Chapter 14: Capitulation

She slapped me.

Why would she do that?

I didn’t even notice that Kari got her back. I was staring at her, trying to work out what I had done wrong.

“What the hell did you do that for?”Kari said.

Maria took a small step backward. “I...I...” She looked at me again. I stared back, impassively.

Whatever drove her to slap me broke. She turned and ran.

Then it hit me. Maria was falling apart. And it was my fault, letting her think she was still guilty about what she did ten years ago.

“Stupid Plotovetians,” Kari muttered, watching Maria run off into the distance. “I swear, if she touches you again...”

“You will let me deal with it,” I said. Maria was very vulnerable now...this camp was getting to her. If the head counsellor were to take advantage now...

I had to warn her.

“Why do you even try? She’s not worth your time,” Kari said.

“I’m going to find her,” I responded.

I ignored any further conversation as I strode in Maria’s direction. I couldn’t help thinking about Tyler and how he looked this morning. I couldn’t let Maria end up like that.

I heard footsteps behind me. She just wouldn’t give up. “Kari, I have to talk to her.”

“She won’t listen to a thing you’ll say.” She grabbed my arm to stop me moving any further. “Trust me; I’m saving you a lot of grief.”

I tried to twist my arm out of her grip. She was surprisingly strong. “Don’t try to stop me. I need to do this.”

“No, you don’t,” Kari snapped, tightening her grip. “I’ve been in her situation before, and when the guy came after me I just smashed him. Do you want Maria to slap you again?”

I looked at her. Was she being sincere, or did she just want my company for herself? Or did the head counsellor put her up to this...

I sighed. I was being way too paranoid. “You’re right, as usual,” I replied.

She let go of my arm with a smile. “Let’s watch the rest of the activity,” she suggested.

It wasn’t until much later that I found Maria sleeping in the dorm room. Dylan, Tyler and Chloe were also in the dorm, involved in a deep discussion. I went straight to Maria, not paying much attention to what I was saying. This was my chance.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at shaking her awake, I realised that Dylan and Tyler had gone.

It was just me and Chloe.

She was alarmingly close. “Get out,” she said. “I need to change.”

“Take your clothes and change somewhere else,” I responded. I took a step back, toward Maria’s bed. Chloe looked murderous.

“I know what you’re up to,” she said, coming forward again. “You are not taking Mary away.”

She had me feeling crowded. I felt the smooth wood panel of Maria’s bed against my leg. I couldn’t move back any further.

“I just wanted to talk to her,” I began, looking away from her burning gaze. Why had Chloe’s suspicions increased tenfold?

“Talk? About what? How you’re ditching us for the enemy?”

Not that again. “I can be friendly with our rivals if—”

“That’s bullcrap, and you know it.”

“Then what are you going on—”

“Why are you working for him?”

I froze. She knew. I didn’t know how, but she knew.

“No answer?” she questioned, a predatory smile on her face. She had me cornered, even I could admit that. What annoyed me was that she would never believe I was still on her side.

“There’s no point trying to reason with you,” I said. I brushed past her, aiming for my bed. Surprisingly, she let me go.

I rummaged around in my bag for a new set of clothes. Well, even if I couldn’t warn Maria right away, she had Chloe to protect her. She was safe for the moment.

“I’m not finished with you,” Chloe said. She was leaning against Maria’s bed, her pose suggesting she was ready to jump into action. “If you do anything, and I mean anything to sabotage our group, I won’t hold back.”

Footsteps along the wooden floor patio outside caught our attention. Kari walked in through the door.

“What is taking you so long? You said you were getting clothes.”

She stopped, having spotted Chloe. A smug smile appeared on her face. “Hello, Chloe.”


“Kari,” Chloe said, fixing her with a glare.

“I hope you weren’t terrorizing Forrest just now,” Kari said sweetly.

“That’s none of your business. You shouldn’t even be in this dorm.”

“Dorm? More like a dump. You obviously don’t clean up very well.” She must have been referring to the bits of clothing still littered around the place. Jaclyn had really hit the mark.

Chloe didn’t appreciate the reference. She sprung to her feet and advanced on Kari. “Get out before I make you.”

Kari stood her ground, that weird little smile still on her face. “Make me then.”

They were having a staring match, waiting for the other to make the first move. This was getting ridiculous.

“Let’s go,” I said. I was ignored.

Kari boldly outstretched her arm and patted Chloe’s ripped black tank top. “You look better dressed as a slut. Even I would do you.”

That was the breaking point.

