Her Compound

Chapter 14

 "Do you hear that?" Zack asked after we had come down from our fit of hysterics.

I went still as I listened carefully to what Zack had heard, and then I could hear it. The sound of plates and cutlery banging against each other came from the door we had entered the kitchen.

My eyes widened as I looked up at Zack, but a giddy feeling coursed through me as excitement flooded in. "We're going to get caught."

He shook his head with the same smile on his face as he wrapped his hand around my wrist and started pulling me to the other side of the room where a closed door was located. As soon as we had made it to the door, he opened it and pulled me through. He then quickly closed it behind us just at the same time as the door to the kitchen opened.

The sound of a couple teens entering carrying a stack of plates suddenly could be heard and I immediately took a step back, bumping into Zack's chest. I hadn't even realized how close we were. I was basically pressed right up against him in the small pantry, and I could feel his warm breath on my neck as he leaned down to my left ear.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered.

I could feel my heartbeat speed up and the sudden grateful feeling spread through me in the darkness. I was glad he couldn't see the red creeping up my skin.

Bam!

I jumped at the sudden noise that was caused by one of the boys who dropped the stack of plates into the sink by accident.

"Hey, Lewis!" One of them shouted to the other. "What the hell did I tell you about stealing food from the kitchen?"

I bit down on my tongue, trying not to make any noise.

"That's not mine," the other boy, Lewis, replied.

I then suddenly realized that I had left my apple core on the table. That's what they were arguing over. I tightly shut my mouth as a chuckle bubbled up in my throat and slightly shook my figure. I could feel the confusion radiating out of Zack who was still behind me, but I ignored him and listened to what was about to happen next.

The first boy let out a breath. "Sure it's not. Just don't do it any more. You could get into real trouble."

"It's not even mine," Lewis mumbled. "But whatever."

I then heard the sound of the apple core hitting the bottom of the empty garbage can and then the sound of the boys heading towards the door.

"We'll come back and clean the dishes later," the boy that I didn't know the name of said. "Apparently Joan needs us for something."

And then the door closed behind them. Zack and I waited an extra two minutes to make sure they were for sure gone before we opened the pantry door and stepped out.

"What was so funny?" Zack asked, turning to me with a raised eyebrow and a large smile that showed his straight teeth after he had closed the pantry door.

"It was my apple that they threw out," I replied with a laugh that I finally let out. I then glanced towards the door before staring at him again, wondering if it was time to go. "You going to show me the thing now?"

Zack brought his watch up to his face to look at the time before nodding and taking a step towards the door, his cookie still in his other hand. "It's about time."

I raised my eyebrows as I caught up to him and we walked out of the kitchen into the now empty cafeteria. "About time for what?"

"You'll see,'' he said as we turned to the left out of the cafeteria.

We walked side by side in silence as we passed the training room and then made the left turn down the last hallway. I was very confused, yet curious as to where Zack was leading me. Although at one point during our walk down the long hall, I had wondered if he was going to do something bad or just leading me somewhere bad, but I had quickly pushed that thought aside and told myself that I could trust him.

I watched two people in white pass us and then looked up at Zack. "Is this allowed? Are we going to get in trouble?"

Zack turned around as we came to a door and he used his back to push on the bar which opened it. "You don't need to worry." He then took a step back as he pushed the door open wider and then gestured with a hand to the right. "C'mon. We're only going to get in trouble if we continue to stand here and get caught."

I quickly looked back and forth down each side of the hall to see that no one was around before walking passed Zack and into the stairwell. As soon as the door closed behind us, Zack made his way to the first step of the staircase and stopped to wait for me. I looked around the small space and my eyes landed on a sign telling me that we were on level three. My eyebrows raised as I looked up at Zack, but I didn't say anything as we started climbing the stairs.

I remained silent as we grew higher and higher, all while wondering how many levels this place had, until we came to another door with a sign saying 'roof access' at the very top of the staircase.

Zack held the door open for me as I walked through, and I immediately stopped on the other side when I saw what was there.