Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

there it was in black and red ink, respectively. Davis decided to set these reports aside for a while. She felt what she needed was some food and a break from looking at these things. Before leaving, she steeled herself to be brave, just in case she encountered anyone outside her room.

Davis made her way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She didn’t know what she wanted and closed the door. She thought about it a second and opened the door to analyze again and see if anything caught her attention. There was nothing that appealed. Davis was not even aware of half of what the items were. She closed the door again and thought for a minute. Davis opened the fridge again and took a quick peek. Nothing. Finally, she walked over to the pantry and found the cracker container. She pulled it out and then got herself some water. She intended to pull out a handful of crackers, go back to her room, and eat there. But, feeling unmotivated, she simply set the container of crackers on the counter, mindlessly eating them. She was halfway through the box, her mind zoned out, and her eyes just focused on the dinner bell in the kitchen. Her spaced-out stare was interrupted by Quinn. “Hey, you okay, Davis?” she asked as she walked in.

Davis shook her head as if trying to remove the cobwebs from her head. “Yeah, I’m fine…okay. I think. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to answer that. I am baffled. Quinn, how did you process it all, coming here? Learning this information?”

“I know it is a lot. It is overwhelming. But I benefited from being a Natural Immune, so the facts were more believable for me. I was terrified when Namaguchi took me, though.”

“What? He took you?” Davis exclaimed, shock and surprise overtaking her voice.

Quinn continued with her story, “Yes, I was at a Courting Dance. I didn’t want to be there, so I tried to be by myself, away from the crowds. He surprised me out of nowhere; he brought some punch and said he wanted to dance with me. I didn’t want to, but as you know, you can’t refuse. So, we drank our punch—I remember trying to make it quick to finish the interaction. He seemed to be in a hurry too. Then, he took me by the hand, presumably to lead me onto the dance floor. But, quickly, he grabbed me and pulled me out a side door. I had no idea what was going on or what to do. I was pulled into a vehicle by Ringo—although I didn’t know who he was then. They put a hood over my head. They kept talking to me, trying to reassure me, calm me down because I couldn’t stop crying. Once we got to the bunker, they let me go to my room and calm down a bit, and then Ana came in to talk to me. But, those first few days were very uneasy and scary. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

Davis couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It all seemed so, well, unbelievable to her. She decided to change her questioning while her mind tried to process this new information from Quinn. “Do you ever get out of here, get to walk around, or see anything besides these walls? I’m going stir-crazy already, and I haven’t been here nearly as long as you. I can’t imagine…” Davis’s words trailed off into empty air.

“Yes, every once in a while. Maybe the solar panels need cleaning, or sometimes just general things need to be checked on, survey the area. Plus, everyone needs fresh air now and then. I’ll pop out for a few minutes every few days. Even if I’m not doing anything in particular, just get fresh air, see the sun, blue sky.”

Again, Davis was surprised, a minute-by-minute exercise for her lately. “Do you worry about Drone Scanners or Security Patrols?”

“Well, a little. But, we’re pretty isolated here, and we have a scope; we can see above the ground before going up. And the Drone Scanners are easy to fool.”

“Really?” inquired Davis, sounding doubtful.

“Yeah, you just clear your mind and then think of something great about President Everett. It doesn’t need to be a real thought, just real enough.”

“I can’t clear my mind, especially lately, although for me, I do not think it would be difficult to have positive thoughts about President Everett.”

“Well,” said Quinn, thinking about it a minute, “I guess some people need practice at clearing their minds; I did, especially in the beginning. What gets harder is the positive thinking on Everett.”

“I wish I could do that now. I’m not feeling very patient about anything these days. Even thinking of trying to clear my mind makes me feel exhausted.”

“Well, luckily,” said Quinn with a momentary pause, “it’s not something you have to worry about.”

“Why is that?” said Davis, sounding doubtful again.

“Well, if we get our way, the current government will get overthrown. That happens, and the Drone Scanners and Security Patrols go away. If we don’t, you either decide to stay here and live life as we do, or you go back and live life as you always have.” Quinn looked like she didn’t want that third option to happen. She sighed with a bit of hopelessness at the end of her sentence, betraying the cavalier sound to her words.

“Oh!” exclaimed Davis, secretly hoping to get off this topic as quickly as possible. “Sorry to digress, but before I forget…do you know why your medical reports, yours and Ana’s, start marking you as Potential Immunes at twelve?”

Quinn scratched her head. “Essentially, I know. There are some details I’m unsure about, but in general, they don’t worry too much about kids causing many problems. A little kid can say anything; for instance, the sky is purple, and fish fly in it. People will just laugh and say the kid has a great imagination. Plus, if they’re still under