Sakir
Blood covers the floor of the glass room in shallow puddles. As I step through it, the water ripples away from my feet in trembling circles. It might be a good idea to clean it up, but the blood reminds me that I'm not dreaming.
This isn't a nightmare.
Three dead bodies really do lie in the floor around me.
I'm not going to wake up.
So, I trudge through the blood and leave red footprints across the cleaner sections of floor. I sit on Isaac's empty pedestal, surrounded by raindrops of broken glass. The lights reflect off the crystal beads and glint like diamonds.
If I had it my way, I would kill Ashford right now. Who cares if the residents of Compound 1 take the vaccine? As long as they're not attacking other compounds, let them get killed in their own stubborn stupidity. Why does it matter so much that everyone receives the shot?
How does Quinn even plan to control the residents after Ashford is gone? Those soldiers have grown up fighting for a president that believes the idea that the end justifies the means. He twisted their minds, and they're most likely stuck that way.
You can't reform someone who doesn't want to be reformed. Some people never change.
He would be smart just to turn his back on them and protect his own people.
A sudden commotion in the hallway catches my attention.
President Ashford looks up from his hands and chuckles.
"Here comes the rescue party to save the day," he says in a sing-song voice. I set my face into stone and refuse to give him the pleasure of knowing he's annoying me.
Seconds later, a heavy knock falls on the door. Grudgingly, I stand up and walk over, only to realize I don't know the code to open it.
"What's the code?" I ask Ashford without looking back at him.
"Why should I tell you?"
I close my eyes and rest an open palm against the door.
"Tell. Me. The. Code."
"I don't feel like sharing."
"Are you five?" I hiss as I turn around to face him. "Act like an adult, and give me the code. They're going to bust it down if you don't. Play along, Ashford."
He smiles at me and shrugs.
"The year the vaccine started was a special year, wasn't it?"
I stare blankly at him. Seriously?
With a groan, I turn back to the keypad and type in the four digits: 2047. The lights blink yellow, then turn green, and the knob turns. I take a step back as two bodies crash into the room.
"Well, hello, Mocha," the redhead says cheerfully, still holding the uniformed guard by his arm. She points the gun at his head, but a smile paints itself across her face. "Thanks for letting us in."
I shake my head and step to the side so the rest of the people can get into the room. Behind her, Quinn stands with his navy pressed suit and badge telling his title. Papa shuffles in last after two more well-armed Compound 5 guards and some ruffled looking Compound 1 guards.
Papa looks me up and down, claps a hand on my shoulder, and pulls me into a stiff hug.
The last time we hugged, I was ten. We stood in the front yard of the Compound 2 infirmary in the cool spring air, two feet away from each other, radiating pain and emptiness. The night sky was bare, and all the clouds from the rain earlier in the day left us to suffer in silence.
When I gave in and began to cry, Papa wrapped an arm around me. I looked up to see that he was still crying. Had he ever stopped? His touch alone drove me deeper into the quicksand, and sobs took over my body.
He wrapped both arms around me then, just like he does now. I'm taller now; he can't rest his chin on my head. Yet, the emotion behind that hug remains the same. It holds the power to sink me into oblivion or pull me out of the trench. His arms are life supports and crippling drugs.
Right now, though, they are anchors. As my mind drifts further into space, wrapped in numbness, anger, and hate, he centers me. His presence alone reminds me that everything is going to be okay.
Papa's here.
Now, no one can hurt me.
How awful it is that Mya never got to feel the security that comes with having a parent like Papa. I hope she felt safe with Finn, at least.
Papa pats my back and then holds me away from him to inspect me.
"Your face," he says. "What happened to it?"
I smile at his thick accent.
"Ashford happened," I mumble, and the smile slides off my face like a skater across perfect ice. He puts a finger under my chin and tilts my face up.
"You're going to be blue for days," he says, "but this isn't the first time I bring you home bruised up."
"At least you're bringing me home."
A phantom smile lingers on his lips but never quite shows its face. He releases my chin and turns back to Quinn and Lexi.
"What's the plan, Austin?" he asks.
Quinn runs a hand through his messy curls and glances over at Lexi- as if she's going to tell him what to do. Does she normally do that? Who's really in charge here?
Lexi shrugs, struggling to hold the man. I recognize him then as the man who greeted us with his uniform covered in pins and medals. He's a captain. That's how they got in. They threatened a superior, made the lower soldiers too afraid to do anything.
