Brave New Love (17 page)

Perhaps I could escape. Except the new kid that tried that kept getting caught. But he didn’t grow up in this compound and know every inch of it. A rough plan formed. Could I really break
the rules? Just the thought made me queasy. In the end, only my promise to Molly kept me from chickening out.

The next morning I joined my dorm mates at breakfast. My hands shook as I filled my plate, but even though I was beyond starving I didn’t take too much. Eating mass quantities of food was
another sign of someone on the edge of serking.

I kept tight control over my emotions, letting the conversation flow around me.

“. . . they brought zero twin girls in yesterday. Have you seen them? They’re adorable!”

“Greg won the sixteen triathlon yesterday . . .”

“. . . Missy told me she heard Bethany tell Mother Jean . . .”

“This is the third day in a row that Jayden’s been out of detention. Do you think he stopped trying to escape?”

The last comment caught my full attention. I glanced around the dining room. Round tables were filled with noisy seventeens. All familiar to me. All wearing regulation blue jumpsuits. The girls
had their hair tied in regulation knots and the boys wore their hair regulation short. To a new person, we probably looked identical.

But not to us. We had grown up together, starting out with close to a hundred of us, we were down to forty-three—even with the older, later additions—mostly due to serking. I
swallowed as rage pushed up my throat. Molly had been the fourth person in our class to be cleared. Had the other three been killed as well?

Suppressing murderous thoughts, I turned to Haylee, who sat next to me. “Jayden?” I asked. “Is that the new seventeen’s name?”

“Yep.” She pointed a fork toward the far corner.

Jayden leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, scowling at the few people who dared to sit at his table. They ignored him.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t serked by now,” Haylee said.

Emotional upheaval, like being arrested and sent to an internment camp, was one of the triggers. Or watching your best friend’s head shatter. I bit my lip to keep from losing control.

Pulling in a deep breath, I said, “I’m surprised he didn’t get caught sooner. Seventeen years without visiting a doctor—”

Haylee leaned close. “His mother’s a nurse or something like that, and his family lived in the woods away from civilization. Or so he claims.” She stared at him.
“He’s been trying to convince us to band together and take control of the compound. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?” Haylee speared a sausage link with her fork.
“At least he’s entertaining. We’ve a bet going on how long he’ll stay out of detention this time. Do you want in?”

“No. I lost a bet to Doreen and had to change disgusting diapers for two weeks.”

Haylee wrinkled her petite nose. “She had me doing dishes for her. Doreen always wins, I think she cheats.”

Since we had no money, the bet winner won the right to exchange her most hated chores to the losers. I realized I would need money if I escaped. What else would I need? I glanced at Jayden.
Perhaps I should talk to him.

The bell rang for our first class. It was the longest, most exhausting day of my life. Each instructional class period was followed by a physical activity like dodgeball, capture the flag, kick
the can, and various sports. All of which I had to pretend to be normal at. My body wanted to show off my new quick reflexes and speed, but I kept firm control.

I never really questioned all the activities before. But after being knocked out of dodgeball, I stood to the side and contemplated why we spent so much time playing these games, apart from the
physical exercise. Perhaps the teachers wanted to provoke us into serking. That happened quite a bit but, then again, kids serked in class, too.

Watching the two teams, I noticed the good team worked together, feeding balls to the kids with accurate aim, using strategy to knock out the better opponents on the opposite team.

“Training,” a voice said next to me.

I jerked in surprise and had to press my hands against my thighs to keep them from harming the speaker before I could turn.

Jayden met my gaze. His eyes were a pale blue. “They’re training you so you’ll be better fighters when you serk.”

Before Molly died, I would have scoffed at the notion. Instead, I asked. “So after spending a couple days here, you’re suddenly an expert?”

“I’ve been here fifteen days.” His tone was tight.

“The ones in detention don’t count.”

“I know—”

Furious in an instant, I said, “You know nothing. I’ve been here seventeen
years.
”

He stared at me calmly. “You’re right. I’m unfamiliar with everything in this prison. But I recognize training exercises when I see them.”

