Pacing the room, I'm trying not to drown in fear. When will Klein come back? What is he doing to Zach? What will he do to me?

The door opens and Klein enters. 'Hello, Kit. Are you feeling a little calmer now?'

I stop pacing but don't respond.

'There's a dance later which I may take you to if you are feeling up to it. However, I know when you're tired and irritable you end up saying things you'll regret later. I don't want you to upset any more people, so we'll see how you feel.'

I scoff. You mean, you'll take me if you think I won't say anything that will reflect negatively on you.

'For now, I'll take you on a tour of the village and show it to you properly,' Klein says. 'It will give you a chance to see this place with fresh eyes and ask questions.'

'I don't have any questions.' I cross my arms in front of my chest.

'Kit, how will you know if you want to stay here if you don't have a full understanding of how our community works?'

'I don't believe you're actually going to give me a choice,' I say flatly.

'You have my word. One week, and you'll be free if that is still your desire, but only if you fully immerse yourself. I want you to ask questions, get involved. I need to see that you're making your own decision, that your choice is not based on preconceived ideas implanted by Ethel and Roman.' Klein looks at me. 'They allowed fear to drive their decisions. They didn't allow themselves to feel, they didn't fully open themselves.'

'You mean they didn't ignore your abuse.'

'Kit, if you aren't going to be able to base your decision solely on your experience then we'll have to extend your time here. I will leave you in this room alone until you are willing to view this place without allowing others to taint your views.'

I stiffen at the thought of staying in this room any longer. 'I will base it on my experience,' I say through gritted teeth.

'You're not convincing, Kit.' Klein frowns. 'You're so easy to read. You don't really plan on approaching this week with a clear and empty mind. I'll come back in a few days. Food will be left for you at the door. Listen for the knock.' He turns and walks towards the door.

I start to panic. All the emotions I'd suppressed from being trapped in the Techie settlement resurface and flood my mind. If Klein leaves me in here, I have no chance of getting out. I need to get outside, to figure out some plan out.

I can't stay trapped in here alone.

'Wait,' I call out.

Klein stops and looks over his shoulder at me.

'I can't unhear what Ethel and Roman have told me but I will try my hardest to not let it influence my decision.' I step forward and force a smile. 'Why don't we go for that walk and you can tell me more about your community?'

Klein smiles, opens the door and gestures for me to go first.

Outside, I inhale deeply. The smell of the outdoors and trees hit me, it reminds me of home. I shake away the thought immediately.

This place is not home.

Klein offers his arm which I ignore. He laughs and starts to walk, 'You really don't like me, do you? I'm surprised, you come across as someone who is not easily led and influenced by others. I would have thought you'd be independently minded enough to give me a chance to show what we're about.'

Fake flattery will get you nowhere with me, Klein.

'I know exactly what you're about.' I walk beside him whilst keeping some distance. Olivia, the same woman who held a knife to Bo's neck, has replaced Albert and follows behind; her hand resting on the gun tucked into her waistband

'No, you don't. You know what two people have said about me. Every story has more than one version. You heard the story from two defeatists who left because they didn't get their own way. Roman wanted Ethel only for himself and he couldn't have that. Ethel couldn't get pregnant anymore and resented the women who could. She never once wanted to leave until she started having the miscarriages.' Klein rests his hand on my lower back and guides me forward.

Several adults with children pass us. They say hello to both me and Klein. Klein greets everyone by name, asks some sort of personal question and makes jokes.

It's hard to admit, but I'm starting to see the Charismatic side of Klein when I watch him interact with others

The path brings us out to a clearing and we're faced with fields of crops. People drag large items of machinery that I've never seen before. It makes me think of how much more free time Naturalists would have if they stopped fearing technology.

Klein was right when he said so many people live in fear which only leads to anger and unhappiness.

Fear is the reason people are exiled from the Naturalist settlement when they give in to a normal human need, touch. Fear resulted in Zach's mum and her team allowing the testing and death of individuals. Fear caused me to avoid certain topics with Zach.

