Recruits (New Haven Book 1), page 5
Amber looked at me as if noticing me for the first time. She let out a deep breath and then smiled, keeping her tone light and sweet. “I’m her partner, Emelia. We need to stay by each other’s sides.”
She had cut her black hair surprisingly short, making her sharp facial features stand out. She looked like her father. “I see you cut your hair. You could just shave it all off and go for a daddy/daughter look.”
Amber rolled her gray eyes then glanced at her perfectly trimmed nails. “I would get mad at you, Emelia, but you aren’t worth my time.” She eyed our table. “I'm so sorry you have to put up with Emelia. She has horrible manners.” Amber turned on the charm and reached forward, holding out her hand to Eric. “I'm Amber. And you are?”
Eric stared at Amber's hand. His eyes flickered to mine before he shook her hand. “Eric.”
Their clasped hands were right in front of me. Amber caressed his hand with her thumb. Eric finally ended up pulling his hand away. Anger flashed briefly in Amber's eyes, but it was gone in a matter of seconds. Underneath the table, Eric wiped his hand off on his pants, making me smile on the inside.
“So nice to meet you.” Amber ignored Tina and Luke, keeping her eyes on Eric. A strange glint crossed over her eyes, causing me to squirm. It was almost a look of ownership. Or maybe lust. “You should come eat dinner at my table tonight. Only the best of the best sit there.”
“I think I'll stay here,” Eric said, smiling at me. “I like the view.”
Amber’s face turned red. “Are you talking about Emelia? You can't be serious. She's so … so … so … I mean, she's … well, she's …”
“At a loss for words?” Luke asked. When Amber looked over at him, she looked startled. Luke grinned. “Yes, there are other people at the table besides you and Eric. People who can actually form sentences.”
“How dare you! You can’t talk to me like that, you …” Clearing her throat, Amber brushed off her clothes like she was brushing off the comment. “No bother. Dee, shall we go?” I could tell Amber was trying not to explode.
“What’s going on over here?” RL Steven walked up to our group and looked at Amber. “Is there a problem?”
Amber smiled sweetly at RL Steven. “No, Dee and I were just leaving. Come on, Dee.”
Dee turned to me. “It was good to see you.” She put her arms around me, and I squeezed her tight.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered in her ear.
“I hope so,” Dee said in my ear. She got up and walked right past Amber and headed toward the exit.
Amber look mortified, placing her hand on her chest in an exaggerated fashion. “A few minutes with you, Emelia, and her nasty habits are back. Don’t worry, I'll fix her. She’ll be normal in no time.”
“If being like you is normal, Amber, then I can’t wait to be completely insane for the rest of my life.” I stared into her eyes. Those stupid, ugly, gray eyes. The dullest color ever.
Amber opened her mouth to say something, but RL Steven cut her off. “That’s enough. You should be on your way, Amber.”
For a second, I was surprised he knew her name. Then I remembered anyone who worked for Recruitment knew the Johnson family name.
She smiled innocently at RL Steven, provocatively at Eric, and tiredly at me.
“That was odd,” Tina said, watching Amber walk away.
Eric nodded. “One minute she was mad. The next she was happy.”
Tina shrugged. “Maybe it’s that time of the month for her.”
“Maybe.” I still thought she had split personalities. I glanced at Luke. “Your comment was hilarious, by the way.”
Blushing, Luke stared at his uneaten food. “I have no idea where that came from. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I can't explain it.”
Eric wiped both his hands on his pants. “I'll tell you what rubbed me the wrong way. Her handshake.”
“She was practically groping you.” Tina smiled at him. “I almost told you two to get a room.”
“No, thank you.” Eric shook his head, his hands still on his pants. “She's not my type.” His hand brushed up against mine. For a second, it looked like he was going to grab my hand, but the gesture was so small that I couldn't be certain. My heart fluttered at the thought.