Chloe moved so fast I almost didn’t see her. Her fist collided with Kari’s face. Kari stumbled back, her hand touching her cheek.

“Need more?” Chloe said.

Kari abandoned her cheery facade and instead settled on a harsh glare. “You can try.”

Chloe swung again, but Kari was already inside her reach, slamming her fist into Chloe’s stomach.

“That’s for before,” Kari spat. She jerked her head at me then strode out the room.

Chloe was clutching her stomach, but she was glaring at the open doorway so hard I thought she would set something aflame. No way did I want to be in the same room as her. I circled around her, and seeing no response-I probably didn’t rate high on her ‘want to kill’ list at the moment-I got out the room.

Kari hadn’t got far. When I caught up with her she started laughing.

“What?” I asked.

“Now we’re even. Did she think she could punch me and get away with it?”

We were still in view of the dorm. I glanced back to see if Chloe would pursue, but there was no sign of her. I guess she was serious about watching over Maria.

“What’s your vendetta against her?”

“She broke Felix’s nose.”

“And...”

“What more reason do I need than that?”

“You’re similar to her, you know.”

“Don’t compare me with that Gotums whore, please.”

“Do you have to badmouth everyone in my group?”

“Huh, look at you. Don’t tie yourself down with attachment to your group. It will only make things harder.”

That sent a chill down my spine. It was as if the head counsellor had planted words in her mouth. Was she just a puppet as well?

“Kari, do you...like the agency?”

She didn’t respond. I dropped it, but I was still intrigued to what her personal opinion was. She might have been like me, secretly opposing it from the inside. I refused to believe that she would be as shallow as Felix, only in it for the thrills.

For the rest of the day, there was always someone else in our dorm. There was never a chance for me to get Maria alone-she was still slumbering away, even when we slipped into our own beds for sleep. Chloe seemed restrained each time I crossed paths with her, I guess I had Dylan and Tyler to thank for that.

It was when I was lying in bed, deep in the night, when I heard a noise outside the dorm. I then heard Maria creep out the dorm.

She’s trying to leave.

I was startled awake. The head counsellor.

Don’t follow her. I’ve been expecting this.

‘What are you going to do?’ This was bad...

Oh, a little bit of this and that.

He had this planned from the beginning. Somehow he had arranged these events to fit his plan and...I had fallen for his trap. What was I going to do?

Precious seconds were wasted as indecision took me. It was too early for me to confront the head counsellor...but I had promised myself to fight him. Did I really have the guts to go through with it?

Could I really save Maria?

It was now or never.

One leg was off the bed before the head counsellor spoke again.

Stay where you are.

‘You don’t need to do this.’ I needed to stall him. I was standing up now.

Are you forgetting that I have Maria in my grasp right now?

I paused. ‘Let me handle her. I know how to break her defences.’ If I can get to her before he locks me out...

Nice try. But you’re not skilled enough. Now, stay.

I was almost out the door now.

Get back to bed, or Maria will lose more than just her dignity.

I stopped. He didn’t seriously mean that?

You saw what happened to Tyler. I can do much worse to Maria. You don’t want to be the cause of that, do you?

He had me. Damn him.

I couldn’t risk it.

His last words were chilling. Don’t think you can betray me.

I sank back into my bed. I would have to wait for morning.

But Maria was not back in the dorm when we woke up. I knew this because I was violently shaken awake by Chloe.

“Where is she?”

I was feeling groggy, my vision was still hazy and Chloe was demanding answers that I didn’t have.

“Damn it Forrest, tell me!”

She was already gone...

“Chloe, there could be many explanations for her disappearance...” That was Dylan, always the calm analytical mind in the room. He looked a bit lost in the middle of the dorm room, probably debating whether or not to stop Chloe.

Chloe’s hand tightened painfully around my shoulder. “Enough. No more doubts. I know who did it and,” she glared at me, “you are not going to get away with it.”

It was like a dream. Her bed was empty, all her gear had disappeared. I had no idea what the head counsellor was doing to her. Did I make the right decision in letting her walk straight into danger?

Chloe was right in my face, demanding answers. The accusation in her eyes echoed my own failure to save Maria.

I had to look away.

“Nothing to say?” Chloe said. Her other hand was a fist. She was serious.

“Do it,” I said. Chloe looked unsettled. “Hit me.”

She drew her fist back. And stopped.

“What are you waiting for? Hit me.”

“Chloe, hitting him won’t—”

Her fist flew. A sharp pain erupted in my left cheek bone.

But not even pain could take away the guilt.

“Did that make you feel better?” I asked. I stared at her, watched as her expression grew more troubled.

