Behind the Stars Read Online Free PDF

pointed to his chest. “Help is needed loading crates. Come with me.”
    My chin ducked and I circled back toward Dee’s location. Why they didn’t recruit him for hauling I couldn’t figure out, but I’d take the opportunity to get him onboard with planning our escape.
    When he saw me coming, his eyebrows rose. “Prentiss.”
    He smiled and pulled me into a bear hug, and relief hit me so hard, I almost collapsed.
    “Thank God!” I fought tears. “I tried to talk to you yesterday, but you kept falling asleep.”
    Nodding, he touched his stomach. “Feels like something... Like the flu or something.”
    I studied his face for any signs of illness. His dark complexion gave me no clues, so I pressed my hand against his neck.
    “Nope,” I said. “No fever.”
    “It’ll pass.”
    We turned and leaned against the shed, facing the yard. One question had been burning in my brain for two days, but now that he was coherent enough for me to ask it, I almost couldn’t.
    “Dee?” I took a moment to swallow my emotions. “When you were picked up. Was Jackson with you?”
    He blinked a few times then shook his head. “I was working in the shop when the lights went out. Next thing I knew, I was in the back of a truck trying to focus. Others were there. Braxton—”
    “Do you have any idea where he is? Did you hear anything?”
    “He was working in the back fields. He might’ve got away if he saw them coming.”
    “He must’ve. I’m sure he did.” Determination tightened my chest. “If anyone could get away, it’s Jackson.”
    The fair-haired soldier—the one who’d led Team Two—emerged near the dining hall and stared at us. His thin lips pressed into a tight smile like he could hear what I’d said. Like he knew the answer to my question. His eyes made my blood run cold and my knees quiver.
    Just then the general-woman appeared, and he straightened up. She motioned for him to follow her, and they walked around the corner in the direction of the smaller cabins. The blonde woman’s face was lined, and as he went with her, he touched her arm in what seemed a comforting way. He was disturbing and sinister with us, but it evaporated in her presence.
    “Wonder what that’s about,” I muttered.
    D’Lo glanced in their direction. “Wonder what any of this is about.”
    “Did you get a shot in your arm?”
    He nodded, pulling at his coveralls. Then he motioned toward the male soldier who’d just left.
    “It wasn’t a shot. That one told our group they put a tracking device under our skin. Said if we tried to escape, they’d activate it. Said it’d fry our brains like an egg in our skulls, no matter how far away we were.” He snapped his thick, dark fingers. “Dead on the spot.”
    My eyes widened. Fry our brains? What the hell? Fear whooshed the air from my lungs, and I bent forward, inhaling, exhaling. Get a grip, Prentiss. Slow down. I had to dissect this new information and not let it beat me.
    “Activate it? Like pushing a button or something?”
    “Don’t know. That dude talks a lot. I think he wants one of us to run just so he can test it.”
    Breathing regulated, I straightened my back and instinctively touched the spot on my arm. How would we escape now? What had Cleve thought of this new obstacle?
    I rubbed the spot wondering if we could dig it out. Next time I was in the shower, I’d try to examine it. How deep was it implanted? We didn’t have any sharps. I could use a stick—or Cleve could—but what about infection? It could be days before we’d be near antibiotics...
    An assistant-guard began walking to where we stood. He frowned, and even though I hadn’t got a chance to tell D’Lo everything, I decided to move on for now. The soldier wore an expression that said he knew we weren’t discussing the harvest or how we liked our steak, and as much as they said they wanted us to be comfortable, I wasn’t about to test our captors, especially with that Band-Aid stinging my skin