Free Outcast: A Corporation Novel (The Corporation) by RaeLynn Fry Page B

slides into a seat next to one of the women who had just been booing a moment earlier. He and the woman are whispering now, heads bent together against the rumbling of the meeting. Whatever’s going on, it isn’t good.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Ethan
     
    The meeting is probably one of the worst we've had yet. I've only been able to do half as much talking as I was planning to because it seems that the only citizens who have shown up are the ones that don't like me, don't agree with what I'm trying to do, or think resisting the Corp is impossible. Mostly, it's a combination of all three.
    There's grumbling and talking and shouting and disagreements breaking out in pockets throughout The Tavern. I can see fists being clenched and faces turning red. My control is slipping and will be gone soon.
    “If you would just listen for a minute.” I try to get my voice above the melee, but it’s swallowed in waves of anger, and drowned in the current of dissention. “Listen!” Nothing. I tug at my hair in frustration. “Karis, can you help me out here?” I look to my left. She's sitting in the chair we'd set up earlier, staring down at her wrist, tracing her Mark with the tip of her finger. “Karis!”
    She looks up at me, surprised that I'm talking to her, it seems. “Hmm?”
    “A little help here?” I gesture out to the crowd.
    “I don't think we're going to get anywhere with them tonight, Ethan. They're too upset, too angry. Nothing productive will be offered up.”
    I drop my head, irritated that she hasn't been paying attention and frustrated that she's speaking the truth. I decide to try one more time before ending the meeting. “I understand you're all frustrated. But if we want anything to change—” I stop, distracted by a new person coming in through the back door. Karis notices him, too, and sits up a little straighter. “—if we want anything to change, we have to take some risks.” I pound a fist on the tall table.
    “Easy for someone to say who won't be burdening any of those risks!” someone shouts from the crowd.
    “I never said I wouldn't—”
    “How do we even know these risks will be worth it? How do we know that there's survival without the Corporation?” This is said by the new man.
    “Freedom is worth all the risks you have to take to get it!” I am beyond frustrated with this small minded and short sighted group. Usually there are a small handful of people on my side. “Look, maybe we should call it a night,” I say.
    “Proof!” someone shouts from the group.
    “What?” Karis says, standing up. This is the first time she's said anything to the crowd all night.
    “Give us proof there’s something worth taking these risks for.” The room has gone completely still. No one is moving, but I see shifting, wide eyes, that are, like me, wondering where this is going.
    “What kind of proof do you want?” I ask.
    “Ethan, no. It's a game he's playing, don't take the bait.” She puts a hand on my forearm. She seems both mad and a little fearful.
    “Not our problem. It's yours. Find the proof and we'll follow you,” he says. 
    “Speak for yourself,” someone else shouts.
    “Unless there is none, and you know it,” he says with a smug smile.
    “I—”
    “That's enough for tonight’s meeting,” Karis says. “We stopped being productive a long time ago and it's getting late. Be safe going home, everyone. We'll let you know when the next meeting is.” She turns and starts gathering up papers that I didn't even get to use tonight. The room remains silent for a little while longer before the creaks of people leaving trickles out the door.
    “I worked with Dhevan a little bit this morning, before seeing you in the streets.” I slide the loose sheets of paper into my pack, I want to try and fix the stale air between Karis and me.
    “Oh? What did he have you help with?” She doesn't sound one hundred percent interested, but I'll take the opening.
    “I helped with the calving. A