“You’re supposed to keep off your foot,” I gestured. “Somehow I think you and me in the shower would just add more trouble to an already dangerous situation.”
He laughed. “Fine. Fine!” He held up his hands smiling. “Don’t say I never tried to take you anywhere.”
“Really?” I shook my head with a growing smile. He was certainly a handful. I headed for the bathroom as Joshua pushed the blankets off and exposed his bandaged foot. “Too bad we don’t have any clean clothes,” I remarked, closing the door behind me. The frosted window lit the tiny bathroom as I found the knobs for the shower. Thankfully, they were very basic. I couldn’t have felt more grateful for simplicity. Turning on the spray, I was relieved to feel the warmth of water rushing against my skin. Although we’d bathed yesterday in the stream, I hadn’t felt clean, not like this heated water rinsing through my hair and down my body. It was refreshing. I found a small bottle of liquid and read the label ‘shampoo/soap’ and cleaned my hair and body. It smelled oddly of cupcakes, possibly a sign I was hungrier than I realized. I hoped they would provide us breakfast somewhere in town.
The water started running cool, and I knew what that meant. I shut the shower off, dried myself with a towel and slipped back into my grimy clothes. Opening the door, Joshua sat on the bed, looking more awake and alert. “The bathroom’s all yours,” I gestured, “but you might want to wait a few minutes until there’s warm water in the shower.”
“You didn’t save me any hot water?” he teased. “See, we should have showered together.”
“Nice try.” I smiled, rolling my eyes as he stood up. “Be careful on that foot of yours,” I pointed at the bandage, as if he needed a reminder.
The moment his foot grazed solid ground, he grimaced. “Yes ma’am,” Joshua hobbled into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I sat quietly on the bed, unsure what to do. Leaving the cabin seemed unlikely, given the guard standing outside the previous night. I doubted the door was unlocked. I knew they’d come for us sometime this morning and if we weren’t here, I didn’t want to imagine how that would go over. Neither Joshua nor I knew the consequence of running off and exploring the town, but I suspected it wouldn’t end well. I had the unsettling feeling I’d probably be shot with that rifle if it were up to Chancellor Collins. He seemed to hate me. I shrugged off the notion. I didn’t care what one guy thought about me. He had no idea who I was or what I’d been through.
A brief knock startled me, and I saw the same nurse from last night coming into the cabin and into our bedroom.
“Adam’s in the bathroom getting cleaned up.” I gestured towards the closed door, hearing the shower.
“I can wait.” She nodded standing with her arms folded across her chest. She made no attempt to sit down and didn’t offer to come back later.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I doubted it, but thought polite to ask. For some reason, she unnerved me. Maybe it was the fact she’d come into the cabin without waiting for an answer.
“I want to check his bandages. Unless you’d like to handle that?” she snapped coldly.
I rolled my eyes and stood up from the mattress. I stomped over to the bathroom door, giving a forceful knock. “Your nurse girlfriend is here.” I mocked, hinting for him to hurry.
A moment later the shower turned off, and I imagined he was toweling off. Joshua opened the bathroom door, the steam followed him out. “What’s that, dear?” he teased, wearing only his boxers.
“She’s back to check on your foot.”
“Oh.” Joshua nodded. “Thanks.” He hobbled back towards the bed, sitting down and propping his foot up. “Need to check the bandage?” He guessed. It was soaking wet from the shower. She had impeccable timing.
“On the contrary, I’d like you to come with us. I can’t patch it up here.”
“Isn’t that what you did last night?” I didn’t understand where they wanted to take Joshua. The last thing I wanted was for him to disappear, worried I’d never see him again. I did not trust these people.
“I did what I could with the necessary tools I had,” she didn’t so much as look at me as she spoke, staring at Joshua. “I suggest you come with me. Or I can tell the Chancellor that you’re being difficult if you prefer?”
Joshua glanced at me. “No, I’ll go with you. I’d like Jacqueline to come along.” He smiled with a boyish grin, hoping to get on her good side.
“Sure, fine.” She rolled her eyes. “You can tag along.” She headed for the front door, waiting for us to follow. He picked up his dirty clothes from the floor and put them back on before hobbling out of the bedroom.
Joshua smiled politely. “I never caught your name.” He offered his hand introducing himself, “I’m Adam.” He waited for her to properly introduce herself. He had a way of making friends with everyone.
“Sydney,” she remarked. “Not that it will matter for long.”
“I’m Jacqueline,” I offered my hand.
She turned to stare coldly at me. “I don’t care who you are. You’re a nuisance, if you ask me.”
“Well, I didn’t,” I muttered beneath my breath. What had I done to her? What had I done to anyone in this town? I felt like they all hated me, based more on suspicions than anything else. They didn’t trust us. I couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t as though I trusted them either.
I followed quietly behind Joshua as the nurse led us outside and into our car. I didn’t feel comfortable knowing they had the keys and had taken it over since our arrival.
Joshua glanced at me, giving me a knowing look as he climbed into the front of the car and I climbed into the back. Sydney started the car, already familiar and comfortable behind the wheel. I wondered how many other vehicles the town had. I had so many questions and felt as though no one would give us any answers.
We didn’t drive long before Sydney pulled the car in front of what appeared to be a medical clinic. “Wait in the car. We won’t be but ten minutes,” Sydney told me. “If you get out, I’ll give those guards permission to shoot you.” She pointed toward the two armed men standing not twenty feet from the vehicle.
“Got it. Stay here,” I remarked. I glanced around the car, noticing they’d cleared out everything we’d brought with us. What little food we had, matches and water were all gone. I couldn’t say this surprised me, but it saddened me these people had stolen from us. We had very little in our possession, yet they felt it necessary to take what was ours. It angered me.
“Be back in no time.” Joshua gave me a reassuring smile. “See you in a bit, Jacqueline.” he waved before getting out and hobbling with Sydney into the medical center.
Sitting in the car, I surveyed the town. There wasn’t much, at least nothing visible from the car. The town looked old, abandoned. Maybe that was intentional. If someone flew over town, the town could possibly go unnoticed. A drone would consider the town uninhabited if it didn’t register people. I wondered what was so secretive and special about where we were.
I sat quietly, unsure how much time had passed since Joshua had gone into the clinic. It hadn’t seemed long, but it had been several minutes. Chancellor Collins walked toward me, walking with a slight limp I hadn’t noticed before. His presence always chilled me to the bone. “Well, hello again,” he remarked, coming up to the car.
I didn’t feel like being friendly, but I forced a smile. “Just waiting for Adam,” I replied. “Doing as I’m told, not getting out of the car.”
“Oh, that must have been Sydney’s instruction.” Chancellor Collins’ eyes lit up, seemingly pleased with himself. I couldn’t tell why. “Of course. Of course,” he nodded eagerly, appearing to be in a brighter mood this morning. “She does like to be in charge.” I wondered who in this town didn’t insist on being in control. He certainly had acted in the same manner the previous night. I didn’t argue. “At nine you and Adam will join our recruits,” he informed me, giving me a once over. “You’ll be given a proper change of clothes. I’m glad to see you found the shower useful.” I wanted so badly to wipe the smirk off his face. I would do anything in my power to pass the tests, if only to prove to him that I was more than capable.