“You are to return to Primo Town.”
I nodded and did as I was told, following the female guard who was to drive me. My ears were peeled, catching snippets of conversations as we hurried down the hall.
Insurgents.
Rebels.
Humans.
Under attack.
Oh, my gosh.
Outside, we ran to the nearest Jeep. They always left the keys in the ignition. We climbed in, and I held on tight as she peeled off. Our camp was at the far end of base, away from where the action was apparently taking place. I stared back, heart racing, as Baelese ran with machine guns and ammo. And some, to my horror, were driving past us to the hangars where the fighter jets were kept.
Who was attacking? Was it Top and all the others from Dugway? I covered my mouth against a sob. The Baelese were numerous here, and so heavily armed. Would we stand a chance?
“Are they going to kill us?” I asked the driver, trying to get information.
“Do not be stupid,” she shouted back at me. “It is a small cell. They are starving. We will end it quickly.”
Damn.
The guard skidded to a stop and we both jumped out. She pressed a code on the lock box, and opened the gates. The inside guards were running forward.
“Lock them in and come with me!” the driver shouted.
Without hesitation, the Primo Town guards abandoned their posts and locked the gates behind them, racing away. I stood there in shock, looking all around as people began peeking out from where they were working.
No guards. But we were locked in and surrounded by high fences with wicked barbed wire.
Linette and one of the men in the barn came sprinting out, and I ran to them.
“I think a local cell of rebels is attacking,” I told them.
Linette looked around wildly. “Where are the guards?”
“They all left!”
“Holy shit,” she breathed. “This is our chance!”
“They think they’ll squash it fast, whatever it is,” I told her.
“Now, wait just a damn minute,” the man said. “We can’t make it over that fence without mangling ourselves, and if we get caught trying to escape . . .”
As the two of them argued, a woman from the kitchen came out to see what was going on.
“Get all of the children into the dorms!” I told her, then I took off running toward the fields.
I was gasping. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d run so fast. The corn stalks were as tall as me.
“Tater!”
I looked down each row as I passed, and I nearly screamed when he stepped out from behind the giant pull cart, full of hay and grabbed my arm.
“What is it?” His eyes darted around, immediately at attention and ready to fight. He took my hand, hurrying us behind the cart where nobody could see us, and corn surrounded us on all sides.
I panted. “The guards are gone!” I told him everything I’d heard.
