The Family by Marissa Kennerson Page B

Who was leaving? She and Avery?
    “I am so sorry, Twig. Just hang in there.”
    The hallways were empty except for her and Avery and whoever was chasing them.
    “ Señora , please. Please.” A man in a white uniform overtook Avery and Twig. He stood panting before them, a clipboard pressed to his chest. “ Señora . You can leave. That is your choice. But please, if you don’t sign these papers, we can lose our jobs.”
    Avery stopped. Her eyes were darting everywhere. “Please, I can’t,” she said quietly. “Please just let us by. I’m sorry, but you have to get out of our way.” Avery tried to steer past the man, but he didn’t budge.
    “It is for our liability. Please.”
    Avery looked down the hallway again. Were they running away from Adam? Could they be running away from him? Twig’s heart soared. She wouldn’t have to marry him? Avery snatched the clipboard from the man. He handed her a pen. She scratched something onto the paper.
    “ Señora , gracias . I thank you.”
    “We have to go. Please, move!” Avery threw the clipboard back at the man.
    The man moved aside, and Avery continued her sprint down the hallway. They finally reached a pair of swinging white doors and burst into the night.
    And then Twig saw them: Doc and Adam, in the Family’s white van. Waiting for them. Her heart dropped.
    “What took you so long?” Adam hissed as he slid the back door of the van open.
    They hadn’t been running away from Adam. They’d been running to him. They were running away from the hospital. Twig wanted to cry. How could she have thought otherwise? Where had the power of those thoughts come from? She felt sick. What if anyone had known what she was thinking?
* * *
    Avery was icily distant on the way home, obviously deep in thought. She and Twig sat shoulder to shoulder in the back of the van, but Twig could feel Avery slipping away. Their stay at the hospital was the most time Twig had ever had with Avery. She would cherish the memory of her care. Now they were going back home, and Avery was disappearing back inside her sadness.
    “How long is the drive home?” Twig asked quietly. She had seen the van coming and going from the compound, but she’d never actually been in it. She assumed they had used it to bring her to the hospital, but she had no memory of the ride.
    No one answered her. She drifted in and out of sleep.
    “Something’s wrong, I think we’ve been followed.”
    Twig woke to Adam’s voice. She stayed quiet, listening.
    “What do you mean?” asked Doc.
    “Those two cars behind us, they’ve been following us for at least twenty miles.”
    “Are you sure?” Doc whispered. Adam just looked at him in response. “Okay, okay. What do you want to do?”
    “We can’t lose them now; there’s nowhere to go. The guards can keep them out of the front entrance. That’s not a problem. But that doesn’t mean they won’t try to infiltrate from the forest. Everyone needs to be awakened and brought to the dining hall. We may be under some sort of attack.”
    Twig felt Avery groan quietly beside her. Twig looked at her, but Avery just tilted her head back with her eyes closed. Who would have followed them?
    Doc accelerated, and Adam opened the van’s windows and began to shout at the guards to open the gates. “We’re under attack!” he screamed. “Close the gates behind us!”
    Twig felt her body tighten. This had happened before. People had come and surrounded the compound, but they had never been able to get in. Or they had just wanted to scare the Family. Adam said a lot of people hated them for what they stood for.
    Twig grabbed Avery’s hand as Doc slid the van’s back door open and extended his hand to help Avery get Twig out. Adam was screaming orders to the guards. Twig looked for cars trying to enter the gates but didn’t see any. They must have gotten a good lead on them.
    When Twig was safely out of the van, leaning on Doc for support, she heard Avery say very quietly