On Sunday, the three girls and I were pulled from garden duty to do laundry. Emily held up Jack and Phil's clothes from the ground and asked, "Why do we have to do their laundry? Couldn't they do this instead of us? " After giving them a stern stare, she placed them in the trash bag we were given to carry the clothes.
"I have no idea," I said, holding my nose, as I took them out of her hands. I placed the dirty clothes in the bag and as soon as the dirty clothes were gone, I picked up the bag and threw it over my shoulder.
As I led Emily out of the room, Emily asked me, "Why were we chosen for laundry duty?". The door clicked behind me and I heard Emily's footsteps following behind me.
"They wouldn't trust Sarah with the machines," I said, "and I don't know about the others."
"That's true," Emily said as we descended the stairs and entered the lobby. As we walked past the cafeteria, we walked into the laundry room, where five washing machines and five dryers stood on one wall, all of which were in use. On the other wall was a long counter that looked older than me. I threw the bag off my shoulder and put it next to the door.
"Let's go get the green boys' clothes. Hey, where are Grace and Anita?" I said looking for the two children. I had not noticed that they weren't here before now. As I looked around, I wondered where they might have gone. They walked through the door seconds later, dragging a bag of clothes behind them. "Where were you?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip.
"Was that not supposed to happen?" Grace asked, setting her bag down beside the one I had just brought in. She wiped the sweat off her brow and sat down in the middle of the room.
"You weren't supposed to do that," I told Grace as she sat down. I checked the machines and found that they were still working. After Anita and Emily realized what we were about to do, I sighed and sat down next to her. I reached behind me and grabbed the four notebooks that I had convinced O'Neal to give me.
"Where did you manage to get these?" Emily asked as I passed the notebooks out.
"I convinced O'Neal to give them to us," I said, and all three looked at me between suspension and shock. I hated seeing the looks these kids pulled sometimes.
"Why would they do that?" Grace asked, gazing at the door as if she was worried a guard might enter the room. Or another prisoner, for some reason.
"Do you want to learn more math, or do you want to keep asking how I got these?" I asked, holding up my notebook. "I would pick the first option since you're awful at math."
"Fine," Grace replied. "First option, though I am unsure of the second."
I flipped open the book and said, "Fair enough."
"How did you learn all this?" Anita asked, opening her book as well.
"What?" I asked as I started writing numbers on the first page.
"Reading, writing, math, science, history." Anita listed, ticking off her figures.
"I was in middle school when IANN first started, and fourteen when they began their first collections. After that, I studied at the farm my parents sent me to," I said as I finished writing down the problems that I wanted them to solve. As the machines started buzzing, I told them, "You guys start these, while I handle the clothes." They followed my orders, and I walked around, looking through everything. When they started practicing, I stood by the door and watched.
After an hour, a guard makes their way toward us down the hallway. I snapped, and Emily grabbed all the books and pencils and tucked them under the washing machine behind her. As she sat forward, she began playing with the lint on the floor. "Hello ladies," O'Neal said, as she walked into the laundry room. "What are you guys doing?"
"Wondering what you are doing when you are supposed to be watching us?" Emily muttered under her breath, and I gave her a stern look. O'Neal either ignored her or acted as though he did not care.
"We're fine," I said when she set the uniforms on the countertop next to the folded clothes. She looked at them then at us. There was a flash of sadness on her face, which I had seen her do a lot in the last few days.
"You can go to dinner after you finish these," O'Neal said, and I nodded. She glanced toward the place where the notebooks were hidden, but she didn't say anything if she spotted them. She nodded and left the room.
After O'Neal left the room, Emily walked over to the uniforms and picked one up. She examined them closely and said, "I thought purples were rarer, so why are we getting two?"
"They're not on the rarer side," I said. "They're a step above blues."
"I thought that was on the power scale," Anita said, and I shrugged.
"Let's just get everything done," I said and grabbed the uniforms.
As soon as the clothes were done, we lined up in front of the machines, waiting for someone to come get us. When O'Neal entered the room, I was holding the notebooks and pencils in one hand and playing with them with the other. We all stopped leaning against the washing machines to follow her when she waved her hand. As she led us back to our room, she said, "You guys are staying in the room tonight for dinner."
