“What does it mean?” Owen growled.
“That you won’t be eating for a few days.”
Barely breathing, I had a sudden urge to bust through the
doors and kill Mr. Baker myself. I had lots of theories that involved him but none of them were like this. The man was a tyrannical monster. I regretted the day that my father agreed to let his family live in our colony.
On top of that, he was feeding Owen! From our food supply! Normally, that wouldn’t bother me in the least, but when he was killing off members of the colony because of food shortages I had every right to be disturbed.
Now I knew what I had to do. I had to tell me parents. And I had to tell the Vickers family—and any other family that wasn’t involved in his little conspiracy theory. It was the only sure shot way that I could guarantee we had a chance in saving ourselves.
The sound of the metal hatch doors slamming shut snapped me to attention. Seconds later, Owen yanked the doors open and nodded for me to come out. “It’s safe now,” he said, quietly.
A deep red mark swelled on his cheek. I reached up to touch it and he backed away from me, wincing. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “Does he do that all the time?” I realized that despite everything I had been through, I wasn’t the only victim here.
Owen smiled, half-heartedly. “Only when I don’t do what I’m told. Which is ninety five percent of the time. So, yeah, pretty often.”
“So if you don’t obey him, if you don’t mind me asking why does he keep you around?”
He pointed to the television screens. “I suppose because I’m a tech genius and he can’t run this system without me.”
My eyes followed his finger and centered on the screen with mine and his picture on it. Owen was hovering above me, the rock
in his hand, preparing to drop it on my head. “You were supposed to kill me?”
“I was supposed to… but I couldn’t. Same with that Monica girl. I’m not a killer. I couldn’t do that.”
Monica. My heart ached when I thought about her. “Well, if you didn’t kill her, then who did?”
Owen glanced at the television screen, then back at me. “I can’t explain everything now. There isn’t enough time. I have to get you back.”
On one of the screens, I could see the entire colony, coming together in the meeting room. “How am I going to get back? Mr. Baker locked the door to my only way out.”
Owen led me down a short hallway. I stood in the center and there was a big red button in front of me. He pressed the button and I stumbled as the floor shook and I was being lowered into the ground. “What’s going on?” I questioned, feeling uneasy. “This will drop up off in the center of the mess hall. Meet me there tonight at 11:00 pm. I’ll come for you, I promise.”
After Colin, I had a hard time trusting in anyone. “I don’t believe in promises anymore,” I said. “They always seem to get broken.”
Owen laughed. “Well, I can say this and mean it. I never break mine.”
Just as he uttered those words, the lift closed him off and blocked him from my view. Then I was going down, back into a place where I knew for certain that I wouldn’t be safe.
Chapter 18: What’s In A Name
The dead which he slew at his death we more than which he slew at his life.~Judges 16:33
Just as Owen said, I wound up on the floor in the middle of the mess hall. It was quiet and there wasn’t a person in sight. I picked myself up off the ground and brushed the loose soil from my pants. Then, I heard my mother shouting, “Where have you been, Georgina Marie?”
Oh, no. I had to think up a lie and think of one quick. “I took a nap, woke up, then went for a walk.” I hoped that she believed me. I did sound pretty convincing when I said it.
She marched over to me and grabbed me by the hand. “From now on, when you go somewhere, you need tell either me or your father. I came back to the room and you were gone. I’ve been searching the rooms for the last hour.” She tugged me through the open doorway and down the hall.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked. Even though I already knew where I was going, I couldn’t let her know anything.
“The council called some emergency meeting.”
“With all the families?”
“Yes,” she grumbled. “I told your father that I didn’t want any of us to go but he insisted.”