Cridex

Chapter Seventeen

"Are you ready?" Jonas asked quietly. His gaze swept over us, and Imogen and Camden met his gaze evenly, whereas I remained silent, still not daring to look him in the eye.

"Yes," Imogen replied, her voice determined and her face set in an unreadable expression.

Jonas took a deep breath. "Okay, then. Lead the way," He directed his statement to Imogen, who nodded somberly. She looked left and right, then decided it was safe. Nimbly running straight to the door, she tested the knob and it turned, the door opening an inch. She gave us a smile and waved us over.

Imogen then opened the door and walked inside, pressing her body against the walls. The whole building was dark, though I was sure there was going to be light where they auctioned off the cyborgs. I watched as Imogen walked to the other side of the hallway.

She quickly ran back and nodded. Jonas and Camden both immediately followed her but I decided to remain in the back, trailing after the group. I tried memorizing the layout of the auction house, noting down where we chose to turn and where we simply went straight, though I lost track quickly.

"Up ahead should be where the stage is," Imogen whispered, quickly and urgently. Sure enough, I could see tendrils of light making its way towards us, where the darkness was. "But, if I remember correctly, the way to the barracks is... left." She pointed towards the hallway branching off to the left.

It didn't seem possible, but I thought the hallway was even darker then the one we were currently standing in. "Let's go, then," Camden replied, and Imogen took a deep breath.

"Yes," was Imogen's only reply as she led the way. "It's a very long walk- I remember how I had to run at full sprint and then it still took me minutes, precious minutes that I wasted running," She said, her voice bitter. I watched as Jonas placed a hand on her arm comfortingly, and she continued on the path.

We walked in silence, and it was just as well. It gave me time to sort my thoughts out, and think of a new plan. While I had originally wanted to escape, I wanted to see what truly happened in these auction houses. I could always leave them after I had helped. There wouldn't be considerable damage to either side if I sat on the fence for a while.

"Are we there yet?" I joked, but all I receied was a glare from both Camden and Jonas. I had also noticed that Jonas kept looking backwards at me, as if he believed that I would disappear and ditch them the first chance I could.

With his current attitude, I though spitefully, it may come true. While he had his reasons to dislike me, he could always keep it to himself. Shaking my head, I rubbed my hands together, trying to generate some heat. It was incredibly cold in the hallway, and I envied the three cyborgs in front of me. They all had the intuition to bring jackets, and I was freezing in my t-shirt.

I bit my lip to stop my teeth from chattering, not wanting to draw attention to us and get caught. Camden noticed, though, and he eyed me concernedly. "Do you want my jacket?" He whispered lowly, and I shook my head, not trusting my voice.

I knew that if I did try to speak, my teeth would start chattering and my voice would be shaky. "Are you sure?" Camden asked again. I shuddered but shook my head again. I did not want to seem weak in front of them, least of all Jonas. He would only hold it against me, later. Camden raised an eyebrow incredulously at me but continued to walk forward.

"We're here," Imogen whispered, gesturing at the space in front of her. Squinting, I could just about make out the outlines of the silver bars. "The barracks will stretch out from both left to right, and backwards too. It makes up more than half of the building."

Thankfully, the barracks were just slightly warmer, and my shaking ceased slowly. "There is an exit on the right side," Imogen closed her eyes, as if she was trying to remember. "I suggest we release the cyborgs on that side first, so if something goes wrong, we can always escape through the pipelines that way."

We all nodded in unison. Imogen walked to the barracks and patted her hair slightly. I watched her confusedly, not quite sure what she was doing. "Shoot," She muttered, eyes wide. "Ellery?" Imogen asked slowly and shakily. "Do you have a bobby pin?"

I wrinkled my nose in confusion, and raised a hand to my hair. "Uh, why?"

"To pick the lock, of course!" Jonas exclaimed quietly, giving me a 'duh' look.

I gritted my teeth in irritation. "Well, it's certainly not my problem, is it, if I don't have one if you're going to keep acting like that." But what I really meant to say was 'what's your problem?'

Imogen swivled her head around to face me. "So you do have one," She stated quietly. "Right?"

"No," I nearly spat out.

Imogen's eyes widened as she took in my expression. "Ellery, stop acting selfish- like a child," Jonas scolded. "This is a matter of life and death. These cyborgs-our people- could die just because of you refusing to give us a bobby pin," He shook his head. "Look, you have one."

All of their gazes went to where he was pointing at my hair, where there was a small bobby pin holding my hair in place. "I could simply refuse," I said, removing the bobby pin from my hair calmly as I walked around the hallway. My shoe suddenly scuffed over something metal, and I stared at the floor.

"You. Wouldn't." Jonas grit out, his glare directed straight to me.

I just raised an eyebrow and looked at the metal grate on the floor. "Ellery, please," Imogen pleaded.

"For you," I agreed and placed the bobby pin in her palm. "All you had to do was ask nicely," I stated with a saccharine smile. Imogen sent a strained laughed quietly my way and went to unlock the cages.

Jonas growled at my words, his fists clenching. I ignored him and reached into my pocket for another bobby pin, handing it to Camden who joined Imogen. Taking another bobby pin out, I jammed it into the lock, twisting until I heard the telltale 'click'.

"So you don't have another?" Jonas asked.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'. "Check my pockets if you like, look through my hair, but you will not find another bobby pin." Oh, this was fun. I enjoyed this too much- seeing Jonas getting all riled up.

He sighed. "Look, Ellery, I apologize."

I just rolled my eyes and let a cyborg out of the cage. "Stand next to the others, alright?" I spoke gently, trying to discern who I was speaking to in the dim lighting of the cage. I couldn't even tell if the cyborg was a female or male anymore. From the small lamps overhead, light shone down on the cyborg, and I couldn't stifle the gasp that came out of my mouth.

The presumed female cyborg's hair was matted with blood, and there were bruises all over her body. Dried blood caked over her legs, and her clothing was all torn. She just gave me a sad look, nearly stumbling over her own two feet as she walked towards the other cyborgs we let out.

Each cyborg we let out had the same injuries, or worse. Many had severe ones, and I had to look away, truly disgusted. "We- the humans... they did this to you?" All of them gave a nod. I gulped my mouth suddenly feeling dry.

The three of us worked down the rows of imprisoned cyborgs, freeing all of them one by one. We traded off with Jonas after our arms got sore, but I refused to give up my spot. Bile rose up my throat as I watched children, even toddlers, walking out bearing the same magnitude of injuries.

We finally finished with the whole row and was making it to the left side when suddenly all of the lights flickered on, and the others blue eyes shined prominently about the room.