274 (Complex Series, #4)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

If we hadn’t killed them though, they would have killed us. Six lost lives is better than ten, right? We are fighting for good, to save hundreds of lives.

Piper takes another deep breath, her voice stronger, “We need to continue forward. We don’t have much time. I’ll contact Canton so he…knows what to expect. Let’s get to the Unknown. Be sure you don’t touch the puddles, otherwise…”

We tediously step and hop around the puddles, going one at a time through the maze of splatters. Sweat prickles along my brow as I begin to walk through. Am I immune to this? My blood is immune to the injections, but is my skin?

My legs shake with fear. What if I step in it? Would the blue still work through the rubber sole of my shoe? I think of the way it burned through the Officials’ skin, sizzling against the steel floor. I doubt it would have a problem melting through my shoe.

Maybe that’s another reason why the poisons are in the glass vials. Maybe glass is the only substance the blue doesn’t burn through.

I try not to think about what will happen if I put my foot on a droplet. If I slip. If I fall.

I focus on the droplets in front of me. I scan the entire floor before I set my foot down. My fingers are clenched into a fist, my palms slick.

I reach the other side, where people who have already crossed are gathered. My legs feel numb, forcing me to sit down. I lean against the wall, trying to control my speeding heart beat.

Everyone is silent, watching the next person painstakingly pass through the speckles. It’s a good thing we only have ten people in this group, otherwise it’d take forever.

The person passes, the next starting. It’s Theo.

He moves quickly, quicker than he should. He hops from space to space, his feet barely making a sound as they hit the floor. Someone murmurs something about slowing down, but everyone else is quiet.

Quiet enough to hear the soft sizzling of the blue making contact with something. The bottom of Theo’s shoe. His face morphs in horror and he reacts within the second it sounds. He rips off both his shoes, whipping them down the hall away from him. They land in a small puddle, hissing erupting. The fabric bends slightly as the cracking grows, but there are no obvious signs of damage to them.

Maybe the blue only seriously harms the human skin.

I watch Theo’s bare feet as he makes his way through the rest of the spills. In dread, I fear that the textured bruises might appear along his feet, growing to cover the rest of his body.

When he stops at the crowd, his skin is completely unmarred. Does he realize how lucky he is? Did he know how close he was to his own death?

He catches me staring at him and grins. I look away, heat rising to my cheeks.

Everyone else crosses, and Piper leads us to the doors. She says, “Nobody talks to anybody until we meet with Christopher, okay? You’ll hopefully have time to catch up with your friends later. We just don’t want any rumors spreading until we have Christopher’s support. And, everyone will stay with group.”

Everyone voices their understanding and Piper presses her Notice strap to the scanner on the door. The door reveals the same room we left through, small and with a simple metal chair inside.

I smile to myself when I see our Notices still lying beneath the chair. Piper closes the door that leads out into the Complex and instead opens the door that leads into the Unknown. I lag behind the group, not wanting to be in the way due to my slower pace and stumbling steps.

Theo does the same. I watch silently as he sweeps up the Notices from beneath the chair. He slips them into the waistline of his pants. They are barely visible. I doubt I’d see them if I didn’t know they were there.

He raises a challenging eyebrow at me before darting out of the room. I quickly follow.

I speed up my pace. Catching up with the rest of the group makes my head spin. Stares follow us as we walk through the crowd. R.I.’s type into their Notices, their mouths slipping open. I see recognition on their faces as they see some of the people in our group.

Someone calls out, “Lindsey. Is that you?”

A girl in front of me turns her head, looking where the voice came from. A small smile touches her lips and she waves.

The same person says, “Wait. What are you doing here? What happened to you? You just disappeared, can I at least get an explanation?”

Lindsey glances at Piper. I can tell by her expression that Lindsey wants nothing more than to explain everything to her friend. It takes all of her self control to give her friend a simple, sad smile and continue walking forward.

I glance back at her friend. Betrayal is written clearly across her dangling mouth and wide eyes.

Lindsey takes a shaky breath, but continues her trek forward.

Piper leads us through halls to Miranda’s office. I correct myself. Christopher’s office. He’s the new leader now. The longer we walk the more stares we gather. Some people follow behind in our wake, wanting to know where we are going and what we plan to do.

When Piper reaches the correct door, she doesn’t even bother to knock. She slaps her Notice to the scanner. Someone in the group begins to say, “It won’t work. Only certain Notices open up the door to…”

The boy trails of as the door slides open.

Piper says with a grin, “Official perk.”

She walks confidently into the office, while I hesitantly follow. I’ve only talked to Christopher a few times and I’m not looking forward to talking to him again.

Christopher is typing into a hologram when we enter. His eyes flicker upward as he mutters, “How’d you get in here? There’s supposed to be an offie code on that door. Did you hack the…”

He doesn’t end his sentence. His eyes are locked with Piper glowering down at him. He stands quickly, his eyes narrowing, “Who are you? Where’d you get all these people?”

Piper smiles, sickly sweet, “Don’t you remember me? I was just another Rivie that you enjoyed to terrorize.”

Christopher stares at her for a second, before his eyes jump from person to person. “What do you mean? What do you want?”

Piper crosses her arms over her chest, “You don’t remember? You ordered an Examination for me. You accused me of being a spy. You managed to convince everyone of that lie. The victory didn’t last long, did it?”

Understanding lights up behind Christopher’s eyes. Before he can say anything more Piper says, “It didn’t last long because I escaped.”

Christopher begins to stutter something.

Piper grins, “I’m glad we remember each other now. See, while you’ve been growing your own little empire, I’ve been working against the Heads. We’ve had some success, but they’re going to attack the Unknown. You need to get everyone together so they can defend themselves.”

The words Piper just said seem to have no effect on Christopher. He asks, “All those Eekes who vanished, that was you? Miranda? Those rumors were true?”

Piper brushes his comments away, “Yes, but that isn’t important anymore. You need to give everyone a chance to defend themselves.”

Christopher seems to regain his composure and worst, his attitude. He mimics Piper, crossing his arms over his chest. He raises his eyebrows and says, “No.”