Chapter 20
THE AIR CHANGES and becomes thick and sharp like rotting food. I follow the hallway straight down and suddenly burst into an open room. I slide to a stop and heads look up at me from piles of rubbish. A few seconds pass and they return to their work, sorting through mounds of mess with yellow-gloved hands.
Someone stands up straight and locks eyes with me. It’s Trouble. Confusion slides across his expression as I jog over. I switch off the torch so I don’t call even more attention to myself.
When I reach him I almost knock him over. Trouble pulls off his gloves and holds my shoulders. I stare at him, feeling my arms trembling, and can’t think of how to explain it, not even to someone who understands English. I mean, I don’t even really understand what I’ve just seen.
He drops his chin and in a low voice whispers, “Trouble?”
I nod.
“Hey, Trouble, over here.”
We both look up. Kean beckons us with a quick wave of his hand. He’s standing behind a huge metal dumpster, shielded from the rest of the workers.
Trouble keeps his hand on one of my shoulders as we head over to Kean. He drops his hand as soon as we’re behind the dumpster, and it’s like passing a baton: Kean grabs my face with both hands. His touch has this weird calming effect on me.
“What’s going on?” he says, glancing between us.
My mouth hangs open for a second. “We have to get out of here. Now.”
“Why?” His eyes bore into me. “What happened?”
“I just found a room full of dead infected. Hundreds of them.”
Kean blinks and stares at me as he processes.
“And we have a new room mate, Jacob. He says he came from another place just like Arcadium but it blew up. He said there’s a self-destruct mechanism in case things get out of hand. Kean, we’re sitting on a freaking time bomb.”
Kean drops his hands away and steadies himself against the dumpster.
“I don’t know what it is but I get the feeling Jacob knows more than he’s telling.”
“So…” Kean glances at Trouble. Trouble is just watching intently, eyes flicking between us. “What do we do?”
I take a deep breath. “I don’t know but I’m supposed to meet Adrian in a few minutes. He wants to hang out in the surveillance room and I didn’t want to look suspicious.”
Kean’s eyes narrow but he doesn’t say anything for a long while. We just stand in the shadow of the dumpster, huddled together.
“Why don’t we have a family meeting tonight and decide. If we’re leaving, we’ll need a plan. In the meantime we just carry on, pretend nothing’s wrong.” He nods for Trouble and looks back at me. “Try not to look like anything’s up.”
“Tonight then.” I nod.
“We should get back to work before the slave driver finds us slacking off.” Kean pauses, one hand still cradling my face. “Hey, it’ll all be fine.”
I nod again. “Yep.”
Kean peers around the dumpster. “Go,” he says.
I hurry out the way I came, still full of adrenaline, and when I reach the bottom of the stairs I pause and glance at the biohazard door. I tuck the small torch into the waistband of my trousers and head on up.
Adrian is waiting at the surveillance room door with two brown paper bags. He looks me up and down and then frowns. “What happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” I ask looking down and I see what he’s talking about. When I fell down the stairs I’ve managed to slide through gross blue greasy stuff and it’s all down the side of my uniform. I feel nauseous, and try not to think about what it really is. “Oh, that… I slipped on some rubbish juice.”
Adrian crinkles his nose and moves toward the door. “Why don’t you go change your uniform and I’ll get lunch ready.”
“Uh… good idea.” I turn and head to the bathroom, grateful for the moment alone. Act normal, I keep telling myself, but there’s so much going on in my head. Images of the dead bodies tossed together like rubbish, like they weren’t once people. Jacobs’s mouth forming ominous words. Flashing blue lights.
I find another uniform and scoop it up in my arms. I sit on one of the benches and stop for a moment. Liss and Henry are here somewhere, sealed behind glass and unaware of everything, and Kean and Trouble are stuck in the basement wading through revolting rubbish. No wonder they look tired and demoralised all the time. It’s horrible down there. A dungeon.
I put my palms against my forehead and close my eyes. How could this be so wrong? How could I be so blind? Arcadium was supposed to be our destination, our saviour, our safety. And maybe it is on the surface, but underneath it’s just as volatile as outside. Is there nowhere safe anymore? Is there no one we can trust?
I pull in a long slow breath and let it out. And that’s when I realise we can only trust ourselves. Just the five of us. Because not one of them slowed me down, not one of them tried to kill me, not one of them tried to talk me out of this crazy idea. They trusted me and I trusted them and that last night at the hotel was the best I’ve had in forever.
