Omega Hunted by Linsey Moon

3

The car drove morethan an hour to a facility outside Augusta that appeared to be a shared holding facility for several smaller government agencies.

They put her in a beige room containing nothing but a table and two chairs, and then they appeared to forget about her.

The hours ticked past with excruciating slowness. She tried the door, but it was locked of course. She could have pounded on it and yelled and demanded phone calls, lawyers, a bathroom break at least. But she didn't have the energy. She just sat there in shock, wondering what was going to happen to her. What was going to happen to her family.

It was almost noon before someone remembered she was there. She'd only had about three hours of sleep and no breakfast. She was still in her nightgown, though one of the agents had taken pity on her shivering and loaned her a DOA branded windbreaker. She was laying with her head on the table, wishing she could doze off, when she heard the click of the door unlocking. She sat up, and an older woman slipped in, closing the door behind her with her foot, as she had a coffee cup in both hands and a manila folder pinned under one arm.

"Good afternoon, Savannah!" the woman said cheerfully. "So sorry about the wait. Getting the paperwork for a case like yours sorted out is a nightmare. Coffee?"

She offered one of the cups to Savannah, and when Savannah just stared at her, she just set it on the table.

"I'm Betty Montgomery, I'll be your social worker while we get this all sorted out," the woman said, smiling warmly. She was heavyset and middle aged and radiated maternal warmth, from her chunky colorful necklace to her floral Lane Bryant blouse. "Now I'm sure your parents have told you some terrible things about the Omega Program, but I promise you have nothing to worry about. Do you have any questions before we get started?"

Savannah looked down at her coffee, the heat beginning to chase away some of her numb shock.

"What's going to happen to my family?" she asked, her voice shaking. Ms. Montgomery frowned, reaching out to pat the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry dear, I'm afraid I don't know much about that," she said. "Your parents will be charged under the Omega Protection Act, and it's likely that they'll spend some time in prison. How much depends on the judge. Some are sympathetic to family cases like this, others think an example needs to be made to keep other parents from making the same mistake. Once you're established in your new housing, you should be able to follow the case and maybe even arrange visits."

"What about my brother?"

Montgomery sighed, looking slightly pained.

"He's young, which is a good thing," she said. "It'll be easy to find him a good foster family. The chances of your parents ever regaining custody are… not good. I don't want to sugarcoat any of this for you. It's pretty unlikely you'll see him again, at least until he's an adult and can seek you out on his own, if he chooses to do so."

Savannah reeled, staring down into the coffee again. It wasn't anything she hadn't always known would happen, but there was a world of difference between what had always been a hypothetical worst case scenario, and what was happening now.

"Drink your coffee, sweetheart," Ms. Montgomery said, patting Savannah's arm. As she leaned close, Savannah caught her scent, floral and cloying. A beta. "It'll make you feel better."

Savannah sipped the coffee obediently, not sure what else to do. It was bitter and uncomfortable on her empty stomach.

"We have some paperwork to go through," Mrs. Montgomery said, opening the folder she'd brought with her. "But we can worry about that later. For now I just want to explain to you what happens next."

She went through the process in exhaustive detail as Savannah sat silently drinking her coffee. First would come registration and paperwork. Every inch of her would be photographed and documented. Someone would bring her a change of clothes and, god willing, something to eat. In a few hours she'd be taken to their Portland facility and be assigned temporary housing while she underwent evaluation.

The evaluation would decide what work she was best suited for, or if she needed to spend a few years in training programs first. From there she'd be moved to whatever part of the country they decided to assign her and be given her permanent housing. Montgomery showed her a brochure full of photos of the small, gray, windowless apartments, staged to look as appealing as possible and still resembling nothing so much as a nicely decorated jail cell. There was a slightly larger model she could potentially upgrade to if she earned enough service credits.

"What are service credits?" Savannah asked.

"It's how you'll be paid," Montgomery explained. "Whatever job you're assigned will reward you with a salary of service credits which you can exchange for whatever you need."

"So I'll be paid, just not in real money," Savannah said, wondering why she was surprised.

"Well, you won't need money," Montgomery said quickly. "Everything is provided for you. We take good care of our omegas in this country. Your housing is provided, you'll receive a monthly meal plan designed by some of the best dietitians in the world, even your basic medical care will be taken care of through regular mandatory medical exams. And if you want anything else, clothes, furniture, entertainment- save up your service credits, pick out what you want in the supply manifest, and it'll be delivered to you in two to four weeks."

"What if what I want isn't in the supply manifest?"

