𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 - 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘏 𝘊𝘜𝘙𝘌

4 ~ the girl with the white coat

"No," I replied quietly.

She didn't move away. "Does it hurt? The needles, I mean."

"Not anymore," I answered truthfully. I didn't feel the need to lie to her. She didn't seem cold and closed off like the other doctors. Instead, she was curious, and, as far as I could tell, genuine. Well, a genuine as you can be working for WICKED. "Why are you here?" I decided it was my turn to ask questions.

She smiled. "'Here' as in WICKED, or 'here' as in standing in front of you?"

"Both."

"WICKED took me in after my family died. They found out that I was Immune to the Flare, and asked me if I wanted to help them find a cure. I said yes." She kept her voice neutral, but there was something in her eyes... something that told me she wasn't telling me the whole truth. "As for being here today, my supervisor thought it would be a good idea to get some hands-on experience and talk to some of you."

"Some of you?" I repeated. "So it's true? There's more of me here?"

"More kids just like you, yes."

"And you," I corrected stubbornly. "You're a kid too. How come I don't get to see them? And what about my sister? I haven't seen her in weeks-" My voice had risen subconsciously, and I was scowling at the girl, as if my situation was her fault.

"Charlotte, I think it's time you go," said the male doctor with glasses. He must have noticed my scowl.

"She hasn't told me about my sister yet." I crossed my arms like a toddler, pouting. The doctor that was about to stick my shoulder with a needle sighed, exasperated.

"Why do you think I know anything about your sister?" The girl – Charlotte – asked. I hated the tone of her voice. I hated how she acted like she was so much older, wiser, superior to me. I bet I was even older than her, at least by a year. She was no one to be bossing me around and treating me like a child.

"Because you work for WICKED," I replied. "You have to know something." I knew I sounded desperate just then, but the truth was, I was desperate. I couldn't stand not knowing what they were doing to my sister; what if it was worse than what they were doing to me?

"Not about that," Charlotte said, and there, again, I saw the lie in her eyes. This time, I called her out on it.

"Don't lie to me!" I exclaimed, jumping off the chair. A tube that had been stuck in my forearm, drawing blood, fell out and struck the floor. My blood stained the tiles. The same male doctor put an arm around Charlotte's shoulders and began to lead her out the door. She glanced back at me, looking worried. I scoffed.

"You're a terrible liar, Charlotte."

That night, I was not let into my usual room. Instead, I was led right past the door, stopping at another one. This one had a plaque on it, but instead of it reading 'SUBJECT A5', which is what they called me here, it read 'BOYS 3-12'.

I looked up at my escort curiously, but they didn't meet my eyes. Instead, they turned the doorknob and shoved me lightly inside the room, shutting the door swiftly behind me. My instinct was to whirl around and bang my fists on the door. "Hey!" I yelled in panic. "What the-"

"Chill out, dude."

I froze. A voice? A young boy's voice. It had been so long since I heard one. I turned slowly.

The first thing I noticed was that the lights were on. It was strange, since I wasn't allowed to have lights back in my room. I wasn't inside it enough for that. The second thing I noticed was the bunk beds lining the brick walls, which were painted blue. Two bunk beds on the left, two on the right. There was a table in the middle, with eight chairs around it. Exactly the number of beds in the room.

There were people in the room. Seven of them, to be exact, and they were boys. Real boys, like the ones I was friends with back in school. They seemed to be just starting their dinner, based on the full plates in front of them and forks stopped halfway to their mouths, obviously startled by my arrival.

"What?" Was the first word out of my mouth.

"I said, 'Chill out, dude,'" said an Asian boy with spiked hair. He must have been the one who spoke before.

"I am chill," I said. "What are we doing in here?"

"You think we know?" Spiked Hair asked, getting up from his seat. "You think we care? This food is better than what I usually get fed, this bed is comfier than mine, and we actually have lights in here. I'm not complaining."

"You weren't allowed to have lights either?" I asked.

Spiked Hair gave me an odd look. "Nope," he replied slowly. "What's up with your voice?"

"What, you haven't heard of a Brit before?" I asked him.

"I've heard of them. I've just never met one in real life, obviously. I'm from America." He ran a hand though his hair, making it even more vertical. "Anyways. What's your name?"

"Newt," I replied. Spiked Hair snorted.

"Weird name. I'm Minho." He pointed to himself, and then behind him at one of the kids at the table. "That's-"

"Gally," The boy he was pointing at finished for him. "We can introduce ourselves, Minho."

Minho rolled his eyes. "Go on then."

And so I met Julian, Siggy, Clint, Alex, and Alby. I was invited to sit down and eat with them. Minho was right; the food was better, and part of it was because I had someone to eat it with. By the end of the meal, I didn't really want to go back to my own room.

Finally, the door opened again and all eight of us stood from the table. A single lady came in, dragging a cart behind her.

"I'm here to take your dishes," she said cheerfully, wheeling the cart over to the table and piling the dirty dishes onto it. Then she made to leave.

"Wait!" I cried. She hesitated at the door. "Do we stay in here? Like, sleep, and everything?"

The lady smiled. "Yes, you sleep in here. You'll do so from now on, actually. You all have been moved permanently from your single rooms to this here dorm." She stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. Then came the familiar click of a lock from the outside, which didn't even phase me anymore.

I turned to face my new roommates, a smile creeping on my face at the thought that I wouldn't be alone anymore. The other seven had a similar look on their faces; mixed with relief and triumph. I could tell that we'd all suffered with being alone for those long, torturous weeks.

"Well..." Minho began slowly.

"Well?" Julian questioned.

"I get top bunk!" Minho shouted suddenly, making me jump. He rushed to the bunk bed nearest to him and swung himself to the top, not even using the ladder. Julian cried out in panic, rushing to the next bunk bed in fear that he wouldn't get a top bunk in time before someone else stole it.

I stood by, watching the others scuffle for the top. I couldn't care less which bed I slept on; all that mattered was that I wasn't alone anymore. And once night really fell, and we were in our designated beds, a thought crossed my mind as I was staring up at Alex's bed above me.

Now that we had each other, we could take more risks. We could come up with a plan. We could escape. 

A/N

Chapter 4! WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER... anyways. Hope you enjoyed! If you did, make sure you vote.

*So sorry for the wait! As I've said before, I'm super busy this time of year so updates won't be frequent*

- golden habit