Somewhere in the Trees

nine

He looks at all of us, his smile unwavering. He is not shy to show that he is enjoying himself.

I nod reluctantly, as the rest of my classmates do the same. I'm excited for these handcuffs to come off and to get some fresh air.

He walks over to Zoe and kneels down behind her to unlock her cuffs, then tells her to go up the ladder.

I keep looking down at the floor, and I swear my heart is going to give out. I've never felt my heart beat this hard in my life. I don't want him to come near me at all.

He grabs onto my wrists. His touch lingers for a second, his fingertips brushing against my lower back. I hold my breath as he clicks my handcuffs free. I immediately sigh in relief, shaking my wrists out as I take a few deep breaths.

I start towards the ladder. It feels odd to move my hands, as my arms are sore from being held behind my back for so long. I find it difficult to work my way up the ladder as I feel very weak, but the promise of inhaling air that doesn't smell like dirt motivates me.

Once I get to the top, my eyes squint against the harsh sunlight. I put my hand up instinctively to block it, just as somebody reaches over to pull me up onto the grass. Something hard presses against the side of my head, and it doesn't take me long to realize it's a gun.

"Stand and line up by the tree," I recognize the voice as Elsie from last night.

She pushes me over towards where Zoe is standing, next to the thick trunk of an oak tree.

When my eyes painfully adjust to the bright sunlight, I take a second to examine the acres of land before me. Plush grass coats the ground. There are several rundown buildings arbitrarily placed amongst the vast land, ranging from one story to two stories.

People are everywhere - walking, talking, working. They're far from where we are so I have trouble making out anyone's features, but it appears that they're all wearing the exact same blue linen clothes that we're wearing.

I look in the distance to see a very tall fence surrounding the perimeter of the area. And beyond that: endless, tall trees.

"This is some weird shit," Zoe comments from beside me. "They're probably all like, hippies or something."

I look over and watch as Alice is pulled out of the underground bunker. She looks around at her surroundings as she's then forced at gunpoint to line up behind me. Kiran stumbles out afterwards to line up behind Alice, and then Declan emerges.

Scott exits the bunker soon after Declan and slams the bunker door closed. He looks at all five of us who are standing in a line, unsure of what to do.

"I'm going to take you all on a little tour," Scott says. "Do not say a word to anyone on the way there, especially not the kids. Hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you." I slowly put my hands on Zoe's bony shoulders. I give them a small squeeze. I feel Alice's hands slip onto my shoulders lightly. Scott waits and watches for all of us to comply, before he then turns to look at Elsie. "I want the gun focused on the boys."

Elsie nods and walks towards the end of the line, where Declan and Kiran are.

Scott walks in front of Zoe, gesturing for us to begin following him. He turns to walk backwards as he tells us, "Stay in a single file line. Remember what I said before."

We walk across the land. Grass and leaves crunch beneath our feet. My chest feels heavy and I feel like my legs are going to give out. What if they're walking us into some torture chamber? I keep holding onto Zoe, my fingers gripping onto her shirt.

As we walk, there're people everywhere of all different ages. There are some young women gathered around a well talking to one another. Some men walk past carrying logs of wood, it looks like they're in the process of building another building. There's four of them and they range in age, two of them have graying hair and the other two look like they might be younger than us. They don't look at us as we pass by.

We pass by another group of young kids. They're in a little fenced-in playground area, there's a wooden slide and monkey bars. There's two women talking to each other as they watch the kids play and run around.

A few of the kids notice us and stop what they're doing to stare at us. A few of them point and whisper to each other.

My heart nearly stops as I see one kid I recognize. Eddie. He's standing right at the little wooden fence and staring at us as we walk past. My teeth clench as I stare right back at him.

Scott walks us up to a large, ramshackle wooden house. He waves his hand over towards it and says, "This right here is our kitchen and dining quarters. The three of you ladies will be spending a lot of time here. We'll be circling back here after our tour."

I sigh heavily as we continue walking. He shows us another building not far behind the kitchen which he names as the school building. Next to the school building is a large, elevated stage. Scott says that is where the family plays games or watches performances.

A little ways from the stage is a garden that we are told is not in operation currently since it's starting to get colder. Apparently it gets very, very cold here in the winters. There's also a chicken coop and a red barn beside it, as well as a small building beside it which Scott names as the slaughterhouse.

We keep walking until we reach what Scott says are the residential buildings. There are three in a row, all fairly beat up, two-stories tall with windows that are taped up in some areas.

"You will be in this one," he says, pointing to the building at the end. "There is a room where the five of you will be kept and it will be highly surveilled."

I'm exhausted and clammy from walking so much. I feel like I'm a junior in high school again, touring the damn college that is the very reason this is even happening to me.

The autumn winds feel good on my skin, but I can tell from the thick air that wherever we are, we must be within mountains. It's difficult to breathe.

"That building way over there," he points to a very small building that is quite isolated from the other buildings, "that's called 'The Dark'. It's a punishment to be sent there. In it is a locked room with no windows, which is where you are kept if you act incorrectly. You will be kept entirely in the dark for weeks, even months at a time. Don't fret, you'd have to really offend to be sent there. If you act right, you have nothing to worry about."

I gnaw on my bottom lip as I stare at the building. That must be torture.

"Next to it," Scott points to a tall building across the way, a building that is way more well kept compared to the others, and is also painted a baby-blue color. It has a white front porch with a rocking chair sitting on it. Scott smiles and says, "that is where our Abe lives."

He looks between all five of us. The sun shines down on him so brightly it seems like a shadow is speaking to us. Elsie makes her way next to him, her pistol still pointed at us.

"Speaking of our Abe," Scott claps his hands together. "We will now bring you back to the dining quarters, where you will have a nice meal with him. Ready?"