Free Born 01 - Born by Tara Brown

getting closer to Anna and Jake.
    "Em, what are we having for dinner?"
    I shrug down at her from the window of the barn. "I can go kill a bird."
    She nods. "Alright. I'll start the fire."
    We seal up the house completely and cook in the bunker. It's gross and sweaty with a fire down there, but it makes perfect sense. No smell escapes out into the wind.
    I climb down with my bow and quiver, heading across the grass. I slip into the forest, but instead of finding a tree to climb, I freeze. I smell them before I see or hear them. I slide back up against the tree and wait to figure out where the smell is coming from.
    "It was rude of you to leave without the escort we offered."
    I turn to the voice, but something smacks me in the forehead and everything goes black.

    "Wake up."
    Pain overwhelms me as I open one of my eyes. I see bars in front of my face. How long was I out?
    "Please wake up."
    In the muted firelight, I see a small girl poking me with a stick. It's made a small bleed on my arm, but that’s not where the pain is coming from. I close my eyes tightly and then open them again. It's dark. Firelight licks across the dark metal bars of my cage. I turn to a small girl. "Where are we?"
    "The others have us," she says.
    My stomach falls into my bowels. My heartbeat and breath quicken. I push the door to the cage with my foot. My boots are gone.
    "Where are we specifically?"
    The girl frowns at me. "What?"
    "Our location."
    She shrugs. She is young and filthy. She makes me think about Anna, which makes me panic. I wonder if they knew Anna and Jake were there. I see my bow and quiver leaning against the tree near me.
    "There she is."
    I look up at the filthy scumbag who had chased me to the town. He is grinning again. He seems very proud of himself.
    "You are a pretty girl. What's your name? I bet it's something pretty like Jessica or Stephanie or Grace?"
    I lick my lips and put a finger to the source of my pain. He winces as I touch the red sticky spot. "Sorry 'bout that. I had to surprise you. Bet it hurts, doesn’t it?"
    He kneels on the ground in front of my cage. "Wanna tell me about how you got outta that town?"
    I gulp.
    He rattles the cage suddenly and starts laughing at my horrified expression. "Jesus, you aren’t mute, are you? I like it when you girls scream." He points to the little girl next to me, "I guess we can make her scream for you."
    She shies away from the bars and curls into a small ball. I want him dead. Right now.
    He points at me again. "You're going to fetch us a good price. I know it."
    Fear rocks me. I don’t have a plan. That’s one of my rules. My plans where capture was a possibility have never included a cage. I always thought the girls were grabbed and dragged to trucks.
    He walks back to the fire and howls into the night air. I watch as he unzips his pants and pees on the fire.
    "Jesus Christ, John, that’s disgusting. You prick."
    The hot steam rises from the fire, polluting the air around it. A large group of men start to bitch and complain.
    I look at the little girl who has a disgusted look on her face, "I don’t know about you but I don’t want that inside of me."
    I gasp at her language.
    She grins at me. "Name's Meg."
    She is a savage. "Emma, but everyone calls me Em."
    I look around for Anna and Jake. I don’t see them anywhere.
    "How old are you, Meg?" I ask softly.
    She spits on the ground outside of her bars. "Fifteen."
    She is malnourished. She will be made to work the farms. She won't be a breeder.
    I won't let either of us end up that way.
    I see a small silver thing on the ground. I look at her. "Poke that stick this way again."
    She slips her skinny arm through the bars and passes it to me.
    I look back at the men. They are getting drunk, and the fire is starting to dim.
    I flick at the silver thing and drag it back to me with several small movements. It's an old rusty nail with a silver tip. I reach my fingers through the bars and grab it.
    "How old are you?" she