I suddenly realized RL Steven was still standing near us. He cleared his throat. “When you're done eating, head outside. We'll be going next door for an orientation meeting.” RL Steven started to walk away but then turned back. “I'm sure you've all read the honor code for Recruitment, but no dating, kissing, hooking up, getting a room or anything like that is allowed.”
When RL Steven was out of hearing range, I patted Eric's arm. “Sorry, Eric, but I guess you and Amber will have to hold off on the romance.”
He gagged. “That's not even funny.”
Tina laughed. “It kinda is.”
Amber had never shown that much of her “other” side out in public. It made me wonder if she was getting worse. It did make me happy, though, that others had finally seen that she wasn't always perfect like she pretended to be. So, I wasn't completely delusional.
Only somewhat.
C lasping my hands in front of me, I leaned against the table and faced the class. “Years ago, the United States broke apart. There were mass earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes. Entire cities and states were completely destroyed. Panic set in amongst the citizens. Neighbors and friends turned on each other. War broke out, causing lots of innocent bloodshed.”
Most of the Recruits had seemed bored when I first entered the room. Suddenly, I had their interest. They were all sitting forward, excited to hear more.
“We needed a change. After a lot of negotiations, a treaty was signed, dividing what was left of the United States into four different regions. The land itself had restructured, causing mountains to move, new rivers and lakes to be created, plains to rise and fall. The four regions were made up of what had been the west most part of the United States. The land had settled into livable areas, with good soil and solid ground.”
A hand shot up in the front of the classroom. I glanced at his name tag. Luke Nelson. I pointed to him. “Yes, Luke?”
Luke smiled. “We have the best area, right? River Springs? I mean, out of the four regions.”
Talking about the other cities was inevitable. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded talking about them. But Whit opposed it. He didn't like the idea of anyone leaving River Springs or the idea of relinquishing control. I hated lying, especially to the Recruits. I had to tell myself it wouldn't be for too much longer. “Of course. River Springs is more advanced. It's safer and cleaner than the others.”
Another hand went up. Looking at her name tag, I pointed to her. “Yes, Angela?”
Angela pushed her glasses up on her skinny nose. “Have you been to the other cities? I heard they're horrible. Disease, murder, and strict punishments. My mom says River Springs is the only place to live.” A few others in the class nodded in agreement.
I sighed inwardly. I had been to the other cities. They were all different, all held their own advantages and disadvantages to River Springs. But they weren't bad like they were painted. I needed to keep the topic from going too far off course. “River Springs is the best city out of all of them. We were lucky that we had Infinity Corp to help. It was a key element in the rebuilding of our city. It provided all the materials, supplies, organizational structure and support, and the manpower we needed. The fact of the matter was that the government was decimated and didn't have the required resources to provide food, shelter, and safety for the citizens. Infinity Corp did.”
Before the divide, Infinity Corp had been a tech company. It strived in the economy, making it one of the most profitable companies in the U.S. Infinity had survived the divide and started to buy out all the companies that had failed or were destroyed. Pretty soon, they owned everything in the city.
“The company has a core set of values it strives on,” I said. “Can anyone tell me what they are?”
Luke's hand shot up again. When I nodded at him, he sat up tall. “Honesty, commitment, charity, and the wellbeing of each member of the community.”
“Very good, Luke,” I said.
Those values had worked flawlessly for so many years. Unfortunately, I'd seen Whit Randall falter on each one of them. His choices of late were based on greed, power, and the need to be in charge. The fact that he'd chosen to involve himself more in Recruitment had proved it.
In the back of the classroom, Emmie stared at the ceiling. I guess I didn't have everyone's attention. “Can anyone tell me how long we've had full functioning water lines throughout the city?”
Luke's hand went up, but I looked around for someone else. I like his eagerness, but someone else needed a chance to respond. A red-haired girl next to him raised her hand. I pointed at her after glancing at her nametag. “Tina?”
“Twenty years ago,” Tina said.
I nodded. “Correct. How about electricity?”
