Page 92 of Fighting for Brielle
“I’m sure you will.”
Hours dragged on. Brielle mentally recited her favorite scenes from her mother’s novels. She wrote sequels in her mind. Swashbuckling heroes met and clashed with landed gentry. Sometimes they became bitter enemies, sometimes best friends. Their women always liked each other and often tried to broker peace. When one gentleman’s wife got kidnapped, it was up to the swashbuckler to help him rescue her. The scenes played with vivid clarity in Brielle’s mind until her first session came to an end.
Dr. Schow unhooked the leads and helped her rise to her feet. She’d grown stiff and sore from sitting in one position for so many hours.
“I must say, Miss McAdams, that went really well. Your brain was actively engaged the entire time.”
“Huh?” she replied, a vague expression on her face.
He chuckled. “Axel will be pleased.Verypleased with today’s results. Go to your room now, and I’ll have Carson bring you something to eat.”
“Room. Oh, okay.”
Brielle pretended to stumble a little as she recalled the way to her quarters. She deliberately ignored the camera, not sure if it was on or not, and drank an entire bottle of water before collapsing onto her bed. She closed her eyes. The strain of maintaining her focus on her memories and writing scenes in her head took its toll on her. But it worked because she couldn’t recall much of what she was exposed to today.
* * *
Fake it.
As the days flowed together into weeks, Brielle became an expert at faking her re-education. She adopted the blank expression she often saw on Carson’s face, and as she became integrated into the community, she mimicked the mannerisms and speech of the other single women. She noted the sexes weren’t allowed to socialize if they were single. Carson explained that Anderson arranged marriages so couples could engage in carnal activity. None of the brainwashed allies could understand how Anderson had stripped them of their individual rights and freedoms and personalities.
By the end of the third week of her captivity, Anderson finally gave permission for her and Faith to be reunited. Brielle didn’t know if Faith’s mind survived the brainwashing or not after all this time. Even she found it difficult to keep up the façade, and with each day that passed she began to fear her family and Justice would never find her until it was too late. Too late to stop the apocalypse Anderson planned to unleash. And then it wouldn’t matter anymore because everyone she loved would be dead.
They met in the cafeteria. Tentative at first, Brielle and Faith studied each other. Both had lost weight. Faith appeared not only gaunt, but haunted, too. Her eyes flitted back and forth, much to Brielle’s dismay.
She took Faith’s hand in hers and signed the code wordhopeagainst her cold palm. The friends had taken American sign language in college, inspired by Tex’s wife Melody.
“My sister and Ally,” Brielle invoked the required greeting while waiting with bated breath for Faith to respond by signing the correct code word into her palm.
“My sister and Ally,” Faith replied automatically, even as her fingers signedlove.
Faces appropriately blank, they sank into chairs next to each other.
“Life is better here,” Faith began in a monotone.
“We have everything we need,” Brielle agreed.
“No rat race, trying to get ahead.”
“No. I work in the laundry room. You?”
“The kitchen. But sometimes I’m assigned to pick herbs in the greenhouse.” Faith smothered a girlish giggle. “I miss sex.”
“So do I. If you want it, Axel will arrange a good marriage for you.”
“Maybe he’ll have better luck than I did finding me a good husband.” Faith paused. “I heard rumors about someone surviving levels five and six. Was it you?”
“I’m not sure.” Brielle drew her brows together in a frown, as if she were trying hard to remember.
“It doesn’t matter. A great change is coming, sister. A great change is coming.”
“A great change is coming. We’ll be the mothers of children born into a New America.”
I can’t believe I’m spouting this crap.
Brielle kept her face expressionless.
Beneath the table Faith grabbed Brielle’s hand and signedcourage.“I think you should ask Axel to let you marry Carson. He seems nice. He’s going to do great things in our New America.”