“Do you feel better?” I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me. “Do you want to hit me again?”

She was speechless. Her arms were slack; there was no sign of her rising up to hit me again.

“What happened to ‘not holding back’?” I said, disgusted, before shoving her away and slipping out of bed.

Dylan hadn’t moved; he was gaping at me like Chloe was. Chloe retreated a few steps.

“You’re...just as mental as the rest of them,” she said. Mental? She thought I was MENTAL?

“How is threatening me every time you see me any better?” I shot back. I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins. Something had to give.

She seemed to regain a bit of her anger. “You’ve lied about everything this entire camp.”

“And you know why? Because you can’t handle the truth.”

“The truth? What is the truth, Forrest?” She looked me in the eye. “Why does this camp exist? Why did you take Mary away?”

“I didn’t take her—”

“You did. You’re a heartless bastard who only thinks about himself.”

I had no answer.

I suppose it was true. I was too occupied trying to rebel that I forgot about the danger everyone else was in...I closed my eyes. Maria. What is happening to you now?

I looked at them. Chloe was glaring. Dylan looked helpless. Perhaps I should bare all.

Say anything and Maria is done for.

I sighed. That was the truth of this camp. No one could escape the head counsellor. Nothing went unnoticed. It was worthless trying to fight him.

He always had some kind of advantage over you.

Dylan finally moved, but it wasn’t toward me. He wandered over to the doorway and stopped.

“Chloe, have you seen this?”

She peered out the door. “You didn’t print this much out, did you?”

Print what? I was tempted to look out the door as well, but that would place me way too close to Chloe. They exited the dorm, allowing me to see what the fuss was all about.

The whole courtyard was littered with paper. Posters were stuck on brick walls. Some were stuck to benches.

I picked one up. It was a list. The same list I saw on the head counsellor’s computer.

The one with the ticks, question marks and crosses.

What the hell?

Another paper had the same list, except this time all the people who had ticks were...

They were labelled as ‘evil’. ‘Betrayers’ and ‘beware’ were also scribbled across other papers. This wasn’t good.

Everyone in the agency, including me, was singled out and labelled.

There were other people milling about the courtyard, looking at these things as well. Most of the campsite was awake.

I could hear shouting. A crowd of people had gathered in the middle of the courtyard, massing around a...fight? Looks like these revelations had a ripple effect. Perhaps there were other Chloe like people around, suspicious about certain agency members and willing to punish them for it.

All they needed was some validation, a spark to set them off. Knowing who was on the ‘evil’ side made it easy for them.

I continued walking around the courtyard, but the result was the same. People were arguing. Some didn’t seem to care, but others were scrutinising each face they saw with a copy of the list in their hand.

Someone would eventually recognise me.

Suddenly, the head counsellor’s voice boomed through the campsite.

“Emergency meeting in the dining room. I repeat, emergency meeting in the dining room.”

That answered how he would solve this particular situation. He would probably hand out incentives, or turn these lists into some sort of weird game. That wouldn’t convince everyone, but it would smooth things over for a time...

I was about to set foot into the dining room when someone grabbed my arm and dragged me behind the building. Not surprisingly, it was Kari.

“I finally found you! The head counsellor has a job for us.”

She was holding several garbage bags.

“The meeting was just a diversion?” I asked. She nodded.

"Someone decided to strike at the head counsellor. This is the counter attack.”

She gave me a bag and we set off for the first dorm. We had to collect anything technological-that included laptops, phones, mp3 players, anything we could get our hands on.

Technically, such things were banned from camps, but no one followed the rules anyway. This was simply enforcing the rules. Nothing sinister about it.

Never mind that some people needed their technology to gather information to strike at the head counsellor. It could be seen as a move to hamstring the ‘rebellion’, but it was just enforcing the rules.

That’s what I kept telling myself. I couldn’t have second doubts about what I was doing. The head counsellor still held Maria.

Everyone was in the meeting, so the dorms were empty. It was easy, darting in and out of dorms collecting.

“What are Felix and the other agency members doing?” I asked Kari when we were in one of the last dorms.

“They have their set tasks. Some are preparing the last activity. Others are setting up the fireworks for tonight.”

“Fireworks? Like...last time?”

“Yeah, it’s the end of camp celebration. Camp ends tomorrow, after all.”

That’s right, it was. Tomorrow would be the fifth and final day of camp, before it all ends.

Well, I didn’t believe that it would just ‘end’. That wasn’t the head counsellor’s style. He liked his flashy endings.

What that would be was anyone’s guess.

