Chapter One: Crisis North was chopping wood when she heard a crash from the small cabin she shared with her father, Sam. He’d been feeling under the weather for the last few days, and she muttered to herself as she stopped chopping to scoop up the few pieces of wood she’d split. He needed to take better care of himself and also let her take care of him too. He was so stubborn, and he’d probably decided to spare her the trouble of looking after him by fixing his own soup. She just hoped he hadn’t fallen, because she wasn’t certain how she would get him up on her own. “Are you up when you’re not supposed to be?” She called the question as she stopped by the bin in the mudroom to dump the wood and strip off her stocking cap. When he didn’t answer, her concern grew, and she rushed into the kitchen. He was passed out in the middle of the floor, and his lips were blue. North rushed to his side, falling to the floor with a sharp jar to her knees that barely registered in her frantic rush t
Chapter Two: Loss North walked with her, feeling almost claustrophobic with all the people around her. She wanted to keep her thoughts centered firmly on her father, but it felt like every eye in the room was focused solely on her. It was surely her imagination, since she wasn’t used to being in a situation where there was anyone besides her father, but it was still nerve-racking. She sat down when the registrar named Liz, according to her name tag, gestured for her to do so. North took the box of Kleenex the woman handed her with a smile, only then realizing tears dripped steadily from her eyes. She ripped a few out of the box and swiped at her face. Liz sat down across from her, putting a reassuring hand on her wrist. “You look terribly distraught. May I do something for you, dear?” North blinked through the rest of the tears, successfully quelling them after a moment. “I’m fine, but thank you.” She appreciated the doctor asking his friend to watch out for her, and she appreciate
Chapter Three: Revelations When North woke up, Eli stood over her. No, he was crouched down beside her, she realized. She was lying on the floor, and she couldn’t remember why for a moment. “What…?” She trailed off as it all came back, and she closed her eyes for another moment, summoning the courage to open them again, but not finding it until Eli brushed his hand down her cheek. “It looks like you have some things to deal with, North. You need to wake up now and face them.” He leaned over her and helped her to her feet. As he was standing beside her, she felt him slide something into her pocket, and he whispered in her ear, “Call me if you need me.” “Is she all right, Doctor?” asked the same voice from before—the woman claiming to be her mother. “I believe so. It was just a shock.” “In that case, would you leave us please?” It was clearly a demand and not a question that came from the man claiming to be her father. “Of course. If she starts to pass out again, please make sure y
Chapter Four: Not Nara They had a lovely home on a block of homes that looked almost the same. It was definitely the suburbs, if she understood the definition of the word correctly. She followed them into the kitchen when they entered from the garage, and it was sparkling clean. It looked like a house, but felt nothing like her home. “Did you ever bring me home at all?” “No, Campbell stole you before we could. You were due to be discharged the next day.” Jim said the words angrily. North tried to ignore his outburst, reminding herself he was still processing everything too. And she’d inadvertently given him hope by referring to herself as their missing child, which had been a mistake. “Let me show you to a guestroom,” said Carol. North nodded, anxious to have some time alone to sort out things and perhaps find some semblance of order again. She followed Jim and Carol up the stairs, admiring the house as she went. Every room she saw was meticulously decorated and cleaned to a spotl
Chapter Five: Dr. StrangeIt was a relief to leave their large suburban home in the passenger side of Carol’s Saab. Jim was off to his job, and North realized she had forgotten to ask what he did. It was probably rude, but she supposed she could cut herself a little slack for the oversight in manners.She made a conscious decision to look out her window to examine the city around them rather than look at her mother. Her mother. She tried the words in her mind, but they just didn’t feel right. She hoped the doctor they were going to see that day would have answers for them soon.She didn’t know which was worse at that point—that they were her parents, or they weren’t. If they were, in meant everything she had known about her father was a lie, but if they weren’t, what was she going to do with her life? She couldn’t just go back to the cabin and pretend she hadn’t learned that her father had lied to her about the collapse of civilization.It took about forty minutes to leave Ann Arbor a
Chapter Six: TestingThey went into another room farther down the hall, and this one looked more like she would’ve expected a doctor’s office to appear. There was an exam table covered with some kind of waterproof fabric, a large light overhead, and myriad medical supplies stacked neatly in a shelf.She’d never had a blood test before, but she was pretty sure that was what was about to happen as she watched Kira prepare a needle and syringe. She was woozy, so she decided to lie back on the bed instead of sitting up for the blood draw.“Just a little poke now.” A millisecond later, the needle pierced her arm, and while it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t as bad as she had psyched herself up to expect.After another moment, Kira pulled out the needle and quickly bandaged the spot. “There we go. Now open your mouth, North.”North complied, allowing Kira to scrape the side of her cheek with a long swab. The other woman stored it in a clear tube before turning to Carol to repeat the process. “
Chapter Seven: An Unexpected VisitorShe was still in a daze when they pulled up in front of the Allises’ home more than an hour later. Carol—her mother—no, Carol felt better than calling her mother… She had stopped by a pharmacy on the way home to fill the prescription, which she clutched in one hand while coming around to North’s side to help her out with the other. The hand on her arm was probably meant to be comforting, but it felt restrictive and almost as tight as a handcuffed as Carol led her to the house.They were on the porch before she realized there was someone standing in the shadows cast by the big pillars of the sunporch. She gasped and took a step back, suddenly on edge. Conversely, the panic seemed to snap her world back into focus, and she could think again.“Who’s there?” Carol sounded annoyed.“It’s me, Dr. Elias Scott. I met North last night, and I’m the one who cared for her father.” As he spoke, he stepped out of the shadow, and he wore an affable grin, but ther
Chapter Eight: EscapeThe door opened a moment later, and the light clicked on. “North?” asked Carol softly. “Are you awake, sweetheart?”The endearment made her skin crawl, but she struggled to keep her repulsion out of her expression as she turned over slowly and blinked her eyes as though they weighed a thousand pounds each. “Is that you, Carol?”“It is. I have your other pill.”She feigned a yawn. “I don’t think I need it. I’m feeling much calmer now, and I’m still pretty sleepy.”“We must listen to the doctor. Take your last pill like a good girl, and maybe tomorrow we could—”She yawned again, though this one was authentic. “I was hoping you might be able to take me shopping tomorrow, Carol. I have no clothes with me besides the one outfit.” It was imperative to get to the mall, which seemed to be her only option to escape whatever was going on with the Allises and the mysterious doctor. If her mother thought she was an enthusiastic participant, she might drop her guard and give