Chapter 21

He hesitated when he saw me, and my mind went from Flight to Fight. I hadn’t stopped running, and I used my momentum to plow him in the face before he could get a shot off. As I came to a stop, I grabbed his gun and pried it from his hands. It was the first time I'd ever held a real rifle and it felt a hell of a lot different from the plastic ones I'd played with as a kid.

That didn't stop me from raising it, pointing it at one of the mess hall's windows and pulling the trigger. It bucked in my hands, forcing my arm back and up, as the window exploded in a blast of shards. And God, the sound—my right ear was deafened, which evened out the ringing that was still resonating through the left side of my head. At least my brain was in symmetrical pain.

I turned around and kicked the staff member, who was trying to get back on his feet. “You have no idea how far I am willing to go.” I could barely hear my own voice and could only hope that it sounded grave enough. “So do as I say, or I will put a bullet in each of your legs.” I paused. Did he say something? I couldn't hear it. “Get up. We're going into the admin building.”

He rose to his feet, hands raised. I marched him to the Admin building, a towering structure of four stories, plus whatever existed below the ground. Of all the buildings in the camp, it seemed the most out of place in the middle of the wilderness. My head moved back and forth, looking for any sign of movement. My lack of hearing brought on a new sensation of paranoia and fear. The other staff could be creeping up on me and I wouldn't even be able to tell.

My captive used a key card to open one of the side doors. “In,” I said. “Now.” He walked in and I followed, closing the door behind us. It wouldn't be long before the woman who had seen me got out of the mess hall. I could only pray that spilling the boiling water and firing at the window had held her off long enough.

There was a set of stairs to our right, and I directed him up them. As much as my goal was to go down—to the basement, and maybe beyond that—everything I'd read about The Font told me that it was hidden away and difficult to access. I needed to devise a plan to get in, and that could only happen when the ringing in my head ended.

We climbed up two floors before I pushed him out into the hallway. I tried the first door and found myself in a small classroom, with several rows of desks in front of a blackboard. Not what I wanted. The next two were classrooms as well, but the third was a smaller office, with a lockable door and a tiny window overlooking the camp. I brought the staff member in, and then closed and locked the door, pushing a heavy chair against it as well. I spun around and looked at the guy as menacingly as possible.

“Okay, look,” I said. I was beginning to hear my voice again. My ears were finally starting to recover. “I really don't want to hurt you. But I have a goal and if you don't help me I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make you change your mind.”

He kept his hands raised. They hadn't gone below his shoulders since I'd grabbed his rifle from him. “What do you want to know?” he asked meekly.

“You have a camper here. His name is Josh. Josh Driscoll. Does that ring a bell to you?” It had to. The camp never had more than 20-30 kids at any given time.

His body tensed up. “I, uh…”

I pointed the gun at his head. “Don't lie to me.”

“Okay, okay. I know Josh. Or more, I know of him. I'm one of the instructors here, but he hasn't been a part of any of my classes yet.”

I lowered my weapon. “What do you know about him? He got put in the Font a few days ago. Why?”

“I don’t—it was the Major’s call. Everything is his call. But from what I heard I guess your friend was trying to escape and got caught. You know, you can’t do that here. We’re in the middle of nowhere, the nights are cold, and who even knows what sort of animals are in the woods?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Wait, are you trying to sell me on this? That the fences and barbed wire and staff with fucking rifles are all here for the kids’ own good? Where the hell do you think you are, a summer camp?”

“I know where I am.” His words were forceful. “Look, I help kids. That’s what I do. They need healing, they need to be shown the right path back into their lives. I just want to help them.”

“And all these kids, they want to be here?”

“Of course not. But it’s either this or it's getting kicked out of their house, or going to prison, or even losing their life. I have no idea who you are or what you’re trying to do here, but seeing that you’re obviously not one of our campers, I really don’t think you have even the most basic understanding of what goes on here and why we do what we do.”

“I know enough,” I said. “I know what the Major does.”

He hesitated. “He helps kids.” He lowered his hands. I was surprised he’d been able to keep them raised that long.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Still keeping the gun firmly in my hands, I edged past him and looked out the window, at the Mess Hall. There were five men, all dressed in fatigues, standing outside. One of them was pointing at different places in the camp. His hand moved to the Admin Building, and he looked up at me. For a split second, we made eye contact before I threw my body out of range. Shit. Had he seen me?

“The Font,” I said. “Where is it and how do I get there?”

“From here?” he asked. “You go back down the stairwell and then to the end of the hall. About halfway down is a metal door marked ‘Hazardous: Keep Out’. It’s locked, but through it you’ll find a staircase that leads downwards, into the basement. The Font is at the far end of it, behind another metal door with a small, barred window.”

“And that’s where Josh is?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “As far as I know. He’s been in there a few days now.”

I smiled grimly. “Yes, waiting for the Major to get back, right? I wonder what he’ll do to my friend then?” He didn’t say anything. “Get on your feet. You’re coming with me.”

He stood back up and moved to the door, pushing the chair aside and unlocking it. As soon as he opened it, he took off running to the left. “Oh, please don’t do this,” I muttered, racing out after him.

And right into the pathway of two staff members, pistols drawn and pointing right at me.