Hunted (19 page)

Amy looked between Hansen and Austin, then she looked at me. My heart pounded as our eyes met. It was almost like she was asking me to do something, but I had no idea what to do.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” Hansen said, then he hit the back of her leg with his baton.

Amy obviously hadn’t expected the blow because the leg that Hansen hit collapsed beneath her and she almost fell onto the moving belt, but managed to grip the arms of the treadmill to keep from falling. Crying now, she pulled herself back up, then grabbed her injured leg with one hand as she set her foot on the side of the treadmill to avoid the moving belt.

Without thinking, I slowed my pace on the elliptical machine and grimaced in sympathy. Oh how I wished I had the courage to do something to help my sister. But I’d only arrived that day. There was no way Jack and Dani would get us out now, and if I blew my cover, it would all be over.

“Apologize, loser,” Hansen shouted loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Sobbing now, Amy looked at the people nearest her, then looked at Austin. “I’m sorry.”

Austin grinned, evidently loving the control he had over every person in the room.

“What are you sorry for?” Hansen asked.

Amy hiccuped between sobs and looked at Austin. “That I said I hate you.”

“You make sure and show the proper respect to the staff members here, Amy,” Hansen said. “Understood?”

She nodded.
 

“Good. Now get back on the treadmill and run for twenty minutes.”

She did as she was told and the two men walked away. I increased my pace on the elliptical machine, terrified they would stop by me next. They passed near me, but were talking and laughing in low voices and didn’t seem to notice me. When I looked back at Amy, her shoulders shook and I knew she must be crying with every step she took.

I turned off the camera in my glasses, wondering if this was the kind of thing Dani and Jack were looking for. Abuse of those of us in Camp Willowmoss seemed like a pretty significant issue that might change the minds of some of the people outside. At least I hoped so. As I continued my workout, I kept an eye on Amy and saw her get off the treadmill and move on to the weight machine.
 

I imagined telling her who I really was, but her reaction was as yet unclear. Would she throw her arms around me in relief that I was okay? Or would she yell to Hansen—or any other Enforcer who was nearby—that it was me and that now she could be released? Would she be more than happy to turn me in—the sister that she hated? Or would she be thrilled to have an ally and a friend who she would work with side by side to get the evidence Jack and Dani wanted, and then be freed by people she’d never met?

As much as I wanted to tell her I was there to help her, I was afraid of how she would react. Without doubt she hated me right now, but if she spoke to me face to face, would she change her mind? Eventually I would have to find out because how could I help her escape without revealing myself? It seemed she trusted no one, which made me doubt she’d leave this place in an escape/rescue without having some prior knowledge.

I decided my next move would be to befriend her—if she’d let me.

Chapter Nineteen

When I finished my workout Amy was still doing hers. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to approach her in the gym—not with Austin around—so I went back to my room and showered. Next, I started on the assignment Mrs. Needham had given me—a three page paper telling how I could be a better student. I wrote what I figured she’d want to hear, then it was time to go to my nutritional counseling class.

The class was held on the classroom floor and we met at the same time Mrs. Reynolds’ counseling group had met when I’d been here before. I arrived a few minutes before the class started and as I walked toward the room I passed the classroom where Billy and I had met with Mrs. Reynolds. Curious to see if anyone from before was there, I peeked through the door. Half of the seats were occupied, and to my surprise Amy was among the attendees. Her face was pale and she looked incredibly sad. My heart ached to see her like that.
 

Then I thought, why is she there? She’s not a delinquent. But then I realized she was there in my stead. Of course they’d make her meet with the other criminals. I turned away from the classroom and walked toward my class. That’s when I saw Mrs. Reynolds walking toward me. I wanted to turn and run the other direction, but I knew that would be too obvious, so instead I calmly walked forward, not meeting her eyes.
 

“Hannah,” she said as we got within a few feet of each other.
 

Forced to acknowledge her, I stopped.

“Are you following your schedule?”

“Yes.” Did she really think I wouldn’t?
 