We didn't answer, and a few seconds later, she was holding the door open for us to walk through. I sat on the bed, my curiosity getting the better of me as everyone dispersed. Through the window, I saw O'Neal had taken her usual spot beside the door after she closed the door.
I waved at the girls to come sit beside me thirty minutes later when I heard the gate open. Despite their surprise, they sat down to watch as the bus pulled into view. The first girl off the bus was about thirteen and she walked off the bus without any hassle. However, the second girl, who appeared to be close to border age, immediately ran off the bus. Her powers made it a horrible idea to do so.
The guards pulled their guns out of their holsters and pointed them at the girl, but after a brief moment, I stopped them from shooting the girl. Eventually, the girl stopped running and walked inside the motel's walls with the guards. Ironically, the other girl behaved just as complacently without my intervention.
When everyone was in the Lobby, I let them go and turned to see the girls' reactions. Their jaws were opened and their eyes wide. Emily grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bathroom after looking at the window and then the door. Grace and Anita followed behind us. Emily pushed me into the bathroom and stepped aside for the girls to enter.
We were all in the room when Emily closed the door and whispered, "What was that?" She waved her hand wildly at the door.
"What do you mean?" I whispered back, playing dumb.
"Things have been suspicious since I met you," Emily said and she started pacing in the small room. Anita and Grace stepped into the tub so she could have more room.
"How so?" I asked, leaning against the sink and folding my arms at the same time.
"A few minutes ago, the guards were stopped from shooting that girl for some reason and she also stopped running for some reason. Why would they do that? Any of them? Why would O'Neal and the others give us things like candy and school supplies and extra food?" She paused for a second and waved her hands for a second.
"You're an orange," Anita said and everyone paused and looked at her. After a few seconds, all of them were staring at me.
"I thought you would have figured it out on day two," I said. They all looked shocked. I simply shook my head.
"How were you ever caught? Why would you want to stay this long?" Grace asked and she looked like she was trying to figure things out.
Skip tracer who caught me snuck up on me and used that nasty calm control," I said with a snarl. "I fell, hit my head, and didn't wake up until I was being driven into the first camp. I couldn't escape because I didn't know where I was. I don't know where we are." I said looking around. "And I wanted to make sure you guys got out so that's three more."
"Why weren't you sorted as orange?" Anita asked, curiosity finally overtaking her.
"I was, for both, but I tricked the doctor into thinking I was green," I said.
"Why would you do that?" Grace asked.
"Because people fear oranges. They were ready to kill me at the holding place," I whispered, yelling at them.
"Really?" Anita said, and all of their eyes widened in surprise. O'Neal called dinner from the door after a knock on the first door.
"Don't say a word," I said, and they all nodded. I stood up and walked out of the bathroom. After walking through the door, I grabbed the boxes from O'Neal and smiled at her. She nodded at me and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. I carried all the food into the bathroom where the girls were still standing.
"Are we good?" I asked passing out the food.
"Yeah, but how are we getting out of here?" Anita asked, grabbing her box and bottle of water.
"Yeah," Emily said as she opened her box, "How are we getting out of here?"
"Simple," I said. "We walk out of here."
"Why?" Anita asked, confused. "We would be caught immediately."
"No," I said. "We walk out of the room and keep walking. If anyone bothers us, I simply make them think that they have something they need to do."
"Are you sure that it would work?" Anita asked.
"It's the one thing I'm certain of. I don't know anything beyond it," I said looking around. "I was hoping to convince O'Neal to give me a map of the general area."
"Couldn't we just stay here for a while?" Grace asked and everyone looked at her confused.
"Why?" I asked, then I realized something. Grace was ten years old; she had been two or three years old when this started. Considering how old she was and the current situation she had probably been on the streets her whole life. She moved from place to place, wondering when she was about to be caught and worrying about when her next meal was going to be. "Well stay for a while," I told her, leaning back on the tub. "Let's finish dinner, then we all need to shower. We all stink." They nodded and we ate our meal in silence. When we were done, we all stood up to go into the main room. But instead of an empty room, O'Neal was standing by the door, her eyes wide. "How much did you hear of that conversation?" I asked. By the look of her face, she had heard a large part of it.
