Dark Coup by David C. Waldron Page B

say that was nothing,” Amanda said bitterly.
    “How can I help,” Kyle asked.
    “You can get me and a bunch of other people out of here,” Amanda said.  Her voice rose just enough that she realized she needed to keep it down and be more careful.
    Kyle could hear the desperation in her voice.  There was something else there too, though.  Amanda wasn’t broken and waiting for rescue, which was what Eric and Kyle had been hoping for when they had decided to risk talking to her.
    “How many people want out,” Kyle asked.
    “I don’t know,” Amanda sighed.  “A third, maybe half.”  She shook her head when she realized that meant nothing to Kyle.  “Maybe three-hundred people, total.  Some just want things to change.  I can’t talk anymore.”
    Kyle glanced up and saw what Amanda meant.  The guard was evidently making rounds and would be able to hear them talking.  Amanda sped up just a bit to put some distance between her and Kyle and soon enough any chance of communication was gone.
    …
    “If she can be believed,” Kyle said, “and I think she can, we have at least one ally in Clint’s group.”
    “How do we use that,” Eric asked, careful not to imply that he wanted to use Amanda or put her in any jeopardy.
    “I don’t know yet,” Kyle said.  “We were only able to talk for a couple of minutes, but I’ll be there again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day until we can figure something out.”

Chapter Eleven
    Amanda had to check herself and keep from looking too often towards the end of the row she was working to see if she could catch a glimpse of Kyle.  He was getting better at staying still, and yesterday she hadn’t seen him until he moved on purpose to get her attention.  She found herself thinking about him more and more often, certainly more than anyone in the group she’d been living with for the last year–which was odd, considering she had just met him and had barely even seen his face.
    “You are persistent, aren’t you,” Amanda said when she saw that Kyle was there again, but a couple of rows over, so that they could talk longer as she worked at hoeing and breaking ground on more rows.
    Kyle smiled, but knew that Amanda couldn’t see him so he replied, “I’ve been called worse.  What are the chances that you could get out of camp at night for awhile so that we could talk like normal people?”  He asked.
    Amanda made a face, but didn’t answer right away.
    “Is security that tight,” Kyle asked.
    Amanda sighed, “It isn’t that.”
    “I’m not proposing anything,” Kyle blushed under his face paint, realizing for the first time how his suggestion might have come across.
    “No, no,” Amanda said quickly.  “It isn’t that, either.”
    “Then what is it?”  Kyle asked, but before either of them could say anything more, they heard a vehicle approaching, and Amanda hung her head and kept working to the end of the row and turned around.
    A man climbed out of the dirty pickup truck and started walking across the field.  He was fairly careful not to step on the plants, but he was obviously heading straight for Amanda.
    “There’s my girl,” he said when he got close enough, and pulled her into an embrace that Amanda appeared to return, and then he slapped her on the butt.
    Kyle missed most of what was said between them, but she refused to leave with the man because she said it would set a bad example.  “There’s too much work to do,” she added.
    “Your choice,” he said, pulled her into another embrace, followed by a kiss, walked back to the truck and drove away.
    Kyle didn’t move the entire time; he wasn’t sure he breathed from the moment the guy said “there’s my girl” until the truck started back up.  He couldn’t leave, it was the middle of the morning and he would be seen.  He was stuck until they all stopped for lunch at the earliest.
    Amanda kept working on her current row, got to the end, turned around and started