My pulse spikes, my grip automatically tight around my knives. I peer around the shelves, but I can’t see where the noise came from. There’s an open doorway in the back of the room, some type of hall veering off.
Piper raises her knives and stalks forward. She presses herself against the wall and peers around the corner. After a second, she motions that it’s all clear. We creep forward, into the hall. The hallway travels for several paces, a few doorways scattered along it.
An Ecru bursts from the door. I flinch and Christopher screams from behind me. Piper crouches, waiting for it to get closer. It five paces away. Four. A yell follows the Ecru. Derek bursts from the same doorway. He charges the Ecru, swinging a large, shiny metal pan through the air. The pan crashes into the Ecru’s head. It crumples to the floor.
He grins at us, “Well hello, lovely seeing you here. Piper, Christopher, it’s good to see you.”
Piper stares at him, her face unreadable.
Derek steps gingerly over the collapsed Ecru, “You must know that I had to do what I did. It’s a huge advantage for Ellen to think you’re dead.”
Piper presses her lips together and doesn’t say anything. Derek just shrugs, “Could I borrow your knife for a second? I’m afraid I lost mine a while back.”
Harry fishes one of his knives out if his waistband and hands it to Derek. Derek quick slits the Ecru’s throat. The black blood spills on to the floor.
Derek begins to hand the knife back to Harry, but Harry says, “Keep it, I’ve got plenty.”
Derek nods, holding a knife in one hand and the frying pan in the other. “Well, shall we be off? There are more Ecru creeping around here somewhere. The pack got broken up in the chaos.”
He motions with his arms. I notice that they are covered in nail marks. Is Derek immune as well? Whoever gave us immunity certainly wouldn’t give it to him. Maybe he came up with his own.
Piper seems to notice this as well, “Are you immune too?”
Derek begins walking, but he turns back to say, “Of course. Did you think I would create the immunity injection and not take advantage of it myself?”
“Wait,” Theo interrupts, “Derek created the immunity?”
Derek starts striding forward again, “Well, of course. Who else would have the power to not only experiment for hours in a lab but inject the carefully guarded children with it?”
Derek is the one who’s made my life so different from everyone else? He’s the reason I can remember things that everyone else has forgotten. Should I thank him or hate him? Why couldn’t I just be average like everyone else? Without the crushing responsibilities and high expectations.
Piper asks, “Are there any other survivors?”
Derek winces. “Not sure. Although I did…I…James…”
Tears gather in Piper’s eyes. “No. Not James…”
“I’m sorry. He was one of the closest ones to the door. He never had much of a chance.”
James. He was one of the leaders of the village. He never lived in the Complex. He didn’t know what he was truly fighting for, yet he still came. He gave up his life for everyone here. All these sacrifices are useless. What’s the point in sacrificing yourself for everyone, if everyone else is dead?
Harry asks, “What’s this immunity to thing? Are you immune to the Ecru’s way of killing?”
Derek glances at Piper, “Yes, there’s an injection that I’ve given people that give them immunity to all of Ellen’s poisons. I didn’t give a lot of people it because I wasn’t sure how it worked. I didn’t want to give an entire year the injection, only to have them die after three years. I’ve been doing a long scale experiment, and so far it’s working.”
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. ...
