Page 33 of Unrest
We walked straight down a dim, narrow hallway. Our gaits were stiff, still frozen, and my extremities hurt as the thawing process began. The sudden quiet and warmth made my entire body tingle. We passed several doors as we were marched along, and then we abruptly stopped. Remy was trembling beside me. I wanted to feel her forehead, but I was afraid to move.
“We require your cooperation at all times. Everyone here is armed, and we do not take chances. You are to be interviewed separately. No talking until you get in your rooms.”
I shared worried looks with Tater and Rylen, but they gave me nods. These guys did not feel like DRI. They felt like military—safe. But it was so hard to trust. I didn’t want to be separated. As we were pulled along, guys from our group were led into rooms and immediately shut in. I wondered how long this would take. How long until we could earn ourselves food and water. How long until we could find out if they had any meds here? How long until we could pass out?
I whispered to Remy, “Make sure you tell them you’re sick.”
“No talking!” the guy in front shouted. My insides jumped. How did he hear that?
Within the span of another minute they pulled Remy into a room, and she sent me a tired look over her shoulder. Tater watched grimly as the door shut with aclickbehind her. He was taken into the next room. Then my upper arm was grasped by the soldier behind me, and I was pulled through a door. With one backward glance I caught a serious look from Rylen; a look of strength before the door closed and I was left alone.
The room was tiny, and I was surprised to see it was an exam room. It had a small medical bed with a single chair and cabinet. On the counter under the cabinet were glass jars of cotton balls and swabs. I stepped forward and put my hand on the cabinet door, but a mechanicalwhirsounded behind me. I spun to see a video camera in the corner, and I dropped my hand. Damn it. Curiosity burned from the inside, but I sat in the chair and let out a huff.
My whole body hurt, and sitting there, I could do nothing but feel every ache. I shivered as my frozen parts slowly, painfully, came back to life.
After a while I got too warm, so I stripped off Rylen’s dirt-crusted sweatpants. My skinny jeans felt stiff and gross. The plastic underneath stuck to my legs, itching from the salty sweat trapped in the folds. Thankfully there was no mirror in the room, because my face felt dry, cracked, and filthy as I untwined the shirt I’d used as a scarf from around my neck. I stared at the bed with its pristine white paper cover over a blue pleather cushion. So much time passed, that I climbed up on it. More time passed, so I laid down. A groan of comfort escaped me as I let my eyes shut for just a minute.
Just a minute . . .
Theclickof the door opening was like a gunshot in my ears. I woke from a dead sleep with a scream, nearly falling off the bed in my flailing confusion.
“Whoa,” said a man.
I pressed a hand to my chest as I looked up at him. He was in Army BDUs—battle dress uniform—of faded green camo with black boots that could use a shine. But his hair was pristinely cut in a buzz. He looked like he was in his late-thirties. Stern face. Behind him was a much shorter, stockier man, also in BDUs. They threw out some seriously intense vibes.
“What is your name?” the man in front asked.
“Am—” It came out scratchy, so I cleared my throat. “Amber Tate.”
He stood in front of me, feet spread, arms crossed. “I’m sure you’re tired and hungry, Amber Tate.”
“Yes.” Oh, God, food . . .
“First, tell me your story.”
So I did. I told him about my family, where we were from, my parents’ jobs, my job, Tater, Remy, and Rylen. I told him how my grandparents and parents were killed, but I skimmed over the details of our disobedience to the DRI. Just in case. He didn’t miss that fact.
“And why weren’t you on that bus with your parents?”
I cleared my throat and looked at my cracked hands. “We were, um, at our old high school, so we found this room where we used to go, and we were just talking when they took everyone out . . . they missed us.”
Wow, I sounded lame in my half-truth. His stern face said he wasn’t buying it.
“Is that right? Seeing as how they told you they wanted to move everyone for your own protection, seems like you would’ve wanted to be on that bus with your family. To be taken to safety.”
I gave a small shrug. “Yeah . . .” I ran my fingernails down my jeans and stared at the lines they made.
“Look at me, Miss Tate. And answer me.” I looked up and my mouth went dry when he asked, “Why did you directly disobey the DRI? I require the complete truth from you. If your father was Army, he would’ve taught you the value of honesty and bravery, am I right?”
Yes. My eyes filled with moisture at the thought of Dad. Would he trust this guy? Would he be honest with him? I wanted to be a good judge of character. I was scared of the DRI, but if these guys were with them, I was going to die anyway. So I pictured Dad and Mom in my mind and I nodded.
“We didn’t trust the DRI.” My voice shook as the truth tumbled out of me. “We wanted to get our parents away from them too, but we were too late.”
The man’s stern voice did not soften. “Why didn’t you trust them?”
“I don’t know. At first, something just felt off. And then their regulations became so inflexible that they were killing everyone who disobeyed. Good people. They killed my grandfather, an old man, right in our living room because he defied them!”
A hot tear slid down my face and I swiped it away angrily.
