The Program [Book Two of The Test]

Chapter Thirty-Five

The Program

Chapter Twenty-Five

I remember a time in my life when Marcus thought it would be funny to lock me in our deep freezer.

If I recall it correctly, we were four. He said that if I could fit inside he'd give five dollars he recently earned for helping dad around the house because our mom was sick. I too had received money, but I was greedy and wanted more.

Accepting his challenge, I climbed into the deep freeze and sat down. I think we all realize what happened next.

My dad eventually got me out -I couldn't have been in there for over a minute anyway- expecting a scared girl to be shivering and crying.

Well, I was shivering. Being stuck in a freezer does that to a person. But I was not crying. In fact, I slapped Marcus and then gave him the silent treatment for as long as I could -it lasted about two minutes because we were really close and I started to miss him.

It's not exactly a memory i'm fond of, but it comes to mind anyway. I couldn't last minutes without talking to my brother. I don't want to know what it would be like if he were dead.

But sadly, Annie has experienced this by losing her sister.

And now she's lost her mom too. And she might not get her back.

Still, she kept a strong face despite all of that.

Annie was with me when I talked to Natalie about needing to get our friends back. She agreed that we would do whatever it takes to get them back.

"Listen," Natalie had began. I frowned at her tone. "It was one thing to go into the organisation to get Jack's mom. We had him and John then, now it's just us."

Annie crossed her arms. "We're strong enough to do it. We aren't helpless."

"I never said you were." Natalie went on. "The simple fact is, this is a job that requires more than us three."

Looking around at her words, I saw my family, John's. I saw my friends. Maybe if we worked togeth-

No. It was too risky.

I would not drag them deeper into this.

I will not lose them too.

I turned back to them. "Isn't there anyone that can help us?"

❒❒❒❒

Natalie definitely had connections. In this organisation, she apparently wasn't the only person needing to rebel.