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Chapter 28

Luke was careful to load his tranquilliser and walk as quietly as possible toward the door. He had to be ready to disappear if the person calling was a threat.

He opened the door a crack, but immediately lowered his tranquilliser upon seeing who it was.

"Hey Adam," he said, letting him pass before closing the door quickly. "Sorry it took so long to answer... You have a key now, right?"

"Well, yes, b-but I think showing up completely unannounced wouldn't go down very well right now, do you?"

"Okay, fair, but..." Luke paused. "I... I wasn't expecting to see you for a few more days at least."

"N-No, I totally get it. But... You said I could come here if I needed to talk," he replied, placing a lime-green lunchbox on the table as if it would explode if he wasn't careful. "And I-I... I kind of think we need to right now."

Luke eyed the box. "That's an interesting colour."

"I couldn't risk it getting wet, but look..." He opened it up and took out a silver USB. "I-It was in two parts when I got it, but I put it back together and it should still work okay. U-Unfortunately I don't have a laptop with a USB port. Whoever made it was super old-fashioned, it's really bad... D-Do you... Do you have a laptop with a USB port?"

"There's one in my clipboard." Luke picked it up to examine it. "Are you sure it isn't a virus? I mean, it does seem a little strange that they just left it lying around."

"I-If by that you mean biological warfare, I'm pretty sure it's clean," he assured him as Luke turned it over to look for any sort of inscription. "I t-tested it already for any kind of pathogen."

Luke nodded, trying not to look taken aback at all. "Smart."

"If-If you mean a computer virus, I guess we have to take our chances."

Luke frowned. "I mean, it's just a clipboard. As long as it doesn't blow up, I'm sure we'll manage," he muttered, before putting it back on the table as gently as he could.

Adam nodded and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"You don't think it might look a little suspicious to the others if I just happened to come by with a mysterious pen-drive that I can't tell you anything about?"

"Less suspicious than you dropping it off and then leaving?" Luke turned away from the table, trying not to look too afraid of it. The odds of it actually exploding had to be fairly small. "Look, it's nearly lunchtime. People will be out on the streets soon. It's not safe to go back until it gets dark now, and even then... I'm surprised you didn't get attacked on the way here."

Adam hesitated before closing the door. "Fine, point taken. Do you have the remote to these things?" He pointed at the handcuffs that he was still wearing.

"Right here." Luke took it out of his pocket to show him. "I don't think we're ever going to use it though. I think we all know who's side you're on by now. Besides, Jess hasn't worn them for days and we haven't had any issues with her yet."

"Well, that's Jess, isn't it?" He replied.

"Nobody sees you as a threat anymore," Luke said.

He laughed. It might have been nervous, it might have been bitter. It was hard to tell. "I beg to differ."

"I know I don't."

Adam looked up at him briefly, before looking away again. "I'm not risking it," he mumbled.