His quick agreement and the word “prison” snapped me back to sanity. In all my life, I’d never considered this place a prison. We weren’t criminals. We were here as a
precaution—to keep our families and the remaining population safe. But now I didn’t know what to think.

“A couple days ago you disappeared into the administration building and something happened while you were inside, didn’t it?” Jayden asked.

I said nothing as the memories of Molly threatened to send me over the edge. And that’s how the rest of my day played out. Me finding a way to avoid participating in the games, and Jayden
joining me, pointing out the obvious wrongness of my world. Obvious now that I viewed the compound with my Berserker eyes.

“Have you noticed that not many of the seventeens have light-colored eyes?” Jayden asked while we waited to be freed during capture the flag. “It’s
recessive—”

“I know it’s recessive.” I snapped at him. Was he purposefully trying to provoke me into killing him? “So is blond hair. So what?” I glanced at his newly shorn
blond hair.

“I’ll bet Pete will be the next kid to serk. He has both. Plus he’s twitchy.”

“I don’t bet anymore.”

“Really? ’Cause you’re betting with your life right now.”

Before I could demand an explanation, Haylee ran over and freed us from jail. I took off for home base. If only getting out of here was that easy. And why hadn’t I asked Jayden about the
outside?

During eighth period, I was running my best obstacle course time ever when David cut me off. I tripped and fell, landing hard on my right elbow. Pure rage flowed. Without thought I went after
David with murderous intent.

Someone grabbed my left wrist, jerking me to a stop.

“Is your elbow all right, Kate?” a voice ahead.

I tried to shake the annoyance off, but it wouldn’t let go.

“Elbow, Kate?” Louder this time. “Kate?”

Jayden’s calm insistence cut through my haze. I blinked at him. Concerned, he peered back at me, but kept his tight grip on my wrist.

“Are you all right?” Mr. Telerico asked me. “Do you need to see the doctor?”

I realized everyone was staring at me. Probably wondering if I’d serked.

“No, sir. I just bumped it.”

Mr. Telerico nodded and yelled for us to resume our exercise. “Take a minute Kate and we’ll restart your time.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said.

He returned to his post.

“You can let go now,” I said to Jayden.

He didn’t. “If you can keep it together for another couple days, you’ll make it.”

“What are you talking about?” I yanked my arm with more force that I should have, but he held on. His strength quite a surprise.

“It’s takes about five to seven days for the serker rage to settle. Once that happens you can control your emotions.”

“That’s ridiculous. How could you possibly know that?” I tried again to free my wrist. No luck.

“I’ve been through it.”

I scoffed. “No way.”

“Then why can’t you break my hold?” he asked.

“Jayden, you’re up,” Mr. Telerico called.

He let go and ran to the starting line. I watched him as he navigated the obstacle course. Jayden’s muscular physique matched the bigger boys. He didn’t appear to be faster or
stronger than they were, but his graceful movements made the activity look effortless.

I realized I should have thanked him for stopping me from killing David.

•  •  •

Over the next two days I struggled to contain my rage and blood lust. Jayden kept close to me. And I’d focus on him whenever my fury surged.

Of course my friends noticed my strange behavior and long silences.

“Stop moping, Kate,” Haylee said the next morning—day six since I’d serked. “You’ve hardly said anything since Molly left. You’ll see her on the
outside.”

“I’ve been sick—”

“Come on, it’s me. Mother Jean might buy that lame excuse, but I know better.”

“I miss her.” I admitted.

She squeezed my shoulder. “We all do, but she made it. And you will too, if you stay away from Jayden.”

“What do you mean?”

She gave me a “don’t-be-stupid” look. Her light-brown eyes matched her hair exactly. “No one buys his recent good boy routine. We all know he’s plotting another
escape attempt and I don’t want you to be caught in the middle. You’re going to be an eighteen soon. I know he’s hot, but you can’t serk now and ruin your chance to go
home.”

It was an impassioned speech. I opened my mouth to confide in her about the bitter truth when a realization hit me so hard I almost gasped aloud. So focused on myself, I hadn’t considered
my friends. Heck, the seventeens were my family. And they would all die within a year.

