Chapter 14

A Chapter by Amy Skye

We get a glimpse at what life was like for Cress inside the rehab center.

I ran down the corridor of sector seven, sweat and blood splayed across my tired face but I still ran as fast as I could. I rounded a corner and stopped to catch a brief gasp of air, when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a nearby maintenance closet.

“Hey get off!” I shouted, pulling away,

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Jon said letting me go, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I brushed off my work jacket that had been covered smoke and soot.

“Out for a light run,” I joked, slightly out of breath, “What about you?” Jon, shook his head.

“We heard the explosion from sector six. I told you this was a bad idea.” He said, “Did you get caught?”

“Of course not.” I said, peeking out of the door into the halls, “You knew I wasn’t going to stand ideally by and let it happen. Especially when there was something, I could do to stop it.” I shut the door as I saw more guards running for the workshop. Jon walked over to me and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“I know.” He said, his eyes staring into mine. “But you know they will find a way to get it done.” I reached up and pulled his hands from my face.

“Maybe,” I said, “but it won’t be with my help.” Finally, after a moment we left the closet, and proceeded down the hall, away from the workshop and towards the chow hall in sector one. A group of guards rounded the corner, stopping us dead in our tracks

“Cress Hayes.” said one of the guards, as they held us both at gun point. I backed up slightly, my shoulder touching Jon’s. “You’re under arrest.” I looked over to Jon who was frightened and angry.

“No,” Jon said as the guards pulled my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, “Hey, what is this about?” he said, knowing very well where they were taking me, another guard held him back, as he tried to get to me. Our eyes met, just as they pulled me away, headed towards sector thirteen, cell block.

As we walked into sector thirteen, I was greeted by Colonel Shore, a stern face man with a vendetta against me, for passed crusades.

“Ms. Hayes,” he said, disgust rolling off his tongue.

“Steven.” I said with a smile, rage over came his face. He walked up close to me, close enough that I could smell the coffee on his breath as he spoke.

“I know this was you.” He continued, “And you won’t get away with it this time.” Suddenly a General came behind the Colonel, my heart began to race. Did I leave any evidence that could point to me? Did I forget to wipe the computer of my log in before I set the damn thing ablaze? The Colonel stiffened and stood at attention.

“Colonel Shore,” said the General, “What is going on here?” The Colonel saluted and gestured to me.

“This delinquent was the one who set the code room on fire, demolishing all record of the Infecundus Program.” The General walked up closer.

“How do you know it was her, Colonel?” he asked, but Shore had no answer, because he had no proof. I looked down, trying to hide my obvious gloating.

“Well, Sir, I don’t but,” he began but the General cut him off,

“The fire unit already came back stating this was an accident, caused by a wiring failure.” He said,

“Yes, but Sir, she,” he continued, but the General looked to him,

“Colonel Shore,” he said very somber, “release the girl, your services are needed elsewhere.” He strode off down the hall, Colonel Shore looked down to me, his face embarrassed and furious.

“What was it you said I wouldn’t get away with?” I said, as he clipped off my handcuffs. I began walking away when he quickly clutched my arm and said,

“You think you’re so smart. One day all of this will catch up to you and I’ll be the one laughing while your left alone, with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company.” He releases his grip on my arm, and walked away down the hall. I rolled my eyes, what was he going to do? He hasn’t been able to catch me yet.

I walked back to sector one for chow, meeting up with Jon and Talia. Jon immediately took me into a hug.

“What happened?” he asked in a hushed tone,

“They don’t have anything to hold me with.” I smiled at him with a wink. “Faulty wires.” I said, hitting him slightly with my shoulder. He put his arm over my shoulders with a smile and we lined up for chow.

. . .

Several days had passed, all seemed quiet until I came home one night from my work detail. I walked into our room and was met with somber looks and teary eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked my mother, who was sitting at the table clutching a letter. My father walked over to me,

“Cress, honey, sit down,” he said gesturing to the table my mother was sitting at, “We have some news.” I sat down, my gaze shifting from both my mother and father. “We both have received our notice of selection.” My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.

“What do you mean?” I said, my voice wary. My mother walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, I quickly stood up and wrapped her in a hug.

“We leave tonight.” My father said, placing a hand on my shoulder, as I still held on tight to my mother.

“What?” I pulled away, “That’s too fast, they can't,” my mother cut me off.

“They can, this is what we signed on for.” My mother said, suddenly I got angry,

“No,” I snapped, “They can’t just take you away, it’s not fair!” My dad now wrapped his arms around me, and I broke down, sobbing. “This is all my fault.” I said.

“No, no, it is not sweetie,” said my mother. I pulled away from my dad and looked to them both.

“Yes it is,” I began, “I destroyed the system that carried the new codes for the Infecundus Program. I couldn’t let them disperse the codes.”

“What are you talking about?” My dad asked. I stepped away from them, unable to look at them for a moment.

“I was assigned a new codes project that would implement new and improved codes to newborns and kids under the age of consent.” I turned to look at them, “It would stop future generations from ever having children. Stopping the future of the human race from procreating.” I paused, “I was never supposed to know what they would be used for. So when I found out I set the damn thing on fire.” My parents faces remained grim. “I almost got caught but they couldn’t prove it was me.” I suddenly got very angry again, “Colonel Shore threatened me, saying that I would pay for it. I didn’t believe him.” I said finally. My mother came over and wrapped me in a hug again.

“This is not your fault, Cress.” She said, her voice shaking, “I am so proud of you. You did the right thing.” My father wrapped us both up into his arms and for a moment we held onto each other’s embraces. When suddenly a knock came to the door. My mother pulled away from me and grabbed my shoulders,

“Alright, it’s your time to be strong.” She said to me, “Remember you will never know what is to come tomorrow. Your true strength lies in who you are today.” I nodded as she kissed me on my forehead, and my father wrapped me in one last hug before opening the door and following the guards. Leaving me alone in miserable solitude.

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© 2020 Amy Skye

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Ballpark Frank

I like that Cress as a much younger person is different. She's more naive and teenage like in this chapter. It's good that you kept that in mind. Well done!