Free Find Me (Life After the Outbreak, Book 2) by LJ Baker

raised an eyebrow. "For a good time?"
    Ken let down his guard briefly and laughed back. "Don't you know it, sweet thing."
    Hadley waved her hand at him. "Better get to it, then. We are trying to enjoy our dinner here."
    He eyed Hadley with suspicion and something that looked like fear, before nodding his head and moving along. I finally let out a breath, and Janet released my hand so blood could circulate once again.  
    "We should go." I tried to stand, not wanting to push my luck and give them a chance to come back.
    Janet pulled me back down. "No. That will look suspicious. Just eat your dinner."  
    I looked over the food and my stomach twisted. Anxiety didn't make a good appetizer.  
    Will opened his mouth to speak, but Janet glared at him, stopping him in his tracks. "Right now, we are all going to eat and try to act as normal as possible." She looked at Hadley, who was staring right at her with her hands folded in front of her.
    "I very much agree with Miss Janet. Nothing bad will happen right now." She reached her hand across the table for mine, which I gave her without even thinking about it. "I promise."
    Something about her calmed me. I wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like she was draping a peacefulness over me somehow.  
    Janet glared at Hadley and kicked me under the table. "Eat."
    We all ate quicker than usual and in silence. Well, all except for Hadley. She chattered on about her teacups, the dress she was sewing, and just about any other meaningless thing she could think of to break the awkward quiet. I was grateful for something, anything, to distract me from what I had seen. Janet continued to glare at her, probably preferring the silence, but Hadley seemed unaware.  
    A soldier at the far end of the room grabbed a teenage girl, about my size and build, up from her seat and pointed his rifle at her. Quiet fell over the room, the only sounds were hushed whispers from the other residents trying to figure out what was going on. I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched the soldiers converge and march the girl out of the building.
    No one even attempted to stop what was going on or even speak out against them. Everyone in the place took for granted that whatever the soldiers said was law and unquestionable. I wanted to stand up, demand to know what they wanted with her, and normally I might have done just that, but after what I’d just been through, I couldn't bring myself to even move.  

Chapter Seven

    Will grabbed my arm and nearly yelled. "Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on."  
    Janet stepped between us. "Calm down. There was an incident, but we need to play it cool. People can see us."
    We went up on the hill where I trained with Janet each day. It was out of the way enough to talk, but it was in no way isolated.  
    Will stepped back and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. You two are scaring me." He motioned to Hadley. "Should she even be here?"  
    She smiled and sat down on the ground. Her head tilted up toward Will, and she patted the grass next to her for him to sit. He scrunched his eyebrows together and stared at her for a long moment before relenting and taking the seat. Janet and I joined them and tried to look casual to anyone who might be looking in our direction.
    Janet looked at me as if to say ‘ Go ahead and tell him ’, but flashes of what I saw went through my mind, and I could no longer bring myself to say the words.  
    “Someone better say something.” Will’s last shred of patience was fading fast.
    “Okay, fine.” Janet shook her head. “Andi decided she couldn’t follow the rules, a real shocker, and she was down on the north end of the compound, by the lab.”
    “She went down by the lab. Okay, so what’s that, a crime punishable by death?” Will was clearly confused and becoming increasingly irritated.
    Janet kicked Will’s boot. “Stop being an idiot. While she was down there, she saw something going on.”
    The look of horror on that