I gripped the edge of my seat to keep my expression neutral. Someone had to stop it. But how? They had hundreds of guards, fences, barbed wire, security cameras, and weapons.

Haylee didn’t appear to notice my panic. She took my silence as agreement. “Besides, if Mother Jean or Father Bryan see you’re spending too much time with him, you’ll be
transferred. And I don’t want to lose you so soon after Molly.”

The last thing Domestic Security wanted was for two people with a recessive berserker gene to become romantically involved. If any of the dorm parents suspected a couple, that couple
disappeared—supposedly to different camps far away. Although, now I wondered if any of them made it out of here alive. My fingers punched through the vinyl cover of my seat.

Focus. Breathe. Don’t kill anyone.

•  •  •

Eight days after Molly’s murder I woke feeling as if a fever had broken. I could think clearly again. The rage had settled into a simmer under my heart. It waited for me
instead of rushing through my body demanding action at every little thing.

Since Haylee’s comments, I’d been avoiding Jayden. However, today I sought him out. I managed to talk to him while waiting for our turns during a co-ed relay race.

“You made it through,” he said. “Not many who serk do.”

Questions over his comment boiled up my throat, but I didn’t have much time. “Does anyone leave these compounds alive?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“The serkers. They’re encouraged to give into the blood lust and then become DS soldiers for special army units.”

“That’s crazy. No one can control them.”

Jayden gave me a tight smile. “They’ve learned a lot from these prisons. They don’t want to waste mindless killing machines after all.” The bitterness in his voice said
more than his words.

“If that’s the case, then we need to stop them.”

Jayden laughed. “Good luck with that. I just want out of here.”

“But you can’t just stand by—”

He stepped close to me. His expression didn’t change but he growled in a low voice. “Don’t you dare presume what I can and can’t do. Safe and secure here in your precious
camp all these years, you’ve no idea what I’ve been through.”

Stunned, I needed a moment to collect my thoughts. “But Haylee said you were trying to get everyone to revolt?”

“To provide me with a distraction. But you’ve all been brainwashed and are useless. No one will believe me about the truth of this place.”

“What’s the truth, Jayden?” I asked.

“This place is a serker factory. It’s sole purpose is to produce serkers for the army.”

•  •  •

Later, I couldn’t recall what my response to Jayden had been. The next day passed in a blur as my mind replayed our conversation over and over. A few inconsistencies
churned out. Like why was Jayden here? They would have tested him when they had found him and discovered he had serked. He could be working for DS.

I decided it would be best to avoid him altogether. Except that he wouldn’t get the hint and leave me alone.

“I helped you. Are you going to help me?” he asked after third period.

“No,” I said.

“You’re living on borrowed time. Sooner or later they’ll find out about you,” he said after fourth period. “You can come with me.”

“I’m not leaving my friends,” I said.

“Then you’ll die.” His confidence was unnerving.

“So will you.” I shot back.

“All the more reason for us to leave.”

“You act like it’ll be so easy.”

“I’ve a plan, but it needs both of us.”

I waited.

“We’ll need to get inside the administration building. It’s the only way out.”

“No.” I walked away.

After seventh period, he intercepted me. “You can’t do anything to help the others while you’re in here, Kate. There are people on the outside who’ve been trying for
years to overthrow Domestic Security and return us to our democratic roots.”

“Years? Seriously?”

“Yes, why?”

“Will they succeed?” I asked.

His voice deepened. “Not without more serkers working for us.” He glanced around. Most of the others headed toward the sports field. “You’re the only one who’s seen
the truth of this place, Kate, and I need you.”

His words
truth of this place
haunted me that night. The desire to help all the children living in the compound warred with my promise to Molly. In all the years I’d lived here, no
one had tried to rescue us. If we didn’t reunite with our families, then what were our families told when we were taken from them?

After a sleepless night, I decided that I needed more information. Unfortunately that meant spending time with Jayden, which would alert the guards or our dorm parents. I stared at the small red
light shining from the ceiling. When it was dark, they used heat sensors to make sure we remained in our rooms. There had to be places other than the washrooms that weren’t under
surveillance. There was only one person I could ask. Doreen.