can just disguise you and walk out the front door.â When Deborah remembered her easy passage through the farm she was suddenly furious at Marcus. âIn fact, why the hell havenât you tried before now?â She spat the words at him ferociously.
He matched her fury and held up his own wrist. âYou think I havenât tried?â He grabbed her hair and forced her to look at his arm. âLook at this.â He shook her head. âLook at it!â
She looked. Two red lines made a path all the way down to the inside of his forearm, just above his wrist and stopped at a small, angry-looking scar. Deborah felt nauseous and ashamed that she hadnât even noticed it. It looked painful, as if it hadnât healed properly, and as she studied it more closely she could see two fine copper wires poking out at the edges.
âWhat is it?â she asked quietly.
Marcus released her hair and slumped back into his pillows. âTheyâre electrodes. They go all the way into my heart.â
Deborah thought she was going to be sick. âWhen did they put them there?â
âAfter my first escape.â
âYou escaped?â
âOnly over the wall. They found me pretty quickly and gave me a little gift to stop me from doing it again.â
Deborah ran her fingertips over the wires and he winced. âIs it painful?â
âOnly when I try and pick them out.â His fingers joined hers stroking the strange restraints.
âWhat would happen if you succeeded?â She pinched the end of one of the wires and tried to tease it gently out.
âIt would rupture an artery in my heart. I would bleed to death in seconds.â
Deborah released her grip and jumped back from Marcus, horrified. Her body shook as she absorbed the terror of what she had nearly done.
âBut how does that keep you in here?â She was sobbing now, trying to understand, trying to imagine his life.
âThereâs a perimeter set up outside. If I cross it, the circuit completes, and boom .â He pulled his hands apart, spreading his fingers to mimic an explosion.
Deborah fell forward into his lap and lay there sobbing. âHow long ago did you try?â
âIt wasnât long after I was brought here. Well, a couple of months or so.â
Deborah thought back to the early days in the prison when she had been given her own lab to study the toxins rampaging through the earth. Sheâd all but forgotten her days of being a scientist. Sheâd been a good one too. Until sheâd realized her work had been a futile waste of time and effort. The government had only been interested in accelerating the destruction. Her work would have been used to aid the end of the world as they knew it. That was when sheâd turned. That was when sheâd been brought her first offender to rehabilitate.
âWait, did anyone help you that first time?â
Marcus suddenly looked very sad. âYes, yes there was someone who helped me.â He sighed and his shoulders sagged. âApart from not making it to freedom, that is my one regret. My assistant at the time risked everything to help me. I havenât seen her since.â
Deborahâs chest bubbled with nerves and excitement. âWas her name Katja?â
Marcus leaned up and onto his knees. âYes, how did you know?â
âShe was at my prison.â Deborah didnât want to get in too deep at the moment, so she kept it brief, quite sure he would be grateful, especially since she didnât care to hear about everything heâd done over the past eight years.
âDo you know what became of her?â
âSheâs fine, Marcus.â Deborah watched as her words eased his burden of guilt. âSheâs still here, I met her. Sheâs the one who gave me this pass.â She held up the bracelet once more.
A shuffle at the door made the hairs rise on Deborahâs neck. Quick as she could, she threw
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