had me come to his office. When I was there I started having withdrawals again. He gave me a power bar, which made me feel better, and then he told me I could have as many as I wanted if…”

  “Yes?” Tracy asked. “If what?”

  I looked toward the hallway. “Billy doesn’t know about this and I really don’t want him to.”

  “Okay,” Jack said. “We won’t tell him.”

  I hesitated, but decided to trust them. “Mr. Madsen said he would give me all the power bars I wanted if I gave him information.”

  “What kind of information?” Tracy asked.

  “Just anything about the other kids. And he said I had until the next day to give him information and if I didn’t, there would be other incentives.”

  “What do you think he meant?” Tracy asked.

  “I don’t think he meant the incentives as a good thing, probably more like punishments, but I really didn’t want to find out.”

  “What did you tell him?” Jack asked.

  “What could I do? I agreed.” I saw the looks of worry on their faces. “But I wasn’t really going to tell him anything. By then, Billy and I were ready to escape.” I smiled in remembrance. “And that night, we did.”

  “I’d like to hear about that,” Jack said.

  “But not right now,” Tracy said. “I’m sure Morgan’s worn out from all she’s been through.”

  That was certainly true.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Kelly said as she walked into the room.

  We all looked toward her. She had a big smile on her face.

  “What is it?” Jack asked.

  “Dani’s here.”

  Chapter Six

  Jack and Tracy immediately stood, so I did too. I followed them into the family room where a woman dressed in scrubs sat on one of the chairs chatting with Mitch and Nathan. Her blond hair was pulled into a ponytail and she looked like she was in her thirties.

  “Jack,” Dani said when we entered the room. “So good to see you.” She stood and accepted a hug from Jack, then Tracy, then her gaze went to me. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” She held out her hand. “I’m Dani.”

  I shook her hand, which was soft and warm. “I’m Morgan.”

  “Oh. I didn’t recognize you, but I’ve heard you mentioned on TV once or twice.” She smiled when she said it, like she was being sarcastic.

  I wondered how much they were talking about Billy and me on the news. “Brynn changed my hair and make-up.”

  “She did a good job.”

  I smiled, pleased that the disguise seemed to be working.

  “I’m glad you found us.” She paused, a questioning look on her face. “How did you find us, anyway?”

  “A woman Billy and I met, Mrs. Duncan, gave us your names and numbers.”

  “Oh, I remember Sally Duncan. Very nice woman.”

  I nodded, thinking how generous she’d been to Billy and me. Even letting us take her son’s motorcycle without knowing for sure if we’d be able to get it back to her—and now it didn’t seem very likely that we would b
e able to.

  She touched the bandage on my arm. “What happened here?”

  “We had to cut out the tracking chips before we could escape.”

  “I thought that might be what it was from.” She walked to the kitchen table and picked up a backpack. “I’d like to take a look at it, if you don’t mind.” She smiled. “I’m a nurse, in case you were wondering.”

  “I’d like you to look at it. It’s been two days and it kind of hurts.”

  “Sit on the couch and I’ll take a look.”

  After I sat down, she sat on the coffee table, then carefully removed the bandage, which stuck a bit to the wound.

  “What did you use to remove the chip?” she asked.

  “We had a small knife, but we wiped it with an alcohol wipe before we cut out the chip. And then we put antibiotic ointment on the wound before we put the bandage on it.”

  “You had to cut into your arm to remove the chip?” Nathan asked. “Didn’t that hurt?”

  “Yes, it hurt a lot,” I said. “But it was better than getting caught.” I looked at the faces of those around me and realized they really had no clue what we’d been through.

  “It doesn’t look too bad,” Dani said as she examined my arm. She cleaned the wound and put some ointment on it, then put a fresh bandage on it. “I have some antibiotics that you can take, to help prevent infection.” She pulled a bottle out of her backpack and gave me instructions on how much to take.

