Imprisoned (19 page)

“Come on,” I said through clenched teeth. Then, as I slid inexorably closer to the trench, I looked at the opposing team and saw Hansen standing at the very back, his hands wrapped around the rope.

He was helping the other team.

I couldn’t stop the forward momentum and my feet moved closer and closer to the trench. I pulled with all my might, but it was hopeless. I stood on the lip of the trench. It was four feet wide—nearly too wide for me to step over—but as my left foot began to slip into the trench, I stretched my right leg over the pit and touched the other side with my right foot.

Hope surged through me, but then I saw Hansen let go of the rope. The slack was just enough to allow my team to pull me backward, knocking me off balance. I felt both feet slipping, one on each side of the trench. I held on to the rope, as if it would somehow save me, then I saw Hansen yank the rope. I let go of the rope and my arms pinwheeled in the air, desperately trying to catch my balance. It didn’t work and I felt the earth giving way under both feet as they slid into the pit of spiders.

My feet pushed the screen downward and dozens of spiders swarmed up both legs. It seemed as if I could feel every spider crawling on my bare skin. I screamed in horror and leapt out of the trench, swiping at the hideous creatures. At that moment I didn’t care if Hansen and the rest of the Enforcers were laughing at my expense. All I cared about was getting the horrid creatures off of my body. Frantically brushing the spiders off of my legs, I stomped on any that I could, crushing them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Enforcer with the spray bottle came over and removed the remaining spiders off of my legs. He told me I could go to the back of the line, which I did as fast as I could.

I looked at the other three matches that were going on at the same time and saw two people were still trying to dislodge the spiders from their legs. I looked at my teammates and saw Cassidy smiling at me, then she mouthed, “It’s okay.” I nodded, then realized I had tears streaming down my cheeks. I wiped them away and saw that Josh was now at the front of our line.

Piper was still at the front of hers. I didn’t wish for either one of them to have to suffer what I’d just suffered, but with me as the anchor of our team, it seemed likely that we would lose.

A moment later the Enforcer said, “Get ready.”

We picked up the rope and held it taut. The whistle blew and I pulled as hard as I could. I couldn’t let my team down, even if that meant Piper had to step into the trench. At first neither side moved, but after a moment our team pulled the rope back in our direction. From where I stood I couldn’t get a clear look at Piper’s face, but I could only imagine the horror she was feeling as she edged closer to the pit of spiders.

We continued to tug and pull and after a short while I felt our team moving backwards. Suddenly Piper’s head dropped from view and she let out a blood-curdling scream and I knew we had won. Heart-felt regret that I had helped to make my friend suffer mixed with elation that I would receive letters from my family.

I dropped the rope and saw Piper struggling to get the spiders off of her legs and realized that without Hansen’s help, their team would have lost the second match and I would never have fallen in the pit. White-hot hatred for Hansen swelled within me. Including the times at the gym, he’d hit me three times now, the worst today when he’d punched me right in the stomach. Then he’d guaranteed that I’d fall into the trench with the mass of writhing spiders, knowing that I had a fear of them. The man hated me—that was much was clear—but how far would he go? It seemed he was becoming more brazen about hurting me. There hadn’t been a consequence for what he’d done so far, so what would stop him from doing worse?

My gaze went to Hansen, who stood on the sidelines. He was looking at Piper, a grin on his face.

I had to find a way out of this place before it broke me. Picturing the layout by the gate, I wondered if I could cause some sort of distraction for the Enforcers there and get past them. Of course I would have to be outside to make that happen. And I would need to dig the chip out of my arm.

I frowned as I considered all the obstacles. How could I possibly make this happen? There had to be a way.

“Let’s go, Morgan,” Cassidy said to me as our team walked to the sidelines to watch the rest of the matches.

We stood on the edge of the field and watched the rest of the teams go through their matches. I noticed some kids who fell in their respective trenches didn’t seem to be bothered by it, which kept the Enforcers from laughing. If only I’d had that much self-control, but my reaction had been visceral, instinctual, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Finally, all the teams had gone through their matches.

