Broken

Chapter 36

"We're back!" shouted Charles as he and Robert emerged from behind an SUV. Robert jabbed him.

"Quiet, you idiot! Do you want insane coming here to send us off?"

Charles shrugged and jumped up on the ship, arms full of supplies. Robert shook his head and followed him on. Seth and I took C.J. back inside the boat, where Robert was getting ready to set sail. He looked at Seth.

"You kids talk much?"

Charles stepped up behind us. "Nope. These kids are not the talkative type."

"Well, what are their names?"

"This dear girl here is Bethany. The baby's name is Cassie. This kid... well, I don't know his name. I've only heard him say a few sentences."

Robert raised an eyebrow and looked at Seth.

"I get ya, kid, don't worry. You've seen a lot of horrors, is that it? Done some regrettable stuff before all of this, right? Well, that's behind ya. You can talk."

"I only speak when I deem it necessary," Seth said quietly. "And I give my name to people who won't abuse the power."

Robert snorted. "Well, you can trust me. I've never been to prison."

I spoke this time. "That doesn't make you a trustworthy person."

Robert stared at me and then put his focus back on his controls.

"You're right, these kids don't talk much."

The boat ride was long and horrible. Hank found out he got sea sick, and I discovered my fear of being in the middle of the water on a boat. Fortunately, Robert stayed fairly close to shore most of the time, so I wasn't too terribly scared. But, I did stay close to Seth.

A couple of days later, Robert made an announcement.

"We're going to stop in Washington, D.C. for the night. I need more gas and supplies."

All of us nodded and went back to our duties, which included throwing up or taking care of the baby. I gave Charles the baby and went to talk to Robert.

"So, why did the government decide to take the kids?"

"They wanted to 'keep them safe' and 'preserve our future.' Well, when we heard that they were doing experiments on the children and taking out their eyes, we decided to rally together."

"How many kids did you have?"

"Three. A boy, and two girls."

Charles looked up from the ground and stared at him strangely. "Three?"

"Yeah. Three."

"You told me two."

I took a step away from Robert. Robert waved it off.

"I told you I had two girls. I didn't tell you about my boy because we put him in foster care just before this happened."

I gave him a disgusted look. "Why did you do that?"

"Because he was being difficult. He was always complaining about bullies and depression and friends. He never did what he was supposed to do."

My anger was about to boil over, so I just left the room and went out to the front of the boat where Seth was.

"Do you know what he did?"

"Who?" Seth asked, turning to look at me.

"Robert! He put his son into foster care because he was depressed!"

"Robert didn't have a son. He only had a girl."

"No he had two girls and a boy."

Seth shrugged. "Maybe I heard him wrong."

I looked at the shore. "I'm excited to get off this boat. I'm sure Hank is too."

Seth snorted. "He was ready to get off this ship when we got on. His face has been green for a long time."

Hank stumbled by us. "Shut up."

He threw up over the side of the boat and moaned. "I hate this."

I went over to him and rubbed his back. "It's okay! Just let it allll out."

"Shut u- ooooh no." He threw up again.

I couldn't help but smirk. That's when I heard Seth swear.

"Beth, look."

I turned to see what he was looking at. My mouth fell open in shock. Hank looked up from the water and swore as well.

We were coming up on Alexandria, when we saw Washington DC. Like the CDC, there was an enormous, thick concrete wall surrounding the entire Washington DC area. It had to be at least eighty feet tall. At least. Military ships crowded the waters in the bay as soldiers walked down the shore, watching our boat. I looked at Seth with wide eyes as our small, insignificant boat steered dutifully towards the bay.

"Seth, we're going to get caught."

Seth was already on top of it. He stormed into the interior of the boat.

"Turn around, Robert."

Robert said nothing. He kept his eyes on the shore, stone faced. Charles saw the wall and jumped up from his seat.

"They are going to take us captive." He swore.

Robert glanced warily at me as I rushed inside with Hank. I helped him sit down and I took a stand next to Seth.

"What are you doing, Robert?! The government is going to kill us! Do you know what we've done?!" I exclaimed.

Robert's eyes widened. "I knew you folks looked familiar! You all are the dimwits that blew some of the CDC up. Oh am I going to get a big reward! I've got the runaways and brownies!"

We had been bamboozled, as Cassie would sometimes say. Robert had tricked us. He was going to turn Seth, C.J., and I in for a reward. We should never have trusted him.

Hank, Charles, and Seth all went for their guns, but Robert was faster. He grabbed my arm and twisted me around into headlock. He put a gun to my head.

"Don't try anything."

All of them stopped.

"Put all your weapons on the ground and sit against the wall."

They did as they were told. C.J., who was lying in a cardboard box on the ground, started crying. Charles reached over but Robert screamed,

"No! Leave her! Let her cry."

Charles looked at me and then at Robert. Robert ran his fingers through my hair, making me shiver. Charles immediately sat, and Robert stopped. He picked up a radio and spoke into it.

"This is Captain Robert. I have the runaways that blew up the CDC. Over."

"This is Washington Base. You may dock in docking bay 23. Be prepared to be boarded. Over and out."

Robert smirked and steered the boat into the docking bay. Soldiers were already waiting for us. As soon as the boat was secured, soldiers piled on to the boat. Robert kept me at gunpoint until the soldiers took me. They handcuffed me behind my back and duct taped my mouth shut for some reason. They did the same for Seth. I watched them take the box with C.J. in it as they dragged me away by the hair. Seth gave everyone death stares as they pushed him along right behind me. I managed to see Hank and Charles escorted off the ship, their eyes searching for us.

We entered Washington DC through a giant metal door exactly like the one at the CDC. It creaked shut behind us, and I had this gut feeling I would never see the other side of that wall ever again.