Broken

Chapter 30

They took us through a maze of hallways and rooms until stopping in an interrogation room. I was tied to a chair with Seth and Patch on both sides. Someone was shining a bright light in my face, causing me to squint and look away. I heard a familiar voice.

"Bethany, is that it?"

It was Dutch. He walked into the room and sat across from me.

"You're sixteen. All your family members are deceased. You lived in Dillard, Georgia. Your parents and older brother were killed in the outbreak. You and your sister survived until she was murdered by some scientists, correct?"

"* you."

That was my official response to anyone who talked about my past or Cassie. Dutch chuckled.

"Your father was abusive and your brother was an alcoholic. Illegally, at that."

Dutch glanced up from my file. "Correct?"

"You already heard my answer."

He looked back down at the file. "It says here you were prone to panic attacks and would shut down if a man touched you. Is this true?"

I said nothing, feeling very vulnerable. If Dutch noticed my uncomfortable feelings, he didn't say anything. He just continued digging into my life.

"You had no friends, right? You were a social outcast."

I remained silent.

"Bethany, talk to me. Why don't you want to stay here? It's safe."

I was definitely not going to tell him about our discovery. So, I lied. Well, I wasn't necessarily lying, just not telling the real reason we left.

"I can't go back to the way things were. I would rather go out there and die or become insane than stay here. I'm used to the wild, untamed life. I don't want to go back. Neither do my friends. I've seen too much to go back to a normal life."

Dutch clasped his hands together and gave me a concerned nod.

"I see. Well, I don't understand what you're going through, so I can't let you leave. But, would you like to better this community by donating your life?"

"No."

"Well, that's too bad. You're going to anyway."

A black hood went over my head and muffled my screams.

They took us somewhere in the CDC. They pulled the hood off my head when we reached our destination. I gasped at the horrible sight I saw as I was forced through it.

The room was the size of a warehouse. Inside, there were rows and rows of people. Teens, adults, children, they were all chained together and to the ground. They were moaning and yelling. When they turned towards our direction, their eyes were missing. I screamed in horror. They kept me moving forward. I forced myself to look away from the horrible sight and focus on the back of Dutch's head. He seemed to not be concerned or worried about all the people.

One of them reached out and grabbed my leg. I fell to the ground. The soldiers immediately grabbed my arms and tugged me away from the person. The person cried out as a soldier kicked them.

"Don't hurt them!" I protested. "Haven't you done enough damage?"

The soldier didn't hesitate to kick me too. He didn't silence me. I screamed in pain. The genius had kicked me in the stomach.

"You people are crazy!" I shouted. "Why would you do this?!"

Dutch said nothing. I continued to kick and scream as they dragged me and my friends to the back of the warehouse room. There was a lab back there. Dutch pointed to the dentist chair in the center of it. One of the soldiers threw Seth onto the chair.