AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come to me. I can’t see you,” I screamed. “BeLew, please come to me.”
Their tiny bodies broke through the crowd and leaped into my arms. I gripped them close and checked them over. Lori popped behind them. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not a clue,” I answered through Lewis’s hair as I squeezed him tight. “Sam, my husband, he’s back there. I need to get back to him. Thank you for taking care of the boys.”
Lori nodded and rushed back to her family. I held BeLew’s hands in a tight grip, dragging them back to Sam. They were silent and looked down. Not much phased the boys, but this affected them, I could tell. Their little legs jogged when they saw Sam. He reached his arms out towards them and they smiled, hugged him, and then sat at my side. Then we waited as the lines formed behind us. People were strewn on the deck as far as I could see. It must have been over an hour before we heard the tapping on a microphone.
“We need everyone’s attention and all to sit,” a loud voice boomed from all around us. As people lowered to the ground, I could see a line of military personnel on the stage up ahead. Dean stood next to the microphone but wasn’t the one speaking. He had to be looking for me. His head moved from left to right. Everyone obeyed and the only sound was fidgeting bodies and the wind. We waited for the voice to continue.
The man at the microphone looked older and well built. He was dressed in full uniform, which included a sharp haircut and a sharper jawline. He looked at Dean and another man. They nodded, and he continued speaking.
“Hello, quadrant C. We understand several of you are confused and maybe even frightened. Everything is fine, and you are safe.”
Fuck yes, I was frightened, but I wouldn’t dare show it to the boys. I looked at Sam. His face tensed in pain with one hand resting on top of his injury.
“I’m Captain Matthews. I hope to meet you all as we journey together this year. After decades in service, I don’t have the time or patience for niceties, so I’ll get right to the point. We must have honesty and transparency on this journey. We had an event today that created the need for a red out. As quadrant C is a family unit, let me clarify what’s happening.”
Sam’s hand shifted to mine. Dean couldn’t see us from where he stood, so I entwined our fingers and noticed I was trembling. I wrapped my other arm around the boys, scooting us all together, waiting to hear more.
“A red out will occur when everyone needs to move to the deck immediately. There will be alarms and red lights. Your cabins are currently being searched and re-stocked. You will return with toiletries and possibly medications if we have deemed it necessary. If you are curious about what we are searching for, then you have nothing to worry about. For all others, let me clarify the next steps.”
Sam’s hold tightened around my fingers and I felt the uniform shuffle of a confused crowd. I’m not curious. I’m scared as hell, Matthews.
“In the chaos of boarding, we understand individuals not cleared to be on this vessel may have gained access. Some of you may have taken additional family members with you. We aren’t saying they can’t stay, but we need the honesty and transparency I spoke of earlier. While the kitchen crew was taking a much-needed day off, we discovered several passengers attempting to steal food for others they had smuggled aboard.”
I saw Dean’s neck crane again, searching the crowd, searching for my eyes after hearing those words.
I hadn’t stolen and Sam couldn’t even walk to the mess hall to get food for himself, but we didn’t belong on this vessel. We weren’t cleared to be here, and Dean stood next to Matthews, knowing that fact. My fingers numbed from Sam’s grip and I wiggled my wrist, signaling for him to loosen his hold.
“We need an accurate roster of travelers to succeed on our journey. We don’t have room for waste or excess. If you’re fat, expect to succeed on that diet you’ve failed at over and over again. There’s nothing extra. There’s not enough if we aren’t successful in growing food, so we will not tolerate theft. If you’re one of these uninvited guests, or there are some in your cabin, come to Lieutenant Lindell immediately, and he will direct you. You need not be afraid if you are candid with your situation.”
A large red-haired man stepped forward and jumped from the stage. A few others followed, making their way to his side.
“If you don’t comply, we won’t keep you on the ship,” Matthews continued. “That means exactly what it sounds like. Please see Lieutenant Lindell now.”
Bodies shuffled around us in hushed voices. Sam moved my hand to the floor and held it down, a gesture to say we were not getting up. No one got up yet, but it was statistically impossible everyone here had a ticket. Someone besides us had to have sneaked aboard.
Dean left the stage and walked down the lines of people. He scanned the crowd, looking for me.
Captain Matthews cleared his throat in the microphone. “You have thirty seconds to come forward if there are individuals in your cabin that aren’t on the manifest.”
I was holding my breath, and Sam had such a tight grip on my hand I could feel my pulse beat through my palm. The boys stared at their shoes. A few people had risen and trudged towards the front of the rows. I could hear people behind us murmuring. Sam’s hand pressed down harder.
The thirty seconds turned into minutes as a small crowd huddled by the Lieutenant, and my head spun with thoughts. I felt like I was floating out of my body. I looked down at my hand, still pinned by Sam. My fingertips were white as he pushed them to the floor.
Matthews continued, “We have located the rest of the individuals stealing and hoarding food. Unfortunately, their family has not come forward. We cannot tolerate this.”
I heard screams from the crowd coming from our left. Two soldiers carried over a man and woman as they kicked, screamed, and cursed. They brought four others to their sides and the six of them stood together, wide-eyed. Panic and fear filled their expressions, and the surrounding crowd looked at them in shock. My breathing stopped when they pulled their hands together, zip-tying their wrists behind their back.
“Don’t look,” Sam said in my direction, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away. I watched them with eery familiarity. I watched their rage turn to pleas for their lives that fell on silent ears.
“If we don’t work as one to survive together, we die together. If you work against us all to survive alone, you die.”
With that, Matthews’ men lifted the six souls over the bars of the boat and threw them over. A gasp filled the crowd with a few sharp cries. I went to cover BeLew’s eyes, but Sam had already moved to them and pressed them against his chest. His face filled with agony as he looked back at me. I floated back down into my body, into the reality of what had just happened. It hit me like a train, and I exhaled a harsh breath and curled my numb fingers to my chest.
I dreamed this.
I felt the souls without the use of their hands sinking into the darkness.
I knew their hysteria as they sank deep into the black waters below.
My bottom lip quivered as I turned back to the edge of the boat where six souls once stood.
Dean stared back.