  “Billy will need you to check his too,” I said as I took the bottle of pills from her.

  “Where is he?”

  “Right here,” a voice said from the hall.

  I looked in his direction and barely recognized the boy who had constantly been by my side for the last two days. His hair had been dyed a reddish brown and Brynn had attached clip-on hair extensions and brushed his hair across his eyes. I normally didn’t like long hair on boys, but she had done a good job and he looked really cute with long hair.

  “What do you guys think?” Brynn asked.

  “It looks great, Brynn,” Tracy said.

  “What do you think, Morgan?” Billy asked.

  “I hardly recognize you.”

  He didn’t seem to know how to take that. “Well, that’s good then.”

  I glanced at Brynn, who was gazing at Billy with undisguised attraction, then said, “Dani needs to look at your wound. She’s a nurse.”

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Billy,” Jack said, motioning to Dani, “This is Dani.”

  “Hi, there,” Dani said.

  “Hey,” Billy said.

  He seemed hesitant and I wondered if she made him think of Dr. Bradley from Camp Willowmoss. “Sit on the couch,” I told him.

  He did as I asked and Dani sat next to him and removed the bandage.

  “This one looks pretty good, too,” she said. “You two did a good job.”

  “Morgan’s the one who got the first-aid kit,” Billy said, smiling in my direction.

  His attention warmed me and I wondered if I liked him more than a friend. We’d been through so much together, it was hard for me to separate any romantic feelings for him from the gratitude I felt.

  Dani finished taking care of Billy’s arm, then moved to a chair.

  “Morgan told us some interesting information just before you arrived,” Jack said to her.

  “Is that right?”

  Everyone’s eyes shifted to me. I looked at them, but stopped on Billy, who had his eyebrows raised in question. “I told them about the power bars,” I said, and he nodded.

  “What about power bars?” Nathan said. “We eat them all the time.”

  “Not like these,” Billy said.

  Talking about them made me realize how hungry I was. We hadn’t eaten since the day before, and that hadn’t been much. “Before we talk about that, would you mind if we ate something? We haven’t eaten in a while.”

  “Of course,” Tracy said, immediately standing. “I should have asked if you guys were hungry.” She walked into the kitchen. “We made a run recently, so we’re fully stocked. What sounds good?”

  Thick slices of bacon, and fluffy pancakes drowning in syrup sounded great, but I doubted they would have that. “Whatever is easy is fine.”

  Tracy opened the refrigerator and pulled out some items. “How about some eggs and wheat toast?”

  My mouth watered at the suggestion. “Sounds great.”

  A short time later Billy and I had eaten and I felt new energy. Billy sat on one of the chairs and I sat on the couch.

  “Now,” Dani said, “Tell us about the power bars.”

  I went through the story again, although I didn’t mention the deal Mr. Madsen had made with me to give him information—not with Billy listening. When I looked at the faces of those listening—especially Brynn, Mitch, Nathan, and Kelly—I could tell that they were pretty shocked, and once again I thought how they had no idea what it was really like to be locked up in a F.A.T. center.

  “I’d heard rumors,” Dani said, “But this is the first confirmation I’ve had.”

  “Can we use this to help our cause?” Tracy asked.

  “We would have to have some sort of proof,” Jack said. “People aren’t just going to take our word for it.”

  “How can we get proof?” Brynn asked.

  “That’s a good question.” Dani looked at me, then at Billy.

  I didn’t know what she wanted from us, so I didn’t say anything.

  But Billy wasn’t afraid to speak up. “We don’t have any proof,” he said.

  Dani smiled. “I’m not asking you to provide any. What I would like to know is if you think you can get any.”

  My heart pounded. What was she saying? That we go back to Camp Willowmoss and get some power bars?

  “How do you suggest we do that?” Billy said.

  When Billy spoke he was cool as ever, but I suddenly felt sick and hoped I could keep down the meal we’d just eaten.