Tina's and Luke's hands went up, but I pointed at another boy in the middle of the classroom. “Will?”
“Seventeen years ago,” Will said. “The year we were born.”
“Correct again,” I said.
“Best year ever.” A boy next to Emmie had spoken. The same boy she'd shown up with on the first day of Recruitment. His nametag said Eric. “I'm so glad I live now. There's no way I could live without water and electricity.”
Tina shook her head. “Me either.”
Most of the Recruits paid close attention the rest of the class. Except for Emmie. She was either yawning or staring at Eric. Sometimes I wished she would take things more seriously, but other times I understood where she was coming from. She didn't like River Springs. She didn't believe in our city.
After the class, I headed back to my office where I was expecting some visitors. I'd been keeping in touch with Wallace Brown, who was the Vice President in the city of Kingsland, north of River Springs. They were able to settle with a government that worked for them. From where I stood, I didn't see much difference between how they ran their city and how we ran ours.
If Whit knew I talked frequently with Wallace, he would be upset. He didn't like the other cities interfering with one another, which was how he saw it. I thought by working together, we could have something amazing and each community could prosper and grow more so than they had been. To me, River Springs had been stuck in a rut the past ten years and needed a fresh start.
Wallace and his son, Dante, were on their way to Infinity Corp. I'd told Whit that they wanted to look into our infrastructure and see how we ran Recruitment because they were considering starting something similar. Whit finally agreed when I told them how much they admired him and his work and wanted to be successful like him.
They were really coming to stake out our Recruits to see if one of them fit the description of a revolutionary described in a prophecy.
Years before, a member of the community, Lee Augustine, had prophesied that greed and hate would form in the hearts of the leaders of River Springs and they would resort to violence, even murder, to get what they want. He said the city would self-destruct much faster than the world had. Augustine said that unless something was done, man as we knew it would cease to exist.
The last part of the prophecy drove Whit crazy. It stated that there would be one among the city who would lead a revolution. One who would want to stop the leadership of River Springs and take it down piece by piece.
For many years, the leaders shrugged it off. They declared Augustine insane and told the citizens not to trust in his ranting. What they didn't tell the citizens was that Augustine happened to be a descendent of the same man who had a prophecy foretelling the dividing of the United States.
In my heart, I knew the prophecy would come true and it would be soon. I'd been watching the Recruits every year trying to see if I could find that person. The prophecy stated that each of the four cities would have their own revolutionary. I'd finally found someone in ours that I believed to be the one.
Dante had been confirmed the revolutionary in Kingsland. Each revolutionary would have a vision of the future, and Dante's had been exactly like Augustine had described. Dante had the right mindset and determination to do well. He still had some growing up to do, though. Dante had barely turned seventeen and proved himself to be a teenage boy over and over again.
A small knock at the door took me from my thoughts. I'd been sitting in my office, contemplating my strategy for the Brown's visit to River Springs.
I turned my chair toward the door. “Come in.”
The door opened and Wallace came in, followed by Dante. Wallace smiled at me. “Frank! So good to see you.” Tall and strong, Wallace had the demeanor of a leader. Some gray had started to sneak into his otherwise black hair. He had a natural confidence about him that had rubbed off on his son.
I stood and went over near the door, taking Wallace in an embrace. “It's been too long.” I pulled back and shook Dante's hand. He wasn't nearly as tall as his dad, but I had a feeling one day he would. His dark skin was a tad bit lighter than his dad's, but not by much. “Dante. You're looking well.” I slapped his biceps, which had grown considerably since I'd last seen him.
Dante flexed his arm, flashing a smile that would probably drive the girl's crazy. “Been working on it. I figured if I can't grow in height, I could grow in girth.”
I laughed. “Always a good option.” Two chairs were sitting near my desk, so I gestured to them. “Please, sit.” I took my seat on the other side of the table. “How was the trip?”
