Page 22

22

Lara

Damn, where is Nash? I knew I shouldn’t trust him. He’s probably the reason I’m stuck outside in this hot sun today. Do I look like someone who knows the first thing about tending a garden? I’ve killed every living thing I’ve ever brought into my apartment, so if these Golden Light people think their version of a farmer is the job for me, they’re crazy.

He warned me not to look around, but I can’t help it. He should have appeared by now. I heard someone say he was the one making all that noise two nights ago, but nobody’s said a thing since.

My stomach tightens at the thought that he got into trouble because he tried to help me. Or maybe he did something else that got him punished. Whatever it was, he cried out for hours, and everyone on the farm heard him. I told Cheyenne not to go outside to see what was happening, but she didn’t listen. I never moved from my bed until morning.

Now she’s missing too.

I pick a ripe tomato and gently place it into my basket beside me on the ground as I wonder if maybe the two of them are in the same place. Maybe he helped her with something too and that’s why he got in trouble.

“Lara, how are things coming?” Bethany asks from the next row over.

“Good. Just picking some nice tomatoes. How about you?”

She points at the head of lettuce in front of her and grimaces. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to pick this whole thing or just some leaves. Do you know anything about lettuce?” she slowly asks.

I have the feeling she sounds very different from the first day I met her. That was less than a week ago, though. Wasn’t it? Why would she change like that in just a few days?

Maybe it’s all in my head, but it feels like time passes very strangely here at The Golden Light. It’s the drugs, I bet. They distort everything.

Well, the joke’s on them because I didn’t eat or drink much at breakfast this morning. Then I made sure to hurry to the ladies’ showers right after and stuck my finger down my throat to throw up in a garbage can so none of whatever they’re using to dope us up stayed in my system.

That’s my plan for the rest of the meals I have to eat while I’m here. I’m still holding out hope I’ll get to escape soon, but since Nash has disappeared, getting to my phone might be a problem. I don’t know where they keep them, and the last thing I want to do is pop up on Nadine’s radar again. Once was enough.

As I reach down to pick another tomato, out of the corner of my eye I see Bethany crumble to a heap on the ground. I turn to look around for someone to help, but nobody is around. I can’t just leave her there, so I climb over the row of plants to get to her.

Looking down, I can’t help but notice how pale she is. We’ve been out in the sun for at least an hour, but she’s as white as a ghost. I crouch down and touch her cheek. It’s surprisingly cool, almost clammy.

“Help! Help! Someone help me!”

I search the area around us and see no one. Bethany needs help, but she’s too big for me to lift on my own. I scream for help again, but nobody comes running out of any of the buildings.

Where is everyone?

Even though I know it’s futile, I try to pick her up, but I barely get her shoulders off the ground. I’m not strong enough for this. I need to find someone to help me.

I lightly tap her cheek to wake her up. “Bethany, open your eyes. Help me get you inside so you can feel better.”

She doesn’t react, so I slap her face harder, but nothing happens. What’s wrong with her?

“Bethany, I’m going to find someone who can help you. I promise I’ll be right back.”

Even though I know it’s breaking the rules to leave the garden after being told explicitly that someone would come for us when it’s time for lunch, I run through the rows of plants and up the dirt hill to get to the main area of the farm. I see not a single person anywhere, though. That doesn’t make sense. There are at least dozens of people who live here.

I look around, but there isn’t a soul here with me. Where are the groups of women acting like zombies? Where are all the men guarding us? Where are Nadine and her goons? There’s nobody.

Where have they all gone?

“Hello? Where is everyone?” I yell.

No one answers. This can’t be happening. I need someone to help me carry Bethany inside, and somehow all of these people have disappeared. Even Nadine and her jackbooted thugs are nowhere to be found, and at this second, I’d even take them showing up.

“Please! Help me!” I call out, but the silence all around me is deafening.

Well, if I can’t get Bethany inside, at least I can get her some water. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough, but I have to try.

I glance back and see she hasn’t moved, so I rush across the compound to the mess hall. Maybe if I’m lucky, there will be some people there who can help me.

But when I fling the screen door open, I see no one. No women sitting on the benches eating cookies and drinking lemonade. No guards watching. No one. How is that possible?

I don’t even hear anyone in the kitchen preparing lunch, which is less than an hour away. Has something terrible happened here?