  Dani looked back and forth between the two of us. “You both know the F.A.T. center where you were held. If you were able to get in there, you could get the power bars for us. We could take them to a lab and have them tested to see what ingredients are inside. If we had the word of a reputable lab to back us up, we could go public with this information.” Dani smiled at Jack. “This could be a turning point for us.”

  I looked at Billy, who was staring at Dani.

  “What do you mean, ‘if we were able to get in there’?” he asked. “How would we get in there?”

  “We’d have to work that out later.” She waved her hand in the air, like it was a small detail. “The important thing is to get the hard evidence to show what the government is doing in those centers. People have turned a blind eye to what is happening, and with our help, their eyes will be reopened.”

  Billy sat back, his lips pressed together, then he looked at me and shook his head. I knew what he meant. These people were clueless. And if they wanted our help, they’d have to come up with a better plan. They had no idea how hard we’d worked to get out of that place. There was no way I’d go back in there willingly.

  “Why don’t we just stop a delivery truck that’s taking power bars to Camp Willowmoss and get some that way?” Billy asked.

  “That would definitely help,” Jack said, looking at Billy. “But I think we need more than just the power bars.” He looked at Dani. “It would be more effective if we had some documentation from Camp Willowmoss.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Dani asked.

  “If they have some documentation that shows they know the bars are laced with drugs, and are still giving them to minors, that would get everyone’s attention.”

  I pictured Dr. Tasco’s office on the night Billy and I escaped. We’d been standing right next to his filing cabinets. Did he have information in there? Or was it all on his computer?

  “So there’s no way around it,” Dani said. “We have to get inside the building.” She paused, then she t
urned to me. “Morgan, you said they drew your blood, right?”

  I nodded.

  “How many times did that occur?”

  “Just once while I was there. And just for the kids in the counseling group.”

  “I wonder if they’re planning on drawing blood from the other kids. And if so, where are they sending it?” She smiled at Jack. “If we knew where the testing is being done, maybe we could get our hands on the results.”

  “Sounds like we still need someone on the inside though.” He looked between Billy and me. “I don’t think there’s any way around that.”

  I shook my head so hard, dizziness swept over me. “No. No way. I’m not going back there.”

  “Look, Morgan,” Dani said, her voice more stern than it had been before. “If you want to change the way things are, you have to be willing to take some risks.”

  I regarded the people sitting around me. Why was I the only one who could pull off this assignment? Why couldn’t any of them do it? Surely they were as capable as me. I looked at Jack, then Dani. “I’m sure any of the people in this room could do this as well as I could.”

  Dani raised her eyebrows, like the answer was obvious. “As you well know, only teenagers go to Camp Willowmoss. Since Mitch is eighteen I think they’d send him to an adult camp, which means besides you and Billy, only Brynn or Nathan would be eligible.”

  I looked at Nathan, the boy who had been kicked out of his home because his family didn’t want to be held responsible for him once his weight moved above the approved limit, and tried to imagine him at the Saturday Challenge where basketballs would be thrown at him during a game of dodgeball. Then imagined him being forced to exercise for hours and getting hit in the legs if he dared to stop running on a too-fast treadmill.

  Then I looked at Brynn and thought about her belief that the rules were wrong, and wondered if she would be able to stand by that belief when getting pulled into a pit of writhing spiders, or when being punched in the stomach by a sadistic Enforcer who hated her for no reason.

  Did either one of them stand a chance of getting the power bars and other information, and surviving Camp Willowmoss long enough to do it?

  Then I looked at Billy. He’d spent a lot more time at Camp Willowmoss than I had and I seriously doubted he’d be willing to go back. Then I thought about myself. If it came down to me, did I care enough about changing this society that I was willing to risk going back to Camp Willowmoss? In just six weeks I’d be back in my own world and this world would just be a bad memory. Why put that in jeopardy? “I’m sorry,” I said, my gaze meeting those of Dani and Jack. “I can’t do it.”