Birthright

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

On Kray's sixteenth day at the facility, Ruhar was taken for harvesting and never returned.

"He made it out," Carter said. Unlike the time Kulken had disappeared, there was certainty in his voice. Orkoy nodded grimly.

Kray felt a mixture of relief and envy. Ruhar had spent over four weeks at the facility and had suffered the most. Being the youngest at thirteen, no one could've blamed him for being so terrified. But it was finally over for him and he would never have to face such a trial again in his life.

Shane was next in line, and after a while, it became easy to sense his building anxiety and anticipation. He almost seemed enthusiastic when Steelboot came for him, jumping up from his bed and eagerly following the guard to the lab. He found a small rock at the corner of his cell one day and used it to mark his progress on the wall. At first, he drew a line for each day that passed but soon, he became impatient and began to mark each hour.

Kray shook his head the first time and said, "You shouldn't do that. It will only make time go slower."

"If I don't," Shane replied as he finished yet another mark and studied it with an intense expression. "I'll go crazy."

They all teased him about it, but he always gave a half-smile and ignored their words. While Kray could understand Shane's reasons, he knew that counting every hour wouldn't help him like it did Shane. Instead, Kray breathed a sigh of relief every time he was harvested and felt that same relief when his block-mates were returned. Every day that passed brought them closer to the moment when they would be free. And things were almost bearable for a while.

Until the twenty-second day.

It was just after four in the afternoon, and Carter was recovering in his bed from the latest harvesting. His arms were tightly wound around his torso as he rocked on his bed, groaning loudly. "So cold. Hurts."

"You want to tell us something new?" Orkoy said.

"Try to be nice," Shane said. He tossed the rock in the air and caught it in alternating hands. Having had nothing to do for weeks, Kray felt envious of the simple activity. "You know how it is."

Carter surprised all of them when he jumped to his feet. He stumbled forward a few steps and then stopped, weaving on his feet like a drunken man. The picture might have been comical had it not been for the look of terror frozen on his face.

Something wasn't right. Shane dropped the rock and walked to the front of his cell. "Whoa, you better lie back down, Cart. You don't look so good."

He didn't seem to hear him. Kray was surprised to realize that Carter was staring straight ahead of him, straight into his cell. Straight at him. But his eyes were strangely unfocused.

Suddenly, those eyes rolled backward and the rest of his body tilted back at an angle, teetering for an impossibly long second. Kray heard himself shout Carter's name and then a loud thud followed as Carter's body hit the concrete floor. Almost immediately, he began to convulse, his body writhing and twisting on the ground. Bloody foam appeared at the corner of his mouth and trickled down the side of his face.

Dimly, Kray heard the others screaming; screaming at Carter, screaming for the guard, screaming from the injustice of being forced to watch helplessly while their friend was wracked with the throes of death. And Kray knew that Carter was dying. People didn't become sick in this place. They either lived in numbed existence or died when their bodies could no longer bear the burden.

Someone began to retch in a cell to his left, and another—Orkoy—sobbed loudly.

Kray barely registered the pain as his knees collided with the hard floor underneath him. He shut his eyes against the horrifying scene playing out before him and pressed his hands to his ears to mute the sounds. Salty tears filled his mouth as he cried without sound. He wasn't sure if Carter was still moving. He didn't dare look for fear of losing whatever was left of his sanity. But the image of Carter was embedded on Kray's eyeballs and continued to replay in his mind.