Free Naturals by Tiffany Truitt Page B

an object—the chosen ones in Templeton were forced to see us girls as such, to use and abuse us knowing we would never fight against them. I assumed these people would see me the same way. Knowing that even if I spoke out, my only option was to run back into the forest—the unknown.
    But there was no parade. No pageant like Eric had talked about. Henry, Robert, and I followed behind the group of men that had now joined McNair and Eric. While there were a few people milling about, none of them more than glanced our way.
    And Eric was right. No one in this place would care what I looked like. Despite the fact that I had spent the past month of my life on the run, most of the community members appeared little better than I did. Haggard. Much too thin. Clothes too big or too small.
    Desperate.
    The majority of the people who wandered from building to building were old. Much too old to work, but the roughness of their skin, the way the sun had claimed them as tributes, indicated they had given much of their lives to seeing this place survive.
    Makeshift barriers of barbed wire and wood protected the border of the settlement. About every twenty feet or so stood a man, rifle in hand. They were the only evidence that youth existed in this place. And much like the elderly, these men didn’t seem to care that we had arrived.
    There were four housing buildings, each three to four floors high. The front of the buildings were accented with a porch, but otherwise there wasn’t much to them. Slightly better than the compound, but nothing compared to the elegance of Templeton.
    “You’ll be stationed in building two,” McNair told us as we passed. “There are about twenty other families in there. We roomed you all together. I assume you don’t mind.”
    None of us answered. Would they care if we did?
    “Now, I believe it’s best I tell you upfront that the living out here will be mighty different than what you’re used to. Everyone’s rations are based on what they need; we got nothing to spare here. We have little running water. You get a bath once a week. There are latrines located between each of the buildings,” Eric instructed.
    “Latrines?” Henry asked.
    “Fancy holes in the ground for you to piss and—”
    “They get the picture, Eric,” said McNair before turning to us. “You’ll meet before the community leaders, and then Eric will show you to your rooms. After that, you get one day to rest.”
    “And then what?” asked Robert.
    “You work. Tess and Henry will join the farmers,” said McNair.
    “And me?”
    “Well, Robert, we’ve got a special project for you. We couldn’t just let a man with your skills go without a purpose,” Eric said with a grin.
    I shuddered. Robert nodded.
    “And what if I don’t want to be a farmer?” Henry asked.
    “Everybody works. If you can prove you bring something else that’s useful to the community, then we’ll let you do that. Till then, you help where we need it,” McNair replied.
    Henry opened his mouth to object, but McNair cut him off. “Look, we took a mighty big risk bringing y’all here. And we don’t have a lot of rules we ask you to follow. But the ones we do, we expect you to keep. What’s yours is yours, and don’t worry about anyone else’s. Contribute to the community. Pull your weight and don’t complain. And if you do got a complaint, you bring it to the leaders.”
    “Sounds fair to me,” I spoke up. I could tell Henry already had a lot of objections, but I wanted to find our rooms. I wanted to sleep in a real bed. I wanted that bath. There would be time to figure out our place soon enough.

     
    I was informed that my meeting with the community’s leaders would be alone. Or at least without my people. Despite both Henry’s and Robert’s objections, I was rushed to them without any thought of ceremony. As we walked toward the building, I tried to focus my breathing. Keep calm. This was an important meeting. First impression. I