"You're a?" She asked and I made a move to control her, but it didn't work this time around. "Yeah, that's not going to work." She said as she started walking toward us. Feeling afraid, I reached behind me and grabbed some of the coins that O'neal had given us, and chunked them at her. She tried to duck, but she slipped and hit her head.
"Oops," I said, wincing. For some reason, I felt worried about giving her a concussion.
"Ehh," Anita said, shaking her hand.
"What just happened?" O'Neal asked after a few seconds, rubbing her head as she sat up.
"Hit her again!" Grace said, leaping back. O'Neal stared at us confused before standing up.
"Get in the bathroom now," she said and somehow managed to walk into the bathroom. I pointed at the bathroom, and all the girls walked into it. After getting into the bathroom, I closed the door behind me and grabbed O'Neal's gun and calm control device. The gun went into the back of my pants as I handed Emily the calm control device. As she looked at it in disgust, she held it as if she was about to strike O'Neal with it.
"I've known that you're an orange since the beginning," O'Neal said sitting down and grabbing the back of her head at the same time. I winced, but I couldn't do anything to heal her.
"How did you know that I was an orange?" I asked leaning against the door.
"My niece, Reese, is an orange. She could hypnotize people; I would let her try out her powers on me sometimes, so I know a thing or two about oranges," O'Neal said. "You have the same tick that she had. The nervousness."
"What happened to her?" Anita asked.
"I have no idea," O'Neal said, "she was taken when the forced collections started. I joined up to find her, but I haven't found anything."
"Why should we believe you?" I asked.
"Why would someone lie about having an orange niece?" she asked.
"To gain our trust," Grace said, suspicion obvious.
"Look, you shouldn't but considering that I have known you're an orange since the beginning and haven't said a word is a pretty convincing sign that I am telling the truth," she answered.
"That's true," I replied, and she nodded. "So what are you going to do now?"
"What can you specifically do?" O'Neal inquired.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I replied.
"Because it depends on what I'm going to do, what are your powers?" she asked.
"Mind control," I said, "telepathy if someone is close enough and I can see memories if I touch someone."
"I have this friend, Karl. He owns this farm, thousands of acres. He's been hiding PSI kids there for years now, and he told me if I found any kid I could save to send them to him and his wife. They're really terrific. You said your plan was to walk out earlier?" I nodded. "Okay, but I could send you to Karl's house and you would actually be protected."
"Again, why should we believe you?" Anita asked.
"You might not trust me, but she does," O'Neal said, glancing at me. "Use your powers, and you can tell them what you mean." Everyone looked at me before I sighed and reached out my hand. I grabbed hers and I felt her relax. As I looked further into her mind, I realized that she was telling the truth. As I slowly pulled back, I saw everyone staring at me, holding their breaths.
"Yeah, she's telling the truth," I said and they all released their breaths.
"The plan is straightforward," O'Neal said. "I call Karl and he will send a bus to pick you guys up, and I mean everyone in the camp. When the driver gets close, you will use your powers to erase everyone's memory, except mine. I'll delete the security videos so no one remembers that you were here. I want my memory so that I can check and make sure that no one realizes what is going on. We throw the sheets into the laundry room. I can come up with an excuse for that, but we are going to have to burn the uniforms.
"Sounds like a plan," I said and she agreed. "You go call your friend, and if you can sneak into the room tonight, that would be great. If not tell us tomorrow." She nodded and stood up. "Anita, you are the first to shower." the girl nodded as the guard walked out of the room.
The next morning, everyone was extremely tired and we all looked like we were zombies. The girls kept me up all night questioning me about my powers and showing them off as best as I could without bringing unnecessary attention to ourselves.
When the purples entered, I leaned over the table and I asked Sarah, "who are they?" I pointed at the two purples who were seated on the opposite side of the table.
"The older one is Eveline and the younger one is Tayler," she whispered and I nodded. No one spoke as we ate, but Grace whispered as we were pulling weeds. "Why are we all here? You would think that there would be more jobs available."
"I don't know," I told her but finished talking when I heard footsteps behind us. It wasn't the usual boots of the guards so I looked up and saw Tayler standing beside me. "Need any help?" She asked, curiously.
"No, we're just fine," Anita snapped, and I saw the girl's face take a hurt look. She nodded and walked away.