By the time we reached my dorm, the bags were almost full. By happy coincidence it was the last one we had to do.

“You can do this one,” Kari said, stopping by the door to keep watch.

Unfortunately, Dylan had left his laptop here. I would have to take it. I also noticed an mp3 player sitting next to it. It looked familiar, was it Tyler’s?

...Of course. The player had recording functionality. That’s how they did it.

That went in the bag as well. Maria’s stuff was completely missing, and Chloe had nothing worth taking.

“Done?” Kari questioned. I nodded.

We took too long, however. I heard Chloe and Dylan outside the dorm.

“Quick, back to the admin building,” Kari said. I shouldered my bag and walked briskly behind her. We passed them just outside the dorm room door.

“What were you doing?” Chloe questioned, her eyes narrowed. She had planted herself outside the dorm, but Dylan bypassed us and went in.

We ignored her and kept walking.

We must have been about halfway to the admin building before we heard shouting.

They had put two and two together. I don’t think I could have driven them away any further, but them finding out firsthand I was against them...

We had just dumped the garbage bags behind Leila’s desk when we heard Chloe and Dylan barging in through the admin doors behind us.

“Give it back,” Chloe growled.

“I’m sorry?” Kari replied. Leila, the secretary, was immediately on the phone.

“You had no right to take my laptop,” Dylan said. He looked angry for once.

“Did we take their laptop?” Kari asked me, a smirk on her face.

“...Of course not,” I replied. “You’ll have to look somewhere else,” I said to them.

It was a standoff. Kari and I were leaning against the reception counter, while Chloe and Dylan were standing in the middle of the reception area.

Then the head counsellor walked through the front doors.

“What’s the problem here?” he said.

“A case of stolen property, counsellor,” Leila said.

“My laptop was stolen,” Dylan added, not quite making eye contact with the head counsellor.

The head counsellor smiled. “It was confiscated.”

“Confiscated?” Chloe exclaimed. “By what rights do you—”

“Chloe, let me handle this,” Dylan interrupted. Chloe looked surprised, but stayed quiet for once.

“I believe stealing my personal property is a criminal offence, head counsellor,” he said.

The head counsellor walked up the reception counter and took a piece of paper. “You’ll see on this that it explicitly states that I can confiscate any items that I deem dangerous.”

“Laptops aren’t dangerous,” Chloe said.

“Ah,” the head counsellor held up a finger, “but yesterday I had an incident where someone threw their laptop at another person in a fit of rage. A laptop was used as a weapon. Thus I ordered every laptop in the campsite to be confiscated so this does not happen again.”

That was so ridiculous that I had to struggle not to laugh. What could Dylan do but try to refute that logic?

“I have to disagree, counsellor.”

“You all signed this contract at the start of the camp,” the head counsellor said. “You are bound by these rules until the end of the camp.”

It was useless, Dylan. You can’t fight the head counsellor.

Dylan dug something out of his pocket. It was his mobile phone. “If you will not give my laptop back, I will have to call someone in who will.”

I couldn’t believe it. Was Dylan actually making a threat? The head counsellor was not fazed, however.

“Go on then. Call the relevant authorities.”

Dylan held his phone up to his ear. We all waited with bated breath.

“No signal,” he finally said.

“That’s to be expected when all the cell phone towers around this area are down for repairs.”

And I bet you had absolutely nothing to do with that, right, head counsellor?

Dylan pushed a few buttons on his phone then held it up to his ear again. Why was he trying again? It was useless...

“Hello? Brian? Yes, it’s me, Dylan.” He got through? The head counsellor also looked surprised.

“I’m at the campsite. Yes, that exists here...he has functioning virtual reality.”

So Dylan found out about that...somehow.

“I need your assistance. Come quickly, please.” Then he shut the phone, knowing his time was up.

“How...?” Chloe asked.

“My phone has satellite capabilities,” he explained.

I was impressed. Bettering the head counsellor with technology that he hadn’t anticipated Dylan would have.

The head counsellor started clapping. “Well done,” he said, anger etched into his features. It was the first time I had seen him angry. “However, you won't be here to meet him...your time is up.”

He looked at Kari and me. “If you would please...”

“With pleasure,” Kari said, turning her sights on Chloe.

Chloe caught on quickly. “I don’t think so.”

At that moment, two burly guards appeared in the doorway, blocking their only escape route.

Dylan started backing toward a wall. “Chloe, what are we going to do?”

Kari was advancing on Chloe. Knowing that I had to do something, I started walking toward Dylan.

“I don’t know...just...think of something!” Chloe said.