“Good. Make sure that you do.” Then she continued on without another word.

Relieved that she’d only asked me that one question, I hurried down the hall to my classroom, not wanting to run into anyone else that might harass me. The classroom where we met for nutritional counseling was really two classrooms with the curtain that separated the two rooms opened. There was space for a lot of kids there—probably everyone who wasn’t a criminal would be here.
 

I quickly scanned the room—most of the seats were filled—and my gaze stuttered as it landed on Beth. She was talking to one of her friends, so fortunately she didn’t see me staring at her. I wondered if she was still bullying kids into giving her their power bars or if the presence of the Enforcers at meal times had put a stop to that.
 

“Hannah,” a voice called out.

I looked toward the sound and saw Emily motioning to me to come sit by her. Next to her were Taylor, Brittany, and Madison. But no Lori. I walked toward them, glad to have a group to sit with, then noticed there was only one seat available and hesitated.

“Sit here,” Emily said, patting the empty seat, which was next to her.

I didn’t want to get on Lori’s bad side by taking her seat. She was already mad at me for ignoring her at dinner. “What about Lori?”

“She’s not in this class,” Emily said.

“Oh.” Puzzled, I sat down, wondering where she could be. Then it occurred to me that she must be in the re-education class. She didn’t need to lose weight, so she obviously wasn’t here for that reason, so she must be here for punishment. “Where is she?” I hoped Emily could verify my assumption.

“She meets down the hall.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and her eyebrows rose. “You know, with that
other
group.”

“Why? What did she do?”

“I don’t know.” She smiled. “But I’d sure like to.”

Ah, I thought. This girl doesn’t seem to like the leader of our little group. Interesting.
 

“Everyone rise for the pledge,” a man said from the front of the room.

I stood with everyone else and said the words I hated, then we sat and he began his lecture about proper nutrition and developing good eating habits. I noticed that several Enforcers were stationed around the room—I guess to make sure we all behaved.

When class was over I walked with Emily to the elevator. It was like after a meal—everyone waiting to get on the elevators at once. We were in the middle of the herd, waiting for our turn, when I heard a familiar voice call out—and not in a friendly way, “Is that you Amy? You look a little sad.”

I turned to see who had spoken and saw Beth standing a few people away from Amy, a mean look on her face. My gaze went to Amy, who seemed to shrink in on herself. She ignored Beth, but I noticed the kids around Amy had backed away from her just enough to make her stand out.

“Answer me when I’m talking to you, you little pig,” Beth shouted.

I looked at the Enforcers who were standing on the edge of the crowd, but they either didn’t notice the commotion—and I didn’t know how they could miss it—or they didn’t care.

Beth began moving toward Amy and I knew I couldn’t stand by this time and do nothing. As I took a step in Amy’s direction I felt a hand on my arm.

“No, Hannah,” Emily urgently whispered.

I yanked my arm away and pushed through the horde. “Hi, Amy.” My voice was loud and bright, like I hadn’t noticed Beth and her bullying.

Amy jerked her head toward me, obviously startled. “Hi.” Then she quickly looked at the floor.

“How’s your day going?” I tried to keep my voice conversational, like I’d just run into a friend in the halls after class, but I could hear Beth breathing heavily behind us.

“Okay, I guess.”

She spoke so softly, I barely heard her.

“Get out of the way,” Beth muttered just behind me.

I turned my head and smiled, like I didn’t realize I was supposed to be scared. “Were you talking to me?” Then I turned so I was facing her fully. “Hi. I’m Hannah. What’s your name?”

Surprise clear on her face, her mouth hung open in an unflattering manner. “Beth,” she finally said.

“Hi, Beth.” I noticed the kids nearby watching the exchange.

She blinked, then frowned. “You’re new, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” I grinned. “Today’s my first day.”

Her frown deepened. “Then I’ll cut you some slack. This once.”

I put on a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, Beth,” one of her lackey’s called. “The elevator’s here.”

She squinted at me. “Just watch yourself.” Then she walked toward an open elevator and got on.

