𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭

15

I wasn't sure exactly how long I sat in that room, squinting through my eyelashes to see what was going on behind the blinding lights, whose face was grabbing my arm and screaming and, at some point, poking the spot between my elbow and wrist. I held completely still, staring into space, resisting the urge to rub my temples or even try to control my thoughts. The voices of the real world were all a distant buzz.

Allison and Chase had given me a new spark, a new hope. Something to hold onto.

After what I presumed was hours, blurry, murky spots appeared in my vision. I welcomed the darkness, wanting something to take me away from all the pricking of sharp theories in my mind.

I woke with no pressure in my head. Immediately I reached for my temples, but no thoughts came back to plague me. As my hand dropped to my side, I noticed something, tattooed on the inside of my left forearm.

The same symbol from the quarantine. A black snake coiled around an olive branch.

Would my fate match Joanne's?

I would have to be more cautious from now on.

I sat up, realizing I was on a thin white bed, similar to the ones I had seen in the quarantine. How long had I been asleep? Was everyone else already outside the border? Where was Allison?

I groaned as the pain came back to me, doing my best to fight it back and observe the room. Besides for my bed, there was nothing. No windows. No people. The only door I saw was thick steel, padlocked with what seemed like a million different security measures.

What have I gotten myself into?

Suddenly I could hear the clicking of the lock, and I jumped, looking around the room for something to use to defend myself, but pillows and fists were useless against guns.

The door creaked open ever so slowly, and I was greeted with the cold expression of Chairman Marshall. His features twisted into disgust so quickly that I self consciously reached up to my face, feeling scabbed- over cuts from the mirror and chapped, dry lips. My stomach rumbled with hunger, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since last night.

"Miss McKnight," he greeted, his words as taut as his forced smile.

"How long was I out?"

"Five hours. The others are waiting for you so they can be released outside."

I crossed my arms. "I don't get any longer to prepare?" I tried to peek through the door behind him, but he moved in front of it to block me. "Why aren't you locking us up, if we are the cure?"

"The Tempests must be satisfied. We're gathering other future Offering volunteers."

A lie. I rolled my eyes. "You don't think I actually believe that, right? I know the governor is dying. Keeping every secret locked away is never going to help you."

"I think that's why we're dropping you outside of the border. It's harder for you to escape." He smirked, but something flashed in his eyes. Anger? There was something else Chairman Marshall didn't want to tell me.