It's a smart tactic; I'll give them that.
"Ashford has to be punished," I say in an effort to break the silence.
"I know that," Quinn snaps, "but we can't just slaughter him and then hope the compound magically fixes itself. You can't dispose of the shepherd and expect the sheep to find their way."
"These aren't sheep," I say in a tense voice. "They're lions."
"You get the idea. Someone has to be in charge when he's gone, and it has to be him that appoints them. That way, no one will argue or revolt."
"And who exactly are you going to put in charge?"
Quinn throws his hands in the air.
"I've been president for all of a week, Sakir! Seven days ago, I was laying in a hospital bed. I don't have a clue, okay?"
Lexi lowers the gun and nudges his shoulder with it.
"Take it easy, Queen. He's just as stressed as you are."
Quinn meets my eyes, and we take a deep breath together. He's right; I know that. Yet, arguing with him seems easier than admitting it. I'm still fuming over his late arrival, his clear abandon when I needed to be saved the most. If they had sent someone to Dr. Julien's lab sooner, we wouldn't be here. Mya and Jay would still be alive. The world would be upright.
"It can't be someone from inside the compound," I say in a low voice. "They're too biased and untrustworthy. We need a firm, new face for these people. Someone we know will set them on the right path and already has leadership qualities."
Everyone in the room looks at Quinn- even Ashford.
"Seriously? I didn't even sign up to be president of 5," he mumbles.
Lexi jabs him again, and he glares at her.
"There's no one else in the room fit for the job, Q. It has to be you."
"Why can't we make Dr. Patel president?" Quinn asks.
"The people know him," I say. "They aren't going to trust a doctor."
"You're a fresh, new face," Lexi blurts to back me up.
Quinn runs another hand through his hair.
"Fine," he says, "but on one condition."
I narrow my eyes at him.
"What's that?"
"I don't want to move up here. It's too cold. I can't stand snow, and I have Elliott at home to take care of. We need to appoint a governor to carry out my decrees and stuff while I live down in Compound 5."
"I'll do that."
We all spin around at the sound of Isaac's voice. He stands in the doorway with an arm around Athena's shoulder. His hair has been brushed back, and his face is clean. Athena walks him into the room, but he doesn't appear to need her help.
"Why you?" I ask, not bothering to hide my shock.
"I come from Compound 5," Isaac says. "I was trained in military techniques. Scored high enough to be a ranking officer. I know how to lead troops and get things done. Plus, these people don't know me."
Isaac's face betrays him. He's lying, but no one is brave enough to ask for a real reason.
Is it because he has nowhere to go without Jay?
"And you're up for that? What about your gun phobia?" Quinn asks.
"Jay helped me out of that," Isaac says quietly. "I can shoot a gun just fine on most days. Of course, not everyone is perfect."
Quinn nods.
"Then, its settled. I'll take over title of President, and Isaac will be the Lieutenant General under me."
Everyone nods in agreement, even Athena as she struggles to hold onto Isaac.
"Now for the hard part," I say. "How are we going to get him to say it?"
Every eye in the room turns on Ashford who flashes a smile bigger than the galaxy itself.
"Yeah, how are you going to get me to say it, child genius?" he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
Lexi drops the captain's arm and walks towards the glass. Every step is slow and calculated, every breath exudes anger. Her cheeks turn bright red, and her hands shake on the gun in her hand. She raises the weapon and aims it directly at him.
I make my way back towards the keyboard and toggle the raise switch. Ashford freezes at the sound of the glass lifting.
"Let's put it this way, President," Lexi growls, unwavering. "You'll either tell your compound what we want you to, or I'll shoot you right here, right now." She pauses while Ashford smiles again. "I won't stop there, though. I helped that 'child genius' burn an entire innocent compound to the ground. What do you think I'll do to a city full of guilty people? Do you honestly want to see everything you've worked for destroyed? Fifteen years of brainwashing and training and lying- down the drain in a minute. Your perfect population is nothing but ants to us, and I would be glad to stomp each one of them."
Chills spread across my arms, and in that moment, I know that Lexi is by far the scariest person in the room. She stands a foot shorter than me, but her words make her tower above us all. Even when Jay was at her meanest, she could never bring someone to their knees with words alone.
President Ashford steps off his pedestal and leans his forehead against the barrel of her gun.
"I don't care what you do to them," he whispers as he stares her straight in the eye. "They're just people, Alexis, and people can be replaced. You're going to have to threaten me with something a little more important."