Article 5

“Hope you make it,” he said finally.

I wasn’t sure if he meant he hoped I found my mother, hoped I could climb the fence, or hoped I didn’t get shot in the process, but his words were a small comfort.

“Hold it, Banks!”

I felt like a piece of wood at the moment the ax strikes. My whole body tried to tear in two different directions. One side tried to sprint toward the fence, the other back toward the dorms. The screaming fear was the only thing that locked me in place.

“Do not run,” Sean ordered under his breath. In a flash, he’d swept the sweater holding my supplies into a bush and fisted a hand in my hair, knotting it all up. My eyes watered. I didn’t struggle for long before he released me.

Footsteps were approaching. Someone was close. How had I not heard them? I’d been thinking too much about the fence, and saying thank you, and what I was going to do once I got outside. Stupid!

Did Sean know about this? Was this a trap? Of course he hadn’t wanted Rebecca to come! He was planning the whole time on turning me in!

Pulse slamming through my veins, I wrapped my arms around my midsection, as though this shield could stop a bullet. The frenetic trail of a flashlight preceded the two soldiers who stepped through the night.

Randolph. And another lanky guard with thick eyebrows lifted in judgment.

Their light blinded me momentarily. I heard the rustle of leather and fabric. And then a metallic click.

“She running?” the lanky guard asked. The flashlight tore away, revealing both he and Randolph’s raised guns, pointed directly at my chest.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Looks like she’s running to me,” commented Randolph.

Sean grinned—a grin I’d never seen, not even with Rebecca—and my fears were validated. Then, to my shock, he lifted his hand, calmly now, and fixed my hair. I jerked away.

“Well,” he said. “This is embarrassing.”

Randolph snorted. Sean’s hand trailed down to my lower back, and then shoved me almost playfully away. I stumbled before catching myself, and all three of them laughed.

“Go on back to your room now, sweetheart,” Sean said. “And keep your mouth shut about this, just like we talked about.”

It took me a minute to catch up.

“I wasn’t expecting the next rotation for an hour or so,” Sean continued casually, fixing his pants as though we’d been doing exactly what he did out here most nights with Rebecca.

Girls were executed for running, not for messing around with the guards. He was giving me a window. A chance to live. As much as I wanted to escape, I could not leave this place in a wooden box.

I tried to sprint back toward the dorms, but Randolph lurched in front of me. A second later his hands were pinching my hips and his knee was shoved intrusively between my legs. His sour breath clouded around my mouth.

“Stay a little while longer,” he whispered, and at his words terror shot straight to my core. I struggled against him and was tossed back into Sean’s arms.

“Trash,” spat Randolph. “Reform-school trash.” They were laughing again, laughing, and though it was against everything I believed, I was ashamed. I couldn’t help it.

Sean’s grin was not nearly as bold as before. I gripped onto him hard, not knowing where else to turn.

“You got sloppy, Banks,” the skinny guard said. “The headmistress wanted us to watch you. But we thought it’d be the blonde, not this one.”

“I said it was this one,” said Randolph. “He’s been staring at her.”

Staring at me because he was afraid I’d tell Brock his secret, I realized.

It became clear what was happening. They had set up this trap for Sean, not for me. They suspected him because he had changed since I’d blackmailed him.

Do not run, Sean had whispered. Everything inside of me said to do the opposite. I could feel my heels already shifting inside of my shoes, ready to bolt at any second. But if I ran, they would most certainly shoot me.

Randolph laughed. “I could make it go away, Banks.” He raised the weapon an inch higher. He wanted to shoot me.

I was going to die.

I didn’t think of my mother, or if I’d been a good person or led a good life—any of those things you’re supposed to think about when you die. I saw one face in my mind, and just for an instant. The one person who couldn’t possibly give me any comfort.

Chase. Black shaggy hair, copper skin softened by the light rain. His dark eyes, peering straight into my soul. And that mouth, turned up at the corners in curiosity.

“Shut up, Randolph,” groaned the other guard. “We’re in a no-fire zone; perimeter’s too far out. Besides, the headmistress already figured this is what we’d find.”

My mouth dropped open. Time seemed to pause. Was I still alive? I felt the pressure of arms wrapped around my body. I was so numb, I barely noticed.

“Tell Becca I’m sorry,” Sean whispered in my ear. A moment later, there was a shuffle and a sickening crack as Randolph hit him hard in the back of the head with his baton. I felt the reverberation through my body as though I’d been the one struck, and stared in horror at the ground where Sean lay.

Run, my feet said.

Run and they’ll shoot you, my brain answered.

I didn’t have a chance. The next moment, I had a gun to my back, and we were returning to the dorms.

* * *

I PACED the length of the common room for hours awaiting the headmistress’s judgment. I thought about screaming for Rebecca, but I refused to put her in danger.

My good intentions didn’t matter. As soon as curfew broke, I heard the slapping of feet against the hallway floor. This was part of the plan. She was to report me missing when she woke up.

Her hair was flattened, her cheeks pale, and there were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. She’d been crying. Either out of fear for Sean or me. I found myself both touched at the prospect of her true friendship and torn by the betrayal I’d dealt her.

She caught my eyes, and a change came over her face.

“Don’t,” I mouthed to her. I was too late.

“Where is he, Ember?” she said shakily, approaching the lanky guard. He lifted his radio. With a lightning fast paw, she slapped it down to the floor, then kicked it aside. He laid a hand on his baton.

“Where is Banks?” The desperation was heavy in her voice.

“Rebecca!” I said sharply. She was going to ruin everything. Sean had already protected her—and me—by pretending he and I were together. If he’d agreed I was escaping, I’d be dead.

Other girls, seventeens and some of the sixteens that shared our hall, had come out of their rooms. Another guard was pushing them back as he passed.

I heard the light clicking of heels on the wooden floor and knew Brock had arrived. She entered the foyer wearing her traditional skirt and a navy sweater. There was an attendant with her, a short, plump woman who had fear strewn across her face.

“What did you do with him? Sean! Where is he?” Rebecca spouted before the headmistress could speak.

Another guard had reached us. There were three now, one beside me, two on either side of Brock. The breath was raking hard up my throat.

“She doesn’t know what she’s saying,” I tried.

“Silence, Ms. Miller,” Brock snapped. “I will deal with you in a moment. Genero, call for assistance.” Her voice never faltered.

“Where. Is. Sean?” Rebecca demanded one final time. Her shoulders were heaving.