“She’s not very friendly, is she?” I said to Amy, who looked at me from the corner of her eye.

Her lips briefly turned upward, but she still kept her gaze toward the floor. “Thank you.”

Kids moved past us toward the elevators. “Not everyone is mean, you know.” I lowered my voice. “Some people are here to help.”

“You’re blocking traffic,” an Enforcer said behind me and shoved me forward.

Amy walked away from me and got on the open elevator and I wasn’t sure if she had heard my last statement. I tried to follow her onboard, but the same Enforcer put his baton in the way, preventing me from getting on.

“Get the next one,” he said.

There was plenty of room on the one Amy had boarded, so I wasn’t sure why he wouldn’t let me get on too—unless he’d seen me interfering with Beth’s bullying and he didn’t like it.

I took another elevator to my floor and headed straight to my room. I had an hour until light’s out, but thought I might go to bed early. It had been a long day and I was beat. I waved my card in front of the card reader next to my door, then opened the door and frowned. Lori was lying on her bed, one hand behind her head.

When I walked in and closed the door, she glared at me. “What is it with you?”

I really didn’t feel like dealing with her, but knew I didn’t have a choice. What was I supposed to do instead, go to the gym where Austin—and maybe Hansen—were? No way. “What’s wrong?”
 

“Are you trying to get on everyone’s bad side?”

I sat on my bed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Although I had an idea.

“That girl you were talking to? Beth?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t want to get on her bad side.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

Lori sat up. “What’s so funny?”

“Does she have a
good
side?”

Lori rolled her eyes. “I guess you’ll never find out now.”

“She just seems like a bully.” I looked straight at her. “I hate bullies.”

Lori narrowed her eyes, like she knew I was trying to tell her something, but didn’t quite get it. “What you don’t seem to get is that if
you
make her an enemy,
I
become her enemy too.”

“Oh.”
 

“Yeah, idiot.” She turned away and fluffed her pillow, then looked at me. “You might not care about having people hate you, but I
do
care.”

“Why?”

She recoiled, like the thought offended her. “Look, I know you just got here and everything, but if you don’t want your time here to be any worse than it has to be, you’ll try to make as many friends as you can.” She smiled. “Look at me for example. I have lots of friends here. Those girls who sit at the table with us really like me.”

I wondered what she would say if I told her that wasn’t strictly true, but decided she’d have to find that out for herself. Instead I nodded. “Okay.” Then I stood and went to my closet and picked up a pair of pajamas. “I’m going to bed. I’m super tired.”

“Whatever. I have homework.”

I didn’t take my glasses off until I was ready to climb into bed. I didn’t know how much they helped my disguise, but when I wore them, I felt like they provided a thin layer of protection against being discovered.

When I woke up the next morning I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, my heart pounding as I thought about getting on the scale and having the retinal scanner record my identity. Would the contacts I wore really work? Or would the machine be too smart and know I was really Morgan Campbell, wanted criminal?

I threw back the covers—Lori was still in bed—grabbed my things, and went down the hall to the bathroom. At least Beth wasn’t on this floor so I knew I wouldn’t have to face her. I wasn’t sure if Amy was on my floor or the other girls’ floor.

When I entered the bathroom there were two other girls getting ready, so I was able to go right into a shower. After I got dressed I took a step toward the scale in the corner, then hesitated. I glanced at the girls who were doing their hair in front of the mirror, but they ignored me as they chatted with each other. I took a deep breath and slowly released it, gathering my courage.
 

I tried to push away an image of a dozen Enforcers bursting into the bathroom and taking me in to custody, and instead stepped on the scale. I lifted the retinal scanner so that it was at eye-height and forced myself to stand still as the red light scanned my eyes.

Unlike the scale at home, this one didn’t announce the name of the person on the scale, so I had no idea if my contact lenses were working correctly. A digital readout of my weight appeared and I stepped off the scale. I lifted my towel from the counter and paused a second, listening for the sound of a dozen pair of men’s boots in the hallway, but all I heard was the chatter of the two girls in the room.