Never Alone (All of Us Sequel)

Chapter 5

"You can't leave."

The man quickly looked over to Trish to make sure she hadn't caught us talking and then continued to move down the line away from me without another look.

His words left me frozen for a minute. What did he mean, you can't leave? There were so many people here who looked like they had been captured and brought here like me. There couldn't have been that many people watching them keeping them from trying to escape. Unless there was a huge fence around the entire perimeter which seemed unlikely because it was so big and I hadn't seen one yet. There must have been a way out.

The sun was beating down all day, not a cloud in the sky for coverage. I was sweating by the time I finished picking the potatoes in my line. I hadn't eaten since I was at Alexandria and they hadn't given me any water yet either. It was beginning to take a toll on me.

I brought my basket over to Trish and put it down in front of her. I squinted from the sun and wiped my forehead.

"Don't tell me you're already tired after that. That was nothing," she said as she leaned down and picked up a shovel. She pushed it at me and I reached out and grabbed it as she hit me in the chest with it.

I narrowed my eyes and she let go with a smile. "We're planting some fruit trees we found, so we need some big holes dug up."

"Can I get some water?" I asked, my mouth so dry. I hated asking her for anything but I seriously needed a drink.

"You're thirsty?" she asked in a taunting voice. She picked up an open water bottle and then reached it towards me. When I went to grab it, she dropped it. It hit the floor and water started gushing from it.

I immediately dropped to my knees and picked it up as fast as I could. It had lost half the water in it but the time I got it.

"Oops," she said. "That's all you get for now, so you better savour it."

I slowly took a sip, paused and then took another sip before downing the rest of it.

"Move it," she said. I stood up and she took me to where I would be digging the holes. She left me and I started digging them one by one, wondering where Daryl was and how we were going to make it out of here. I prayed that Rosita was still alive even though I knew the odds were slim to none the way we left her.

The sun was starting to set when Jack came over and got me. "Supper time," he said. I followed him, panting from all the hard work. I was at the point where I was past hungry. I had a raging headache, my mouth was bone dry and I was fighting the urge to collapse and pass out.

We walked back into the building where there was a lineup of people getting food.

"Stay here," he said. He walked around the line and came back a minute later with some food.

"Here," he said as he handed me a bowl with some sort of vegetable and meat stew and a piece of bread. I was disappointed he didn't bring me water but I was too tired to say anything. I followed him out of the room and he led me down the hall and into a room.

It was a small room with no windows. There were two small single beds, one on each side. There was a woman on one of the beds, probably in her 30s. She sat and watched quietly as we walked in.

There was an old table in between the two beds and nothing else except dirt on the floor. It looked like a small dorm room with how everything was so cramped into it.

"This is your room," Jack said. I was so happy to see a large jug of water in the corner. "Rise and shine at 6:00 am. Your roommate can tell you how it works," he said as he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.