Hunted (9 page)

“They’re just trying to get you to turn yourself in,” he said.

I tilted my head slightly. “You know I can’t do that.”

He frowned, like he’d hoped I’d forgotten about the whole parallel universe thing, like it had just been a wacky phase I’d been going through. “Right. I wasn’t suggesting you do it. Just that they want you to.”

I sighed.

“They’re taking her away,” Mitch said, pointing to the TV.

I watched as Hansen shoved Amy into the backseat of a car and slammed the door shut. The camera zoomed in to the window of the backseat, where Amy was sobbing. Then Hansen climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away. Once the car was out of view, the camera panned back to the front door. There stood Mom, looking shell-shocked. My little brothers huddled next to her, obviously shaken.

“I’ll kill him,” I muttered, Hansen’s face crystal clear in my mind.

“They’re using her as bait,” Jack said from the doorway.

As one, we turned towards him.
 

He walked into the room, turned off the TV, and sat in a chair. “Have a seat, Morgan.” He gestured to the spot next to Billy.

I sank onto the floor and leaned against the couch.

“What do you mean?” Nathan asked. “Like to get these guys…” He waved his hand in our direction. “To turn themselves in?”

“That’s exactly what they want.” Jack leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the coffee table. “Then they can show that they really are in charge.”

I stared straight ahead, only half-listening to their conversation, my mind focused on what Amy must be experiencing. Soon she would arrive at Camp Willowmoss and get chipped like an animal. They’d put her in a room—I desperately hoped it would be with someone like Alyx and not someone like Beth—then have her meet with her caseworker, who would give her a schedule. She’d probably be assigned cleaning duties—or maybe they’d have her take over my job in the kitchen—and she’d have to go to class each day. And tomorrow—oh, no, tomorrow—would be her first Saturday Challenge.
 

Would she have teammates there to help her? Or would they bully her and not care what happens to her? I didn’t even know what her greatest fear was. I hoped whatever it was, it would not be realized.

And then she would spend hours in the gym with Mr. Muscles. At the thought of him, I remembered my agreement—that once Alyx left, I’d take over and be his girlfriend. When I’d made that bargain—so that he’d get back together with Alyx so she wouldn’t hate me—I’d never imagined things would turn out like this. If I’d had any idea such a thing could happen, I never would have made that deal.

And then there was Hansen. The man who’d punched me in the stomach when I’d run away during the Saturday Challenge. The man who’d helped the opposing team during the game of tug-of-war, forcing me to slip into the pit of writhing, hairy spiders. The man who said in the clearest terms possible that he wanted to kill me. He would have access to my sister.

It’s true that Amy and I had never been close—in fact she’d pretty much gotten on my nerves since the day she started walking—but she was still my sister. And she was in this situation purely because of me.

“This is a new tactic on the part of the Enforcers,” Jack said.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and looked at Jack. “Why do you think they’re doing this now, then?”

“It’s rare to hear of people escaping the F.A.T. centers. Most people just want to do their time, get their weight to what it’s supposed to be, and move on.” He paused and smiled. “Most people don’t want to have the Enforcers chasing them for the rest of their lives.”

I didn’t want that either, but here I was. “What about you?” I said, looking at Kelly. “Aren’t you basically in hiding so you don’t get taken to a F.A.T. center?”

She looked uncomfortable to be the center of attention. “Well, yeah.” She glanced at the others, then focused back on me. “But I’m trying to get my weight right so that they won’t take me away.”

Nathan snorted and everyone looked at him.

“What?” Kelly asked.

“You know you’ll get an automatic three months in a F.A.T. center for running when you were supposed to turn yourself in,” he said.
 

“So will you,” she said, anger clear on her face.

“I was never officially told to come in.”

“No, but you’ve been off the grid for how long now? Like, a year? What’s the punishment for that?”

“I know, I know. So we’re both screwed, anyway you slice it.”

“That’s enough.” Jack put his hands up and the argument ceased. “This isn’t about you right now. Unfortunately, this is much more serious than the things you’ve both done.”

I wished he was wrong, but I knew he was exactly right.
 

“What do you suggest?” Billy asked.

