Leah pulled on her coat and grabbed both umbrellas. She handed me one, trying to hide the fact that her hand was shaking.
My dad stepped between us and cocked his head to the side. He was staring at the cut on her forehead.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“Oh,” Leah said as if she’d forgotten about it. She lightly touched the cut on her forehead. “I slipped on my way back from the store yesterday. The paths can get slippery with all the rain.”
“Dammit,” my dad said with a frown. “I knew that I should have walked you back.”
Leah placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled. “Really, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. Adam already scolded me about it, so I don’t need anymore.”
“Glad he did,” my dad said. “Must have been quite a spill.”
“I’m quite clumsy,” Leah said gesturing toward the door. It was painfully obvious she didn’t want to discuss it further. “Should we go then?”
We walked into a large room inside of the main resort building. It had likely been used for wedding receptions or large conferences. There were folding chairs lined up, leaving only a small aisle on either side. The room was nearly full and almost every chair was taken.
At the front, there was a man with a mustache behind a podium. His eyes kept moving over the crowd.
It wasn’t until the doors behind us closed and two armed guards stepped in front of them that the room quieted. The man at the front was suddenly smiling. He reminded me of the ringleader of a circus.
“Let’s take a seat,” my dad said gesturing at two empty chairs.
I eyed him and he looked toward the front of the room. Eva was in a chair facing the crowd. There was an empty chair next to her.
“Right,” I muttered.
“When this is over, wait right here. I’ll join you, okay?” my dad said quietly.
“Sure, Dad,” I said.
We sat down and I took Leah’s hand into mine. She kept her eyes forward but I was unable to stop myself from glancing toward Eva.
Eva wore a blazer with a pristine white shirt underneath and a shirt that rested just above her knee. Her legs were crossed and her hands were folded in her lap. It looked like she was running for some kind of office.
I watched out of the corner of my eye as my dad sat down next to her. She patted his knee and then acted as if he wasn’t there.
Eva wore a serious expression as the man behind the podium held up his hands, ready to make his announcement. Her eyes pinched slightly but the corner of her mouth curled slightly as if she knew I was looking at her.
“As most of us know, the hostile group to our east has been stealing from our supplies and spying on us. We are all at risk. As long as we allow this to continue, we won’t be safe,” the guy shouted. “Our guards have agreed to take care of our problem. We’ve worked too hard to lose everything. We must work together to protect what is ours. No cost is too high.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” I whispered. Leah squeezed my hand. It wasn’t for comfort… it was a warning to keep my mouth closed.
“We will go to their town and put this to an end. Everyone will be required to enlist in our army, excluding those who are over the age of fifty, those who are ill or have a disability, and only a few who have been excused to stay to care for those who must stay behind.” Mister Mustache cleared his throat. “Those who are excused from joining the fight will receive handwritten notification within the next twelve hours from the kind, generous man who opened his heart and home to allow us all to stay here.”
My leg bounced up and down vigorously, shaking the entire row of chairs. There was a sickening sourness bubbling inside my stomach.
“If you do not receive notification, you must report to the town center for your first training session bright and early at six in the morning,” Mister Mustache said. “So, to most of you, I say welcome to the strongest army on the damn planet!”
People cheered. Other hooted. Servers carrying trays of food and clear plastic cups filled with pale bubbly drinks were let into the room.
“They’re celebrating going to war?” Leah asked in a soft voice.
My dad popped up next to us, wearing a big smile. “You guys want to stick around or head back to your room? Looks like they prepared a lot of delicious food for all of us.”
“I don’t much feel like celebrating,” I said.
“I told you that neither of you have anything to worry about,” my dad whispered.
“Didn’t really sound that way to me,” I said. “He didn’t say anything about family getting to stay behind.”
My dad shook his head. “Well, he’s not going to say that in front of everyone. I have Donovan’s word that you will both receive your notifications. They’ll deliver it to you sometime today.”
“How did this all come to be?” I asked looking around the room. Everyone was in good spirits about going off to fight in some war I wasn’t entirely sure was even necessary. It didn’t make sense.
The girl I’d seen that day I’d been out helping Leo seemed perfectly normal. It seemed as though she was just trying to survive, like everyone else out there. She didn’t deserve to die. None of them did.
“The council voted on it,” my dad said. His brow wrinkled as he stared at me. He