“Thank you for participating in our Saturday Challenge,” Tasco said, as if we had done it willingly. “You will be escorted back inside. If you find yourself with free time this afternoon, use the time to catch up on homework or to get in an extra workout. I’m sure you could all use it.”

When he smiled, anger grew inside me. The way he treated us, like we were worthless just because we were a few pounds overweight, made me livid. “He’s such a jerk,” I said to Cassidy.

“Shhh,” she said as she shook her head.

Several Enforcers were coming our way, evidently to escort us back inside.

“Why?” I asked. “It’s true. Are we not allowed to speak the truth?”

“You just need to keep it down,” she said.

A short time later we were back on the sixth floor. Piper and Cassidy came to our room and the four of us sat on the beds.

“What did you think?” Alyx asked me.

“I think you guys weren’t exaggerating when you said the Saturday Challenge was only for the entertainment of the Enforcers.”

“I know, right?” Piper said. “And those spiders.” She shuddered.

I nodded, trying to forget the whole experience.

“What was up with that Enforcer who helped our team, Piper?” Alyx asked.

Piper glanced at me. “I think he doesn’t like Morgan.”

Everyone looked at me, obviously expecting an explanation. “Yeah, I shoved my knee into his privates on the night he brought me here.”

They all laughed.

“The guy holds a grudge,” Alyx said.

You have no idea, I wanted to say, but decided it was best to keep it to myself. There was nothing they could do about it and if word got out and Hansen somehow did get in trouble, I had no doubt he would come after me even worse.

We were all quiet for a moment, lost in our own thoughts.

“So, Morgan,” Piper said. “What did you do? To be sent here, I mean. I know you have to go to counseling, so I know you’re here for more than weight loss.”

I hesitated, wondering what they would think of my “crime”, then decided I would tell them. “Let me see if I can remember how they put it when they picked me up.” I paused as I recalled that night less than a week before. “They said I was ‘distributing high calorie items to minors’.” I did air quotes as I said it.

“Oh,” Cassidy said. “That’s pretty serious. Was it on school grounds?”

That was serious? I almost laughed at the absurdity. Instead I nodded. “Yes.” I looked at all of their faces. “Don’t you guys think the rules are ridiculous? I mean, come on.”

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it,” Cassidy said. “It’s just the way it’s always been.”

Of course it had—for people who’d always lived in this world. For me, it was craziness, but since they had no basis for comparison, they seemed to have a harder time seeing that.

“I agree,” Alyx said. “Some of the rules go a little far, but that’s what everyone seems to want and there’s not much we can do about it.”

“Do you think people outside know what goes on here? Like in the Saturday Challenge?” I asked.

“I doubt it,” Cassidy said. “But to be honest, I don’t know if they’d care if they did know. Besides our families, that is. I mean, most people hate people who are overweight, so they probably think we get what we deserve.”

Alyx and Piper nodded.

Suddenly I wished I could bring my new friends back to my world, where people could choose what to eat and not be punished if they were overweight. Then it occurred to me that maybe these friends existed in the other world. What a crazy thought.

 “It looks like you got back the two points, Morgan,” Alyx said.

“What two points?” Cassidy asked.

Alyx told them what I’d done to make up for my mistake.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Piper said. “Now that you’ve gone through a Saturday Challenge, would you take that chance again? To extend your stay?”

I glanced at Alyx. “I don’t know.” Though I wanted to escape, I hadn’t figured out how I would do it. There was a real danger that I would actually have to stay here for my entire sentence.

“I don’t think I could do that,” Cassidy said.

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” Piper said, a feeling of urgency in her voice.

“I know,” Cassidy said.

“No,” Piper said. “I mean I
can’t wait
. I’ve got to find a way out of this place.”

Everyone stared at her in stunned silence.

She looked at us. “After today, I realized I can’t take it anymore. I can’t stay here for another three months. I have to find a way out.”

Alyx glanced toward the door, then back at Piper. “Be careful what you say.”

