Tested by Janelle Stalder Page B

froze. Seamus sat up instantly, his face a mask of rage. She saw Bridgette and Roman enter the room from the kitchen just as she sensed Pete’s presence. He came to stand behind her, his body just inches from hers.
    “What do you mean she got attacked?” he demanded.
    “Those assholes set her up,” Sam said, practically spitting out the words.
    “Who? What assholes?” Bridgette asked.
    “She was in an area we normally monitor,” she explained.
    “Soldiers blocked off either end of the street,” Vi said angrily. Charlotte couldn’t remember ever seeing the purple haired girl so upset by something. “Usually the citizens there would help us, but they were all gone.”
    Roman stepped closer, his face pensive. “Gone?” he asked.
    Vi nodded. “All of them. Every single shop was closed down and empty. The whole damn place set her up, those assholes!”
    “Jesus,” Charlotte said, sitting down. It was one thing to have soldiers after you, that was something they were used to, but to have their own people turn on them? Especially considering the Archers were the ones who tried to make things better for the people of the western ghetto. They were fighting to help everyone, to create a better life for them, and those same people they fought for had simply sold them out.
    “Ludwig must have found a way to buy them,” Roman said. “He normally just ignores the lowers, but he seems to have changed up his game.” He looked to Charlotte. They were the only two people in the room who truly understood Ludwig.
    “He’s getting smarter,” she said to him, the rest of the room fading out. “He’s always relied on the soldiers, but he’s finally realized where the real power lies.”
    “With the people,” Roman said, voicing her own thoughts. “The soldiers can’t find the rebels, but the citizens can.”
    “And they’re actually giving in to him,” Pete said, rubbing a hand down his face. “This is a major problem.”
    “I’d say,” Sam said. “Who the hell can we trust, if our own people are willing to sell us out?”
    “How long until they find us here?” Bridgette added.
    “Christ, does it ever stop?” Seamus said, letting his head fall back on the couch. “So now we’re fighting to help people who have no problem throwing us to the wolves. Great. Just bloody great.”
    “Just because some of them did, doesn’t mean they all will,” Lake argued. “We all know there are plenty of people out there that are counting on us and supporting what we do. We can’t just give up because of a few.”
    “A few?” Sam said, her eyes burning. “It was the whole bloody street, Lake! That’s not a few. It’s easy for you to keep your faith when you weren’t the one who had to see Phoenix. They beat her bad, and would have killed her if we hadn’t intervened.”
    “How did you stop it?” asked Charlotte.
    Sam threw her arm around Pixie’s shoulders. “Our girl here set off quite a show while Trent went in and grabbed her.”
    The door opened again and Garrett walked in, his hair blown wildly from the wind. He froze as all heads turned toward him. “What?” he said, looking from face to face. “What’d I do?”
    “Where have you been?” Pete asked.
    “I went with them,” he said, motioning to the girls, “but I got lost coming back.”
    “Figures,” Seamus muttered.
    “Oy, what’s that supposed to mean?” Garrett said, stepping further into the room.
    “It means I’m surprised you make it down to the kitchen every morning, with your sense of direction,” he said, “or lack thereof.”
    Pete’s youngest brother shrugged it off. “Whatever. I learned some interesting news from that Cal guy Phoenix was talking about the other day,” he told them. “Turns out he saw another van going around and taking people off the street, but it’s not the same one as before.”
    “How does he know?” Roman asked.
    “Well, for one it was black. And for another, he tried following it, but said