Internment(82)

“Layla.” Fred softens his voice. “I’m so sorry. Your face is blurred out in the video. You’re a minor, so they can’t share your face or name. But there wasn’t any other way. Dr. Han was afraid the AG would bury it, and she wanted to force his hand.”

Jake looks at me with a sad half smile and mouths, I’m sorry.

I wipe away my tears. Almost every choice has been taken from me in this place; what can I do but add this to the list of indignities? “If it will help us get out of Mobius. If it will help me find my parents—”

“Look, there’s a hell of a mess in DC. The secretary of war has been the president’s henchman all along, but the president will probably throw him under the bus. The president hates bad ratings, and there’s no way to cover this up and make it look good. Not after that protestor died.”

“Soheil,” I say. “His name was Soheil.”

Fred nods at me.

“So what happens now?” I ask. “How soon can we leave Mobius?” I say the words, not really believing anything will change. I’m scared to hope. But I need to get out of here. I need to find my parents.

Fred breathes. “Not this minute, but probably soon. This story is on fire—it’s wall-to-wall coverage on every channel and news site. People are in the streets. They’ll have to move fast. For now Mobius is on lockdown.”

“What about the Director?” I ask quietly.

“He’s holed up in his office right now with his security detail.”

“Coward,” Jake mutters under his breath. “He thinks he’s going to shelter in place? That he’ll get away with hurting Layla? No goddamn way. I won’t let him.”

“Ease up, cowboy,” Fred says to Jake. “What do you think you’re going to do? Storm into his office, guns blazing? His security detail will shoot you in a second.”

I look at Jake, my mouth agape. “Don’t do that. I can’t stand someone else getting hurt.”

“She’s right, Jake,” Fred says. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Jake stares at his friend, clenching his jaw. “Fine. I’ll stay with Layla. Report back with any news. And watch yourself.”

Fred nods. “Always do.”

Jake walks Fred to the door and pats him on the back as he steps out into the night. Then Jake turns to face me. I walk back into my room without another word and quietly close the door.





In the morning, the trailer is empty. I’m alone.

As I peel off the clothes I’ve been wearing for the past few days, I’m painfully aware of every bruise on my body, even while I try not to think about the deeper hurts that I can’t put words to. The shower only lets out a stream of cool water. I stand in it for the full five-minute allotment. When it clicks off, I’m shivering, but the numbness suits me.

My heartbeat echoes through the room as I get dressed. An only child should be used to the quiet, right? No siblings to fill the silence. For the most part, quiet doesn’t bother me. But this quiet has a weight, heavy with the absence of the people who are missing.

Jake left a note for me on the kitchen table:


WENT TO GRAB A CHANGE OF CLOTHES. DON’T GO ANYWHERE. THE OTHER GUARDS ARE GETTING BRIEFED AT THE HUB. THE MINDERS WILL ANNOUNCE LOCKDOWN AT ROLL CALL.

His handwriting is neat, solid, upright. It stands at attention and does its duty. It is exactly Jake.

I sip the tea I made for myself, blowing over the top to cool it and watching as the ripples on the surface move away from me. I touch my bruised cheek and the rough scab on my lip. The painkillers helped, but they can’t fix the persistent dull ache in my chest.

No, it’s not an ache; it’s a hole. I’m not sure if anything will ever fill it. My eyes sting from crying. “How does anyone recover from this?” I say to the empty trailer.

There’s a pounding at my door.

“Layla!” Ayesha rushes into the trailer when I open the door. Her hair is twisted into a messy bun, and dark circles paint the skin under her bloodshot eyes. She halts abruptly when she sees my face. “What happened?”

I haven’t seen her since the night I was taken. The night Soheil died, when the Director and everyone who created this camp killed him. I wonder if she’s slept at all. “Ayesha,” I whisper. “I’m so, so sorry.”

We hug each other. Neither of us cries. Our pain lies too deep for tears.

“Did you see them seize my parents?” I ask as we sit at the table.

Ayesha nods. “There were, like, a dozen guards. I didn’t actually see them take your parents out. After Khadijah auntie told them to go to hell, they forced all of us back into our Mercury Homes. I couldn’t do anything.”

“If you’d tried, you’d have ended up being hurt, too.”

“Do you know what’s going on? There was no alarm this morning.”

“Jake says they’re putting us on lockdown. Apparently, there’s some military situation going on, and the government is in chaos—I dunno.”

Ayesha nods. “Finally reached the tipping point, huh? Too bad they couldn’t have stopped this whole fucking mess before Soheil—” She sucks in her breath and presses her hand to her chest like she’s trying to soothe her own heart.

“I know. I know,” I say.