The next morning had a slight chill despite being bright and sunny. Marie was happy she wore a light jacket, but knew she’d be taking it off in another hour or two. May was next week, and the days were comfortably warm now.

She bid farewell to Saca and little Sam as they left for the gardens and she headed toward the center of town. Her mind wandered as she thought about the things she’d do at the lab. There was little to do. The cure was already to a point of near perfection as it was. Maybe she could check on the lab mice, and quadruple check that there were no bad side effects from the cure. It was pointless. By now, if the cure didn’t have any ill side effects, they would have already discovered it. But again, she had to do something. She needed to take a small break in the lab for her sanity’s sake, then she'd head back to the gardens and help out there. They were going to harvest some more crops in the green houses, and she heard some of the scientists were working on a better canal system. They already made a few bigger rain barrels and were going to replace the old ones.

Marie entered the building and headed toward the lab when she heard an irate male voice. She froze, then heard a whimpering sound and Siby’s quiet voice. It sounded like Siby was in the conference room across the hall from the lab.

“There’s something you’re not telling me!” It was Josef. She didn’t recognize him at first, because she’d never heard him scream at someone before. Now that she did, she understood Siby’s fear.

“I’ve told you everything! Percy is going to have his friends work on a contraption to get the vial of syrophil over the wall!” Siby tried to sound forceful, but Marie heard a sickening sound of a fist hitting flesh and Siby cried out in pain. Marie swallowed, her mind racing. This was a bad situation to be in, and she needed to get help. Her brain ordered her legs to move, but she might as well be encased in ice. Slowly, her feet shuffled backwards toward the main door.

“Here’s the problem, Siby.” He said her name with such hatred Marie’s feet stopped moving. “You are already someone I can’t trust. And my trust for you has officially left when Percy reported news to me I should have already heard from you. Do you understand? Report! To! Me!” With every word of that last sentence, it sounded like he was kicking Siby.

Marie felt tears sting her eyes. Her legs jolted back to work as she heard Siby sobbing. Siby was in serious danger and needed help!

The door to the conference room burst open as Josef dragged Siby out by her hair. “You’re a-” Marie let out a startled cry. Josef stopped dead. Marie’s eyes widened and she took a step back. He dropped Siby and she collapsed with a soft sob.

There were three seconds of silence when no one moved or made a sound. In those seconds, Marie’s mind raced with a thousand possible ideas to get her out of this predicament as she continued to stare wide-eyed at Josef. There was no point pretending she didn’t hear anything. She could run, but everyone was in the gardens, and Josef would catch up with her before she left the building. There were two strong possibilities of what he’d do when he caught her. He’d either take her to his ‘workshop’ or force her over the wall to forget everything.

Josef narrowed his eyes. “You should be in the gardens like everyone else.”

Marie opened her mouth, but her voice fled. She was using too much of her brain power to come up with a plan and none was left for her acting skills. Her eyes shot toward Siby, who was still quietly crying, cradling her side.

“I don’t expect you to understand, Marie,” Josef said, forcing her to break her eye contact with Siby and look back into his cold brown eyes. “You are still far too young and don’t understand how to run even a small clearing like this one.”

Marie was too afraid to be offended.

“When someone does something bad, they must be punished in a way that they won’t disappoint you again,” Josef said. She felt jarred by the sharp edges in his quiet voice.

Marie again looked at Siby, who was so pitiful lying on the floor, tenderly holding her side. Her brain worked overtime. Josef was trying to get himself back to her good side, but she knew in her heart of hearts Josef would never trust her again. Someone would always be watching her, and the thought brought with it a dark feeling. She wouldn’t be under the thumb of another paranoid man.

“What I do is not your concern. Go back to the gardens,” Josef said.

Marie was still giving Josef the same wide-eyed stare. In the one hundred and fifty milliseconds it took for her eyes to close and open again, her plan solidified in her mind. She spent months trying to play along in Musical Land to keep herself under suspicion, and it didn’t work. It put Sophie and her father in serious danger, and she refused to live like that again. She would not quietly submit to an insane man who wouldn’t be afraid to torture people to keep them in line.

Before Josef could react, Marie flew into the lab and slammed the door, forcing a chair under the knob, hoping her quick action threw Josef off guard. She sprinted into the cooler where they kept the chemicals and grabbed the latest batch of their failed experiment. The lab glass door shattered as she prepped her vein as fast as humanly possible. She filled the syringe with the deadly concoction, emptied it into her veins, and threw it in the corner. There was a sound of heavy foot falls as she grabbed a wad of cotton and stuffed it over the injection area. She was in the process of pulling her jacket sleeve down to hide the evidence when Josef threw open the door to the cooler, still gripping Siby’s elbow. Marie backed away, her arms folded to give her an excuse to hold the cotton under her sleeve against her skin. Josef grabbed her other arm and pinned her against the wall of the cooler. Marie gasped in shock.

