At first I thought I was back at the school, in my room, waiting for a grey-scrubbed man to swing by and get me for morning kitchen duties. It wasn’t a bad feeling, just one without any lightness, any curiosity or hope. But at least I was alive. I tried to wipe my eyes, they were so heavy, but I couldn’t get my hand to my face. I pulled and got it to my chin, but that was all. Then I heard the others.

“Can you push the side? Lean back and put your feet up on the opposite side. Now push!”

“It’s not budging. Dammit.”

“Okay, okay. Rania, can you reach the cage?”

“The chains are too short.”

Cage? Chains? I opened my eyes and looked around.

The room was small and beige. A single bare bulb hung in the center of the ceiling. Around the perimeter sat every member of our group: Rania the nurse, Miigwans, Isaac, Slopper, and Chi boy, and on the other side of a doorway, Tree, Zheegwon, and me. And between the nurse and me was Wab, locked in a cage not much bigger than a kennel. In fact, that’s exactly what it was: a modified dog crate. And every one of us was restrained—tied, locked, or chained to metal loops embedded in the cement walls. Above the door was a long, narrow wooden sign painted a cheerful ocean blue; written in cursive letters was welcome to the leisure dome. To the left of the door was a stack of faded life preservers. The air smelled of chlorine and sweat. There was one small window high up in the wall above me, but it was closed and covered with short curtains on a wire rod.

“Where are we?”

“A shed or something. In a backyard.” Slopper sounded tired, but his eyes were wide. “There’s a big pool outside. With water in it. Never seen one with water before.”

“A pool?” I couldn’t put the pieces together. We had been on the train on the way to America. Then there were voices—women, maybe a dozen of them—and then a car ride, and then the struggle. I remembered the hands and the light and then the jab. I had been sedated.

“Were you all drugged?”

There were nods.

“Not me,” Slopper spoke up. “I pretended to be all calm. So I could watch.”

“Nice one, Slop,” Tree said. “How many…”

“Wait…where is Theo? And the driver?” Rania sat up all the sudden, fear overcoming lethargy.

“I heard them. They left them at the station, tied up.” Isaac tried to make eye contact with her while she shuffled around, pulling her body one way then the other with little give.

“So we made it? We’re…”—I looked around, pulling at my restraints to test them—“safe?”

“Apparently.” Wab’s arms were folded across her chest, resting on the top of her belly. She snorted. “Welcome to the land of the free.”

“Jesus.” Rania managed to get on her knees, straining to see how much movement her ties would allow. “Vigilantes.”