I looked up from my sobbing and wiped my tears.
"If you confess to everything, leaving no details out, it will save us time and effort."
"I can't confess to something I didn't do."
The three adults exchanged looks and shook their heads as if disappointed.
"Fine, if you refuse to tell us what happened, we will have to investigate deeper. Go to your room, Eleanor, and report to the medics office first thing in the morning," the nurse snapped.
"Why?" I demanded.
"We will be doing a pelvic exam to see if your hymen is intact."
I blinked.My hymen? As in... oh my god.
"And then, once we've proved that you are no longer a virgin like we have very good reason to suspect, we will be issuing a pregnancy test."
I stood up, clenching my fists.
"I didn't have sex with Milton and I'm not pregnant."
"We'll see." Dorothy and the warden looked at each other. "It would actually be in your favor if you were carrying Milton Hapschatt's child, Eleanor. His genes are very important to the success of our bunker. You could be carrying the next warden."
There was no getting through to them. Tomorrow they'd see I wasn't pregnant. They'd also see I wasn't a virgin and it would be easy to put two and two together. I couldn't let them find out the truth.
"What if I'm not?" I asked.
Dorothy, the woman I considered like a mother to me, had never been this cruel before. I didn't understand where this was coming from all of a sudden. A slow, haunting smile slid over her face, and I froze.
"Then we'll perform the lobotomy sooner, rather than later. Goodnight, Eleanor."
Chapter 40 - Callahan
Don’t let them take you alive.
Istared at Eleanor blankly, taking in what she'd just told me.
They want to know if she's pregnant.
They wanted Milton's genes to live on, and they wanted Eleanor to be carrying it. They wouldn't find his DNA if they looked.
They'd find mine.
"I don't know what to do," Eleanor confessed. "They'll kill us both."
I squeezed her hand. "We need to leave. Hurry, pack a bag, get your medicine – anything else you need. I'll do the same."
"Where are we going?" she cried out.
"Where else? We'll have to go above."
We ran back to our quarters.
"Only take stuff that's not going to weigh you down, but know that we are never returning. I'll be back." I directed her before heading to the door.
"Where are you going?"
I paused.