“Long.” Dante slumped in his chair. He wore a faded blue T-shirt, tucked in only in the front of his pants. His jeans had a rip near the knee, but that seemed to be the fashion in Kingsland. They dressed very casually and basic. Jeans and T-shirts mostly.
Wallace grimaced at his son. “It wasn't too bad. I think we're both a little exhausted.” He wore a dark green polo shirt tucked all the way into his jeans, which were free of any tears or holes. That's as fancy as they got in Kingsland.
“Can I get you anything to eat or drink?” I asked, adjusting my tie. I felt overdressed in my suit.
Wallace shook his head. “Not yet.” He leaned forward, his eyes eager. “Do you really think you've found the revolutionary?”
The Recruit's exam results from their Recruitment application sat at the edge of my desk. I slid it closer to Wallace. “Her tests say so.”
Wallace took the papers and thumbed through them.
“Technically, she shouldn't have been accepted into Recruitment,” I said. “She's Whit's worse nightmare. Completely uncontrollable. But he signed off on it. Probably to keep a close eye on her.” Wallace nodded and continued flipping through the papers, so I continued speaking. “She's fiery, that's for sure. She resists authority, questions the corporation and absolutely hates Whit.” Leaning back in my chair, I clasped my hands behind my head. “Her psych evaluation was extraordinary. She's a hands-on kind of person. She never believed what she was told; she had to figure it out herself. When the psychiatrist showed her flashcards, she completely ignored him and snatched up a model car sitting on his desk. She took the whole thing apart, put it back together, then set it back on his desk.”
Dante let out a laugh. “She sounds like me.”
“That she does,” Wallace said wryly.
Dante ignored his father and leaned forward, suddenly interested in the conversation. “How does she get along with others?”
“Depends on who it is,” I said with a shrug. “Overall, she's nice, approachable and caring. She's the type who'd do anything for a friend, even sacrifice herself. But if she doesn't like you, she'll let you know. She can't fake liking a person even if it will benefit her. She'd rather figure out another way to handle a situation just to avoid you.”
Dante's laugh was louder. “Again, sounds just like me.” He looked at his father. “We're either going to get along just great or get on each other's nerves.”
Wallace sighed. “I hope it's not the latter. If she's the revolutionary, you two are going to have to figure out a way to get along if you want to succeed.”
“What's her name?” Dante asked.
“Emelia.” I smiled at them. “Don't call her that, though. She'll hate you from the start. She goes by Emmie.”
Wallace had been reading the papers, but his eyes flashed up to mine when he heard her name. “You've talked about her before, haven't you?”
Dante took the papers from his dad's grasp while he was distracted and sorted through them, smiling and shaking his head every now and then.
“I've known her since she was a baby.” I smiled thinking back to all my memories of her. We'd gotten along so well since the moment she could walk. I'd always considered her like a daughter. “She's smart, capable, trustworthy, loyal. She's everything we want and need in a revolutionary. She'll fight for what she wants and won't back down until she gets it.” I sighed. “Right now, though, she doesn't seem herself. She doesn't want to be in Recruitment, yet she's here.”
A laugh from Dante caught my attention. He held the paper out. “When the psychiatrist asked her to build a tower from some building blocks, she asked why. When he said, 'because I'd like a tower on my desk,' she said, 'stop being so damn lazy and do it yourself.'” Dante snorted. “Man, I really like her. When can we meet?”
The prophecy had never come up around Emmie. Countless times over the past few years, I'd almost mentioned it to her. Back then, I didn't think it was her, but I had this feeling that I should talk to her about it. Every time, I'd shrugged it off. It just hadn't seemed plausible for her to be the one. Recent events had come to light, making me change my mind. “She doesn't know.”
Wallace's eyebrows shot up. “About the prophecy?”
“She knows about that.” Unclasping my hands, I put them on the table and leaned forward. “Vaguely. Whit made sure there aren't any books or anything on the prophecy in the city. Most of what the citizens hear is what has been passed on from older generations. What she doesn't know is that I think it's her.”
