Enforced (Book 1)

Chapter 46

It was about a week and a half later when I woke up to the sun just beginning to rise. I gently nudged Benjamin and he woke up. "Good morning" I said.

He smiled at me, "Good morning." He looked up into the sky and we watched the sunrise together.

When the sun was up in the sky, we began getting some food for breakfast. It was at that time that a terrible thought crossed my mind. "Benjamin, you don't think that the people helping heal Sophie will recognize her and think that she was in the woods helping us do you?"

Then an even worse thought crossed my mind. "They wouldn't torture a child would they?" I paused, "What am I thinking? Of course they would. They murdered her sister and made her watch. There isn't much they wouldn't do."

"I don't think anyone would recognize her. She wasn't on the screen when her sister was executed. Plus, she isn't a fugitive like we are." He replied.

"But if they recognized her, would they harm her?"

"Honestly, Bethany, I don't think anyone in the country knows that anyone is helping us. But, if somehow they did, I do not think that they would hesitate to torture information out of any of them. Even Sophie."

I felt sick, but I knew he was right. That was one of things I appreciated about him. Ever since I found out about his family, he was always honest with me. Even when he knew I wouldn't like what he said.

He saw the sickened look on my face and kept talking, "But Bethany, I don't think they will know who she is, and I am sure the story they will come up with about being this far into the woods will be convincing.

"So you don't think anyone will be hurt?"

"No." he responded.

I took a deep breath. "Good."

"I'm more worried about her health. I don't know as much about medicine as you do. Are you sure she will be okay?

"Yeah." I replied. "From what I could tell without any real testing, she had pneumonia. That is something that can be easily cured. Even with the cutbacks. The treatment is not costly. Really, the only people who are at risk due to cutbacks are those rely on machines to live, and those who need expensive treatments, but cannot afford it." I saw relief flash across Benjamin's face and I smiled. "You really care about Sophie, don't you?"

"I do. She is tough and kind and funny. And she really likes you, Bethany. She looks up to you."

"She likes you too, and it is nice to have other people to rely on."

"I agree," he said "but, I like this alone time with you as well."

"Me too." I replied, moving closer to him. He wrapped his arm around me and I leaned into his chest.

"What do you think the outskirts will be like?" I asked him.

"I don't know." Benjamin replied, "But I think that we will be happy. All of us."

"You don't think that they will turn us in do you? We are worth a lot of money."

"I don't think so," he replied, "the outskirts hate the country as much as we do. They wouldn't do anything that would make Richardson happy."

"I hope you are right." I responded.

We stopped talking for a while. A little bit later I asked, "Do you think that that the rebels will ever rise up and fight the country? You know, try to overthrow Richardson?"

"Maybe," he replied, "I am sure that there are quite a few refugees living there that want to see the country changed as much as we do."

"I want them to fight. The country needs changing."

"Well, of course it does." Benjamin replied, "Look at what they did to us. To Sophie. To Alex. To Cory. To Alexis. To so many people. I am sure that one day a group of people will rise up and overthrow the country, and hopefully, they will do a better job of leading people. Of course, it would be nearly impossible to do a worse job."

"I think that we should talk to some of the outskirters and refugees from the country." I stated, "Offer our help."

"No, Bethany. We already talked about this. " Benjamin stated, "We are leaving the country and we are never, ever going back."

"But if they want to fight, we need to help them. We need to help all of the other people who are still trapped in the country."

"Bethany," he began his voice shaky, "I can't lose you. Not again."

I grabbed his hand in both of mine. "Benjamin, what about people like us who are trapped, but cannot run? Cannot get way? Don't you want to help them? Help the people like us who are in love but can never be with that person. The people who will never experience love because of the forced marriages, who can't find love because they aren't allowed to. The people who have had their loved ones ripped away from them. Murdered in front of them."

"Bethany," Benjamin began,

"Don't 'Bethany' me." I said, "I want to help those people. I need to help."

"I want to help too, Bethany, but I don't want you coming back here. Ever again."

"Maybe we don't even have to come back here. Maybe we can just be a voice. A face. Someone for others to look to and remember what they are fighting for. Maybe we can fight without ever being in the country. We can just show people that it is possible to win. To beat Richardson." I said.

"Okay, Bethany. But, this is all theoretical thought. We do not know if the outskirters will for sure want to fight. Or if they even have the power or the capability to do so." Benjamin replied.

"Well, if they do, I want to help."

"Okay." He stated, then quickly changed the subject. "When do you think they will be back?" He asked me.

"I don't know," I replied, "Sophie's treatment should have only lasted a day or so. Then they should've sent her back with antibiotics. Really though, the longer it takes them to get back, the better, because the longer it takes them to get back to us, the closer we are to the outskirts and the refuge regions."

"True."

"And the ride to the hospital would have taken less than an hour, because the air vehicles can travel so quickly. The longer it takes them to get back, the closer we are to salvation."

"And the further we are from the country, the closer we are to our dream." He finished.

"But it has been a while." I stated.

"It has." Benjamin replied.

"You don't think..." I began.

"No, Bethany. They won't hurt them. We discussed this. No one knows who they are, they aren't wanted."

I took a deep breath, "Okay." But I could tell that Benjamin was getting worried himself. "If you are so sure, then why do you look so scared?" I asked accusingly.

I'm not worried that they were caught or recognized, I'm just worried that something might be wrong with Sophie. I'm worried that maybe it isn't just pneumonia, or maybe she has had it for so long that it broke her body down."

"I hope not." I replied, my heart aching for the poor child. "Benjamin, how long before we, you know, have to move on alone?"

"Well it has already been over a week, and you said the treatment shouldn't last more than two days. And they will most likely catch a ride as close to us as possible, before they get into the thicker trees, so I'd say they should be back soon if all is okay."

"How long do we wait before moving on?"

"I'd say two and half weeks, three at the most. So, that gives us about another week and half. They wouldn't waste any time getting back here. Of course, I'd never want to leave without them, but I know they would not want us to stay here if we thought they were never coming back."

"You're right." I said sadly. "If they aren't back by week three, we move on."