𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭

13

Sleep did not come easily to me. I spent most of the night twisting and turning, rubbing my temples to try and organize all the theories that hummed inside my head. By the sounds of rustling sheets that filled the dorm, I could tell that no one else could sleep either.

When the sun finally stained the sky pale blue, I dared to venture out from under my covers. My eyes met Allison's as I climbed down to the floor, my feet hitting the ground with a soft thump.

"Hey," she greeted, rubbing her eyes.

"Joanne's not back yet," I whispered, plopping down on a chair next to her bed.

Allison nodded. "I think there's something more going on with Joanne then we think."

"Definitely," I agreed, but before I could say more, the door to our room swung open and the light flicked on.

One of our Executives from before stood by the doorway, furrowing his brows. A pile of clothes sits in his arms, which he tosses on a bunk near the door. "Get changed. Breakfast in ten minutes."

I turned back to Allison as the others thumped down from their bunks. "He left the door open," I whispered as I pulled on the army pants I had found in the pile of clothes.

To my relief, she understood. "We have ten minutes," she said as she whisked past me.

I waited a couple seconds before following her. With luck, from the perspective of the cameras, it would appear that I had gone back to my bunk instead of out the door. My boots echoed softly through the hallway even though I tried to mask my footfalls. Allison moved with grace and confidence, her actions so precise I almost wondered if she had been here before.

"Where would she be?" I murmured into her ear.

"I don't think she has some sort of virus. I think they found something about her that might help their beloved governor."

My eyes widened. "You think the governor's sick?"

"Why else would Eden go to such lengths to assure you he wasn't?"

She had a good point. I clear my throat before speaking again, explaining what I saw in the square. "Chase and I think the governor's using mind control. What about you?"

Allison took a deep breath, staring at the endless white walls. "It's a possibility. God, my head-" she reached up and rubbed her temples, just as I did the same.

Our footsteps stopped abruptly as we looked up and stared at each other. She was the first to speak. "Did you-"

My hands dropped to my sides as I tried to control the droning in my head. "Your thoughts... do they, like... throb?"

She nodded slowly, gradually taking her fingers from her temples. "Is it, because, you know..."

It sounds so stupid to say out loud.

"Because we're resistant. To the Chips," I started walking again, my thumb grazing the Mason Chip behind my ear. Allison skipped a couple steps to catch up, still studying me.

"Do you think when the Executive mentioned the list, all those years ago-" she dropped her voice to a murmur, "-he was talking about us? You. Me. Chase, Azura, Jack, Joanne. All of us on this list."

I inclined my head. I had speculated that theory for most of the night, pouring over what I had heard and seen, wishing the edges of my memory weren't so blurry. "What if," I said. It comes out as more of a statement then a question.

Allison wasn't paying attention. Her eyes strayed to a door, locked, and marked with a sign that chilled me to the bone.

Quarantine.