Humanity: Project X - 160

Chapter 6

Skye couldn't believe her ears.

Kill them? What in the world had they done? Had 32 told on them, about how there were two girls with a bloody knife? Could he know about the incident? After staring into her eyes, a flashback blinked of his eyes staring into hers, and then there was complete darkness. She gasped and clutched her head. However, she was not going to show any kind of weakness, although she probably already had. She took in a deep breath and decided this man was not a friend. Instead of going with her name, she went with the number marked on her wrist.

"X - 160," she said, raising it so that everyone could see it.

The number right after 159.

159 did not show any reaction. However, 45 did. He whistled, then shook his head. She could tell that he didn't think it was a coincidence. He was definitely up to something, just like Kaya. Like he was fitting a puzzle together.

"Why are you smiling?" 159 asked, raising an eyebrow. He was curious, most likely.

"Nothing, nothing," 45 said, shaking his head to signify he wasn't willing to share anything even if he was thinking about something.

159 did not dwell long on 45. However, he did turn his attention to Kaya.

"What is your name?" he asked, nodding his head to her.

"X - 18," she said, raising her wrist.

"Good, good," he said, looking down and putting his finger to his mouth. After a while of silence, he continued to speak. "You can stay, but you better not get into any kind of trouble."

Skye decided she wanted to leave as soon as possible. But if they wanted survival, the best way to do that was to stick with a group. But the conversation 159, 45, and everyone else had been discussing had made her uneasy. What if it really came down to it? Would they really kill everyone who seems even a little bit suspicious?

Her heart racing, she didn't listen to the rest of the conversation. What if they found out about the message on her ceiling? No, they couldn't do that... could they? She was so engrossed in her thinking that Kaya had to shake her a couple times so that she could answer a question.

"Hello? Yes or no, do you agree with me?" Kaya asked Skye.

"Yeah," she said, blinking the shock out of her and then sighing for a moment.

After a while of the group debating, they decided to sleep. Skye, too shaky to sleep, volunteered to keep watch. Being new, not many people trusted her, so they nominated 159 to keep watch as well. He grunted, probably annoyed by the decision, but agreed anyways.

As everyone made themselves comfortable in the huge room, Skye scanned the shelves of books. There were tons of hundreds of books, probably meaning this was an office, or maybe even a small library. She slowly walked over to the biggest shelf and laid her hand on a book, pulling it out ever so slightly and then tracing her fingers along the leather cover.

"I once loved to read," she heard 159's quiet version of his voice speak over the snoring and sighs of the night.

She turned to face him and then raised an eyebrow.

"Why did you stop reading?" she asked.

"Oh, you know... the common reason. I never really had time."

"So you remember your past?" she asked, surprised.

"Bits and pieces," he said, joining her in looking through the books and then tracing his fingers along the old yet cold covers.

As the silently looked through the books, Skye found herself getting bored. So she quickly grabbed the leather book she had looked at first and walked back to where she had been sitting before, watching every wall and ceiling to make sure the creature wouldn't come after them.