She Heard Nothing novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Live Audio

Sabina put her hand in her pocket and took out a pink phone.

She held it against her stomach with both arms.

"Sir, it's private," she said. "There are personal messages on it. From my family."

"I understand that," the chief instructor said. "Hand it over."

"I don't have to."

"You do not have to," he agreed. "And I will mark that on your file before I do anything else."

The drill instructor took a step closer.

Sabina's arms came down slowly, and the chief instructor lifted the phone out of her fingers.

The screen was still lit.

He turned it toward himself and stood very still.

I watched his eyes move down it, line by line.

"Come here, both of you," he said. "And bring that girl with the camera."

Lottie came up beside me, close enough that our sleeves touched.

The screen showed a gray wave across the top, pulsing slowly, and below it a list of small cards.

Each card had a date.

Each had a single name, spelled out in plain type.

ABBY.

"What is this?" the drill instructor asked quietly.

"It's a game," Sabina said. "It's just an app I downloaded."

"It says Live Audio," the chief instructor said. "Connected. Two listeners."

He pressed a finger to the first card.

A crackle came out of the phone's speaker, and then a girl's voice, small and thick with sleep.

"Two lemon drops," the voice said. "That's the plan for the long stand. Okay. Two. You can do this."

It was mine.

Every person on the field recognized it at the same moment.

I heard the sound go through the rows, a ripple of breath, then a low growl of whispers.

"That's what she said about the candy!"

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