“Well, the way I see it,” he said. “We can wait it out and see what happens. Or you can turn yourselves in and let the chips fall where they may.”

“What would be the benefit to me if I turned myself in?” Billy asked.

“I can’t really say that there would be any benefit to you.”

“You wouldn’t have to be in hiding for the rest of your life,” Mitch pointed out.

“There is that.” Jack smiled. “But that assumes you come out of there unscathed.”

“Wait,” I said, my hands in the air. “What do you mean, ‘unscathed’? Why wouldn’t he come out unscathed?”

“He
and
you,” Jack corrected. “I don’t think the Enforcers take too kindly to being made out as fools. You did escape, after all. That makes them look pretty bad.”

I hadn’t thought about that. My only thought had been to get out and get back to my world.

“Plus,” Jack added. “The original reason you were in there would most likely play a part.” Jack looked at Billy. “Why were you sent to the F.A.T. center, anyway?”

“That’s none of your business.” Billy stared at Jack, daring him to disagree.

“Okay, okay.” Jack raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway, every answer has risk tied to it. There’s no way around it.”

“What if,” I said, a new idea occurring to me. “No, never mind.” I shook my head, the idea sending tremors of fear through me.
 

“What is it?” Nathan asked.

“Yeah,” Billy said. “What were you going to say?”

I looked at him, remembering his comment in the counseling group about doing something risky for someone you love, and again thought about Amy and the terror she must be experiencing at that very moment. We’d never been close, but we were sisters, we came from the same blood. Then I looked at Jack. “What if I go back into Camp Willowmoss, but not as Morgan Campbell?”

“What?” Billy said, clearly shocked. “Why?”

“My sister is
in
there.” My voice began to shake with emotion as I vocalized my fears. “She’s only
thirteen
. She’s a good kid.” I paused. “They’re going to make her eat those power bars.” Tears sprang to my eyes as I pictured my sister becoming addicted to the power bars. She was small—what would the compliance drug do to her? Would it turn her into a zombie? “She’s going to have to participate in the Saturday Challenge—starting
tomorrow
.”

“Do you know what they’d do to
you
if they realized your real identity?” Billy seemed incredulous that I was even considering going back.

I was quiet as the truth of his question sunk in. A myriad of horrors flashed through my mind, making me seriously rethink my suggestion.

“Morgan’s right,” Jack said. “The best way to help her sister is to expose what’s happening in those F.A.T. centers.”

That wasn’t what I had in mind. What I wanted to do was to orchestrate a rescue. Get in, get Amy, and get out. The details were completely fuzzy, but that was the basic mission I wanted to perform.
Maybe
. When I thought of voluntarily walking through those doors, and pictured those drab hallways, and imagined sitting in the waiting room to talk to Mr. Madsen, an Enforcer mere feet from me, I went into a cold sweat and knew I couldn’t go through with it. I would have to be certifiably crazy to do this. Why, why, why would I risk my chance to get back home for a situation that only existed in this world? When I got back home my sister would be fine, right at home where I’d left her, threatening to tell Mom that I was sneaking out.

Right?

But what if my coming into this world and screwing things up like I had, had somehow affected the other world? What if something bad happened to the Amy in my world because of what had happened here? And what would happen to the other Morgan when I left here? Would she suddenly appear in this world and find herself a wanted fugitive? She wouldn’t have a chance. But I wouldn’t be here, so why should I care?

I rubbed my temples as a headache blossomed behind my eyes. It was all too confusing and uncertain. I didn’t know how these parallel worlds worked—it was my first one after all. I pressed a hand against my mouth to smother a giggle. I was really beginning to lose it.

“Are you okay?” Billy whispered.

I shook my head. “No. Not really.”

He rubbed my back, but didn’t speak, and I wondered what he was thinking.
 

“We don’t need to make any decisions tonight,” Jack said. “I want to discuss these new developments with Dani first.” He stood. “Let’s all meet in the meeting room right after breakfast, shall we?”

Everyone agreed and Jack left the room.

We sat there for a minute, the five of us, until Billy stood, and reached down and grabbed my hand. “I need to talk to you.”

