Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
I looked in, several pairs of sleepy eyes blinking back at me. “Kids,” I said, looking from one child to another. “It’s a truckload of kids.”
twenty-eight
Emily
We hopped off the truck just outside what looked like a military facility, with barbed wire stretched around at least several warehouses. There were milky lights positioned here and there that must be running off a generator, and so we followed Tuck through the shadows to the side of the entrance, crouching as we moved. “What is this place?” I whispered. “And why are they picking up kids?”
“I don’t know,” he murmured. “But it doesn’t look good.”
“Can we leave now?” Charlie asked. “I get that you’re trying to make amends for your past by pretending to be Batman or some shit, but—”
I elbowed Charlie in the side.
“Oof.”
He shot me a glare, and Tuck ignored him, moving farther along the fence to better see inside, past the spot where the truck had turned. He looked concerned, and I agreed that anyone who was scooping up kids right now should be considered highly suspect and likely dangerous. “What do you think they’re doing in there?” I whispered.
Tuck gave me a thin-lipped stare. “If I knew, would I have my face pressed against a fence? I’m trying to figure it out. Maybe you could help.”
“Okay, Snappy. I am helping,” I said, leaning forward and widening my eyes to glare at him more fully.
He leaned in too, our noses almost touching. “How is asking obvious questions supposed to—”
There was a cracking noise behind us, one I’d heard before. It was the sound of a gun cocking. “Don’t make a fucking move.” A breath lodged in my throat, my heart jumping as my muscles froze. Next to me, Charlie and Tuck had gone still as well. I only dared to move my eyeballs, right to Tuck, and then left to Charlie, and back to Tuck.
“Stand up nice and slow and show your hands.”
Tuck gave a small nod and then began rising, Charlie and I following suit. We all raised our hands in the air. “Now turn around and face me.” Oh God, oh God. We were going to be shot by the men tossing kids into a truck and carting them to these fenced-off warehouses. My true nightmare was about to begin. I clenched my eyes shut and turned to face the maniacs who were threatening us. With the light behind the fence, I couldn’t see the three men’s faces, just their shapes. They were big and muscular, and they had rifles that could mow us down if we tried to run.
“Hello, sir,” I squeaked. “Sirs, that is. We only—”
“As I live and breathe. Tucker Mattice? Is that you?”
My head whipped toward Tuck, and he shielded his eyes, squinting toward the biggest of the men who was standing in the middle. “Hosea Hardy?”
What the hell?
“Are you shittin’ me?” The man apparently named Hosea lowered his gun, and then gestured for the other men to do the same before he took a step toward Tuck. He let out a gruff laugh and then he grabbed Tuck, wrapping his arm around him as he gave him one of those man hugs that looked more like an attack than anything. But Tuck didn’t seem to mind, his laugh relaying delighted surprise.
“How the hell are you here?” Tuck asked.
“Man, I got transferred to Leavenworth, remember? It’s not far from here.”
“Yeah, hell yeah, I remember, but I thought you had a few years left.”
“I did. Come on in and I’ll tell you about it.” Hosea paused, scrutinizing me and Charlie, who were standing there frozen with our mouths partially open. “These two okay?”
Tuck’s eyes landed on Charlie for a moment, and I thought he might throw him to the wolves, which honestly, maybe I couldn’t have blamed him for, but Tuck just nodded, and then Hosea put his arm around Tuck’s neck and we all took up behind them, the man’s deep laugh floating to us as he and Tuck chatted.
They walked us back to the front gate, where another man with a rifle opened the latch and waved us through. The lights were a little brighter in here, the first illumination other than the moon or stars that I’d seen in six days, and I blinked around, trying to understand what this was. The warehouse buildings had obviously already been here, but along with those were a few large tents, and a row of portable toilets far back to our left. We followed Hosea and the other two through a door of one of the warehouses and walked into a large open space with what looked like fifty cots or so on one side, and cafeteria-style tables with attached benches set up on the other.
“Come on, you hungry? There’s some food left.”
As if responding to the word, my stomach let out a loud growl. Tuck’s head turned in response to the noise, and I gave him a weak smile. We sat down at the end of a table, and Hosea stepped away and said something to a woman standing nearby who nodded and walked away. Hosea came back and took a seat on the opposite side of the table where Tuck was sitting and turned to face us. “Who are your friends, Tuck?”