984 (Complex Series, #2)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Miranda speaks in a hush tone, “Five minutes.”

We all stand, shifting back and forth anxiously in absolute silence. All I can I hear is the quick breathing of Dana next to me and the thumping of my own heart.

We face the door that the Officials will come through, waiting for it slide open and terrified at what it might reveal.

Last minute doubts fly through my head. What if the rogue Officials can’t come? What if they aren’t rogue Officials, but loyal, and we are going to be killed? What if one of us gets caught? What if I get caught?

The door moves, and we all flinch. It continues to open until it reveals five male Officials and a stretcher.

The Officials quickly wheel the stretcher, with someone on it, inside the room and the door closes behind them.

I stare at the girl on the stretcher.  Straight brown hair lies tangled around her head.  Her skin is a sickly pale white.

If her eyes were able to open, I’m sure they would be a light, soft green.

I’m finally seeing Brinn, but not at all how I wanted to.

Her chest doesn’t seem to be moving at all and she is completely and utterly still. 

Dana runs forward, shattering the horrible silence.  She cries out, “Brinn.”

She grabs the side of the stretcher, a tear running down her face.

The Officials quickly push Dana to the side and say, “It’s okay.  We are at a safe spot.”

Confusion is clear on Dana’s face. What does ‘safe spot’ mean?  Why would it be okay? Brinn is dead. Nothing is okay.

Brinn sits up and gives us one of her soft smiles, her eyes alight, “It’s okay, I’m okay. It was just a test. I’m sorry, I didn’t really want to do it, but they made me.”

 She hops down from the stretcher.  Dana doesn’t hesitate for a second, she wraps Brinn in a tight hug.

Dana, tears still running down her face, says, “I thought you were dead, Brinn, I thought you were offie dead. I, don’t you ever offie do that again!”

Brinn smiles, “That’s the idea, Dana, although it was hard to continue playing dead when you started talking. I recognized that it was you, but I wasn’t sure whether it was safe or not to move.”

Brinn’s eyes land on me, “Piper.”

I move to give her a hug, but the rogue Officials hold up their hands. “You’ll have plenty of time to talk later, right now we need to get going before other loyal Officials are on schedule.”

The five Officials converse for a second before each of them grabs a jar full of a white, thick liquid.

Brinn explains, “Here’s the plan. The Officials are going to cover you with that,” she points to the jars, “to make you look paler, and…well…dead.  The poison that Ellen uses causes your skin to turn almost white, like the color of your eyes.Then, they are going to put you on a stretcher, they have more hidden somewhere.  We are going to split into two groups, Piper, Dana, and I in one group, then Bridget and Canton in the other. The Officials are going to deliver us to another safe spot by pushing us around on these stretchers.  There are so many dead or dying kids being moved throughout this part of Ellen’s Complex right now, that we’ll blend in perfectly.  These Officials also work in this part of the Complex, so they won’t seem suspicious either.”

One of the Officials commands me quietly to close my eyes. He lightly moves a brush up and down my face, then over my arms and legs. Soon, I’m as pale as Brinn.