In the After

Kay?”
    “Kay said we had twenty Guardians and too much to do.”
    “You think that her gang can hurt us?” He raised his eyebrows.
    “Look what two malfunctioning emitters did to us,” I said. “Sometimes ignorance isn’t bliss. Sometimes it’s just dangerous.”
    “That doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have the manpower. I have to agree with Kay.”
    I sighed, giving up. I would keep an eye on her by myself if I had to.
    “I have to tell you something,” my mother said. “I know you’ve decided to become a Guardian.” She didn’t sound angry, more resigned. She stared down at the coffee table, deep in thought. She looked tired, with more wrinkles than I remembered.
    “I think it’s what’s best for me,” I told her.
    “I agree,” she said, to my surprise.
    “You do?”
    She looked at me wistfully. “I’m concerned, of course, but I think you’ll be an excellent Guardian. You’ve always been a quick thinker and you’ve gained certain skills living with the Floraes. . . . I think this is the best way for you to help New Hope.” She reached over to hug me.
    “And there’s something else we need to discuss.” She hugged me closer. “When you class out, Adam is going to need his room back.”
    “Of course,” I said. “Baby will move in with me.”
    “Baby can’t live with you, not if you are going to be a Guardian,” she told me quietly.
    “What?” I pulled away from her. “Why not?”
    “Guardians can’t petition for parental rights. Their jobs are too dangerous. They don’t keep a regular schedule.”
    “Neither do you,” I said. “How much time do you spend with Adam? How much time did you spend with me when I was little?” I meant for it to hurt her and I could tell by her pinched face that it did.
    “I’m just telling you the rules,” my mother said.
    “You help make the rules.” I took a deep breath. “Can’t you just move into a bigger apartment, so Baby can stay with you?” I asked. “Adam already thinks of her as a sister.”
    “I think it would be best for Baby to move to the dorm,” my mother said.
    “The dorm? You just don’t want to be responsible for her,” I accused.
    “I love Baby,” she told me. “But I have to help run New Hope and work on my research. I cannot be responsible for a six-year-old mute.”
    I looked at my mother, too angry to respond. I pushed back my chair and stalked off into the bedroom. Baby was asleep, oblivious that her fate had just been decided in the other room. I didn’t know how she’d cope without me by her side. What’s worse is that I didn’t know how I could survive without her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
    I wake to my door opening. Someone slips silently into my room. I freeze, my breath catching .
    “Honey. It’s me,” a smallish man with silver hair whispers and steps forward. Gareth. I exhale with relief .
    “Is it time to go?” I ask hopefully .
    “Not just yet, but I brought you these.” He hands me a small orange envelope the size of my hand. “Keep it somewhere safe,” he whispers .
    I take the package. Inside are a few dozen pills .
    “Take one a day,” Gareth instructs. “They counteract the meds they’re giving you here.”
    “The cameras.” My joy turns to fear .
    “I’ve disabled them for a few minutes. Put the envelope under your mattress. Take the pills when you’re in bed, under the covers.”
    I nod and he winks at me. “It won’t be long.”
    “I’m scared,” I admit .
    “We’re doing what we can for now.” He stands and pauses by the door. “Stay sharp, Amy.”
    I take a pill and tuck the rest under my mattress .
    • • •
    In the following weeks, I ran. I ran and I trained and I took care of Baby and Adam. I didn’t bother to go to class anymore. No one cared. I avoided my mother and Rice. It was easier than being with them and wondering what they knew.
    I ran to the boundaries of New Hope and sometimes beyond. The sonic emitters were checked daily after the Incident. But still, no one knew why they failed that night, or at least that’s what they said.
    I was at an emitter, beyond the farm. I’d never run that far south before and I was eager to explore. The ground was grassy there, though there were plenty of trees, and I wondered if the forest was a transplant, a way to hide the compound. It was probably all done Before, when New Hope was a university funded by Hutsen-Prime. If it was a top secret research facility, they would have wanted to