Hunted by Christine Kersey

with her caseworker, who would give her a schedule. She’d probably be assigned cleaning duties—or maybe they’d have her take over my job in the kitchen—and she’d have to go to class each day. And tomorrow—oh, no, tomorrow—would be her first Saturday Challenge.  
    Would she have teammates there to help her? Or would they bully her and not care what happens to her? I didn’t even know what her greatest fear was. I hoped whatever it was, it would not be realized.
    And then she would spend hours in the gym with Mr. Muscles. At the thought of him, I remembered my agreement—that once Alyx left, I’d take over and be his girlfriend. When I’d made that bargain—so that he’d get back together with Alyx so she wouldn’t hate me—I’d never imagined things would turn out like this. If I’d had any idea such a thing could happen, I never would have made that deal.
    And then there was Hansen. The man who’d punched me in the stomach when I’d run away during the Saturday Challenge. The man who’d helped the opposing team during the game of tug-of-war, forcing me to slip into the pit of writhing, hairy spiders. The man who said in the clearest terms possible that he wanted to kill me. He would have access to my sister.
    It’s true that Amy and I had never been close—in fact she’d pretty much gotten on my nerves since the day she started walking—but she was still my sister. And she was in this situation purely because of me.
    “This is a new tactic on the part of the Enforcers,” Jack said.
    I pulled myself out of my thoughts and looked at Jack. “Why do you think they’re doing this now, then?”
    “It’s rare to hear of people escaping the F.A.T. centers. Most people just want to do their time, get their weight to what it’s supposed to be, and move on.” He paused and smiled. “Most people don’t want to have the Enforcers chasing them for the rest of their lives.”
    I didn’t want that either, but here I was. “What about you?” I said, looking at Kelly. “Aren’t you basically in hiding so you don’t get taken to a F.A.T. center?”
    She looked uncomfortable to be the center of attention. “Well, yeah.” She glanced at the others, then focused back on me. “But I’m trying to get my weight right so that they won’t take me away.”
    Nathan snorted and everyone looked at him.
    “What?” Kelly asked.
    “You know you’ll get an automatic three months in a F.A.T. center for running when you were supposed to turn yourself in,” he said.  
    “So will you,” she said, anger clear on her face.
    “I was never officially told to come in.”
    “No, but you’ve been off the grid for how long now? Like, a year? What’s the punishment for that?”
    “I know, I know. So we’re both screwed, anyway you slice it.”
    “That’s enough.” Jack put his hands up and the argument ceased. “This isn’t about you right now. Unfortunately, this is much more serious than the things you’ve both done.”
    I wished he was wrong, but I knew he was exactly right.  
    “What do you suggest?” Billy asked.
    “Well, the way I see it,” he said. “We can wait it out and see what happens. Or you can turn yourselves in and let the chips fall where they may.”
    “What would be the benefit to me if I turned myself in?” Billy asked.
    “I can’t really say that there would be any benefit to you.”
    “You wouldn’t have to be in hiding for the rest of your life,” Mitch pointed out.
    “There is that.” Jack smiled. “But that assumes you come out of there unscathed.”
    “Wait,” I said, my hands in the air. “What do you mean, ‘unscathed’? Why wouldn’t he come out unscathed?”
    “He and you,” Jack corrected. “I don’t think the Enforcers take too kindly to being made out as fools. You did escape, after all. That makes them look pretty bad.”
    I hadn’t thought about that. My only thought had been to get out and get back to my world.
    “Plus,” Jack added.