Page 19 of Eat Me

"I told you to leave me the fuck alone," I said, my voice low and dangerous as I got to my feet. My head throbbing with each movement but I ignore it even as I see spots, "And that the next time I wouldn’t be so nice."

Amber eyes almost glow with hatred as she looks at me, still gasping for breath. The other girls watch wide-eyed, and frozen in place. Not one of them moving to even try to help Amber.

"You really are working with them, aren't you?" Amber wheezes. The level of anger coursing through her body seems to cause her to vibrate with it. “I said it earlier, but I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure…but now, why else would you be acting like this!!”

I roll my eyes so hard I can almost see the back of my head. This girl really is something else. Just because I don’t want togo along with her plans. "I’m not working with them. You’re just delusional.”

"Maybe it’s all an act!" Amber shouts, her face red as she moves to take a step towards me. "You're probably faking that injury too!"

I let out a harsh laugh. "Right, because I love having dried blood on my face. It's my new look." My patience is wearing incredibly thin with this girl.

"Guys, please stop fighting," Amy pleads, wringing her hands. "This isn't helping anyone."

"Shut up!" Amber snaps out, making Amy stumble back and hide behind Jennifer. Amber turns her attention back to me, her lip curling as she almost snarls her next words. "I don't trust you. None of us should trust you."

"The feeling's mutual," I said coldly. At this point I’d rather deal with our kidnappers then these girls. At least they aren’t delusional or stupid. "Now back off before I make you."

Amber sneers at me but takes a step back, clearly remembering how easily I knocked her down before. She turns to the other girls. "We need to keep her away from us. She could be feeding information to those psychos somehow."

I let out an exasperated sigh. This girl really was something else. I kind of wish Jennifer had smashed her head in instead, maybe she’d be less of a handful then. "How exactly would I be doing that? In case you haven't noticed, we're all locked in here together."

"I don't know, but I'm sure you have some way!" Amber insists, her eyes wild. "Maybe they planted something on you, or-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I mutter. I’m thoroughly and totally done with this conversation. I'm going back to the corner and waiting till this stupid test is over. I can’t help stupid. "Fine, you caughtme. I have a secret radio transmitter surgically implanted in my brain. Happy now?"

Amber's eyes widened. "I knew it!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

I stare at Amber in total disbelief. This girl has to be on drugs. Who in the hell would believe something like that? "Are you actually serious right now? I’m being sarcastic, you moron."

"Don't try to backtrack now," Amber tells me, as she takes a step closer to the other girls. "You admitted it!"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I feel a headache building. My head’s already throbbing, and her yelling isn’t helping anythingat all. Now I’m going to get a headache because of her stupidity.

"Okay, let me spell this out for you since apparently sarcasm is too advanced. I. Am. Not. Working. With. Them. I'm in the exact same situation as the rest of you. The only difference is I'm not stupid enough to think smashing windows or kicking doors is going to magically save us." I hope this would get through to her as I cross my arms over my chest as I give her a cold glare.

"Then why won't you help us try to escape?" Jennifer demands, putting a comforting hand on Amber who gives a nod in agreement. “You could help us. Why would you just sit there and do nothing?”

Throwing my hands up in exasperation, spots start coming into my vision faster at the quick movement I make. "Because it's pointless! Even if we somehow got out of this room, where would we go? We have no idea where we are or how far it would take to get off their land. You saw with the first test we were in the middle of nowhere.”

Taking a deep breath, I try to rein in my frustration. "Look, I get it. You're all scared and desperate. But lashing out at each other and attempting half-baked escape plans isn't going to help anyone. Those men are watching us right now, I guarantee it. They want to see how we handle this situation."

"So, what, we should just sit here and do nothing?" Amber spats, her anger seems to always get the best of her.

"We should be smart about this," I say firmly, trying to make sure my explanation will be something a toddler could understand. I’m quickly checking out of this conversation. "Use this time to rest, to think, to observe. Maybe there are clues in this room that can help us later. Running around like chickens with our heads cut off is exactly what they want."

"She has a point," Cami says quietly, finally speaking up amongst the chaos. "We don't know what the next test will be. We should conserve our energy."

Amber whirls on her, eyes blazing. "Oh, so now you're taking her side? I thought you wanted to escape!"

Cami flinches back, biting her lip. "I-I do, but maybe Victoria's right. We should be careful..."

"Careful gets us nowhere," Amber snaps, before turning her anger on me, "I don't care what you say. I'm getting out of here one way or another."

Shrugging, beyond done at this point I just want peace and quiet and somewhere to sit down. My head’s fuzzy and the pain’s getting worse. "Fine. Do what you want. Just leave me out of it."

Amber glares at me for a moment longer before stomping back over to the boarded-up windows. She resumes yanking at the boards, her efforts growing more frantic.

I just sigh moving back so I can slide back down the wall to sit-down. My head is still throbbing, and dealing with Amber's paranoia and aggression has drained what little energy I had left. Closing my eyes for a moment, I try to will away the headache.

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