"I said that we should ignore them, not be rude to them," I said as she joined the other purple. As soon as the younger purple settled next to the older one, I realized that there were no weeds in our spot anymore. Therefore, we started moving down the row. I looked over at Tayler and Eveline who looked like they didn't know what to do.
"Get to work," Jenkins said, his anger rising
"Or what?" Eveline asked sarcastically.
"Oh boy," I said. Since everyone was pretty close to one another, we were able to hear what she had said. We were also close enough to see Jenkins pull out a white noise machine. Everyone lay down, knowing what was about to happen. Eveline and Tayler remained to stand, not knowing what was happening.
Eveline and Tayler looked down at us aghast. Suddenly, white noise spread over the garden and the pair sank down to their knees in pain. A few minutes later, everyone got up and started moving again. "Thanks a lot, kid," I said as I passed her. We worked until lunch, ate, then headed back to work. I looked around and thought I hope we can get them out.
That night, when O'Neal brought the food into the room, everyone was able to bargain with her. Instead of answering our curious faces, she led us into the bathroom so that no one outside could hear us. Once we were tucked into the room and we were all eating our dinner, O'Neal started the conversation by saying "Karl gave the all-clear, he's sending a van over in an hour."
"We're getting out of here?" Anita asked and O'Neal nodded. "Good."
"We need to erase their memories before you leave," O'Neal said and I nodded.
They looked at me surprised when I replied, "Yeah." "What? You think I managed to get this far without using my powers?" They all shrugged and looked around. "So what do we do now?"
"We need to break into the security system, then we need to gather all the guards together and erase their memories. Then we can get all the kids and get out of here," O'Neal said and we nodded. "They'll agree because it's better than here."
"Okay, let's move," I said and they nodded. As the three girls stood up, I shook my head. "You three are staying here, I don't need you hurt."
"Fine," Emily said and glared at the two younger girls. "Fine," they both said and I smiled.
"Good," I said, "come on, O'Neal." I stood up, O'Neal following my example. Walking as fast as I could, I walked out of the bathroom, the bedroom, into the hallway, and into the Lobby. After some looking around, O'Neal realized that I didn't know where the control room was. She waved her hand and I followed her into a small room.
Two men sat inside, and both didn't seem all that shocked as I stepped into the room. After a few seconds, both sank to the ground and O'Neal walked over to the security monitors. She started pressing buttons as I took control of everyone else. The guards to the Lobby and the psi into the garden.
Once that was done, O'Neal nodded and we both turned to go outside. After pausing to handle the guards, we walked onto the garden. Everyone seemed to be enthralled with whatever Emily was saying, and several looked at me in fear.
"You're an orange," Sarah asked and I nodded.
"I have an offer for you. We can stay here or we can leave. Who wants to leave?leave?leave? Everyone raised their hands. I turned to O'Neal and said, "thank you."
"You're welcome," she said as I heard the sounds of a vehicle approaching the gate.
"You guys stay safe, okay?" I nodded as Jack opened the gate from where he was standing. The bus pulled through the gate and stopped in front of the building. Two men hopped off the bus and walked over to us. "The tall one is Terry and the shorter one is Billie."
The two men stooped ten feet from us and I saw that Terry had a long scar on his face. "Time to go," Terry said in a gravelly voice and I nodded.
"Come on," I said, and they nodded in agreement. They gazed at the motel and then at the two men before walking to the bus. They thanked the two men.
"No problem," O'Neal replied. "When does the mind control end?"
"They won't remember us," I told her.
"Thank you." she replied. "I'll call if more kids come in."
"Thanks. Good luck finding your niece. "We'll keep an eye out for her." I said, smiling. I couldn't bear to tell her that her niece was probably dead.
'Thank you' she said, and I nodded as I left. I climbed the steps and sat down next to Emily.
"What did she want?" Emily asked, looking over my lap at O'Neal.
"She asked how long the memory erasure would last," I responded, and the girls nodded.
Jason asked our new friends, "So where are we going?".
"A farm," Terry replied.
"Yeah, more planting." Lincoln, another green, said.
"How about learning things and using your powers!" Terry enthused.
Sarcastically, Jack said, "Sounds nice.".
"It's better than this," I said, nodding in agreement.