Theo and I freeze, not knowing what to expect. There’s nowhere to hide. We wouldn’t be able to get any doors open before the person, or Ecru, appears. I clutch my knife, grabbing on to Kylee’s thin wrist.
A person strides out of a door down the hall. They don’t notice us right away, too focused on the floor, muttering something intently.
I lower my knife.
“Michelle?”
Her head whips upright. “Claire. What…what happened?”
“It’s a lot to explain. Is Piper still here?”
“She’s just waking up. I was going to see if I could find out what happened, now that the lights are back on. It’s strange how they went out. What do you think happened? Harry says it’s probably a power outage.”
Theo says, “You don’t know what happened?”
Michelle glances back and forth between us, “What do you mean? What happened?”
I start striding forward towards the door Michelle came out of. We can explain everything to everyone, but first I need to see Piper. She’ll know what to do.
Michelle lags behind us, “They’re right in there. I’m going to go out and find the other Councils, okay?”
“No.” Theo and I cry out at the same time.
“What? Why?”
Kylee gravely says, “That’s where the monsters are. You’ll end up dead just like everyone else.”
Michelle laughs nervously, “What? What is she talking about?”
I say, “Just come back with us. We’ll explain it.”
Michelle follows behind us, the crease between her brows deepening. I walk through the doors and relax. Piper is sitting up in a cot, Harry adjusting the dials and switches on the wall.
Piper says, “Claire, I…I’m so glad you’re alright. I can’t believe I ever trusted Derek, that little…” she mutters something under her breath. “Is he still here?”
I say, “Derek was trying to help you. He only injected you with the green. He had to convince Ellen that you were dead so he could help you escape. He did the same with Christopher and I. He’s helping everyone now, at least, he was.”
Piper searches my face, trying to tell whether I truly believe what I’m saying. She hesitates, “What do you mean he was?”
I tell her the whole story. The lights shutting down. The Ecru attack. My escape with Theo. The corpses in the Eating Hall. Kylee’s faked death. The further I get into the story, the paler Piper becomes.
She moans and buries her face into her hands, “If only I’d stopped the rebellion. We were foolish to have even thought we could win against Ellen. I never even thought about the Ecru… All those death, they’re my fault.”
If they’re Piper’s fault, they’re also mine. Ellen wasn’t just after Piper, she wanted my life too. Together could Piper and I have prevented this? Are all the bodies in the Eating Hall my fault? What about everyone we left behind in the Kitchens? Is there a single survivor? Do people secretly blame Piper and I?
I ask, “So what do we do know?”
Piper stares at the wall. She slowly shakes her head, “I have no idea. I guess we try to round up survivors and kill the rest of the Ecru. We have to figure out where Ellen is. She could be in the Unknown or watching the whole thing from the cameras in the Complex. Maybe she’s watching us right now.”
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. ...
