His hold on me cut off my air supply, causing me to cough. “Gage,” I choked out. “Help me, please.”
Gage remained unmoving, his eyes hollow and filled with tears as he stared at the two of us. Finally, he stepped forward and took hold of Bailey’s arms, prying them from my neck.
“No!” Bailey wailed, his feet kicking in the air, his face flushed as Gage pulled him away. His tiny hands grabbed for me, tears streaked his face. “River!”
I couldn’t hold back my tears as I stepped forward to embrace them both.
“I love you, Pittah” Gage whispered hoarsely.
I’d assumed my brother long past those words and crying; to hear and see those things now was nearly my complete undoing. “I love you too. I’ll be back,” I vowed. I brushed the hair back from Gage’s face as Bailey squirmed in his arms.
“No one comes back from the wall,” Gage replied in a monotone that made me shiver. “If that’s where they’re taking you.”
“Iwill come back,” I vowed. I kissed Gage on the cheek before kissing Bailey’s forehead. “I love you, Stink Bug.”
He tried to grab me again, but I managed to sidestep his tiny fingers. I forced myself to move further away from them before I couldn’t. Thrusting my shoulders back, I wiped the tears from my eyes and strode toward the doorway.
I stopped before Asante. “Thank you.”
“Lisa and I will keep them safe no matter what it takes,” he vowed. “And away from your mother.”
I bit my bottom lip to stop a fresh wave of tears. “Tell Lisa I said bye and I love her.”
“I will.”
“Let’s go,” the colonel said and took hold of my elbow.
Bailey’s loud wails followed me down the stairs, shredding my heart as we walked across the front yard. The lump in my throat threatened to strangle me as we approached the waiting truck. The camouflage cover had been replaced on the truck, but the newest volunteers had their heads poked out the back of the vehicle to watch us.
I’d expected them to lead me to where the volunteers sat in the back; instead, they walked me toward the cab. I didn’t see my mother anywhere, something I was unbelievably grateful for, but more than a few of my neighbors had been drawn out by the government vehicle and curiosity.
The woman opened the passenger door for me and gestured for me to climb inside. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage as I stared into the unlit cab. I couldn’t embarrass myself by trying to run away from here now. I may be able to lose these two, but they’d have every Guard on the Cape hunting for me, and I had no idea what they would do with my brothers if I broke our agreement now.
My legs barely supported me when I climbed up the two steps and into the truck. I’d just settled in when I spotted Lisa running down the road toward us. Asante stepped forward to intercept her before she could reach the vehicle. I turned my head away from Lisa’s frantic gestures as her cries rang down the street. Tears slid down to fall on my hands folded in my lap.
The colonel settled in beside me and started the truck.
“Where am I going?” I inquired in a hitching voice.
“To the wall.”
“Why? What is it you want from me?”
“You’ll learn what you need to know as it becomes necessary.”
With those cryptic words, he shifted the truck into drive and hit the gas. I’d been determined not to look back, but I found my gaze going to the driver’s side mirror when we got to the end of the street. In its reflection, I could see Asante, Lisa, Gage, and Bailey. Asante stood beside Lisa, who now held Bailey. He had his arms extended toward the truck while tears streaked his face. Gage was further ahead of them, bent over with his hands on his knees as if he’d chased after us.
I didn’t care what it took. Iwouldsee them again.
CHAPTER 7
River
The further away from home the colonel drove, the more I realized how different things were in this area compared to my hometown. Farms and livestock stretched out as far as the eye could see with houses dotting the landscape. Some of the houses sagged from years of wear and appeared to be abandoned. Others were in better repair and had a few people wandering around outside them.
Those people stopped what they were doing to watch the passing trucks driving down the road. Before we’d driven over the bridge and off the Cape, we’d been joined by fourteen other trucks carrying volunteers, one from each of the towns on Cape Cod. Along the way, five more trucks had joined us from nearby towns on the other side of the bridge.
“Do you send a truck to each town in the state on this day?” I’d inquired when the other trucks first joined us.