"I'm sure anything you could possibly need will be available in the manifest."

Savannah sat back in her chair, exhaustion settling over her. In some ways it was almost appealing. She'd never have to worry about not being able to pay her bills, or that she'd lose her job. All she had to give up for that security was… everything else. The ability to choose where she lived, what food she ate. Even what she was allowed to buy through that insulting point system would be a curated list of government approved items. She rubbed at her eyes, trying not to let the tears overwhelm her. If she started crying now she'd never stop.

"You seem tired," Ms. Montgomery said, smiling. "We can take care of this paperwork later. I'll just leave you to rest for a little while."

Savannah started to protest, she didn't want to be forgotten in this room for hours again, but she was too tired to muster up the will. Montgomery was right, she needed a nap.

Ms. Montgomery flipped off the lights on her way out of the room, and Savannah was almost asleep before her head hit the table.

* * *

Something jostled Savannah awake some time later. Much later, if the way she felt was any indication. Her mouth was dry as cotton and her head was throbbing. She felt nauseous and groggy. She groaned and struggled to open her eyes and collect her senses.

She was in the back seat of a car, slumped against another girl, who was also unconscious. There were two men in the front of the car. One of them was the DOA agent she recognized.

"One of them is waking up," said the driver. "Should we dose them again?"

"Nah, we're almost there," replied the DOA agent.

"Where are we?" Savannah tried to demand, her words slurred as she tried to shake off the fog that was lingering over her, trying to drag her back down into sleep. "What's happening?"

"Someone will explain when we get there," said the man in the passenger seat. "Just sit tight a little longer."

"Why am I..." Savannah struggled to find her thoughts. "Am I... Did you drug me? What's going on?"

Alarm was beginning to cut through the sedative fog.

"Just relax and go back to sleep," the man said reassuringly. "We'll be there soon."

"No, this isn't-" Savannah clutched her aching head and fought off the drugged confusion. "This isn't right. Why did you drug me? Who are you?"

"Alright," the man said with an impatient sigh, and Savannah heard an ominous click. He'd twisted in his seat to point a gun at her. "You're gonna be quiet for the last ten minutes of this trip, or I'm going to make you be quiet. Understand?"

Savannah shut up, shrinking back against the seat.

"Good," the man said with a smile.

The car hit another bump and the other unconscious girl lolled against her, filling her nose with a sweet jasmine scent, with a unique and very familiar tone to it. The girl was another omega.

Savannah's thoughts raced. Something was wrong. The DOA didn't need to drug her or point a gun at her. She had no idea what was happening but she knew it couldn't be good. Keeping her eyes on the gun, she nudged the other girl hard in the ribs. She jerked and began to wake, muttering in confusion.

"What's going on?" the girl asked, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"I think we've been kidnapped," Savannah replied calmly. The man with the gun was watching her, and she stared back at him, trying not to let her terror show.

"What?" the other girl asked in confused disbelief. "I can't be kidnapped, I was just-"

She saw the gun then, and froze.

"Oh."

The other girl gripped Savannah's arm tightly, shaking, little whimpers under her breath.

"Where are we going?" Savannah demanded, hating the tremor in her voice.

"You'll find out in just a minute," the man replied.

Savannah's eyes flicked to the passenger door handle, wondering if she could throw herself out of the car.

"I wouldn't try it," the man said in a lazy drawl. "We're about a hundred miles from nowhere right now, and you're not exactly dressed for hiking."

Savannah was still in her nightgown. The other girl was in a plain t-shirt and shorts. Outside, she saw nothing but trees on either side of the unpaved track they were driving down. The plants didn't look familiar either. She could name most of the native species you saw along the road in Maine, even this late in the year when the flashier wildflowers had died back. Some of the greenery looked familiar, but not all of it. She didn't think they were in Maine anymore. Where exactly they were, she was afraid to guess.

"Here we are," the driver said suddenly. "Told you we were almost there."

Savannah craned her neck to look past them out the front window. The trees had been cleared away from a tall black fence. Beyond it, she could see the peaked roofs of a massive house. The driver tapped an earpiece and had a quick muttered exchange with someone on the other end, and the gate slid aside to let them in.

As they got closer, Savannah saw it was almost more of a castle than a house. A sprawling Victorian manor, all towers and grand windows, surrounded by a manicured lawn that ended abruptly at the dense tree line. There was a paved garden area which was decorated for a party, silk drapery and string lights and masses of fresh cut flowers laid out. This did nothing to assuage Savannah's confusion. Where in the hell were they being taken?