Chapter 12
Montana 1998
“Come on, Josiah,” Annie urged, lacing her fingers through her boyfriend's and running down the white-tiled floors of the compound. Class had just ended for the day, and the two trainees hurried outside to enjoy the late-spring freshness.
They passed by door after door of meeting rooms, classrooms, and apartment suites lining the hallways of their home, and out onto the soft spring grass. The breeze they generated with their movements smelled pine and flowers. Though a high, white-stone wall completely encircled the courtyard, the adept nineteen-year-olds scrambled over it, eager to escape into the hills beyond. First Josiah clambered to the top, tearing the knee out of his blue jeans on the rough stone, so a hint of café au lait-colored skin peeked through.
Br
