Page 42 of Emi's Hero

“Emi, you’re safe here at the ranch, lying on a warm, comfortable couch. I want you to take me into the compound where you and Sara lived.”

“Sara,” Emi whispered. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.”

“Sara is there. She’s waiting for you. Take me everywhere you went in the compound, one room at a time. Start with where you slept.”

Emi described the little cell where she and Sara shared a single bed and the bathroom with the tiny shower, sink and toilet.

“When you step out of the room, which way do you go?”

“I’m only allowed to leave when one of the guards escorts me. I go to the right if they’re taking me to Fallon. To the left if they’re allowing me to take Sara out to the tiny courtyard. It used to get sunlight until they hung camouflage netting over the top.”

“Did they let you and Sara go to the courtyard often?” Sachie asked.

“Every day for an hour if Fallon was away. Except recently. The week before Fallon came, they didn’t let us go out to the courtyard the first few days.”

“Did they say why?” Sachie asked.

“Something about installing a new security system.”

“Did you go out after they completed the installation?”

Emi nodded. “We had two days in the courtyard.”

“Take me through the corridors as you and Sara walked to the courtyard,” Sachie said.

Emi remembered holding Sara’s hand as they followed the guard. It was so small and precious. Her throat tightened.

“Do you see anything different?” Sachie asked.

“Sara and I walked behind the guard. When we came to where we had to turn right in the corridor, Sara pointed up and said, ‘Blue.’ I looked to where she was pointing. The old black camera that had been there had been replaced by a white one with a blue light shining from it.”

“Could you see any writing or a logo on the camera?”

Emi focused on the camera in her memory. “The blue light was at the center of thin lines in the shape of an eye. I remember now that I thought it was appropriate that the new security cameras were just that—eyes following our every move.”

Sachie had Emi take her around every turn that got her to the courtyard, describing the number of doors she passed on each side.

“The one at the end of this corridor leads into the mountain,” Emi said.

“How do you know that?”

“We were passing it one day when a couple of men came out. I could see a little of what was beyond. The walls weren’t uniform in color or consistency like the concrete walls of thebunker. They were darker gray with lines in it like sedimentary layers.” Emi inhaled. “It smells damp, like earth.”

“Emi, are you ready to come back to the ranch?” Sachie asked.

Emi shook her head. “I want to see Sara.”

“Take me to her,” Sachie said. “Make me see what you see.”

“I’m walking back to our room. She’s with Maria. I’m opening the door.” Tears leaked from the corners of Emi’s eyes. “There she is. Maria’s holding her. She’s crying. She doesn’t want me to go.” Emi swallowed hard on the lump in her throat. “I’ll be back soon, baby,” she whispered.

“Hover over the room,” Sachie whispered. “Now, bring yourself out of the compound and hover in the sky. Let the clouds wrap around you like a warm comforter.”

Emi drifted out of the room, out of the compound and wrapped her arms around herself like the clouds enveloping her in a warm blanket.

“You’re back at the ranch, Emi. You’re safe. Your friends are waiting for you.”

George’s face swam into Emi’s mental view.

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