“Okay, everyone! Let’s get up, get dressed, and get to breakfast. We’re leaving in an hour!” I groggily sat up, rubbing my eyes. Morri flashed the lights, waking everyone up. “I’m up!” Callie exclaimed. She climbed down from bed, already dressed. She was wearing black athletic leggings and a thin, long sleeve shirt. Athimi was tying his boots, wearing a pair of olive green cargo pants and a light grey t-shirt. I scrambled down the ladder. “Oh, Elias, these are for you,” Morri said, pointing to a pile of clothes on the sofa. “Maggie came by earlier and dropped it off. We’re going to head to breakfast, join us when you get changed.” With that, they all left. I quickly got changed into the first things I grabbed. A pair of black cargo pants, a dark blue tank top, and a grey zip-up hoodie. There was a pair of boots on the ground next to the clothes, so I pulled them on, too. They fit perfectly. I laced the boots and walked into the kitchen.
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Callie, Athimi, and Nico had created a production line, and were putting together lunches for the day. Morri and Grayson were sitting at the table, quickly finishing their breakfasts. I sat at the table and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate. “Good morning, Elias. How did you sleep?” Grayson asked, wiping his fingers on a napkin. He smiled at me, his cold eyes forcing me to answer. “Fine,” I replied. Did any of the others know what he told me? I didn’t think so. But then, why did he trust me with that information? It felt wrong, that I knew and no one else did. Melissa and Mariah must know. Why else would they want to escape? Maybe they wanted to see the world, too. But Grayson had told me that I was the only one who knew. It made no sense. “None of this makes sense!” I exclaimed. I slapped a hand over my mouth. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Grayson’s gaze hardened, and he subtly shook his head. “What do you mean?” Callie asked, putting a sandwich into a plastic bag. “Um… It doesn’t make sense that someone could make toast this good,” I said, taking an exaggerated bite of toast. “Yum!” I said, my mouth full. Morri gave me a weird look and carried her plate to the sink. I glared at Grayson, who took a bite out of an apple with a shrug. I sighed and got up. “So what do we do on these field days, anyway?” I asked. “Everyone is different. Sometimes we’ll go climbing, other times swimming, running, hiking. It really depends,” Callie said. “We do outdoor activities to prepare us for getting out of the fence, as well as facing whatever may lie on the other side,” Athimi clarified. I looked over at Grayson. He was watching our conversation intently. So he hadn’t told any of them. Of course, he hadn’t. “Excuse me for a moment,” I said, gesturing for Grayson to come with me. He jumped up and said, “I’ll be right back.” We walked out of the kitchen.
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Grayson leaned against the wall outside of the kitchen. I was pacing in front of him. “So… Why did you make me come out here? I was eating an apple,” Grayson said. “Shut it,” I quickly responded. “Shut. It. You don’t get to talk right now.” Grayson nodded slowly. “Oh… kay,” he replied. “Why did you tell me about everything? About the stuff outside. Why did you trust me with that, but not anyone else? Why am I the only one you tell? Are you going to tell Melissa? Mariah? You need to. They deserve to know about it, so that they can prepare. Maybe we wouldn’t need to do all of this-” I gestured around to Gold Team Headquarters. “-to prepare for every single possibility. Because you know exactly what is out there. You could help them. But you’re choosing not to, because… why? Oh, right. You ‘just aren’t allowed to’. Isn’t that right?” I stopped pacing. “Are you done?” Grayson asked. I nodded. “Great. It’s not that I’m not allowed to. It’s that it wouldn’t do anyone any good. You barely believed me, there’s no point in me trying to convince everyone else. I told you because I knew that I could trust you. You’re not going to tell anyone. Isn’t that right?” He watched me, his eyes digging into my skull. I felt compelled to nod. “Good,” Grayson said, pushing away from the wall. “I’m going to go back in and get ready for today. Come on in when you’re ready.” He walked back into the kitchen. I could hear voices and laughter. Ugh! I was really starting to dislike Grayson. Why did he have to be like that? I rolled my eyes and walked back into the kitchen. Forget about Grayson. Don’t let him think he’s getting to you, I told myself. But he is getting to me! And I hate it! The part of me that knew I could resist this kept talking, taking over the front of my mind. Don’t give him the satisfaction of being right.
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In the kitchen, the assembly line had started packing backpacks. Each pack got two bottles of water, a lunch, a first aid kit, a flashlight, some sunscreen, and a few other bits of equipment. I started to get worried then a long coil of rope, a harness, and a helmet were put into each bag. “So, what are we doing today?” I asked. Callie looked at me with a wicked grin. “We;re going climbing! Well, a hike, then climbing. Then another quick hike to another climbing spot after lunch. We estimated that we’ll be out for most of the day, and get back just before dark. It’s going to be great!” I looked at Athimi. “Great,” I agreed. He shrugged and zipped up the backpack he was holding. “Let’s get going, then. Nico, do you know if Arlo and Ember will be joining us?” Nico, who was zipping up his backpack, shrugged. Morri sighed. “Fine. Let’s head out without them, then.” Grayson, who was standing near Nico, grabbed a backpack and put it on. “Here you go, Elias,” Callie said, handing me a backpack, having already put hers on. I grabbed it with one hand, which I quickly learned was a mistake. I lugged the pack onto my back, using the counter as a support. “How do you guys carry these things so easily?” I exclaimed, readjusting under the weight of the backpack. “It’s like a… a sack of potatoes! Made of… rock. Or iron. Or just something heavy!” Callie started to laugh. “You’ll be okay! Let’s head out to the Main.” I groaned and walked out into the Main with everyone. Once we were all accounted for, we left Headquarters to start our field day.194Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyG8QjEUWd5
