The Sky is Everywhere

Chapter Forty-Five

We almost make it out of the maze undetected.

It's only at the last minute, when we can see the dark entryway that Taffy assures me is the way out and into another room, that someone suddenly lunges.

I catch the gleam of a knife slicing through the air, and shove Taffy out of the way. The knife gets me instead, ripping down the length of my arm.

Adrenaline holds me up, keeping the pain at bay now my heart is burning bright with hope, and I hurl a punch into my attacker's face. The hilt of the knife still clutched in my hand crunches against his teeth and he howls.

"Run," I scream.

We tear through the corridor and into another dark-walled room. The lights are brighter here than they were in the maze, and the sudden change makes the room seem off-kilter, spinning slightly. I blink, looking around.

There.

The shiny silver lift doors, are set at the far end of the room. There are more bodies in here, and I try not to look at them as we run for the doors. Behind us, I hear a furious roar. The Predator that I hit is coming after us again. If he's desperate, then he hasn't killed anyone yet, and I get the feeling that he's running out of options. So many Prey are dead already.

If I'm wrong about this . . .

I put on an extra burst of speed and overtake my friends, flinging myself at the doors just as the boy bursts into the room behind us.

Blood is spilling from his mouth; I don't know what damage I caused when I hit him, but he looks like something from a nightmare.

I jab my finger against the button on the wall, but when nothing happens, I grab the lift doors with both hands and try to pull them apart.

It's not working, I'm wrong, I've misunderstood, we're all going to die here –

The lift doors slide open.

"Get in, get in," I scream, shoving Taffy.

The boy is almost upon us.

We cram into the lift, and I slap my hand on the nearest button. The doors slide shut just in time, sealing us in and the Predator out.

The lift starts to move, heading upwards.

I sag against the wall, shaking all over.

My arm is hurting now, white-hot needles of pain that swamp the ache from my sliced ear, but I don't dare look at this wound either.

We're out of the Grid.

We're out, but this isn't over, and I need to keep going, keep fighting.

Priya is quietly crying, her face pressed against Sonny's chest, and he's trying to hold her, but the makeshift bandages on his arms are wet with blood and his face is white as a sheet.

He needs help.

There's only place he can go – the infirmary.

"Taffy, listen," I say, taking her by the shoulders.

Her eyes are haunted, but her expression is steely.

"We're going to get Sonny to the infirmary. If Nurse Barrett isn't there, we'll patch him up ourselves. If she is there, we make her do it."

"What if she won't?" Taffy asks, already resigned to the fact that Nurse Barrett, like the rest of them, don't care about us.

I take her hand, the one still clutching Gavin's knife and lift it. "We make her," I say again, and Taffy slowly nods.