“Your father works for Jackson Crownwell.” And there it is. There it fucking is. “Sinon, listen to me. This toxin can kill instantly—within twenty-four hours in some cases. We don’t know why it’s killing some and sparing others, which is why we’re performing all the research we’re doing. All we do know is, the toxin attacks the human brain, altering the chemical balance to—how do I explain this…” She presses her hands up against her forehead and inhales sharply before continuing. “You know when you have a nightmare, but you wake up afterward?” I shrug, not appreciating the lame version of this explanation. “Well, many of these people are awake but still experiencing nightmares and acting out on them. It makes some other people fall asleep, into such a deep sleep, they appear dead—which is where the name ‘Juliet’ came from, but for others, it reacts differently.” I roll my eyes at the absurd use of names.
“So, what, the assholes outside are in living nightmares?” I hold up my hands, wiggling my fingers to joke of the fear she’s trying to instill.
“You’re underestimating the meaning of this, Sinon. Your mind is too innocent to appreciate the reality of what is happening out there. This is a terrorist attack—the Americans have been outsmarted and are being used as the best kind of weapon against themselves—a weapon that utilizes both biological and psychological warfare. They turned us against our neighbors and ourselves. It’s worse than I’m able to explain.” I’m done listening to this. It’s not that I don’t believe every word she’s saying, but I don’t believeanyword she’s saying. Maybe I’m the one living in a goddamn nightmare right now. I would think that at some point over the past few years, I would have heard an inkling of this situation from someone—anyone, but yet, no one in Chipley knew.
“Where is she? Where is Reese?” I struggle against the chair I’m confined to, feeling a need to explode and beat the shit out of something, or someone. “Where is she?” I yell so loudly that spit sprays from my mouth, hitting Mom directly in the face. Regardless, my shouts go ignored. Just as a mother has the ability to overlook the tantrums of her screaming child, Mom is unaffected, as if she doesn’t even hear me.
“She asked us to let her out—out there,” she points toward a white wall. “So, we let her go. She’ll soon see why she was kept here, safely.”
“She was never safe! She was kept in a shed for three years,” I yell at her.
“Five years, and you’re right. She was kept in a shed, away from the others for a reason.” Five years. Five years. Reese said three years. Lies. They are all lies.
I’m pulling my wrists apart, feeling my skin split from the metal. Blood is trickling down my arm and sweat is pouring down the sides of my face. “Wait a minute,” I say, pausing as realization sets in. “You let her out? Out of this bunker and Chipley?”
“It’s what she wanted, Sinon. It was never our intention to hold people against their will. The girl has requested to die numerous times, but I’m not God—I don’t decide who should live or die. I only created the possibility for her to choose her own destiny.”
“Bullshit! Listen to yourself! It’s all fucking bullshit! I’m going after her. Let me up now, or so help me God, you will regret every decision you have made over the past several years.”
“I want you to stay here and safe where you belong, Sinon. I may not be able to make decisions on others’ destinies, but you are my son, and I have done nothing but try to keep you safe since you were born.”
I laugh because she thinks I have forgotten about the last few years ofmylife. “You threw me into the pit of those deranged assholes and from what I can see,” I point to her computer, “you most likely watched me fight for my life, didn’t you? Is that your idea of trying to keep me safe? If so, you can stop now. I don’t need your version of ‘protection’,” I growl at her.
“You were supposed to remain contained in a cell, Sinon. It was neither my fault, nor my intention for you to escape and live among the other prisoners, or for you to ever make contact withthatgirl. You were also given shelter and food. Both you and Reese are foolish for the decisions you made, and unfortunately, there is no turning back now.” Mom stands up and drags her chair back across the room, tucking it neatly under her desk. “I’ll give you some time to cool down and we’ll try this again in a bit.” Try what? Brainwashing me? Not happening.
“You are worse than Dad. You are worse because you know how to mind-fuck people into believing the shit that comes out of your mouth. I’m disgusted to be a product of you.” Finally—emotion. As cold-hearted and unaffected by anything surrounding her as she has been, her jaw tightens, forcing the tight skin over her cheekbones to bulge and redden. A slight gloss films over her eyes and she swallows hard, loud enough for me to hear.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she mutters, her lips hardly parting to speak. “I did this out of love—to keep you safe—to keep you alive—to give you a better life. You are ungrateful and not old enough to understand the lengths some people will go to show their love.” With her finger pointed at me and more tears filling her eyes, she continues, “I watched the way you treated that girl—youareyour father, which is precisely why you think I am worse than he is. At least one of us knows how to love and protect the one thing that means more to us than anything else in this world.”
Her words remain, floating like a thick fog within the confines of this room as she leaves me here to suffocate from both truth and lies. I try to replay everything she said. I need to understand the complexity of what she is stating to be the reality of the world outside of Chipley. How could I ever believe her?
Aside from all else, she is definitely wrong about one thing—I do care about Reese and I do want to protect her. I need to get the hell out of here and find her. Standing up with the chair, I drag myself over toward the desk and place the chair back down so I can lean forward to press my chin on the mouse of her computer. As I move it around, the screen changes several times flashing different landmarks in Chipley.
I hit the keyboard with my head, doing what I can to cause enough disruption so someone comes in to stop me. I feel like a crazed lunatic by the time a patrol comes in. “Let me go,” I seethe. “Unlock these cuffs. I did nothing wrong and I should not be held here as a prisoner against my will.”
“Chill,” the man says. He looks military by the way he’s dressed, but his face is covered with a biohazard mask, concealing all facial features. “I’ll let you go. Your old lady sent orders to release you.”
“She just said she wouldn’t, though,” I tell him, wondering what made her change her mind.
“We’ve all watched what you're capable of, man. No one wants to fight you here, okay? Here, take this.” He throws a bag over to me. “Put that shit on and go get your girl. Then get your ass back here.”
He unlocks the cuffs and throws a roll of gauze at me. “Take care of those wounds on your wrists, and tame your anger while you’re at it. You can’t afford to act like this when you get out there—you understand?”
“Yeah, I got it.” I wrap up my wrists and throw the bag over my shoulder as I follow the guy out the doors and down a hallway. “The protective gear and gas mask goes on before you cross the border.”
“What fucking border?”
“Straight ahead,” he points. “In about a mile you’ll reach a steep hill that’ll probably take you a good hour to climb up. There are some ropes in your bag for when you want to come back. Take care of yourself.” He slaps me on the back. “Good luck."