I let him pull me to my feet and I followed him into the meeting room.

Chapter Nine

No one was there and he sat me in a chair, and then sat across from me—close enough so we could talk softly without being overheard, but far enough away to establish our relationship as just friends. I don’t know why I thought of it in those terms. Maybe I wished he would sit close to me, but I knew that should be the last thing on my mind—what with my life potentially about to be put into danger and all.

“What in the world are you thinking?” he asked, anger flashing in his eyes—at least as much of his eyes as I could see through his long bangs. “Are you demented, Morgan?”

I found it hard to meet his gaze because he was the only one who really knew what I would be getting myself into, and he disapproved. His objection scared me. If he didn’t support this idea then it had to be a bad one. I respected his opinion—he’d gotten us out of Camp Willowmoss when things had started to go wrong,
and
he’d kept us alive until we were able to meet Jack and Dani’s group.
 

I looked past his shoulder, picturing Amy’s face as she sat in the back seat of Hansen’s car, the tears streaming down her face, then met his gaze. “What do you think I should do, then, huh? Just leave her there to be abused by Hansen and the rest?” In the back of my mind—okay maybe it was more like the middle—I wanted to do just that. Just walk away and forget all about Amy and all the awful things she would experience. But I just couldn’t
do
that. She was my
family
. My only sister. How could I live with myself if I knew I had stood by and done
nothing
to help her? Especially since she was quite literally taking my place at Camp Willowmoss.
 

“What about getting back to your tunnel on the right date?” His voice was soft, like he didn’t necessarily believe anything about my story, but hoped I believed it enough to change my mind about going back to Camp Willowmoss.

Frowning at his unbelief as well as his voicing of one of my biggest worries, I sighed. “That does make me really nervous about this idea.”

He smiled, like he thought he’d gotten through to me. “You see? It’s not a good idea. If you miss that date, you’ll be stuck here forever, right? You don’t want that.”

“No, I most definitely don’t want that. But Billy, wouldn’t you do this if someone you cared about was hauled away because of you?”

He was quiet for a moment. “There’s no one I care about that much.”

Shocked by his statement, I stared at him. “No one? What about your family?” I paused. “You’ve never told me anything about them.”

His jaw clenched. “I don’t have a family.”

“What do you mean?”

He stared past me, then slowly met my gaze. “My
family
didn’t want to have to take care of me anymore—they said I was too much trouble and too expensive. So when I was fifteen they kicked me out and told me it was time for me to take care of myself.”
 

He watched me for a moment, I guess wanting to see my reaction, but I stayed perfectly still, my eyes meeting his. I didn’t want to do anything to discourage him from telling me his story.

His voice softened. “I had nowhere to go.” He gestured to the space around us. “I didn’t know anyone like Jack to help me out. It was all on me.” A look of sadness crept into his eyes. “For the first few days the hunger was pretty bad, but eventually I got used to it. Then one night a group of kids found me huddled in an alley, trying to stay warm.” He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “They must have been bored because they seemed to really enjoy beating me.”

Shocked by what he’d been through, I pressed my hand to my mouth to hold back a gasp.

He laughed again. “Oh, it gets better.”

Suddenly I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear his story. I spoke softly. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it actually feels kind of good to get this out.”

“Have you told anyone before?”

He shook his head. “Not the whole story.”

My heart warmed at knowing I was the first person he’d told, and I felt that much closer to him. I smiled at him and he smiled back. “What happened next?”

“An old woman found me when I was unconscious. Somehow she got me into her tiny apartment—I think she had a neighbor drag me in or something—and she took care of me.”

I felt relief that someone had shown him kindness.

“But she was really poor and hardly had enough for herself, let alone a growing teenager. So as soon as I was better she told me I could crash at her place, but she couldn’t share her food with me.” He paused and chewed his lip. “That’s when I started stealing food from the local schools.” He laughed and this time it sounded a little lighter. “It was so easy too. I guess kids don’t often want to break
in
to the schools. I was able to get in through skylights in the roof, or through a window left open. The food wasn’t great—as you know—but I was happy to get my hands on anything I could.