Liberation

Chapter 2

JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW:

I hold my gaze with Adam, searching his face for any change in demeanor. Using the power of truth, I hear his breathing and heart beat. Neither one show an irregular change, so I know he's not lying to us. "He's not playing games, is he?" Cassia whispers to me. I shake my head no in response.

"Wow...another society! It's not that I'm not thrilled, but the point of telling us this is..." Susan trails off, not understanding what this is all about. Adam rolls his eyes and begins to explain further. "For centuries, we've been believed to be the last surviving society in the world. But after hearing these reports, there's no telling what else is out there," he says.

"Adam, wait. The field agents discovered it a few days ago, so this is news to us. But that doesn't mean that the Council didn't already know about it before we did. They could have already found it and decided to keep it a secret," Cassia ventures.

"I've considered that a possibility and have interrogated some of the Council members, but nobody will crack and tell what they know," Adam says with a sigh. Then, he stands up, opens a filing cabinet behind him, and pulls out a file.

"Here is everything my field agents collected and recorded of their findings. Feel free to look," Adam says as he holds it out to us.

I am the first to go for the file, taking it from his hand and examining its contents. Peter comes and looks over my shoulder, and the others eventually do the same.

I find a note written with their finding and read it silently to myself:

Approximately 150 miles away, there lies another settlement. We cannot see the inside of it as the city is surrounded by a stone wall, concealing what lies within it. After scoping the area, we judge it to be the same size as our own society. Even though we can't see what is happening, we are led to assume that the citizens are in danger. Screams are heard frequently within the wall.

After skimming the report, I look back up at Adam. "You say none of the Council members will say anything about this?" I ask him. "That would be correct," Adam says. "Well surely you've at least tried to make Henley talk, right?" I ask. And when Adam says nothing, I begin to get worried. "Right?!" I ask frantically.

"Julia, I want you to listen to me very carefully: Henley escaped from prison six months ago. No one knows where she is now," Adam explains.

My heart begins to speed up and my palms start to sweat as I become panicked. "Excuse me?" I ask I back away from him. "You didn't tell her?" Kyle asks Adam. "Wait a second; you knew?" I ask Kyle. And when he nods his head, I feel betrayed. "You all knew?" I clarify. And shamefully, they nod.

"Even you? How could you not tell me?!" I demand as I turn to Peter. "Adam made me swear not to say anything! I wanted to tell you, I promise I did!" He pleads with me, his brown eyes begging for forgiveness.

I stomp over to Adam, grab the collar of his shirt, and pull him down so he's eye-level with me. My green eyes can make anyone coward, and I can see they work as well on him. "How could you not say anything about this to me?" I demand.

"We didn't want you to freak out! I may be in charge around here, but the society looks at you like a role model. If you panic, so do they. We've only had peace for a short time, and it could easily be taken away again," he says.

I release him and turn away from my friends, feeling more betrayed than I ever have. "Well it's no mystery where she's gone," I say annoyed. "And where would that be then?" Adam asks.

"I have the power of knowledge just like you, but it's not hard to connect the dots in this situation. Henley's gone missing, and then suddenly your field agents come home with a report of another society. And look at this!" I say as I pull a sticky note from the file and read it aloud.

"Footprints have been seen around the wall, small and most likely belonging to a woman," I say to them as I hand Adam the sticky note. "Can't you see? That's where she's gone!" I exclaim.

"That's a theory. But we can't have anyone going out and trying to capture Henley," Adam says. Frustrated even further, I groan and throw my hands in the air. "Why not?" I demand.

"Because once again, peace is still new to this society. If your theory is true, then Henley went to that city to get away from here. And who would be kind enough to take in a bad guy? More bad guys! Don't you see? If anyone tries to go after her, war would most likely follow. And right now, the last thing we need is another war," he explains.

"But what if she went there to plan something with the leaders of that society? We're in more danger just standing by than we are taking action," I venture.

Peter puts his hands on my shoulders again and turns me around to face him. "Julia, sweetie, we can't base this on a 'what if.' Right now, our main focus is monitoring the situation so if trouble arises, we can be ready," Peter explains.

I shrug him off and begin to walk away from everyone, not understanding why they can't see things my way. Before I reach the door, I turn back around and look at my friends.

Using evaluation, I see their opinions on this: Cassia doesn't know what to do, Kyle agrees with Adam, Susan agrees with me, and Peter wants to agree with me but chooses to agree with Adam instead.

"Can we live with such uncertainty?" I ask them all. And when once again, no one says anything, I leave the building.