Read Online The Capture by Tom Isbell - Free Book Online Page B

too.”
    â€œWhy?”
    Dozer looks at Book as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Because they’re in there and we’re not.”
    â€œSo we deserve to be free.”
    â€œRight. ’Cause we escaped.”
    If it were anyone but Dozer, Hope wouldn’t believe what she’s hearing.
    â€œBut these other people . . .”
    â€œ. . . should’ve had the sense to escape when they had the chance.”
    â€œEven though we didn’t invite them?”
    Dozer shrugs nonchalantly. “Sucks to be them, doesn’t it?”
    Hope has to stifle the urge to leap to her feet and take Dozer to the floor.
    â€œSo why are we being accused of treason when that same action was the very thing that got us here?”
    Dozer leans in, his voice a snarling whisper. “It wasn’t treason that got us here; it was smarts . And if we’re going to get out of here alive, we need to work together. We can’t have one group doing one thing and another group something else.” In its own paranoid way, Dozer’s argument makes sense. Hope hates him for it.
    â€œBut we agreed back at the border to free the Less Thans,” Book says. “That’s why we crawled back under the fence.”
    â€œThat was the plan,” Dozer says, “back before you got a bunch of us killed. Back before you sacrificed your friend to the enemy.”
    Hope can see the change in Book’s face. It’s like the blood drains away. He opens his mouth to speak but then thinks better of it. He stands there a moment longer, then slowly sits back down. Hope reaches out a hand and lets it rest on his forearm.
    â€œBut don’t take my word for it,” Dozer says, trying his best to sound humble. “Let’s let the people decide. All those who think these six are guilty, signify by raising your hand.”
    Dozer raises his, and Angela and Lacey also. Red follows a moment later. That’s four votes, and since the six defendants aren’t allowed to vote, that leaves only two others: Four Fingers and Twitch. Even though they’reon Book’s side, it’s not enough.
    Dozer shoots Book his hyena grin. “There’s your trial, Book Worm .” He turns to his three supporters. “Tie ’em up. And make sure the knots are tight.”
    Before Hope knows it, ropes are flung around their wrists. Attached to the inside walls of the boxcar are big, black, metal rings for lashing cargo. Now, suddenly, the six prisoners are tied to the rings so their faces poke the wall.
    Dozer shuffles over and says, “Let me know if I can get you anything, Hope Less .” He laughs maliciously and walks away. Red, Angela, and Lacey follow in his wake.
    Lashed to the metal rings and pressed against the wooden wall, Hope gives a tug, but it does no good. She’s strapped in tight. They all are. There’s no getting away from here, and everyone knows it.
    Overcome with despair, Hope sags against the wall.

13.
    T HE DAY WORE ON. The temperature soared. Splinters creased my cheek where it pressed against the wooden planks. Once the sun set, the door was slid back open—the fresh air washing away only a portion of the stench of twelve sweaty bodies.
    One by one, people went to sleep, even standing up, and I gave myself over to the steady clatter of wheels on rails and the train’s gentle, swaying rhythm.
    That’s when I dreamed of them again: the prisoners held captive beneath the tennis courts, their hollow eyes and sore-covered faces begging for my help.
    Then the dream shifted, and it was the woman with the long black hair. We were racing across a smoke-covered pasture, bullets whistling, explosions rockingthe ground. The woman stopped and knelt. She was older than I remembered, more stooped, her skin more wrinkled. Her previous words echoed in my head.
    You will do what’s right.
    You will lead the way.
    I wondered what it would be this time. To