Page 88 of Freak Camp
At that, Tobias mustered what was left of his voice, shredded from screams.“No.”It hurt, coming out.
“Then why don’t youdie, you stupid whore.”Kayla didn’t raise her voice, but it came out in a furious, contorted hiss.That might have been emotion, he thought distantly.“Give up.Just give up already.You’ve been here longer than any of us, it’s time for you togo.”
Tobias shook his head, eyes still closed.
Now Kayla’s voice rose in pitch, though she still kept it low enough that none of the guards outside would hear.“Why?Why the fucknot?What iswrongwith you?”He offered no answer, and after a moment her voice dropped back down to the monotone.“It’s that hunter boy, isn’t it?You’re waiting for him.Because he said—”
Tobias didn’t answer.Didn’t move.
Kayla made a strange sound, almost like a cough.It might have been her attempt at a laugh.The chair legs squeaked back as she stood up.“You really are dumb as shit.He’s fucking you over like every other hunter, like every other real.He’snotcoming for you, Tobias.He’d probably be laughing right now if he knew how much you believed him.”
Tobias rolled over, away from her, even though his ribs and head nearly made him scream.“Go away, Kayla.”
After a moment, he heard soft footsteps across the floor and the door swing shut.
He promised.Jake promised.And he’s always kept his promises.
Tobias had no belief that he would survive until Jake came for him.If he was honest with himself, he had more faith in his own death than for Jake taking him out of the facility in time.
He wouldn’t court death.He wouldn’t ask them for it.He wouldn’t be the one who broke Jake’s promise.But he could feel death over his shoulder, closer every week, more surely than Jake’s promise had ever been.
He didn’t even have the strength to hate himself for giving up.
***
When Tobias limpednext into the Director’s office, head down, the Director was as he always was: a cool, cold-eyed presence.But there was a different set to his expression tonight, something else on his mind compressing his lips into a tight line.
The guard in the corner was new.New to Freak Camp, not just to the Director’s sessions.Tobias looked at him a little longer than he should have.It hurt to move, hurt to breathe, and that slowed his reaction times, slowed them dangerously.He knew he had to ignore the pain—they wouldn’t keep him in the infirmary much longer—but it was hard.
The Director saw the look.He saw everything.Tobias couldn’t find the energy to be more afraid.He had felt numb since the interrogation.Blank.He was torn between terror of this hollow feeling and hoping that it would stay until he died.It wouldn’t be that long now, not with how little he could care about his self-preservation.
“Mr.Sloan is on suspension, as is Mr.Gomez.Though I suspect for this stunt Mr.Sloan will be out for a good bit longer, and he will not be rejoining us for our little conversations.”The Director smiled, but it was not a happy smile.“He did not have proper authorization for the damage he inflicted.”
The Director was pissed, but not at Tobias.Tobias wondered if it would still hurt.
But instead of teaching Tobias how he had fucked up that week (and the week before, when he had been in the infirmary), the Director told him to get him a glass of water before returning to his paperwork.
That Wednesday, for the first Wednesday in a long time, Tobias had a quiet hour without any new pain, and afterward he went back to the infirmary where he didn’t have to be afraid of the other monsters in the dark.
He didn’t think it would last, but for now, he curled up, hid his eyes, and slept as deeply as he could.
