Article 5 (Article 5 #1)(22)

I led with my hands, swiping away the brambles and low branches that impeded our journey. The fence had to be close. How long had we been heading this way? Ten minutes? It was one mile from the dorm building. We should have been getting close.

“How tall is it? The fence,” I whispered.

“Fifteen feet,” he answered without turning around. I forced a deep breath.

“Sean, if I forget later—” I tripped over a branch, caught myself. “Thank you.”

He didn’t speak for a minute, maybe more.

“Hope you make it,” he said finally.

I wasn’t sure if he meant he hoped I found my mother, hoped I could climb the fence, or hoped I didn’t get shot in the process, but his words were a small comfort.

“Hold it, Banks!”

I felt like a piece of wood at the moment the ax strikes. My whole body tried to tear in two different directions. One side tried to sprint toward the fence, the other back toward the dorms. The screaming fear was the only thing that locked me in place.

“Do not run,” Sean ordered under his breath. In a flash, he’d swept the sweater holding my supplies into a bush and fisted a hand in my hair, knotting it all up. My eyes watered. I didn’t struggle for long before he released me.

Footsteps were approaching. Someone was close. How had I not heard them? I’d been thinking too much about the fence, and saying thank you, and what I was going to do once I got outside. Stupid!

Did Sean know about this? Was this a trap? Of course he hadn’t wanted Rebecca to come! He was planning the whole time on turning me in!

Pulse slamming through my veins, I wrapped my arms around my midsection, as though this shield could stop a bullet. The frenetic trail of a flashlight preceded the two soldiers who stepped through the night.

Randolph. And another lanky guard with thick eyebrows lifted in judgment.

Their light blinded me momentarily. I heard the rustle of leather and fabric. And then a metallic click.

“She running?” the lanky guard asked. The flashlight tore away, revealing both he and Randolph’s raised guns, pointed directly at my chest.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Looks like she’s running to me,” commented Randolph.

Sean grinned—a grin I’d never seen, not even with Rebecca—and my fears were validated. Then, to my shock, he lifted his hand, calmly now, and fixed my hair. I jerked away.

“Well,” he said. “This is embarrassing.”

Randolph snorted. Sean’s hand trailed down to my lower back, and then shoved me almost playfully away. I stumbled before catching myself, and all three of them laughed.

“Go on back to your room now, sweetheart,” Sean said. “And keep your mouth shut about this, just like we talked about.”

It took me a minute to catch up.

“I wasn’t expecting the next rotation for an hour or so,” Sean continued casually, fixing his pants as though we’d been doing exactly what he did out here most nights with Rebecca.

Girls were executed for running, not for messing around with the guards. He was giving me a window. A chance to live. As much as I wanted to escape, I could not leave this place in a wooden box.

I tried to sprint back toward the dorms, but Randolph lurched in front of me. A second later his hands were pinching my hips and his knee was shoved intrusively between my legs. His sour breath clouded around my mouth.

“Stay a little while longer,” he whispered, and at his words terror shot straight to my core. I struggled against him and was tossed back into Sean’s arms.

“Trash,” spat Randolph. “Reform-school trash.” They were laughing again, laughing, and though it was against everything I believed, I was ashamed. I couldn’t help it.

Sean’s grin was not nearly as bold as before. I gripped onto him hard, not knowing where else to turn.

“You got sloppy, Banks,” the skinny guard said. “The headmistress wanted us to watch you. But we thought it’d be the blonde, not this one.”

“I said it was this one,” said Randolph. “He’s been staring at her.”

Staring at me because he was afraid I’d tell Brock his secret, I realized.

It became clear what was happening. They had set up this trap for Sean, not for me. They suspected him because he had changed since I’d blackmailed him.

Do not run, Sean had whispered. Everything inside of me said to do the opposite. I could feel my heels already shifting inside of my shoes, ready to bolt at any second. But if I ran, they would most certainly shoot me.

Randolph laughed. “I could make it go away, Banks.” He raised the weapon an inch higher. He wanted to shoot me.

I was going to die.

I didn’t think of my mother, or if I’d been a good person or led a good life—any of those things you’re supposed to think about when you die. I saw one face in my mind, and just for an instant. The one person who couldn’t possibly give me any comfort.

Chase. Black shaggy hair, copper skin softened by the light rain. His dark eyes, peering straight into my soul. And that mouth, turned up at the corners in curiosity.

“Shut up, Randolph,” groaned the other guard. “We’re in a no-fire zone; perimeter’s too far out. Besides, the headmistress already figured this is what we’d find.”

My mouth dropped open. Time seemed to pause. Was I still alive? I felt the pressure of arms wrapped around my body. I was so numb, I barely noticed.