“I’m not a man to be messed with. You will do exactly what I say, or you will suffer the consequences,” Josef said, his face inches from Marie.

It sounded like he was talking about the workshop, and not forcing her back over the wall at all. With the formula inside her, she had to get back into Musical Land. She needed to warn Charles and the underground about Josef.

Marie forced herself to feel the full brunt of fear so she could begin crying. It didn’t take long for tears to course down her cheeks. “Please, I didn’t mean any of this. I... I’m just so tired. I want to go home.”

It was then that Siby’s eyes darted over and saw the empty syringe in the corner. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, probably to stifle a gasp.

Josef’s grip tightened on her arm to the point where Marie let out a tiny gasp from the pain. “You want to go over the wall again? You want to forget? Are you really such a coward?”

Tears fell from Siby’s eyes. Marie had the distinct impression those tears weren’t from pain. It brought Marie around to the full implication of what she just did. The diluted chemical in her veins was now traveling throughout her, seeping into the rest of her body. If she didn’t get over the wall, she’d never see her dad or Sophie again.

Marie let her tears fall, trying to look as small and weak as possible. “Maybe I want to forget. I’m so exhausted from not sleeping well. It’ll be easier to forget. So much easier.”

Josef gave Marie a careful, calculated look that made her feel like he could detect her lie. Marie made every effort to hide her true intentions.

“Let her go, Josef!” Siby said. “She’s just a child. She’s no threat to you!”

Josef didn’t bother looking at Siby, instead continued to stare at Marie as though he could read the truth in her eyes. “Everyone is a threat to me. It’s the harsh reality of life. Never trust anybody.”

Marie blinked as more tears fell. “Please let me go.”

The brown in his eyes darkened to black. He turned toward Siby, who now had a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. He made a final look at Marie before he grabbed her wrist and dragged them both out of the building. It had turned warm, and Marie’s jacket immediately stuck to her arms. She fought back the instinct to struggle and scream.

It wasn’t until they were in the woods, the little town completely hidden from view, the shades of the tree giving some relief from the heat, that Josef pushed Marie and Siby down.

“This is how things are going to play out,” Josef said as he took out a piece of rope and began tying Siby’s hands to the trunk of a tree. “If you know what’s good for you, Siby, you will not struggle, you will not try to escape, and you will be here when I get back. You have proven I can no longer trust you, so I am taking you to where I can always keep my eye on you.”

A shiver ran down Marie’s spine. Josef was taking Siby to his workshop, most likely to be tortured. Siby must have assumed that too, because she turned very pale. Marie felt like Siby’s predicament was her fault. When Josef finished tying Siby to the tree he turned around to face Marie.

“As for you, I’ll take you over the wall myself. I don’t want to see you in my clearing again. In fact, if I ever see your face again, I’m going to shoot your brain out of your skull.”

Marie winced before giving a small, submissive nod. Josef seemed unperturbed at his grisly comment. She had no intention of coming back. The situation she left Siby in was her only regret. If she got a hold of the underground, they could find a way to save everyone in the workshop before it was too late. Marie tried to give Siby a comforting look, that everything would turn out okay, but Josef quickly grabbed her wrist and dragged her away.

“I would not advise screaming. I can make things very painful for you if you do.”

Marie kept her head down as Josef continued to drag her deeper into the forest. Somehow, with every step, his grip tightened over her wrist. There were four miles ahead of them, and she doubted Josef would loosen his grip at all the whole time. The tips of her fingers began to tingle.

A headache was forming in the back of her neck, and she had multiple theories as to why. Her vision got dangerously cloudy before she worked up the courage to ask Josef for a break.

“The only break you’re getting is when you go over the wall.”

“Please, I… I don’t feel good,” Marie said.

She tripped on a root and tumbled to the ground. Josef let her go, and it seemed like she was finally getting her rest. Bruises were already forming on her wrist. Her cottonmouth begged for a cool drink. She got on her hands and knees and held her head with one hand. Her headache was starting to go away, but she was still nervous about it. In their worst case scenario, she still had a few months at least. She could do this.

The sleeve of her jacket had a little dried blood. It must mean she’d stopped bleeding. Marie took her jacket off, careful to hide her arm from Josef until she had wiped away all traces of dried blood. She tied her jacket around her waist.

“Come on.” Josef grabbed her wrist again.

“Can we find a stream or something to drink from?” Marie asked.

Josef laughed. “If you insist! Though we haven’t explored this section of the forest as well as others, and I assure you the water isn’t purified.”

