Summer Lane - State of Chaos

3. I’ve pretty much got the routine of the guards figured out, and I know which troopers are lazier or less intelligent than the rest.

Omega is armed, powerful and dangerous. I, on the other hand, am tired, tiny and afraid. There’s nothing I can do. Omega never slips up. They don’t leave weapons lying around for me to steal. They don’t leave stretches of the fence unguarded. They’re on top of everything, and Kamaneva is on top of everybody in Group 13. The woman has gotten considerably crueler in the last couple of weeks. She’s started daily torture treatments and public punishments to keep the workforce under control. Every once in a while one of the officers will round up the prisoners, grab a worker for a real or imagined violation of a regulation, and beat or execute them on the spot.

It keeps everybody in line.

Omega has moved us from orange fields to empty fields. They’re making us prepare for planting, although I’m not sure what we’re going to plant yet. I’m guessing it will be something high in nutritional value. Something to keep an army going. And judging by the amount of prisoners being brought in and forced to work, I’m guessing Omega is planning on hosting a whole lot of troops. Soon.

That’s not a rosy prospect.

Everybody has a different idea about who Omega is, why they’re here, and what they want. In my opinion, it’s really not that much of a mystery anymore. Omega is a cover name to keep us confused. Global forces are involved. There’s no other explanation. They need slave labor to keep the invading troops fed, and who better than to provide that kind of work than people like me?

But what is their final goal? What’s the point of this invasion?

Power, wealth or greed, probably. The usual suspects. Besides. Who wouldn’t want to take down the United States, right?

“If you ever get the chance to escape,” I tell Sophia and Harry over dinner one night, “take it. Don’t wait for anybody else. Don’t think. Just go. Take the opportunity.”

“I couldn’t leave without you,” Sophia says firmly.

I close my eyes, because I don’t believe that. In the end, it all comes down to self-preservation. If Sophia saw an opening to escape, she’d take it without looking back. So would Harry.

And so would I.

Wouldn’t I? Wouldn’t Chris ?

Yes. Chris would escape and then find a way to come back and get me out. He would never throw away an opportunity to stay alive. He’s just that kind of person.

“I just…” I begin, but trail off. “I appreciate that.”

“You’re all I have.” Sophia’s eyes go glassy with tears. “We’re like family now.”

“I’m sure your family is alive in New York,” I say, touching her shoulder.

“Not if the rumors are true and New York was nuked.” Sophia hunches closer to the table, looking at the floor. “Then they’re all dead. My parents, my brother…they’d be gone.”

“We don’t know if that’s true.”

“I heard all the major cities were nuked,” Harry adds.

I slap his arm as Sophia pales a little more.

“I mean…not all. Just some.” He tries to smile. “Honestly, how are we supposed to separate reality from rumors?”

“With common sense,” I say.

Easier said than done. At that moment, Kamaneva walks into the cafeteria. She’s wearing her blue uniform, knee-high boots and signature skin-stretching bun. Her eyes scan the room. She slowly walks down the center aisle of the cafeteria. Everyone stops eating. Sudden silence falls over the room.

Kamaneva stops at our table. Sophia keeps her head down. Harry’s fingers are trembling around the brim of his soup bowl. And I’m the only one who’s not afraid to look Kamaneva in the eye. I don’t say a word. Not that there isn’t a lot of sarcasm dying to get out of me…I just know better than to challenge her that bluntly.

She motions for me to stand up. I do.

“I believe I’ve found our thief,” she purrs.

And there it is. Just like that. A lead weight drops to the pit of my stomach as a twisted sneer spreads across her face. I can tell she’s been waiting for this moment. It’s got to be the highlight of her day. She’ll probably write about it in her journal later.

Dear Diary,

Tonight I screwed up some poor prisoner’s life. Epic win.

Nice.

I glance back at Harry and Sophia, but their eyes are glued to the floor. Harry is shaking. They look worse than I do.

“How—” I begin, but Kamaneva cuts me off.

“I have my sources,” she says.

Her eyes flick to Harry. He swallows and the food I just ate turns over in my stomach. He won’t look at me.

“You…?” I whisper.

He still doesn’t say anything.

“Why?” I demand, tears springing to my eyes.

Sophia is shocked. Frozen. Kamaneva wraps her fingers around my arm and pulls me away from the table, pushing me towards two Omega troopers. Sophia suddenly starts screaming.

“You traitor! ” she shrieks, lunging at Harry.

He crashes to the ground with Sophia on top of him, either trying to choke him or tear the hair out of his head. Maybe a combination of both. Kamaneva watches in silence. Guards break up the fight, and when Sophia is hauled to her feet, her face is covered with tears. Harry is crying, too.

Add me to the list.

“She made me tell you,” Harry says. “I swear, Cassidy, I wouldn’t do anything like this unless—”

“—Unless your life depended on it?” I snort. “I guess it did.”

He nods, fisting his hands and sinking to the ground.

Kamaneva and her guards drag me outside. The next thing I know, I’m being led through the school to a storage building behind the complex. And the whole time, all I can think is:

Harry betrayed me.

“What did you do to Harry?” I demand, shooting daggers at Kamaneva with my eyes. “What did you threaten him with?”

Kamaneva doesn’t answer. She just continues looking smug.

“You made him do that.” I struggle against the guards, total rage turning my vision red. “Why are you doing this to me? Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you!”

“You’re alive,” Kamaneva snaps, cold. “My daughter should have been alive.”

The storage facility is a small building with a tiny window in the top of the wall. The guards open the doors and throw me inside. I land on my hands and knees, looking at a blank room. It’s empty. Not even a bench or a bucket to use for a toilet.

“So you want to kill me and Sophia because your daughter died?” I shake my head. “You’re insane.”

Kamaneva flushes and lands a heavy kick to my side. I double over and jump to my feet, drawing back. “Only one of you has to die,” she hisses. “It’s only fair.”

“I’m not the one who killed your daughter.”

“My daughter died around your age.” Kamaneva’s features don’t soften. They remain steely and emotionless.

“It wasn’t my fault,” I say.

She looks me up and down. “The prisoners have to be kept in line. You violated the rules. You have until morning.”

She turns around so fast I swear she’s going to fall over, but she doesn’t. The guards slam and lock the heavy door behind them. The building is plunged into darkness. It’s cold. Empty. Creepy. I pace up and down, trying to process everything that just happened.

Harry turned me in for stealing. Kamaneva must have given him something in return. Extra rations? A bed to sleep on? Who the heck knows? She’s just a borderline sociopath who loves the drama of dragging out an execution. I had no idea the woman hated me that much. Scratch that. Hated Sophia and me. What’s worse, Chris was right. I really can’t trust anybody.