I try to think of something else… like lunch, to calm me down. I dump the dirty uniform in the laundry bin and leave.
I knock lightly on the door and it pops open straight away. Adrian has lunch spread out on the desk and goes back to the computer, searching for something.
“Turns out scientists do like cake.” He holds up a slice of banana bread, staring at the screen still. When I sit down he looks over and grins. “That smells better.”
“Ha, ha,” I say, snatching the banana bread slice from his hand. “What are we watching?”
“The new guy’s entrance. It’s pretty cool.” Adrian stops typing and points at the monitor. He sits back in the chair and bites into a wrap of some kind. “You met him yet?” he says, with his mouthful.
“Yeah, he scared the crap out of me this morning.”
Adrian laughs and takes another greedy bite. It kind of reminds me of an infected person chowing down on a meal. Adrian sits up suddenly. “Here, here. Watch this.”
I stare at the black and white monitor. Nothing happens straight away but soon a small figure walks into view. Infected people hover aimlessly but as soon as they see his movement they all jerk into action. Jacob keeps walking, even as they run at him. He reaches with steady hands into his jacket, pulls out a gun from each side and starts shooting.
Infected heads explode and the bodies drop to the floor. There’s no sound but I flinch with every shot. Jacob keeps on going like he’s invincible, walking straight toward the elevator. Once inside he turns around and I swear it looks like an action movie. Jacob raises his gun and shoots three times, stopping the onslaught with pinpoint precision. And then he calmly reaches for the elevator button. As the doors shut he puts down the guns, sits on the floor and moments later he passes out.
“How cool is that? Look he even puts the safeties back on before he sits down. What a champion.” Adrian looks over. “Not bad, huh?”
“Just because he looks a little bit more organised than we did…”
“A bit!” Adrian throws his head back and laughs. “What’s he like?”
I shrug and bite into my cake. “I don’t know. He seems alright.”
“Bad ass?”
“Yeah, totally.” I finish chewing. “So there’s no one in decontamination now?”
Adrian scans the monitors and points one out. “Nope. All clear.”
“And have they found a cure yet?”
Adrian takes another bite and shakes his head.
“What about that thing they were talking about when I was stuck in the cupboard?”
Adrian gives me his best sour look. “You mean when you almost got me in deep trouble?”
I just smile and finish off the banana bread.
“They’re still working on it. Normally it takes a day and they find it’s nothing but the labs have been buzzing for a while.”
“Must be good then.”
??
?Eh, don’t know, don’t care.” He chews noisily and finishes the last of his wrap. “Check it out,” he says, pushing something toward me. “When was the last time you had yoghurt?”
I pick up the tub but I’m still thinking about his lack of desperation for a cure. “Don’t you want to live outside again? In the real world?”
Adrian wipes his mouth and sits back. “This is the real world. Besides, I’m going to be the ruler of this place one day. Out there I’m nothing but in here… here I’m king.”
I look away. I pretend to watch a monitor out to the side but really I’m just hiding the panic I feel. Sometimes it’s easy to think Adrian’s just a lonely kid and feel sympathy for him, but then he has these moments where he really does sound crazy, and I wonder if his dad’s like that too. At least Doctor Harding is looking for a cure. Adrian’s just looking for his tiny kingdom to rule.
“Spoon?” Adrian says. I don’t answer him straight away and he taps me on the head with it. When I reach for the spoon he lets me have it but grabs my hand instead. I freeze and panic flutters within me like an aviary of alarmed birds. Adrian’s skin prickles against mine, his fingers tighten in an acid grip. All I can think of is Kean’s soft lips against my forehead.
I yank my hand back, put my foot against his wheely chair and shove him away.
Adrian’s eyes narrow but his lips still carry a smile. “Careful,” he says, wheeling himself slowly toward me. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
I drop the tub of yoghurt and it clatters to the floor. “I’ll feed myself then.” I shoot to my feet and rush out the door. I don’t even care what he thinks.
I never turn to see if Adrian is following, I just run straight back to my sleeping quarters and slam the door.
I pace the length of our small grey room a few times before slipping into my bunk and pressing myself right up against the wall. If I close my eyes strange images dance behind my lids: Adrian and his tight grip, discarded bodies, creepy sour smelling basements.
So I keep my eyes open, staring at the bunk above me. Hours pass like this. I’m just waiting for the others to return, drawing out a plan in my head. Once together we can head out to the rooftop, down the fire escape and climb the back fence into the houses. From there we can run, find a car. We’ll have to start again, collecting food and water, but it’s possible and doable and the only choice we have. I won’t allow Liss to die in a concrete coffin surrounded by crazy people.
