White Pines Sing

IV. Guilt

The following morning, Tyler stepped into Director Hatch's office to explain himself. He was always taken aback by the sheer vastness and grandeur of the room whenever he entered - it seemed out of place at Gaines. Hatch's desk, built by a group of earlier residents, was elevated and it towered above everyone who walked in. On the wall behind him were photos of several past directors, and down in front of his desk were several plastic chairs. They were covered in dents, put there by kids who evidently realized they were trapped and finally decided to go for broke. Tyler took a seat next to Kenna who had already settled in. He looked up towards Hatch.

Hatch frequently claimed he was thirty but Tyler figured he must be closer to forty, given Hatch's propensity for preserving a certain image. Most of the time, he had a way of terrifying the residents through his quiet authority. He would enter a hallway or room to monitor residents, and then leave without ever speaking a word. Other times, Tyler thought Hatch looked like a portrait of indecision. Like it was all a façade of confidence to hide the fact that he may lose control of Gaines. Tyler was aware of several visits from the program's board over the past two years, and he suspected they were growing impatient with Hatch.

Tyler himself had covered for Hatch on several occasions, like when the residents had managed to bring in drugs or when they started a riot over in Hall B. Hatch's appreciation was reflected in the fact that Tyler was still where he was. He was at least smart enough to treat those directly under him with some sense of decency. He seemed to understand a need to maintain their loyalty, both to the program and to himself. But now Tyler could tell that Hatch's patience was at its breaking point. Two residents making it past the Owls was more than just an incident. He knew this was about to blow up.

"Two fucking times now!" Hatch spat out. "This place is supposed to be the final stop, not a revolving door." He pointed at Kenna, "What happened? You're my shift enforcer. Did you decide on an open door policy?"

Kenna walked him through the events of last night. She told him how they chased down a girl who fled, either from the east-side entrance or from behind the kitchen wing. "She was fast, just went full-speed toward the east side of the Pines", Kenna said, "right as we were making a shift change."

"She knew your shift movements?" Hatch said, "How does that happen?"

"No. I can't imagine she could have. We haven't had anyone break out towards the east-end before. She must've run all the way past Hall C and then around the barn." Kenna said.

"Could she have pulled a radio from the barn? Could she have taken one off somebody?"

"No sir. I don't think she had that kind of time. I think it was sheer luck really. Timing a run to the east side is basically impossible. We're talking maybe a five minute window. Any sooner or later, and we'd have caught her after a hundred yards."

What Kenna said here was true. The girl had been quick and her timing was impeccable. It could have been much worse, but she simply didn't know the Pines like Tyler did. He and an Owl named Baker, from Hall A, pursued the girl into the woods, and they worked in tandem to press her in the direction of a steep creek bed where Kenna could cut her off.

"I had to tackle her twice to bring her in." Kenna told Hatch. "It was a little odd. She was a little odd."

"Because she made you tackle her? She was running from you Kenna, and you find that odd?"

"Well, she didn't have shoes on for one thing." Kenna said. "Then she kept throwing herself into the trees while she was being brought back. I think she even threw herself face-first onto the rocks at one point. I'm telling you, this girl is a lunatic."

What Kenna said here was mostly true. Actually, her version of events was much closer to the truth than what Tyler had expected. In reality, once they chased the girl into the creek bed, Baker ran back to keep the normal watch while Tyler pushed ahead with the capture. When he got to the creek bed, he looked down and saw Kenna, straddling the girl and beating her senseless. She started throttling her neck and punching her more while the girl just thrashed around. Tyler finally stepped in and pulled her off, because he genuinely thought she might give the girl some type of brain damage on the rocks.

He'd never seen Kenna lose it quite like that. He also knew she'd never been at risk of being shot-down like she was right now. Two runaways, back to back on her watch, had rightfully put her on edge. Tyler knew a third would be unprecedented at Gaines. He actually couldn't recall any other serious escape attempts apart from the two. Nobody was supposed to reach the Pines. When Cole had first been sent to Gaines, he tried to run and didn't make it forty yards past the same barn before an Owl tackled him and broke his arm. Tyler remembered how later, Hatch made Cole get in the boxing ring with his arm still in a sling, and the Owl who tackled him stepped in and beat Cole unconscious.

This girl was lucky Kenna didn't ask for a similar opportunity. Kenna's concerns were beyond that now anyway. Cameron had been incompetent during the first escape, which made the decision to blame him easy for Hatch, but Tyler knew any further lapses would fall on them. The circumstances wouldn't matter. Most Uppers, including Tyler, understood that everyone at Gaines was at risk of being shot-down at any moment. It didn't matter how loyal you were or what your role was. It was the nature of the program.

No one was above the rules or facing their guilt, and loyalty did not supersede the program's desire to constantly prove that fact. They had shot-down countless Uppers who were far more diligent, and loyal, than Tyler or Kenna. But this was not something Kenna had ever acknowledged to him or anyone else. Even now as they sat in Hatch's office, Tyler could see that she was still not allowing herself to go there.

Hatch went silent for a bit and then said, "I want to know which doors those two escaped from. I want to know the individuals that were assigned to those doors, so they can be shot-down. Allowing it once was ineptitude. Twice is deliberate. That girl has been here less than a week, and she made it into the Pines. Nobody has that kind of fortune. Nobody. That kind of luck doesn't exist."

He concluded by saying, "You're responsible for what happens on your watch. Both of you. You're responsible for your people. If anyone from your shift or any other shift was involved in this, you better find out who. If anyone from your building was involved, you better flush them out now. You haven't been to hell in this place. Not yet. Neither of you have. Handle your guilt now, and fix this before that happens."

Hatch slammed his hand down on the desk and got up to open the door, and then he sent them away.