The Test

Twenty-four

The next morning in class, I bombard Knox with questions. "Have you spoken to the higher-ups? Have they found Bianca yet? Do they know who was trying to kill us?"

Each time I get a no, or a few seconds of silence that indicates I'm not getting an answer at all. Especially the last one. That lasts almost ten seconds, and then Knox calls out, "Everyone, keep training."

Then he pulls me to the side and says in a low voice: "They know who was trying to kill you, but they won't say."

"Why not?!" I say. Are they being deliberately mysterious?

He shrugs. "They're the higher-ups. They're the bosses. They don't have to tell us everything."

"But this is important!" I say angrily. "And I thought they were trying to help us! Are they trying to make themselves look suspicious?" I hiss, agitated, after Knox tells me roughly to lower my voice.

He shrugs again, looking as perplexed as I feel. Then he speaks, in a hushed voice I've never before heard him use. "They told me that they don't know."

"Are they lying?" I ask immediately.

"It's not your place to ask those sort of questions, Blackthorn," he says, louder, suddenly all business. "I can't extract that sort of information from them, as you well know." His voice lowers again."They won't just tell us they're lying. How naive are you?"

I bristle. "Sorry. I was only trying to help."

He pats my shoulder in what he probably thinks is a consoling gesture, but is actually quite hard and painful. I wince. "Get back to training," he mutters, nodding towards the others, and I wordlessly comply.

~

That night, I wake in a cold sweat, apparently fresh from a nightmare. "Ana," Vi whispers, combing my hair back from my forehead, where it has been pasted with sweat. "It's ok," she soothes me, pulling me in for a hug. "Was it the same nightmare?" she asks tentatively. I nod, too terrified to speak. She murmurs reassuringly against my hair. "You're ok. You're ok. Don't worry."

I nod again, but all I manage to gasp out is: "Luc. I need Luc."

She nods and stands up, slowly drawing me with her. "I'll take you. You can't walk on your own."

I nod back, unwilling to speak lest it all come spilling out-I have told no-one except Luc about the nightmare, and I have no intention of changing that-not to mention the fact that I'm too shaken to speak. All I can think now, all I can think whenever I resurface from this nightmare, is what if he's dead? What if this time it was real?

I stumble across the courtyard, thoughtless to the point of stupidity because I forgot to put on my boots and the cold is murdering my feet. The temperature drops to around freezing at night, which is weird because in the day they hit record highs, both long-term after-effects of the nuclear blast the government caused, the one that created us.

When I reach the door of the barn, Vi smiles and waves. "Night. I'm going back to bed."

"Oh. Uh, ok. Aren't you going wait for me?" I ask, confused. I'd assumed she would. Guess I'm wrong.

She laughs, winking over her shoulder as she walks away. "I won't bother. You'll be all night."

I splutter and try to hit her on the arm, but she steps out of my reach and whistles innocently. "Go," she laughs. "Get up there."

I shake my head and chuckle as I turn away and head up the stairs, making sure to tread carefully so I don't wake him. But I suppose Vi's laugh already did that, because he's rubbing his eyes and sitting up when I get to the top of the stairs. "Anya?" he says, confused.