At three o’clock the door opens and Trouble walks in. He doesn’t see me though, and just sits on Henry’s bed, looks up at the clock and sighs. It’s weird because he’s not supposed to finish work for another three hours.
I don’t know why I don’t just come out straight away. I feel like I’ve intruded on a private moment of Trouble’s solitude and I don’t just want to jump out and scare him.
His dark eyes seem hollow, he looks pale too, but since we haven’t seen sun in two weeks I’m not surprised. Trouble stretches out his fingers and looks at his hands.
The door flings opens. I can’t tell who it is, just a set of white shoes and white trousered ankles, but Trouble’s eyes go wild and confused.
In seconds there’s another set of white shoes and then Trouble’s on the floor, face down, being dragged out by his legs. He doesn’t even have a chance to make a sound, but he does grab the bunk ladders on either side. We lock eyes and I don’t need a translator to know he’s scared.
I can measure the time that passes in three hammering heartbeats. A foot kicks out at Trouble’s hand, breaking his grip, and I catch a glimpse of white lab coat. Trouble grapples with the concrete floor but they drag him straight out. His eyes never leave mine until the door slams shut.
The scuffling sound fades and I lie blinking, trying to work out if I’d imagined it or not. But I can still see his fingerprints frosted onto the metal ladder bar.
I jerk into action, rolling out and bursting into the hallway. I follow the sound to the right and it takes me straight to the corridor leading to the laboratories. I run down it and as I reach the glass door, Trouble is just disappearing around the corner. I stop, wondering if I should dare to punch in the code and follow. But suddenly scientists spill out of an office and follow Trouble’s trail, their backs toward me.
What can I do? What power do I have against thirty heavy-handed scientists?
At this moment I just want to grab Liss and run. A few weeks ago I would have. But I can’t leave Kean and Henry wondering. And I won’t leave Trouble to the mercy of the scientists… whatever it is they want from him.
I turn back and run down the hall. When I reach the door to the basement I don’t even hesitate. I take the stairs at a run and hope Kean is still sorting rubbish where I left him.
The smell tells me I’m close and I slow, definitely not needing any more attention. I peer around the corner and my heart jumps when I see him, even though he’s nearly elbow deep in brown muck.
There are all sorts of rubbish moving noises, clinking and squelching and all sorts, so when I throw a loose tin can at him he starts and turns, but no one else notices.
The second he sees me he strips off his gloves, casting a glance over his shoulder, and jogs over. I turn and stride back into the hallway and he follows me.
“What is it?” he says.
Finally I stop. He stares at me, shaking his head.
I can barely make the words. “They took Trouble.”
“Who? Who took him?”
“The scientists. We were in our room and they didn’t see me in my bunk and they got him on the ground and dragged him away. I didn’t know what to do.”
Kean is blinking rapidly, his mind whirring into action.
“I couldn’t follow him. They were everywhere.”
Kean nods. “You did the right thing. Dammit. What can we do? Can we get in there?”
“What could they want with him? Is it punishment for leaving work early?”
Kean’s face is pulled taut with a grimace. “The boss pulled me aside for a word and when I got back Trouble was gone. They told me he’d cut his hand and they were looking after him.” He looks away. “I believed them.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, and start walking to the stairs. “We’ll go back to the room, wait for Liss and Henry. We’ll get Trouble back and then get the hell out of this place.”
Kean follows. “I feel helpless.”
“I’m the one that got us here in the first place. This is my fault.”
He touches my arm. “The outbreak isn’t your fault. This isn’t your fault.”
We’re almost at the stairs when the door above opens. Heavy footsteps begin toward us, as does a whistled tune.
Kean’s eyes go wide. “Slave driver.” He grabs my wrist and moves to run back the way we came but there’s no time. I pull him to the biohazard door. This is the last place I want to be heading back into but there’s no choice. We need cover now.
I punch in the code and hope the whistling covers the tiny beep. The footsteps are so close, as we push through the door the whistling stops. I hold my breath. Kean holds the door open a crack because it’s too late to let it close and risk making a noise. He watches through the gap.
I keep my eyes on him, for a few harrowing seconds he’s dead still, and then he breathes a thin sigh of relief. Kean looks over his shoulder and follows my gaze. “Close,” he whispers.
“We’re not free yet,” I say, eyeing the bags full of infected bodies.
“Are they…?”
“Yep.”
Kean’s mouth hangs open. “We have to get out of here.”