“I’ll help you,” I blurted without even thinking,

All eyes shifted to me, but Piper’s shone with happiness.

“Really?” she asked. “You’d do that?”

I nodded, shocked that I’d said that out loud.

“I don’t think I want to be part of this conversation,” Cassidy said as she stood.

“Yeah.” Alyx nodded. “I’m out of here in a few weeks. I don’t want to make anything worse.”

“I understand,” Piper said. “You guys go. Morgan and I will stay here.”

I watched as Alyx and Cassidy hurried out, obviously not wanting to be part of anything that could cause them trouble.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Piper turned to me, a grin on her face. “Do you really mean it? You’ll help me escape?”

Now that I’d said it out loud, I couldn’t take the words back, so I decided to tell her what I really wanted. “I don’t just want to help. I want to escape too.”

Her eyes shot open. “Really?”

I nodded, hoping that rather than making a mistake by telling her, that I was actually helping my own cause. With two of us, maybe we’d have a better chance. Two heads were better than one and all that. “Yeah. I’ve got to get out of this place.” There was no way I could tell her that I needed to get to that tunnel so that I could cross back into my own world—she’d think I was insane and would probably turn me in to get points—but it didn’t seem she needed that information. Just getting out of Camp Willowmoss was reason enough to plot an escape.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “There are two parts to this. One, the escape, which will be hard enough, but then, two, where to go after. They will hunt us down—or at least try to—so that they can bring us back and make us suffer even more.”

“So you’d have to stay in hiding for the rest of your life?” I asked.

“Well, you would too.”

Of course I wouldn’t. Not if I succeeded in getting home. But I couldn’t tell her that. “Right.” But what if I failed? Was I prepared to be a fugitive for the rest of my life? “Do you know if people have escaped before?”

“Well, they don’t exactly broadcast that kind of information, but there’s gotta be people who have gotten out of here.” She paused, thinking. “In fact, I remember hearing about some kind of underground organization that helps people who escape. You know, they keep them in hiding. Especially kids.”

I thought about Mom and the worry she would face if I was missing. “What about the families?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does someone tell them that their kid is missing?”

“I don’t know.”

I realized we didn’t know much about what would happen after escaping, but I was pinning all my hopes on getting back to the tunnel and getting home. Then none of the things in this world would matter.

“So, Morgan, do you have any ideas on how we can get out of this place?”

I thought about Hansen and how he’d pinched my arm right where the chip was. “Do you think you can get a knife?”

Piper looked startled. “For what?”

I patted my arm. “We’ll have to cut out the chips in our arms.”

Her face paled. “I forgot about that.”

Was she going to back out now? As much as I feared slicing into my flesh and digging out the chip, I saw no other way to succeed. “So, can you get a knife?”

“Mrs. Coleman watches the inventory pretty close, but I might be able to.”

“A small one would be better.” I paused. “But it needs to be very sharp.”

She nodded. “Okay”

“We’ll need a first-aid kit, too. To care for the wound.”

“Right, yeah.”

“Do they keep one in the kitchen?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s above where they keep the knives, actually.”

“Okay.” I paused. “Do you think we should try to get the knife and first-aid kit right away or right before we leave? I mean, if those things disappear and we’re still around, they might find out we took them. I’d rather be long gone before they notice.”

“Yeah, but when are we leaving? We haven’t even figured out how we can get out of this building. We can’t even get to the first floor. Or the second floor, for that matter.”

The second floor was where I’d met with my caseworker. I remembered the Enforcer who’d been sitting behind the desk and wondered how many other Enforcers worked on that floor. “The gym’s on the third floor. What if we could get some rope and somehow climb out the window?”

She shook her head. “The windows on that floor don’t open. They’re also shatter-proof.”

“Is that even legal? What if there was a fire?” Then I smiled, an idea forming. “Wait. What if there
was
a fire. They’d have to evacuate us, right?”

Piper’s eyes widened. “I like it. In all the confusion we could slip away.”

I nodded, wondering why I hadn’t thought of this before. “So how could we start a fire? And where is the best place?”