I can’t stop seeing it. I can’t stop seeing Sam alone in that cage. I left her in the dark.
“Jesus...” Kore breathes out. She turns to the other nurse. “They won’t do anything about it until he escalates. That’s been the case for all of the others, right?”
“I asked one of the camp controllers after I saw the boy. They need physical evidence of abuse and improper behavior,” Dunn says, rubbing his face, “before they can transfer him to another cabin block. They don’t take preventative action. They only respond.”
“What about discharging him?” I demand. “How many strikes does this guy get?”
They seem unnerved by the heat coating the words. It takes Dunn a moment to say, “There are so few PSFs willing to re-up their service and stay. He’s one of them. With the camp closing and the kids being sent to other camps, they...I have a feeling they’re just going to let it fall between the cracks. They have bigger messes to clean up.”
“We have to...” Kore can’t seem to figure out what she wants to say, so she starts pacing instead, working out her thoughts that way. “We have to try talking to O’Ryan again. Make him understand how serious this is. I can’t let her die. We can’t let her die. Dammit, it’s a snakebite. It should be treatable. This shouldn’t be happening.”
“O’Ryan won’t do anything. It’s easier to explain away a dead kid than bring her to a hospital that can actually treat her. Too many questions. Too much attention.”
“Why do they have to wait for the military to bring in the medicine?” Desperation stains my voice, makes it sound different to my own ears. “Won’t it be faster coming from a civilian supply?”
“It’ll ‘compromise the camp’s secure location’ to bring someone in,” he says with no short supply of bitterness. “Even if we could get someone past the gate, they won’t have enough time to treat her before someone notices. The only way to help her is to take her out.”
“Stop!” This is clearly a conversation they’ve had before, because Kore knows exactly where it’s headed. “Dammit, Pat, stop!”
“Do you really want this on your conscience?” he asks, on his feet now. “We’ll walk out of here in a few weeks, but what about her? Say she pulls through fine—great, we’ve just saved Tildon’s latest victim. Do you really want this shadowing you your whole life? Lissa...we promised we’d do whatever it’d take to help these kids. I have a plan. I just need to adapt it to her.”
Oh my God. I can’t stop looking between them. Seconds stretch into minutes, punctuated by the steady beep beep beep of one of the machines.
“You think I don’t know that?” Her voice cracks as it drops to a whisper. “You heard what they did to the woman they caught. She only helped and they did that. They called it treason. If you get caught, there’s no coming back from it.”
“I’ll do it,” I hear myself saying. “Whatever you were planning, I’ll do it.”
It has to be me. I will take care of Sam, and I will find Mia. I can’t do it from within the camp, and I can’t ask the only two people in this camp who seem to give a shit about the kids to leave.
“You’re upset,” Kore says. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“How would you do it?” I ask, refusing to be dismissed.
“The plan was originally meant for my brother and involved getting him out with the materials leaving the Factory. I just need to tweak it. We’ll take advantage of the move,” Dunn explains. “Get her into one of the crates we’ve been using to pack the machines. They’re moving a bunch out today, while the kids are in the Mess for the first dinner rotation. You’ll be in there with her. They’ll move both of you out without realizing it. I’ll find you a crowbar to get the top off. Do you think you can time two hours in your head? I’d wait that long before getting out. Off the truck. You’ll have to fight. There’s going to be an escort of PSFs with it.”
“I can take care of it,” I say. If they try to stop me, they won’t have a chance.
“This is crazy,” Kore hisses. “Listen to yourself!”
Crazy is only crazy until it works.
“I’m going to give you a cell phone that has one number programmed into it—my Uncle Jeff. He’s the one who helped me figure this out. I’ll give him a heads-up, so he knows to expect you. He’ll bring you back to Ohio with him. Aunt Carol is a doctor. She’ll be able to treat her. You’ll be safe there until she recovers.”
“How do you expect him to get out of the locked truck?” Kore demands.
“I can melt the latch,” I say, ignoring her startled look. That’s going to be one of the least complicated parts of this.
“It has to be soon—before your last two-hour shift here is up. You can’t be missing for more than fifteen minutes without someone realizing you’re gone. I’ll cover for you as long as I can.”
“Understood.”
“Lissa—” Dunn draws her into the corner of the room and lowers his head so I can’t hear what they’re saying. Kore looks like she has one toe over the edge of hysterics and needs just one nudge to fall into it. I’m not used to seeing adults look like that—like they have something to lose. Everything to lose.