Free Immurement: The Undergrounders Series Book One (A Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Novel) by Norma Hinkens

down by a smoldering fire pit. He secures my ankles and wrists, and then sits back and stokes the embers. I throw a furtive glance over at him and scoot closer to the fire. If I’m going to learn anything about the Rogues, Blade’s probably my best shot. I clear my throat nervously. “Rummy’s not much of a talker, is he?”
    Blade flicks a dispassionate gaze over me. “How’d you spring the sweep?”
    I raise my brows. “What?”
    “You said Sweepers found your camp.” Blade sneers at me. “Greener like you couldn’t bust her way outta a sweep.”
    I eye him warily. “I jammed the tube with a boulder.”
    Blade’s face goes slack. He stares at me for a moment and then jumps to his feet. “Don’t even think about trying to make a run for it. Remember, I’m strapped up and you ain’t.” He slaps his holstered gun by way of demonstration and strides off in the direction of the tents.
    I stare into the shadows after him. Have I just signed my death warrant? Or is this going to work in my favor? After all, the Rogues have got to be as desperate as we are to find a way to stop the extractions.
    I straighten up and check out my surroundings. I need to have the area mapped in my brain in case there’s any chance of escape. I’m only twenty feet from the tree line, but even if I could make a run for it, I’d have to navigate a belt of jagged boulders left behind by the flash flood. I shiver. The Rogues won’t hesitate to slit me ear to ear if they catch me trying to escape.
    I wonder what they’re planning to do with me. If they’re recruiting Undergrounders, I’ll have no choice but to play along. I wince when I think of the tattoos on the women’s faces. Maybe they’ll ink me as part of the initiation. Ma would roll over in her grave. If she had one, that is. I choke back a sob. I wish I could feel her comforting arm around my shoulders right now.
    A few minutes later Blade and Rummy come back into view. Rummy cracks his neck from side to side and stares intently at me. My blood runs cold. I’m not sure if he’s telegraphing a desire to snap my neck, or if it’s just some kind of tic he’s developed to intimidate his victims. He walks over and hunkers down in front of me. I let my gaze travel down to his tattooed fingers, relieved to see he’s not wearing brass knuckles.
    He rubs his eyebrow back and forth, rippling the skin above his piercings.
    “How’d you know to jam the tube with a boulder?”
    I throw a sidelong glance at Blade. He passes his grubby hand over his shaved head, and my own scalp prickles.
    I shrug. “Lucky guess.”
    Rummy crunches forward, almost as if he doesn’t want Blade eavesdropping on us. He wrinkles his brow, and I stare, creeped out and fascinated, as the tattoos on his forehead fold into a murky kaleidoscope.
    “Thing is, snitch, I know you’re lying.”
    Snitch? Reid’s lifeless body flashes to mind. My palms sweat profusely behind my back. If that’s what Rummy thinks I am, it’s over. My only hope is to convince him I’m more valuable to him alive than dead, that I know something about the sweeps he doesn’t.
    “You’ve never dodged a sweep?” I feign a laugh.
    Rummy tightens his lips in a thin cord of disapproval.
    I fix a bemused look on him, blood pounding in my swollen wrists. “You look like the kind of guy would have figured out—”
    Suddenly a searing pain hits and my jaw swivels sideways. Two displaced Rummies dance before me, then the salty taste of blood fills my mouth.
    Rummy clasps my throbbing jaw and squeezes it between his fingers like I’m a zit he’s trying to pop. “Lemme show you what happens to suckers what diss me.” He snaps his fingers and Blade slices the cord around my wrists and ankles in a lightning fast move with a knife that suddenly appears like an extension of his arm. He grabs me and hauls me to my feet.
    Rummy strides off, Blade half-dragging me after him.
    “Please don’t hurt me!” I beg. “I was just trying