Dare to Endure

I felt bruises forming on my upper arms as the Enforcers squeezed my flesh and dragged me into the building. Maybe they were irritated that I had tried to escape and had nearly gotten away. Hansen, the one I’d kneed in the groin, squeezed particularly hard. Complaining wouldn’t do any good, plus I didn’t want them to get the satisfaction of knowing I was in pain, so I kept quiet. 

But that wasn’t the only reason. My lip was swollen from when I’d been body slammed to the ground and I knew my words would be unintelligible, which would make me the object of ridicule. My face ached where it had skidded across the ground. Even though I’d been on grass at the time, it had felt like crashing into concrete when Dimples had taken me down. I didn’t know his real name and hoped I wouldn’t be around long enough to find out. 

My plan had been—and still was—to get back to the tunnel that had brought me to this awful world. Picturing the hut where I’d spent the night when I’d run away, I desperately wished that when I’d turned around to go home I’d kept going despite the darkness. Even though I’d been lost in the woods by then, it would have been far better for me to wander around in the snowstorm looking for my house than to end up in this insane world where it was illegal to be overweight.

I still couldn’t believe that I was a prisoner at a Federally Assisted Thinning Center—also known as a F.A.T. Center. The name made it sound like they were just interested in helping me, but I’d never asked for their help and I didn’t want it. No. I’d been tasered into submission before being hauled out of my house. My crime? Being a few pounds overweight. Oh yeah, and I’d “distributed” cookies to my friends at school. You’d think the cookies were laced with drugs for how seriously this crime was being taken.

And it was mostly thanks to Lori, my recent nemesis. It’s true that I’d never been great at making friends, but in less than two weeks I’d met Lori and she had become my enemy. All over a boy—a boy I was certain I would never see again.

But it was more than that. I’d defied her and her attempts to bully me into submission. That’s what she really hated.

Holding back a sigh, I plodded down the hallway with an Enforcer on either side of me. I felt sorry for myself, but more than that, I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen next and I didn’t know how I was going to get out of there in time to make my way back to the tunnel that I fervently hoped would take me home. To my real home. The one where people could eat what they wanted. And if they were overweight, they could choose to stay that way or choose to lose weight. No one was dragged out of their home, locked up like a criminal, and forced to lose weight. 

We entered a small room where a woman sat behind a desk.

“Can we leave her with you, Tammy?” Dimples asked.

Tammy smiled at him. “Sure.” She glanced at me, then back at Dimples. “What’s with her face?”

“She’s a runner.”

She shook her head at me, then focused her attention back on Dimples. “You know what to do, then.”

The pair of Enforcers led me to a chair near Tammy’s desk and sat me down. Knowing it would be futile, I didn’t resist. Hansen knelt and chained my right ankle to the chair which was bolted to the floor, then his eyes met mine and he glared at me. I had a feeling that if the two of us had been alone he would have enjoyed hitting me. Hard.

I hoped I wouldn’t see him again after this.

He stood. “Thanks, Tammy.”

She smiled at him. “See ya, hon.”

The Enforcers left and I looked at Tammy. Maybe she would be nice to me. That pathetic hope was immediately dashed when she frowned at me. “Name?” 

“Morgan.” Overwhelmed by what was happening, not to mention my swollen mouth, I barely managed to utter the word.

“Speak up.”

I cleared my throat and repeated my name.

The woman typed on her keyboard. “Last name?”

“Campbell.”

“Date of birth?”

I told her and watched as she typed it in. She asked for my address and the name of my parents.

Did that mean someone would notify Mom that I’d been taken?

She stopped asking questions but kept typing, ignoring me. After a few minutes, I gathered the courage to speak. “What’s going to happen to me?”

She stopped typing and looked at me, her forehead creased in annoyance that I had disturbed her. “Right now you need to sit there and be quiet. Someone will be here in a while to finish processing you.”

I felt so helpless and alone. “Can I call my mom?”

She frowned. “No phone calls allowed.”

“I thought when someone was arrested they got to make one phone call.”

“Since when?” She seemed sincere in her question. 

Obviously the rules in this world were different. “Never mind,” I muttered. 

“I have work to do, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t interrupt me.” Without waiting for me to respond, she focused back on her computer screen.

Thoughts tumbled around in my head as I imagined what would happen next. Fear coursed through me at the unknown and I began to shiver. With my hands bound behind my back and my ankle shackled to the chair, there was nothing I could do but endure. I slowed my breathing, not wanting to hyperventilate like I had in the back of the Enforcers’ car, and forced myself to calm down.

Trying to distract myself from my situation, my gaze wandered around the room. A large poster was tacked to the wall, and when I read the boldly written words—A healthy me is a healthy world—I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to shut out the reality of where I was and what had happened.

Ten minutes later the door to the room opened. By then I had settled down, but when I saw a new Enforcer walk in, adrenaline surged through me. He glanced at the chain around my ankle then smirked at Tammy. “A runner, huh?”

“So I hear.” She sounded bored as she stood and handed him a plastic card.

“Thanks.” He slipped the card into his shirt pocket, then knelt next to my chair and undid the chain. He gripped my arm and forced me to stand. “Come with me.”

As if I had a choice.

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