4522 {The Number Series}

46

It felt like hours had passed before we got a response from those in the building. The wait had been intense but the mission had been accomplished without much conflict. The Officers had not been expecting the attack, leaving only a few to guard, and the majority of the genetic scientists had been willing to work with us. As for the Officers that had been present, they had been restrained and wold soon be questioned. We would not let them free until we knew they would not turn against us. 

I did not want to ask what would happen if they refused. 

The room felt hot. Inside the concrete building separated me from what was happening outside The Third Party's walls. Part of me felt useless. I was a voice; a voice with no face. Macallister believed that those he had recruited into The Third Party would do well disguised in with those who were now making their own decisions. I could not help but feel that I could do it better. 

I told them I need space, my work for the moment as far as they were concerned, was completed. Archer, of course, did not hesitate to come with. To our rooms I went with him behind me. I knew he was concerned but I could not tell him what I was thinking until we were alone. 

The door shut behind us.

"I don't want to just sit in the safety of these walls," I said, my arms stretching out as if I could show him the whole building at once. "I was the one, at thirteen, that wanted something different."

"So, what are you saying?" Archer asked. His hazel eyes were narrowed. I noticed his curls had become much longer than they had been when we had first arrived back in the City. 

"I want to be out there. Making the change!" I shouted unexpectedly. "I need to help."

"What about me?"

"What are you wanting?"

"To be near you-"

I cut him off. It was exactly what I had been wanting to hear. "Then come with me. You left the City once with me. We won't really be leaving The Third Party, just helping by actually doing something."

I ran him through the pan I had only formed in my head minutes before, not knowing if it would actually work or if it would get us into serious trouble. Either way I had to try. Archer being with me would give me the support I would need. That night we would leave. No doubt Officers would be crowding the streets looking for people like us who would over throw them. The cover of darkness would only offer a small amount of camouflage but it would be better than daylight. We also had to make sure that Macallister did not catch us. 

If I could sneak into a library in a school full of people night after night, then I could without a doubt sneak out of a building that was not guarded from the inside. 

Archer prepared separately from me, collecting weapons and small things we would need until we reached a nearby building. It was only a few blocks away but much could happen in that distance considering we did not know what to expect. The plan felt rushed and a bit impulsive but I had always been that way until Marie had drilled it into my head to be otherwise. It had worked plenty of times before. 

A faint recollection of GIna wanting to incorporate us into the regular living schedules of the people crossed my mind. I had not trusted the woman, and she had shot Harold, but the idea had been good. I began to wonder if she had left any thing behind with her plan. 

I walked into her old office, surprised that no one had yet occupied it, and searched around. It had looked as if it had not been touched since her death. I flinched. Every time I thought of Harold or Gina both of them being shot in the head would play out in my mind. The images never because less gruesome to see.