Josef forced her to her feet and kept walking through the forest. They remained in an unnerving silence as they traveled. Marie tried to think of somewhat pleasant things as they made their way through the forest. She was heading back to Musical Land, and she was pretty sure she’d have her memories with her when she did. She had to find Charles, the leader of the underground, and tell him everything about Josef. At least she knew where Charles would be. Marie had sought them out at the bagel shop, so at least she had a way to contact them.

It drove her out of her mind when she was sitting there at the lab, waiting for something to happen, trying to work dead end after dead end. Now she had a way to find her best friend Sophie Germain. She could check in on her guy friends, somehow, and make sure they were okay. She could even work with the underground to get her dad out of the basement of the S.E.A. building if he wasn’t with the hobos. After all, she had just given up her life. She had to make the most of it.

Her throat tightened as she thought about it and quickly brushed the consequences out of her mind. She had too much to do before they caught up with her.

Marie found herself on her knees without realizing she had fallen. Josef grumbled as he loosened his grip on her wrist. Marie stretched her fingers, feeling the blood returning to her fingertips.

“Why do you hate the arts so much?” Marie asked quietly.

Josef glared at her. “After everything you experienced, are you seriously telling me that you don’t hate the arts?”

The cold anger in his eyes made Marie look away. She massaged her wrist, trying to rub away his lingering touch. “The arts aren’t bad. I… I just don’t like them forced down my throat.”

“They’re dangerous,” Josef said. “It took a creative person to have the kind of hold President Arnold has on us. Those people are like sheep, obeying everything he does in that sickeningly whimsical place.”

“Change a few of those words, and that’s not far from what I heard artistic people say about scientists,” Marie said.

Josef hit her. It happened fast. Marie felt her vision turn white as her ears started ringing. She wasn’t even sure if she let out a cry of pain. Her fingers touched her already swollen eye as tears welled up. If she had any more courage inside her, she would have proudly stood up and told him everything. That he was a disgusting leader who used hate to rule. That his treatment of artistic people was evil, and she’d never follow him. That she would never allow a person like him rule over anyone. But she didn’t. Because she was terrified. The things Siby told her about what Josef did to people who were against him came back to her. She had no doubt Josef would kill Marie if he deemed it necessary. So Marie stayed quiet and remained on the ground until Josef grabbed her wrist again and dragged her to her feet. Marie stumbled after, trying to keep up so he wouldn’t drag her behind him.

Marie wasn’t sure what time it was, but felt like it was at least the afternoon. Hunger gnawed at her, but fear kept her from asking Josef about it.Exhaustion seeped into her bones, but she wasn’t exhausted enough to ask Josef for a rest. Her mouth felt like it was full of sand, but she refused to ask him when the streams were okay to drink. She was running on the last of her strength when they crossed a bridge over a river. It awakened a memory inside Marie when she had first come over the wall. It wasn’t long now. She also remembered Saca had filled their water canteens at this running river, so it had to be clean enough to drink, but Josef didn’t stop. Marie tried to think of something else besides the river. She felt her mouth get hotter and dryer the farther away she was from the stream.

Not long now. Less than half a mile. You can make it until then. It’s safer for you over the wall.

Something broke down inside her when she realized she was safer in Musical Land than in the clearing. Josef was a dangerous, deranged man that shouldn’t be a leader of any group of people, and she was going to fight against him just as hard or harder than she would against President Arnold.

It seemed impossible.

The wall appeared as they stepped out of the trees. It was ten feet up with metal rungs leading up and over it. Marie swallowed the bile forming in her throat. She had a plan, but would it be enough? Would she have enough time to see it through?

It took Marie a while to realize Josef had let go of her wrist. Would the imprint of his hand ever leave her wrist? Josef was glaring at her.

“You could have been magnificent in the clearing,” Josef said.

Marie didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to get hit again.

“There’s the wall. For your sake, you’d better hope I never see you again.”

Marie took some trembling steps forward. She didn’t want to stumble. Not when a mad scientist was right behind her. She gripped the metal rungs of the wall and started to climb. She still felt lightheaded and knew the knockout gas on the other side would trigger as soon as she got to the top. There was only so much time before she made it to the other side.

She pushed one leg over the other side of the wall and glanced down at Josef. He stood there, glaring at her. She quickly climbed down so the wall would block him from view. There was shouting and a patrol came rushing over in small cars to where she was. A spark of curiosity ignited her weary brain. How did they know where she was so fast?

They had guns, and she froze, unsure what to do. The knockout gas started to take over and she knew she had to get down before she passed out.

She quickly climbed down, rung by rung. It was the last thing she remembered before she felt her hands slip and her eyes closed. There was a small part of her brain that panicked, knowing this was dangerous to let go of a ladder while still up in the air, but the larger part just wanted to give in, to sleep. She was out of Josef’s grasp. In a few hours when she woke up, she’d allow herself to start worrying about being back in President Arnold’s grasp.