Worlds Between by Heather Lee Dyer & Drake Mason

Author:Heather Lee Dyer & Drake Mason [Dyer, Heather Lee & Mason, Drake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Urban Epics
Published: 2020-05-23T22:00:00+00:00

***

“Get back into your lines,” yells the mech supervisor from the table we just passed. I can tell the leaders apart because of the gold plating in their enhanced armor, and the antenna that branch out from their shoulders like small wings, so they can communicate with the Kreon ship even while deep underground. Men all over the cavern scramble back into their positions. By the smell of urine, I can tell somebody has pissed themselves. I hope it isn’t me.

The girls quickly get into line behind me and Edward marches us back to our cell. He says nothing to us as he locks our door and walks away.

We fall exhausted onto our mats. For a while no one says anything. I keep my eyes closed hoping they’ll all think I’m asleep. I’m uncomfortable pretending I know how to care for this group of girls. I’m not even an adult myself.

“Rya?” a small voice makes me open my eyes. It’s not Claryce or Janice. None of the other girls have spoken at all. I can’t remember if they’d told me their names.

I sit up and look around.

“Will it always be like this? Every day?” It’s the little red-headed girl sitting next to Janice. This is the first time she’s spoken. She holds out her bloody palms toward me.

“Oh sweetheart.” I get up and go sit next to her. “I’m so sorry. Your poor hands.” I look around at the others, remembering the blisters I had the first day here.

“Do the rest of you have blisters too?”

Everyone nods. I frown and look around the room. I get up and grab my water bottle. Near the cell door I dig around to loosen the dirt and add water until a nice mud forms. I put some on each of the girl’s blisters. I remember when I first learned to chop wood, my father would make a poultice of mud and herbs for the blisters that formed. Although nothing grows this deep, the cool mud should help comfort the girls.

“This is gross,” Claryce looks up at me with a small smile, holding up her muddy palms. I smile back, glad that her little spirit hasn’t been completely killed by this awful situation.

“You know what’s even more gross?” Her mouth pops open when I spit into my palms and rub them together. “Saliva helps wounds heal faster. I think.”

Several of the girls mimic me and then giggle. After that, they open up to me. They tell me their stories. Where they came from, what their families were like, how they got caught. We talk until most of the girls have fallen asleep.

“We should sleep too,” I tell the last few girls left awake. They nod and settle down on their mats. I lay on my side and instantly Claryce is nestled up next to me. A small voice in my head says I shouldn’t let these girls get into my heart. We don’t know what our futures look like. But it’s impossible not to.

That night I dream of the Kreons.

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