I cry out. He can’t be dead. They couldn’t be inhumane enough to kill him.
The girl and boy steal the food from beneath Tooth’s shirt. We were planning to share it later on. He may not need it anymore, but I still do. My stomach rumbles at the thought.
I back slowly away as their attention is focused on devouring the stolen food. Everything aches too much to sprint.
The girl eyes me, “Where do you think you are going?”
I mumble, “I was only trying to get out of the way.”
The girl pushes herself up, quickly covering the distance between us. She’s significantly taller and older than me, staring me down disdainfully. I stare at her in growing horror through my half-swollen eyelids.
She puts her hands on my shoulders, a gesture that might be comforting if she hadn’t just murdered Tooth, “Why would you want to get out of the way?”
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing. I simply look at her.
She snickers, “The pain too much for you? Go and don’t ever come back or you’ll turn out just like your friend.”
I spin on my heel and begin walking as quickly as I can away. Something slams into my back, causing me to lurch forward. My hands catch the floor before my head, saving my already aching skull. Sharp pain shoots down my wrists but I force myself to ignore it. I pull myself up and continue walking away.
Laughter rings out behind me as I stagger away. I don’t look back. I only need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I turn the corner and keep on.
I force myself to stumble around multiple corners before stopping. I collapse against the wall. Images of Tooth’s limp body flood my thoughts. I bend over and retch. There’s barely anything left in my stomach, bile dripping from my lips.
His eyes unseeing. His mouth falling open. The glow casting haunting shadows across his corpse.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone dead.
Will I ever look like that?
My stomach heaves. I’ve never truly thrown up before either. I knew it could happen from Teachings, but it doesn’t happen to us in the Complex. It shouldn’t.
Am I sick? There aren’t any diseases in the Complex, but what about the Unknown? Is that another horror of the Unknown, diseases and illnesses?
What will happen to his body? Will Officials take it away? Will it be left there, slowly decaying? Have the people killed other kids before?
Tooth saved me, but I was too weak to save him. If I was stronger or a better fighter, Tooth might still be alive.
If I had done something differently, would Tooth still be breathing next to me?
YOU ARE READING
274 (Complex Series, #4)
Science Fiction-fourth book in the Complex series- Claire, known to most people only by her Complex number as 274, has always obeyed the Official's rules. You have to, unless you want to be sent away to the Unknown. Until, she meets Marie and everything changes. ...
