Free Hardwired by Trisha Leaver Page A

hadn’t exactly been friendly.

twelve
    I dug the heels of my hands into my temples. The headache I’d been nursing since the accident was getting worse, and I didn’t know if it was because I was physically hurt or completely and utterly confused. Everybody was staring at me, Chris included, waiting to see what I would do.
    â€œHow did you even get here?” I asked. I didn’t remember seeing so much as a squirrel on our trip down the mountain, never mind a car.
    â€œWe drove,” Nick replied, thumbing his finger over his shoulder. “Car’s parked about a mile south of here on an old logging trail. We didn’t want to risk being seen. No chance of getting either of you out if that happened.”
    â€œOoookay,” I said, my eyes darting between the five strangers now spread out around me and Chris. “So you were planning on breaking Cam out?” I shook my head at the impossibility of it all. I’d been there. Lived there. Encased in two rows of electrified fencing and four watchtowers, that place had electronically sealed doors and no windows. And Taser guns. It wasn’t designed simply to keep us in, but to keep the rest of the world out. “With a bunch of strangers?”
    â€œCam and you,” Nick corrected. “And they’re not strangers.” He gestured to the four boys to move closer. “Do you recognize any of them? Do any of them look remotely familiar to you?”
    â€œNope,” I lied. They looked familiar enough, but with the exception of Nick and Carly, I couldn’t put a name to a single face.
    Nick nodded, and one by one they stood up and rattled off their names.
    â€œKeith. We played on the same little league team in fourth grade. Catcher.”
    â€œSecond base,” the one next to him said. “I’m Connor. We never played on the same team, but your sister Suzie and my sister Julia are in the same kindergarten class.”
    â€œIn seventh grade some jackass stole all my clothes out of my gym locker when I was in the shower,” the third guy said. “You found me sitting in the locker room four hours later, wearing nothing but a towel. You gave me your baseball uniform to wear home, then went and kicked the shit out of the jerk who did it. Name’s David, by the way”
    Him, I suddenly remembered. “David Reinhart,” I said, and he smiled before glancing at the guy next to him.
    â€œAndrew,” the next one said without prompting. “I’m the guy you kicked the shit out of.”
    I shrugged, not an ounce of guilt surfacing. He had it coming.
    â€œEvery single one of them knows you, knows Cam,” Carly said. “And they jumped at the chance to help.”
    I stared at them, stunned. There was no common denominator here. No reason for any of them to exhibit that level of loyalty. I barely knew them, and yet here they were, willing to risk their lives to save mine.
    â€œWhy now?” I asked, pissed that it was me and not Tyler who had prompted Nick’s sudden action. “Why not when my brother was taken?”
    â€œBecause Cam’s not coming home,” Carly replied. “We got the letter two days ago. Because of what they think he did, because of what those stupid tests did to him, they’re never going to let him come home.”
    â€œSo you think you can just waltz in there? You do understand how crazy you sound, right? It’s not like they issue visitor passes or coordinate family days. That place is essentially a prison, one giant solitary confinement ward.”
    I spun around to see Chris. He was chuckling to himself, thought their plan was as idiotic as I did. “Do you even remember someone named Cam, because I sure as hell don’t.”
    â€œCan you name one other person on our hall besides me?” Chris asked.
    I looked away, not wanting to risk him seeing the shame in my eyes. There were eight other kids who’d lived on our