Red Zoned

1

Three Years Later

"I can't believe we got caught." Jada twirls a strand of curly, chestnut-colored hair around her finger and shifts her weight against the digital bookshelf as her eyes meet mine for the first time since we arrived. Those soft gray eyes that have a habit of getting her out of trouble.

I could melt under her gaze. "You're talking to me now?" My voice cracks as I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the window. "What did you expect?" I ask. "Honestly."

Jada's frown deepens.

We'd been sneaking out past curfew for years. It started as a harmless act of rebellion. Some adrenaline to get us through the monotony of living in a dictatorship. What started as sneaking onto the soccer field to lie in the grass and look at the stars quickly turned into something else and even though we both knew that the Search Team could have us executed for what we were doing, it didn't stop us.

A distant shout rips me from my thoughts as Jada takes a knee to look out the window. "Breach in the side gate," she states. "Search Team will take care of it."

I move next to her and watch as Half Humans scramble through the opening in the fence and sprint at the bystanders. A member of the Search Team sprays a round of silent bullets at the monsters. A single shot has them convulsing. New technology made specifically for the apocalypse.

I recognize the soldier from the night they caught us. That jagged scar that runs from his hairline to his jaw and his black cowboy hat. He was especially pushy about executing us for breaking camp law and physically pouted in the corner when the others refused his advances.

A chill runs down my spine. I've never liked the Search Team. All straight-faced, never knowing how to take a joke or show some compassion, but I guess that's how they survive in the Red Zone.

"So, I just told them we were drunk and that it was a one-time thing and they didn't care much."

Jada's last sentence drags me back to reality.

I feel my eyebrows pull together. "Is that what I am to you?" I bite my cheek to keep my lip from quivering. "Some drunk thing?"

Her eyes search mine as I stare ahead at the rows of book titles. "You know how it is." She shifts her weight away from me. "The people here don't understand. They just don't get..." Her eyes dart from my face to the ground.

"Lesbians?"

"Charlie," she snaps. "Would you keep your voice down? You're going to get us killed." She looks around, and checks if anyone is within earshot before she relaxes against the bookshelf. "That's why I wanted to see you." She clears her throat. "I think we should stop."

My chest goes tight. "Stop?"

She nods. "I'm not like you."

I stare at her. "What am I?"

She twirls another piece of hair around her finger. "Jesus, Charlie. You're really going to make me say it?" She blows a breath out through her teeth. "Gay. I'm not gay."

My eyes narrow. "No?"

She rolls her eyes.

Without saying anything, I push to my feet.

This is pointless. I thought we could help each other. I thought we'd talk about the night the Search Team cuffed and dragged me home at two in the morning. I thought she would have the decency to ask what happened when I got home or ask how I was handling it.