Instability

※ 32 ※

We return to Entrance Five, out of breath and enlivened. The first thing we do when we get back is return our weapons back to their Arsenal. Then, we run off to tell the hospital staff about Vivian's discovery. Within ten minutes, shifts are organized to send people above ground at the different Entrances.

It feels so good to breathe again. To breathe because those dreams were drowning me in fear.

Vivian and I return to our beds and sleep, gaining back all of our lost strength. When I wake up again, I'm so relieved I didn't hit my head on the top bunk, I smile dumbly at the chipped bars. Haha, take that, stupid bed.

I smile wider. It feels great to be sarcastic again.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

After bathing and washing up, Vivian and I are rewarded her cure. Since the shelter is running out of just about everything, we don't get a physical prize. Instead, we're allowed to listen to a live video feed of the USA-European treaty negotiation. The sergeants and nurses couldn't thank Vivian enough for her "honorable and patriotic way of informing the authorities about the life-saving poison cure."

At about noon the next day, Vivian and I are summoned to the negotiation sit-in room. Commander Nidic leads us to a hidden room in which we descend a tall ladder guiding us deep underground. The journey is nearly identical to the one I took with Daniel in Entrance Six nearly 11 months ago.

As we travel down the tunnel, I swear I hear Danny's voice calling my name. Though I ignore it, I can't help but wonder if I was imagining or hallucinating the sound.

Along the way, the commander mumbles under his breath about teenagers and top-secret information. When he steps off the ladder, he grudgingly shows us the path down the hall.

"How do you even power all the lights down here?" Vivian asks bluntly.

"Movement turbines and solar panels," Commander Nidic retorts protectively, as if we were convicts. He must be very passionate about his precious turbines.

Vivian rolls her eyes as we follow the commander to the last door in the hall. He twists the knob and pushes it open.

"And no talking in there. The commanders must communicate their opinions to the ITT with complete silence," says Commander Nidic. He silently closes the door behind us. I roll my eyes again, disliking the man more and more.

I initially expect high-tech machines to fill the sit-in room, but only one tech screen is present. Three commanders sit silently at a table, watching the negotiation on a single table monitor. Black devices shine in their ears and near their mouthes.

I peer over their uniformed shoulders. The people on the screen, including General Fadhill, are in a plain room filled with frustrated faces. Unfamiliar leaders sit on the opposite side of the table, boredom present in their expressions. Hanging on a wall nearby is a map of the Unified States of America with a purple line drawn near the Mississippi River. One part of the country is blue while the other is red.

Vivian and I quietly enter the room, taking up the two chairs behind the commanders. Nod at us quietly, the commanders resume talking in their headsets to communicate their thoughts. I motion to Vivian, grabbing the two headsets from the table. I hand her one of them, and we put them on.

The sound of clicking keys and whispering voices fill our ears. I nearly lose it when I think I hear Matt's voice. I have to clasp my hands over my mouth to keep from freaking out, but none of the commanders notice. The ITT researchers type furiously in my left ear as the negotiation play in my right.

A mediator announces the total progress of the meeting. "The Unified States has agreed to split their country into two parts: the western half for Europe to divide amongst themselves and the eastern part for the USA to keep. As a punishment for Europe's use of chemical weapons, the USA can Hawaii. However, both countries must share the Mississippi River. The USA will owe no more money to Europe in exchange for Allen Sheops's legal asylum in France."