Is fear the reason behind Zach's actions? Is fear what keeps Klein's victims here?

'What's on your mind?' Klein asks.

'I was thinking about living in fear,' I say then quickly press my lips together, annoyed at myself for answering him.

Klein nods as though he understands. 'It's something everyone is guilty of, allowing fear to influence their decisions. There's so many types of fear, fear of rejection, of being judge, of inadequacy. It's a fickle emotion, it can both help and hinder us. It is important as it can protect us from doing things which may be life-threatening but on occasion it can make us reckless and put our life in danger. For most, it makes them settle and stops them from experiencing life and opening up.'

I hate it when deranged psychotic creeps say stuff that makes logical sense.

Klein sits on a trunk and pats the space next to him. I sit but keep my distance.

He needs to see me making an effort. If he trusts me he'll give me more freedom and that is the only way I can see myself escaping. Olivia leans against a trunk a few metres away.

'Did Ethel tell you I was a trained therapist?' Klein says.

'No.'

'I had a small practise. It was only a year old before Virulence broke out. I was rather fascinated watching how people reacted to Virulence. It was shocking but rather telling of what had became of our society. People turned on their neighbours, on fellow human beings because we'd lost our humanity. We'd become so disconnected with others that we valued ourselves over anyone else which ultimately ended in a lot of people getting killed that probably wouldn't have died from Virulence.'

'What do you mean?' I ask, looking out at the expanse of space, of freedom which I don't have access to.

'There were a lot of deaths which weren't directly caused by Virulence. Many of them were due to people being scared of Virulence so they killed anyone they suspected was infected, burnt down entire cities. Some would have been people who were resistant. Even those who are resistant display signs of infection. We still get ill and suffer damage but we don't die.'

'Do you know what causes resistance?'

'No. Not even Lola has figured that one out. So what do you think so far of our community?'

'It's very pretty,' I say honestly.

'You enjoy being outside don't you?'

I shrug. 'I think everyone enjoys fresh air.'

'Some more than others.'

Albert strides towards us and Klein stands. Albert murmurs into Klein's ear.

'Wait here. I'll be back in a moment,' Klein says to me and Olivia.

I arch an eyebrow but remain on the trunk. Klein strides off with Albert, and Olivia walks over and sits next to me. I look at her closely. Why is she willing to keep a teenage girl against her will?

'Do you not think it's weird, an old man having a sixteen-year-old girl sleep in his house?' I ask.

'Klein organised several women to visit you today but after you made the first one cry everyone thought it would be better to leave you alone for a while.' Olivia tuts. 'He also didn't sleep in his house last night because you were there as it would have been inappropriate. He's a good man.'

'Tell that to Ethel-'

'She was a slut who felt guilty and embarrassed over her actions,' Olivia spits. 'What people do behind closed doors isn't my business but I can tell you this, Ethel was doing lots of people. We all knew it. Klein even told us about the other men.'

'Have you ever thought Klein was lying?'

'Have you ever thought Ethel was lying?' Olivia mocks.

'I know there was another woman who came forward.'

'False accusations. It was Doll's doing. She'd been in an abusive relationship herself for years before Virulence killed him. Don't get me wrong, I liked Doll, we were trackers together and I'd grown close to her. She was the best, found people quickly and gained their trust quickly too, but she was always looking for problems that weren't there.' Olivia shakes her head. 'Victims of abuse should be believed, but occasionally you have to accept some people lie for whatever reason, and that person who made the accusations lied, they said so themselves.'

'Probably because they were scared.'

'Or they were lying.'

There's no point in arguing. Olivia wants to believe Klein is good. She wants to live in denial.

Or maybe she truly doesn't know. I don't have any actual evidence. I believe Ethel and Roman but Klein hasn't actually tried anything they said he would. I close my eyes and rub my thumping head.

I have to get out of here.