Free The Escape by Shoshanna Evers

Colonel didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Whatever the Colonel planned to do to punish him for losing another weapon, it wasn’t going to be good.
    “Sir.”
    Barker walked out of the OCC, holding in his sigh of relief until he was out of earshot.
    “Excuse me,” a woman whispered.
    The soft female voice behind him startled him, and he spun around. It was the redhead, Clarissa something-or-other. Her pretty hair made her almost as easy to see in a crowd as Jenna had been.
    Her hands flew to the necklace around her pale neck, as if checking to make sure it was still there.
    “Sir?” she whispered again, looking back at the OCC door. “I need to talk to you.”
    “Go ahead, ma’am,” he said, immediately returning to his soldier demeanor.
    “No.” She looked behind her again, fear crossing her face. “In private. On the Tracks. Please.”
    She reached out her hand to him, and to his surprise, he took it. She led him down to the subway entrance, down the stairs, where the only light came from burning garbage fires.
    The subway cars had their doors open, women milling about everywhere. One was naked, lazily washing herself with an old rag and a bucket of gray-looking water. He averted his eyes.
    “I shouldn’t be down here,” he said. “Men aren’t allowed in the women’s sleeping quarters.”
    Clarissa laughed, a light tinkling sound. “Yeah, okay. Come on.” She tugged his hand, urging him to follow her.
    When they got to her subway car, she pulled him inside.
    “This is Annie,” she said, pointing to a girl lying across the orange plastic seats, with her leg elevated. It appeared to be wrapped in a makeshift splint.
    “Hello, Annie. Are you injured?” He stepped toward the girl and she cowered. “Hey, hey,” he said soothingly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He looked at Clarissa. “What happened?”
    She waved her hand dismissively. “Some asshole pushed her out of his way, and she fell down onto the Tracks. Broke her leg. That was over a month ago, though.”
    “It’s still not healed,” Annie said. Her voice was older than he expected, and when he looked closer he realized that she was, in fact, a grown woman, albeit a small one.
    “Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?” he asked. “I can carry you.”
    “They didn’t do much there the first time,” Clarissa said, anger flashing in her eyes. “I had to take her back here to make sure she got all of her rations. People kept stealing hers when they knew she couldn’t fight back.”
    Barker cursed under his breath.
    “I don’t think I even want to know why she was scared of me,” he muttered.
    “Because you know why, soldier .” Clarissa shook her head, saying the word like it was a curse. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not like the others. And I know . . . I know you went after our friend.”
    “You’re friends with Jenna?” he asked.
    Annie nodded, so did Clarissa.
    “We weren’t there that night,” Clarissa said quickly. “We didn’t see anything.”
    Barker doubted that was true. But he nodded.
    “Please, Private Barker . . .” Clarissa took his hand again. “What happened?”
    “Jenna was wanted for questioning regarding her part in Private Andrews’s murder. She ran away, and I was sent to find her.”
    “We know,” Clarissa said. “Everyone knows that. But I didn’t see you come back with her. Is she gone?”
    “I’m sorry, she’s dead. Drowned in the Hudson.” He said the lines without emotion, played his part.
    Annie sobbed softly. “Poor Jenna. She never should have left.”
    “She’d be dead either way, you know that,” Clarissa said softly. “I guess I hoped—after what Taryn said about a radio . . . about America rebuilding—that maybe Jenna knew somewhere else to go.”
    “Don’t mention that radio,” Barker said quietly. “Ever. The Colonel has all the men listening for talk about the radio. It’s a death sentence.”
    Clarissa gasped. “So it’s