Kari threw the first punch. Chloe dodged, and attempted a sweeping low kick to throw Kari off guard. Chloe wanted to end things early.

I eyeballed Dylan. He was back against the wall. I didn’t want to fight him, but...

You will fight him or Maria will live out her own personal hell. Your choice.

I knew he would say something like that.

“You don’t have to do this,” Dylan said.

“I do,” I replied.

I was close to him now, within striking distance. He looked around the office building, taking in the positions of everyone. What was he going to do?

Then he sprung. He barrelled through me, knocking me off balance. But his objective was not me.

He collided into Kari, knocking both of them into the ground.

“Chloe, go!” He was trying to hold Kari on the ground.

“But, you—”

“Just go!” Kari was getting the upper hand, now holding Dylan to the ground. The guards at the door were pressing toward Chloe.

Chloe didn’t waste any time. She kicked one of the guards between the legs and shoved past the other one, managing to get outside.

Kari kneed Dylan to the ground, holding both of his arms behind his back.

“Darren, take Dylan to cell four,” the head counsellor said.

One of the guards dragged Dylan up by the arm and took him through the hallway. He had his head up, refusing to look back at me or anyone else. They disappeared.

Kari dusted herself off, looking a little pissed that Dylan had distracted her from her conquest of Chloe.

“Kari, I have a new assignment for you and Felix. Get Chloe and Tyler for me by any means. Any means. We can’t have them running around causing a rebellion when we may have important...visitors soon.”

“Sure,” she replied, walking through the front doors.

The head counsellor looked at me. “I have something to show you,” he said. He started walking down the hallway. I followed.

We descended a few staircases and went through a couple of doors before the environment changed. It turned more lab like, with brushed metal walls and long, glassed window panes looking in to other rooms. We passed through a few more hallways before I noticed that there were people in these observation rooms.

The rooms looked like cells. Not only that, but some of the people looked familiar.

They were people I had seen around camp.

What the hell was going on?

We passed through one more set of double doors before I saw someone in the hallway.

It was Maria.

She was wearing a lab coat and had a clipboard in hand.

“Hello, head counsellor. Oh, and Forrest. What a pleasure to see you both,” she said. I was stunned.

“How’s Jaclyn?” the head counsellor asked. Immediately I could see the smug look on Maria’s face.

“She can withstand a bit more punishment, I think,” she said. She looked through the window next to her into the cell. I moved so I could see inside.

Jaclyn was inside. It looked like she was sobbing into her arms, head down on the small metal table.

She had been missing since the last activity, and that was yesterday afternoon.

“Excellent. She is proving to be an interesting test subject.”

I looked at Maria. All this time I had been worried about her, toeing the line so she would be safe, and now she’s...

“You look surprised,” she said.

“What happened to you?” I asked. I had to know what the head counsellor had done.

“The head counsellor offered me a job.”

“A job?”

Maria laughed. “You act like that’s a bad thing. Honestly, I don’t know why everyone seems to be scared of the head counsellor. He’s not that bad.”

The head counsellor chuckled behind me.

No, NO, NO! You’re not meant to LIKE the head counsellor! He is not meant to OFFER YOU A JOB!

“But...he....”

“I never knew that this camp is really a research facility. The head counsellor recognised my talents in cataloguing information and thought I would be the perfect employee for his organisation. Plus, he’s offered to pay the rest of my university fees and he’s willing to loan me some money to get my own unit!”

I could feel the anger coursing through my veins. I had toed the line and still the head counsellor betrayed me. He deserved to die.

“Independence, Forrest. The head counsellor is enabling me to be independent. That matters more to me than what I used to think about this camp.”

Maria had been brainwashed. Completely and utterly brainwashed. She may have believed that the counsellor would give her all of that, but would he really?

I turned and glared at the head counsellor.

He shrugged. “She’s the perfect employee. She tries really hard around here, you know.”

My hand curled into a fist. I couldn’t take this anymore. The head counsellor had played with me too long.

I stepped forward and swung.

But the head counsellor anticipated my move, dodging my punch and immobilising me with my arm behind my back.

“Maria. Dylan. Jaclyn. Soon, Chloe and Tyler. All are under my control. Do you really think you can betray me?”

I wanted to keep fighting him. I really did. But in the face of such overwhelming power...what could I do but surrender?

Call me weak, but I was tired of trying to resist him. He had given me a position of power; I might as well make use of it, instead of being stuck in a cell.

“Fine, you win,” I said. He let go of my arm. “What did you want me to do now?”

A feral grin was his only answer.