Vision Zero

Chapter 8

   The morning sun comes up and Britt wakes to the sight of Eva standing over her. She rubs her eyes to make sure she's not dreaming. She's not. Eva is poised before her, dark eyes glaring into her soft baby blues.

"Time to get up, Miss Rayner. It is your turn," Eva says.

"It's barely the crack of dawn. I'm tired," Britt says, yawning.

"This is the perfect time for your therapy. Come with me."

"Can't you take one of the other girls? I'll do it later."

"You will each have your turn. Now is yours."

"That's not fair! I don't want to," Britt says, burying her face in the pillow.

"This is not about what you want, Miss Rayner. This is about the program and you following the rules. Now get up and follow me!"

Britt throws the pillow on the floor and gets off the cot. She smooths the wild, tangled locks of hair that hang in front of her sleep encrusted eyes.

"If you want to remain in the program, you will follow me now," Eva says.

Britt pulls on her sneakers, casually glancing at the other girls who are still fast asleep, wishing she was one of them.

"I am losing patience with you, Miss Rayner," Eva says, yanking Britt's arm and dragging her out of the room.

The door slams shut. Quinn jumps. She looks over at Britt's empty cot and shivers. Even though the room is swelteringly hot, goosebumps cover her body. She knows what's happening. Eva's doing to Britt what she did to her. She looks at Hope and Tess, blissfully unaware and fast asleep. They don't know their turn will be coming soon.

Quinn shuts her eyes tight and tries to block out the images that flood her mind. Memories of the night before. Being in that room. Being forced to... She shuts her eyes tighter, shoving her fists deep into her eye sockets, desperately trying to eradicate what she knows. What she feels. All she can think of is her freedom. Getting through the rest of the program and getting back to her life.

Hope is next to wake up. She looks over and sees Quinn curled up in the fetal position. She thinks back to their fight. Twinges of guilt shoot through her. She starts to feel pity for the beautiful redhead clutching at a pillow. The girl who can't speak in public. The girl who ended up in a behavior modification program because the thought of talking in front of people terrified her more than prison.

Hope walks over to her cot, sits on the floor next to her, and watches. Her eyes are glued on Quinn like a mother watching over a newborn. The feel of Hope's breath on her face jolts her awake.

"What are you doing?" Quinn says, her heart racing.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," Hope says.

"Did you just...apologize to me?"

"I was thinking about it. Maybe I was too hard on you the other day. I'm sure you didn't mean to be a jerk."

"I shouldn't have said what I did. You care about animals. And that's great. I guess I was insensitive when I made that crack about the food. I'm sorry, too," Quinn says.

"We should try to stick together in this place," Hope says.

"Yeah. We have to work together. It's very important that we get along and do what they want."

"You sure have changed. I thought you'd be dying to get out of here," Hope says.

"It's only 25 more days. Then we'll be free."

"You really believe that? You think they're gonna just let us walk out of here and go back to our old lives like nothing happened. Like we didn't do anything wrong?" Hope says.

"They will if they can fix us. That's why Dr. Hale needs to fix us. So she can keep her program going and we can be free. If she fails, the government shuts this place down and then there's no alternative to prison," Quinn says.

"You almost sound as if you want her to keep this place open," Hope says.

"Don't you? If we didn't have this place, we would be in a small room with a bunch of other girls and have no freedom," Quinn says.

"Look around. You just described this place," Hope says.

"It's not that bad."

"What did she do to you? You weren't like this when we first got here."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm exactly the same. I'm just trying to get along with everyone. Conformity is key," Quinn says.

"What did you just say?" Hope asks.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, you did. Conformity is key? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. It looks like Tess is waking up. I hope our voices weren't too loud," Quinn says.

"What the hell happened to you? You were an obnoxious pain in the ass before, but at least you were normal. Now, you're like some kind of pod person," Hope says.

"I know you don't want to be mean. You're not trying to hurt my feelings on purpose. You'll learn. After you go in the room, you'll learn."

"What room? What happened to you? What did she do?"

"I can't say anymore. I've said too much already. She wouldn't like it," Quinn says.

"What are you two talking about?" Tess asks, fighting back a yawn.

"Our friend, Quinn, has gone off the deep end. She's been brainwashed somehow and is talking all...stupid."

"You'll understand soon enough," Quinn says.

"Where's Britt? What happened to her?" Tess asks.

"It's her turn. Don't worry. It'll be your turn soon," Quinn says.

"What are they doing to her?" Tess shouts at Quinn. "What did they do to you?"

"They enlightened me. Showed me how things really are. How they're supposed to be," Quinn says.

"I can't even listen to you anymore," Hope says.

"It's not her fault, Hope. They've done something to her. And if we're not careful, the same thing is gonna happen to us."

"That's never gonna happen to me. I'll never let them change me into some mindless little drone like Quinn. Maybe we didn't get along before, but she wasn't some kind of freak like she is now," Hope says.

"Stop talking about her like that. She's right here. She can hear you. I'm sure she still has feelings somewhere deep down that you're hurting," Tess says.

"It's okay, Tess. She'll understand. You'll both understand," Quinn says.