Free Hunted by Christine Kersey

saw you?”
    “I guess about ten. But the kid who recognized me was the second person to see me close up.”
    “So either he got lucky, or the disguise just didn’t work.”  
    Billy shrugged, not seeming too concerned. But then he always seemed cool under pressure.
    Tracy stood. “Kelly, Brynn, and Nathan, you’re on dinner duty tonight.”
    I watched as the four of them left the room.
    “That’s something else we need to talk to you about,” Dani said. “Your assigned duties.”
    Now this place was starting to remind me of Camp Willowmoss.
    “Everyone needs to pitch in to keep things running around here,” Jack said. “What kinds of things can you do?”
    “I can fix stuff,” Billy said.
    I didn’t know he was good at that, but somehow I wasn’t surprised.  
    “That kind of skill is always welcome,” Jack said.
    I was going to mention my cleaning skills, but decided I’d rather work in the kitchen. “I can help in the kitchen.”
    “Great,” Dani said, smiling. “We all take turns cooking the meals and cleaning up. We post a schedule in the kitchen. I’ll add you to the rotation.”
    At least I wouldn’t be cleaning the bathroom.
    “Oh,” Dani said. “We also take turns cleaning the bathrooms.”
    I held back a groan. At least it was just a normal bathroom. Not sixteen toilets, showers, and sinks.
    “You’re also responsible for keeping your own space clean in the bedroom,” Dani added.
    I nodded.
    “One last thing,” she said, smiling. “You need to put in time each day on your studies.”
    Wow, I thought. This really is just like Camp Willowmoss. But I knew it really wasn’t.  
    After dinner—grilled pork chops, steamed vegetables, and brown rice—Dani had Brynn work some more on Billy’s look. After a while the two of them came out of the bathroom. This time Brynn had put longer extensions in his hair, then pulled his hair into a ponytail with long strips hanging in his face. I didn’t like the look as much as before, but it was a little harder to recognize him.
    Soon after, Dani, Tracy, and Brynn left to go to their homes. That left Jack, Nathan, Mitch, Kelly, and of course Billy and me. Jack went into his room where he had an office set up, and the rest of us went into the family room to watch TV.
    “They seem like pretty nice people,” Billy said to me as we sat on the floor, our backs against the couch.
    “I guess.” I liked them well enough, but I still would have preferred to be with my family.
    “What’s up with Brynn?” Billy said this with a grin that said he knew exactly what was up with her.
    “What do you mean?” No way would I help them with their budding romance.
    He smirked. “Never mind.”
    I turned away from him and looked at the TV, not really paying attention to what was on. Mitch had the remote and evidently he didn’t like what was on because he kept changing the channel. I didn’t really care what we watched, I was just glad we had a safe place to spend the night.
    “Wait,” Billy said. “Go back one.”
    I wondered what he’d seen and waited for Mitch to go to the previous channel. When I saw what had caught Billy’s eye, all my attention became riveted to the television.

Chapter Eight
    It was my house. The camera panned from one side of our property to the other and I saw a dozen Enforcers surrounding my house. “What is going on?” I murmured. Billy put his hand on my shoulder, but I hardly noticed.
    “There have been a number of tips that have come in,” the reporter said. “And each one is taken seriously. Evidently there have been reports that the fugitives, Morgan Campbell and Billy Foster, have been seen in this neighborhood, perhaps at this very house. As some of our viewers may know by now, this is the Campbell residence. Mr. Campbell has been in a Federally Assisted Thinning center for several weeks now.” The reporter frowned as he shared this bit of news. “And now his daughter, Morgan Campbell, is a wanted fugitive.