Running over to where the metal pitchers sit on a table ready for the next meal, I grab one and hurry to the faucet to fill it. I take one last look around the empty building and shake my head. Something is very wrong here.

I don’t have time to think about that right now. Bethany needs help, and although I don’t know if anything I can do will be enough, I have to try.

As I run back to the garden, water splashes out of the pitcher, landing on my legs. It’s refreshing after being out in the blazing sun all that time. I lose my footing and slide all the way down in the dirt, like a snowboarder on a snowy hill, but I do my best to keep the water in the container so there’s at least some left for when I reach Bethany.

Again, I look around to see if anyone’s around, but I see no one. Whatever they’re all up to, if Bethany is truly sick, it’s going to be their fault. Who thought it was okay to leave two women out in the field alone in this heat?

Suddenly, I stop dead in my tracks at what I see. Bethany’s gone. Swiveling my head left and right, I look for her or anyone who can tell me where she is. There’s no one.

I’m completely alone here.

Then an idea pops into my head. If there’s no one to keep me here, I can leave. I remember from the bus trip the first day that the main road had some good traffic, so all I need to do is flag down a car and get a ride back home.

I toss the silver pitcher down onto the ground next to the lettuce plants and tear back up the hill, silently praying to God I won’t see anyone appear to crush my dream of freedom. With a glance at the cabin I share with the other new recruits, I run toward the gate barricading the farm from the road.

My spirit soars at the sight of no one there to stop me. This feels impossible, but I don’t care. I’m going to escape this terrible place and return home to search for Rina. What I’ve seen in the few days I’ve been at The Golden Light makes me thankful she never came here.

When Mario reads my article on these crazy people, he’s going to jump for joy. I bet he’ll even make it the lead for that edition. That will make my parents so proud. Rina will love it too. She’s always been my biggest fan when it comes to my writing. We’ll go out for a great dinner to celebrate. Malcolm’s is a nice place for a steak. She’ll say it’s too expensive, but with the bonus I’ll get from having the lead piece in the magazine, I’ll be able to afford it.

As I pass the gate, I feel invincible. Power courses through my veins, and I don’t even care that the heat and the sun is slowing down my running. I just need to reach the road and get someone to give me a ride. If they don’t want to go all the way back to Wilmington, they can drop me off at a bus station and I’ll take it from there.

All that matters is I’ll be free from The Golden Light.

Just a few steps more and I’ll be away from this wretched place. My legs feel like they weigh a ton each, and my thigh muscles feel like they’re going to explode out from under my skin, but I can’t stop.

My head pounds from the heat. Sweat rolls down the sides of my face and into my eyes, making it hard to see. None of that matters, though. All I care about is escaping this farm.

“Lara! Stop!” a female’s voice calls, but I don’t look back.

I’m almost there. Just a little ways more. Once I make it to the road, I can flag down a car. As I think that, a fear that I won’t be far enough away spikes in me. Nadine’s men will be able to catch me if I don’t keep running when I reach the road.

That can’t happen. I can’t finally get away and have them snatch my freedom away from me so cruelly.

I turn my head and see people running after me. Where did they come from? Even Bethany is with them. I tried to help her, and this is how she repays me? This is what you get for being nice. I should have left her lying there with her head in the dirt next to the lettuce plants. I would have been away from here by now if I had.

“Lara! Lara! Come back!” one of them cries out in desperation.

In my head, a single word repeats over and over. No! I will not go back. I will not be kept here against my will anymore.

They run so much faster than I can, though, and just before I reach the main road, I feel hands grasping for me. They claw at my clothes as they sob over and over, “Lara, come back! Come back!”

There are too many of them. I keep my gaze facing ahead, but they pull me backwards. They won’t let me go.

Finally, a man’s hand lands hard on my shoulder, and my body slows before I start falling to the ground. He’s holding me down so I can’t move. I thrash around like a wild animal, but it’s no use.

He pushes me down so my knees hit first. Sharp rocks stab at my kneecaps, and then his hand slams my head to the ground. Dirt fills my nose and mouth, and I begin to cry at how close I was to getting away.

I open my mouth to scream for him to let me go, but no words come out. My heart races as all their hands keep me down on the ground.

They got me, and now I’m stuck here.