"Ouch!" Eleanor squeaked.
I reached for the arm she was holding and examined it. Where the rain had touched her, a small red mark remained.Onlya small red mark. She was immune.
"Ouch! The rain is pinching me!"
"It's acid rain. Don't let it get in your mouth or eyes."
I hurried her along and then stopped in my tracks when we reached the gates and found the lot empty. Completely empty.
"Nice try, Daddy."
We spun around to see the warden and all the other Daddies. They'd followed us out here. Or, maybe they'd been out here before us and had been waiting. I shoved Eleanor behind me.
"Just let us go," I said. "Just let us leave, and there’ll be no trouble."
"No trouble?" The warden stepped forward and laughed. I pulled my gun over my shoulder, and in sync, all the others did the same, aiming their weapons at me. "You see, soldier,” the warden said, "It's too late. We know how it went down. Milton had a camera on his person. You're already in trouble."
Chapter 41 - Callahan
Trust is a powerful thing.
Milton had a camera? Ididn't believe him. We'd never had cameras on our missions, let alone for a birthday party. Where would Milton have gotten one? The warden was bluffing. He wanted me to confess.
It was he who needed to confess.Thethings I'd read about were vile.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said.
"You were the last one to see Milton alive, weren't you?" He stepped forward, his boots crunching on the damp soil. Our masks were sizzling from the acid rain. It was steadily picking up speed.
"I don't know. It was chaos."
He pointed his gun at me. "Was it? Because it appears that only two people left the bunker the night Milton was impaled on those spikes."
I pushed Eleanor back, all the while looking for an exit. There wasn't one. It was either the bunker or—I blinked. Behind the line of Daddies was a four-wheeler. That would get us far enough to find help, shelter - something.
Heathen Heights.
"I didn't have anything to do with that," I lied.
"Your fellow DITs told us everything. They saw you attack Eleanor's Daddy and then turn on Milton, but no one could say why. So, we came up with a plan, and you told on yourself every step of the way."
It hit me.
They'd assigned me to Eleanor on purpose. They wanted me to break my oaths. They wanted to catch me telling on myself and they'd succeeded. I shook my head, but I knew it was pointless.
"You don’t have proof."
"Oh yes, we do. Give us the girl," he snarled. "Give back the Young Lady, and we'll remove your gear and leave you here without another word. Fight us and you'll regret it."
I felt small hands on my hips. Eleanor clutched me, squeezing me tight.
"I'm not letting you take her. She deserves to live a life, free of your rules."
"Rules she agreed to," he argued. The more he spoke, the more his mask began to fog. All of our gas masks were beginning to fog.
"She was eight!" I roared, embracing her. Then I looked at the warden. "An eight-year-old child can't decide her entire life. I'm not letting her go. I love her."
"Love?" He laughed, joined in by the Daddies. "Love isn't real. You're speaking with your cock, son. Give her back, and I'm sure when you're a creepie, you can find some bar to get crawlie pussy or something. She's not special."
