Revolution (Collide, #4)(31)

I stared at the Enforcer and put my hands on the wheel; ten and two o'clock like a good little compelled citizen. I glanced at Sherry to see her demeanor was like mine; frozen and waiting patiently. "Good girl," I muttered under my breath.

"Sir, please roll down your window," the Enforcer said. He was so young. So young and pliable and stupid. I felt sorry for the guy for being so gullible. I rolled my window down slowly and gave him an expectant look. If he thought I was stating my business without asking, he had another thing coming. He huffed and crossed his arms. "You know the drill. State your name and the reason for crossing the border into town."

I said, deadly calm, "Cain, and my wife, Sherry, and we're headed to the Need Warehouse. We're crossing the border because we live out of town."

He chuckled. "What you want to do a thing like that for? Hardly no one lives outside the borders anymore."

I smiled a little, unable to stop it. "We're just rebels, I guess."

The idiot actually laughed and waved us on. "Stay safe now and happy shopping."

"Back at ya, buddy," I yelled and rolled my window up. I peeked at Sherry. She was biting her lip, but her chest was shaking with a laugh. I joined her again and it felt so good. My chest had missed the jolting of a laugh.

"I can't believe you did that!" she said and wiped her eye with the side of her hand. "I can not believe you said that!"

"Hey, I'm not a good liar. He asked for the truth, so I just gave it to him."

"You sure did!" She wiped her eye again and laughed. "Oh, gosh. I needed that."

"Me, too. 'Cause we're here."

She sobered and blew a long breath. I parked in the middle and flicked it into park. We sat for a second to gather ourselves. I looked around and saw all the people heading inside or coming back with their baskets full. Everybody seemed so normal. So peaceful. If only it were true and not a horrible fa?ade.

"Ready?" she asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Yep." I jumped out and ran to get her door. She was already half out, so I shut it for her. She straightened her shirt and stroked a curl nervously. I took her cold hand in mine as we came around the back of the truck. "In and out, easy peasy, got it?"

"Mmhmm," she answered and people watched as I had done.

I pulled her face to look at me with a hand on her cheek. She looked up at me, her big brown eyes so trusting and waiting and honest. It took me back to another time and I grimaced a little. She frowned.

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"No. I was just…thinking." I cleared my throat. "Listen. Don't worry about all of these people, ok?" I glanced around to make my point. "We're here to save our family. These people can't be saved, ok?"

She nodded. "I already got the Don’t be the hero talk from Merrick." She smiled a little. "Am I that glaringly transparent?"

"Absolutely." I grinned, too.

"Look at them," she said sadly and watched a man and his wife enter the doors. They looked like neatly dressed zombies. "Can you imagine living like that? Just a sheep, a follower of something you didn't even understand or know about?"

"Or being aware of everything and having to witness it all and not be able to do a daggum thing about it," I countered.

"I don't know which one's worse."

"I do," I said. She looked a little quivery lipped so I kissed her forehead and wrapped her up in my arms. "In this case, ignorance is not bliss. They're miserable, they just don't know it."

"Yeah," she replied softly against my chest and sighed. "But they aren't hungry."

"True, sweetheart. True." I leaned back. "You ready to rectify that?"

She nodded and let me take her hand again. We reached the Enforcer guarding the entrance and I knew it had begun. No turning back.

We had arrived at the Lion's den.

"Ears!" she yelled loudly, and for a second, I had no idea what she was talking about. Until Sherry pulled her hair back to show that she wasn't a Keeper. Oh, yeah. That's right. I did the same and she waved us on with the disdain of any customer service employee.

The next one jerked Sherry's arm and said, "Smile for the camera."

She jerked her head to the monitor and told us to flash our IDs at it. We did and she pushed us right along.

It was exactly like it sounded. It was a big warehouse and they carried out baskets or buckets - most people had rectangle laundry baskets - and proceeded down the line. The attendant put one of her items in your basket for how many people you had, except for one thing. We didn't have a basket. We should've known to bring a basket if we were coming to the Need Warehouse. Crap.

One of the attendants saw us looking lost. She charged us with a frown that reached her black rooted temple. "Where's you basket?"

Sherry burst right into loud, girly tears. I gawked at her, but when I turned to see the attendant, she had softened like melted butter. "Oh, honey. Now what is it?"

"I'm pregnant!" Sherry blurted and hugged me around my waist. "It was my fault. I forgot the basket! I forget everything now. I'm so…" sniff, "forgetful."

"Oh, honey," the lady repeated. "You wait right there."