“What is this?” he asks, yanking one of the vials from its holder. “What do you have in here?”
“Nothing you’d be interested in,” I say with a shrug, refusing to make eye contact.
Aerin looks at me quizzically as my father and her mother discuss transports with the guard.
“Get them out of here,” my father says. “They don’t need to see this.”
The guards nod and grab Aerin by the arms.
“What? Wait! No! Talen!” Aerin screams and struggles against Ford’s counterparts, but there’s nothing she can do. “Talen!”
They lead Aerin away from the shaft entrance and into the trees, presumably toward the road. Jennifer follows slowly, glancing at my father and then at me before she turns around and heads through the trees. My father stays behind, examining the contents of the travois.
I watch from the corner of my eye as Ford uncorks the vial and looks into the top. Unhappy with the lack of information this provides, he tips it over, pouring the white, crystalized powder into his hand.
“What is this?” he asks. “Drugs? That would just figure.”
He shakes his head as he brings his hand closer to his face to further inspect the powder. He glances quickly at my father before he sniffs at the contents. Some of the powder ends up on the tip of his nose. He rubs at it, unintentionally grinding the crystals into the membranes of his nostrils. He blinks rapidly a few times, rubs at his nose again, and then taste
s a small amount with the tip of his tongue.
“Salty,” he mutters. He claps his hands together to rid himself of the powder. “Definitely not coke. What is this stuff?”
I turn my head and hold my breath as the powder hovers around us and then falls to the ground. Ford tosses both vials onto the ground before grabbing me by the back of the neck and marching me over to my father.
“What am I going to do with you?” my father says with a sigh. “When they told me you had been spotted in the mountain facility, I didn’t believe it. I assumed you were long dead but apparently not.”
Ignoring him, I look through the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of Aerin as she’s led away from me. To my right, I hear Ford’s breathing becoming strained.
“I was tempted to let Harvey do his little experiments on you,” my father says, continuing on, “but I don’t think he made it out. Jennifer insists on keeping her daughter around for now, but I don’t think you’ll be going with us.”
My father nods at Ford, and I hold in a scream as Ford grabs my injured shoulder and roughly shoves me to my knees. I reach out to break my fall, quickly grabbing the vial on the ground in the process.
Rising back to my knees with the vial carefully concealed in my palm, I glance up at Ford. He squeezes his eyes shut, blinks rapidly a few times, and then places his hand on his chest.
“What’s wrong with you?” My father snaps at the man. “Get on with it!”
Ford tries to lift his arm to point the gun at my head, but instead he takes a stumbling step toward my father, then stops. He opens his mouth to say something, but he can’t get a word out. His eyes go wide as he grabs at his throat.
“What the hell?” Dad cries out.
Ford opens his mouth again, reaches for my father, and then falls to his side. He gasps for air, but I know he won’t be getting any oxygen into his blood at this point. I shuffle a few inches away, staying on my knees to keep from drawing any attention to myself as my father comes closer.
“Ford, what’s wrong?” The look on my father’s face resembles true concern, but I know he doesn’t actually care about this man. “Get up!”
Ford rolls to his stomach, coughing and gasping. He tries to hold himself up by his arms, but ends up falling face first into the dirt. My father jumps back, eyes wide as Ford coughs again, spewing a mist of blood on the ground.
“What did you do?” My father looks at me, and I wonder if I’ve ever surprised him before.
Ford continues to convulse on the ground as I slowly stand. Dad looks at me, composes himself quickly, and gives me a half smile as he shrugs.
“Well, there’s one less mouth to feed.”
“I have a question for you,” I say as I take a few steps toward my father.
“I know you do, son. I’ve done a terrible job trying to explain it all to you. You really need to see what’s been happening in the capital. We’ve made so many advancements in hydroponics and wind generators. Once we have the land we need—”
“You aren’t going to have any of it,” I say, taking another step as he begins to back away. “You are going to tell me what happened to Mom.”