I wondered who would come first – a guard, Governor Craynor or Joshua. I knew Joshua went to find my mother, but I couldn’t fathom how she could be of any help. My options were severely limited.
I heard heavy footsteps and sat up in bed. I recognized the sound of boots against the stairs as the guards descended to the holding cells. Were they coming for me? I didn’t move from the thin mattress and gripped the edge of the metal cot.
“Olivia!” I heard my mother’s voice and knew if she was coming with guards this couldn’t be good. As she further descended onto the main floor of the prison, one guard carried a torch and the other escorted her forward through the hall. The faint glow gave enough light to cast her image as she passed by.
“Mom!” I called back with wide eyes rushing towards the cell doors. “Mom, what’s going on?” I reached my arm out through the bars and felt her arm as the guards put her into a cell beside mine. I could no longer see her but could hear the guards as they told her to turn around as they removed her restraints.
“Mom, what did you do?” All I could think was this had been somehow my fault. Maybe she had tried to reason with the Governor or a guard to let me go and they had arrested her for treason.
“Olive, are you okay?” I heard the worry in her voice and nodded, momentarily forgetting she couldn’t see me. My hands rested on the iron bars, and I tried desperately to see her but couldn’t.
“I’m scared.” It was an honest answer. The guards retreated for the stairs, and the torch went with them, bathing the prison in darkness again. “What’s going on, Mom? Why are they doing this?” I didn’t understand.
“I made a mistake,” she breathed anxiously. “I trusted an ally who must have turned on us.” I could hear movement and imagined she was pacing the length of her cell, trying to devise a plan of escape.
I felt a shudder course through my body. “What are you talking about?” I was astounded by the way my mother spoke. “Does this have to do with Joshua?” I remembered what she’d said at the marriage ceremony earlier in the day, telling me we needed to speak later. I could only surmise that it had to do with Joshua but now that seemed less likely.
“What?” She paused for a long moment. “Of course not. He’s fine. You, Olive, though, you’re not.” Her words made my stomach tense.
I wanted to scream at her. To ask her what she’d done so terrible that could have us both locked up. “You really think now’s the time to tell me I’m not fine?” I scoffed angrily. “I don’t even know what I’ve done wrong!”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Olive, but I never meant for this to happen. This is not what we planned.”
“We?” I asked. She ignored my question. “Mom, this isn’t fair!”
“You were born,” she answered simply. “You’re my daughter and since I conceived you naturally, it’s possible you might be able to have a child of your own,” she answered calmly. “I had planned to sit you and Joshua down and explain, but sometimes things don’t go as planned.”
I wanted to shout at her, but my shoulders slumped forward. “Nothing about my conception was natural,” I muttered finding myself back on the cot with a loud squeak as I sat down.
Children were born in labs. It was the way things were – The Day of the Chosen, a lottery including all women in Genesis who were 18 to 29. Each family had an equal opportunity to conceive – a rare gift in our world where the government had to intervene for women to become pregnant. The lottery was a blessing the first time and a silent curse if your name was called twice. For all families were provided one child if they won the lottery, but all children born thereafter were handed over to the government and taken outside of Genesis, presumably to another family in a neighboring city.
I sighed. “So, why are we arrested?” What had either of us done wrong? Could they really keep us down in these dark cells until they decided otherwise?
“I went to one of the doctors who helped eighteen years ago. I was concerned with the marriage ceremony because I thought you might unintentionally conceive a child.” I didn’t reply. I never imagined such an uncomfortable discussion and was silently grateful I didn’t have to see her through the cell as she spoke. “The doctor betrayed us. She’s the only one I can think who would do this.” My mother’s voice rose angrily in her cell. “I never should have trusted her. I should have listened to your father.”
“What about him?” I perked up, standing again as I moved towards the bars. “Mom?” I asked waiting anxiously, but she ignored my question. “We have to get out of here.” I didn’t like the fact she had lied to me, but I knew what she did in her heart was right. Besides, if they were locking us up because of this information, I couldn’t imagine what they’d have done when I was born.
“I know. Joshua came by the house when I was arrested. I told him to go home.” Her voice sounded strange, distant as she held her thoughts from me.
“What?” My eyes widened. “Home?” My bottom lip quivered slightly. “How is that going to help us?” I leant back against the cold cement wall, wanting desperately to be in my warm bed.
“Just trust me.” My mother didn’t further elaborate.
I didn’t answer her. How could I trust her again? She’d lied to me and had been since I was born. I shifted onto the cot, lying back down staring up at the ceiling. I wondered what the Governor would do to me. If being born was a crime then I was guilty of it. I closed my eyes needing to unwind. I wanted to be any place but here. I imagined a world where children weren’t forced from their home and taken by the government. Our city was cruel to its people, whether they wanted to see it or not.
CHAPTER 4
Morning hadn’t yet arrived as I awoke with a start. I heard a noise, and my eyes flashed open in the bleak darkness of the prison cell. “Olivia,” a harsh whisper echoed and I turned towards the strange light coming from just outside the cell. Joshua was standing with a torch in hand.
“What are you doing here?” I climbed off the cot and headed towards the iron bars seeing his mother, Rebecca, standing beside him. I glanced at her curiously wondering why she’d risk her life for me.
“Helping you escape,” she answered with a faint smile as she retrieved a set of keys. She unlocked my cell, and I didn’t hesitate as I stepped out and wrapped my arms around Joshua.
“Thank you,” I breathed into his ear, grateful he came for me. I glanced back at the cell where my mother was housed.
Rebecca walked over, unlocking her cell next. “Don’t!” My mother shook her head. “You should leave me here.”
“What? Why?” I was astounded by her request.
“Someone has to stand up to the Governor,” she told me plainly. “Besides, I’ll slow you down. You should go, now.” She was adamant.
“Go where?” I asked, glancing from my mother to Joshua and finally to his mother.
“With me,” Rebecca informed us. “We don’t have much time.” She led us toward the stairs where I had come down when I was first escorted by the guards. I was hesitant, unsure we wouldn’t be caught. “Come on,” she insisted. “We have one of our own on watch. We don’t have much time.”
I gave the briefest of nods before following her with Joshua just a step behind me as we ascended the stairs. Once outside I felt the cool crisp night air and saw the nearly full moon. I knew it must have been well past curfew but didn’t care. There were worse laws I’d broken, like escaping prison. I didn’t ask where we were going – I knew home was no longer an option.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave,” his mother told me sadly. “I know this wasn’t how you imagined your wedding day, but it’s no longer safe for you.”