Read Red is for Remembrance for Free Online Page B

Even though they've known each other for several months now, until these past couple weeks, she hasn't paid him much attention.
    "That was a great celebration," Brick says.
    Shell nods in agreement, his mind wandering a moment to the old couple's cottage, the one he almost raided.
    "You did good," Brick continues. "Everyone's really proud of you."
    "Thanks," Shell says, remembering the pocket watch he found and the message inside-- To Candace, forever, with love. He wonders why it upset him so. But maybe the pocket watch isn't the problem at all. He's heard before that people who find themselves victimized often try to tell their perpetrators bits of personal information or show them personal objects so the perpetrator sees them as a real person, making it difficult to commit the crime. Maybe the pocket watch just made the old couple a Little too real.
    "Most of us wouldn't have been brave enough to follow our convictions," Brick says. "Most of us would have done what we were told."
    "Most of us?" Shell repeats. "So some of the campers do disobey?"
    "Only sometimes," Brick says, pausing a moment from chopping. His wavy, blond hair flies back with the wind.
     
    "Have you stolen before?"
    "It's only stealing if you don't first consider the worth an object has to its owner; that's what Mason says. For example, some people have three or four TVs in their house, but 52
    do they really need all of them? Probably not. But something personal, something like an heirloom . . . well, that's probably priceless to its owner. It would be stealing to take something like that. Get it?"
    She'll shrugs, still a bit confused.
    "Mason says that it's human nature to want to give," Brick continues. "The problem is, some people don't know they want to give. We help those people; they give to us when we take their extra stuff-- their needless possessions. They help us continue in our mission of peace."
    Shell nods, mulling over the explanation but still not completely clear about it. After all, who's to say what's needless?
    "Everyone was happy that you followed your heart," Brick says, his icy blue eyes tearing up from the cold. "Heart is essential for peace ... so is bravery. Mason says that all the time, too."
    "Mason says a lot, I guess," She'll says, suddenly at a loss for words.
    "He thinks that we work well together," Brick says, the tiny gap between his two front teeth just visible in his smile. "He's going to pair us up for chores as often as he can."
    Shell smiles back. Brick has become his confidant these past several months, offering tips and assisting with tasks.
    "How about a break?" Brick suggests.
    Shell nods, more than ready to rest his hands. A couple of his knuckles have started to crack and bleed from the cold.
    The two sit down on a log, breaking out their day's snack food-- homemade granola bars and Thermoses full of hot
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    tea. They sit in silence for several moments and Shell takes a moment to observe their camp.
    There are eight cabins total: one for Mason and Rain; one for the children and their parents or assigned caregivers; one for the leaders just under Mason (campers like Clay); one for the elder women, sometimes used as an infirmary; one for the remaining females (campers like Lily and Daisy); another for the remaining males (campers like himself and Brick); and still another with a large kitchen and recreation area. There's also one designated bathroom cabin where people shower and bathe.
     
    The backdrop to the camp is the ocean. There's also an expansive forest that extends to the right, just beyond their chopping station. After his first few weeks here, Brick told She'll that Mason inherited the land from Rosa, his late wife. Apparently the land had been in her family for generations and, when she died, Mason got to keep it all. Shell pauses a moment at the chainlink fence that surrounds the camp and the barbed wire that winds around it at the very top. He's wanted to ask Brick about it for a while now, but