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Back The Enemy Save as PDF
Chapters (69)
  1. Table of Contents
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  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
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Sam, if you can hear me, I hope you’ve got nice food where you are. Some vegetables like these. They’re meant to be good for you. So eat them all up, like I’m doing. When I die I’ll come and see you, and we’ll be together again. But for now I’m going to think of you safe and happy and playing knights with a friend.

Love from Ella. Your sister.

P.S. I got a good long turn with Godzilla today after we got here. Godzilla is very happy.

P.P.S. I forgot, you never met Godzilla. He is a puppy and is very cute. He belonged to a boy called Joel who got killed by monkeys. I think the monkeys were sick. Monkeys are usually nice. At least in stories.

P.P.P.S. Maybe you’ll meet Joel where you are. Say hello. He is nice.

P.P.P.P.S. Good night, Sam. The others call you Small Sam. To me you’re just Sam—my brother.

I miss you. I wish I was with you.

37

They put something in the soup to make you sleep.”

“What do you mean? Why would they do that?”

“Why do you think? They needed to chain you up. They’re keeping us prisoner.”

Sam had woken up in a different train car. There was no fancy furniture in here, no curtains or carpets. There was straw on the floor, a bucket at one end to use as a toilet, and the doors were jammed shut. Otherwise it was a normal car.

There were handcuffs around his wrists. A thin chain led from them up to the ceiling, where it was attached to the handrail. He had room to move around, but not far.

There were three other kids in here. Two were asleep. Twins. A boy and a girl, about Sam’s age. They looked clean and well fed, but a little feeble, and their skin was very pale. The third kid was a girl, older than Sam, quite fat, but with withered, skinny legs. She sat on one of the seats and seemed to have some trouble breathing. Maybe it was asthma?

Her name was Rhiannon. She said she’d been here about three weeks. As far as she could tell.

“Why would they keep us prisoner?” said Sam. “They seemed nice.”

“When I first came here,” said Rhiannon, “there was another boy. His name was Mark Watkins. He’d been here a long time. He could hardly stand up. His muscles was all wasted away. They’d been feeding him canned vegetables and dog biscuits. Then one morning he wasn’t here. I never saw him again. But I saw Rachel and Nick. They was stuffing their faces with meat. I saw them taking away garbage bags after. They’re keeping us like cattle.”