The next morning, I showered and got dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt. I needed to be comfortable since I was weak all over. And I'd have to do it again today.
We went to breakfast. I tried to eat something. It was hard. The doctor told me I'd regret it if I didn't. I ate a little.
Then we were back in the gowns and the bed. This time we added two more people, Jeff and Brenda. I didn't know them well but Jasper and Monty trusted them.
"I'm Ally," the girl in the bed next to me said.
"Cory," I said with a smile.
"Thanks," she said. "You know, for giving me your blood."
"No problem," I said with a smile. I paused and the smile fell. "I mean there is the throwing up but-"
"I'm so sorry," she said quickly.
I shook my head. "It's fine. As long as it helps you."
"Are you ready?" the doctor asked.
I nodded. I was ready for the needle this time.
Isaac wasn't there. I haven't seen him this morning. It was only weird because he told me he'd check on me.
I closed my eyes and let the drugs take effect. I was out for four hours.
I woke up, threw up and groaned. Nate was laughing at me.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Nate."
"I just think it's funny how as soon as everyone wakes up, their face is in the can."
"Not funny," I said, shaking my head. I threw up again. I looked over at him again. "Awful. Completely awful."
We stayed in the hospital a couple more hours. This time lunch was brought in. I still didn't touch it.
I was released and I walked back with the others. Ally had left me a gift.
I wanted to stay and give this to you in person but Dr. Tsing made me leave. She told me you guys get hot flashes and chills after this. Hope these help. Thank you so much Cory!
She gave me a blanket for the chills and an insulated bottle full of ice water for the hot flashes. It was really nice.
I just laid on my bed until dinner. I forced myself to eat a little bit but I had to go slow or I'd threw it all up again.
"Hi Cory," Isaac said when I stood up.
"Hi."
"I'm sorry I didn't come see you earlier. Work has been chaotic."
"What were you doing?"
"Boring doctor stuff."
I nodded, confused. Why didn't he tell me anything? But I had to just shrug it off. He can keep his secrets.
We made it back to the dorms and he kissed my cheek again. I laid down and fell asleep quickly. I was sleeping a lot these days. The treatments were taking a lot out of me.
I drank the water and held the bottle to my forehead. In the middle of the night, I wrapped the blanket around me and curled into a ball. I did not like these hot flashes and chills. They were too unpredictable.
The next morning was pretty much the same. I showered and got dressed, a flowy dress this time. I ate a little breakfast and then went to medical.
I passed out quickly. I was out for four hours. I woke and puked my guts up. I stayed in bed and refused to touch my lunch. Isaac walked me back to the dorms and kissed my cheek. I sat on my bed and talked with the others.
"I'm tired of puking," Harper sighed, holding her stomach.
"I'm tired of being a human pincushion," Nate said, scowling.
"Look, I know this sucks, but as long as it seems like we're cooperating, we're buying ourselves time," Jasper explained.
"Time for what?" Nate asked, looking around at us. "I say if we're gonna die in here, we might as well die trying to escape."
"We've been over this," Jasper sighed. "After Clarke left, there is no escape. We just have to hold on long enough for her to find a way to get us out."
"What if she doesn't find a way?" Monty asked. "What if she didn't make it out? What if that's just a story they're telling us to hide the fact that they killed her? Then no one's coming for us and we're doing exactly what they want us to do." He paused.
I'd thought about it. She could be dead. But it's Clarke. She's too lucky to die. But why hasn't she come for us yet? We could be stuck in here. This could be their plan.
"Jasper. You know you've thought it, too."
"All right, then," Harper said. "We escape."
"No," Jasper said. "We find the truth."
"How do we do that?" I asked.
"We're criminals, right? So, let's be criminals." He smiled and told us his plan.
It could work. Or something could go horribly wrong.
We ate some dinner and headed back to our beds.
We waited until the others had gone to sleep. I sat on my bed.
"What are you thinking about?" Harper asked, sitting next to me.
"What are we gonna find?" I asked, looking at her. "What if we find some plan to lock us up? How are we going to stop that?"
"You're Cory," she said with a smile. "If come to it, you'll figure something out."
I smiled. We listened to music until the lights were turned off.
Around midnight, we snuck out.
Maya was decontaminating the surveillance room. As long as we didn't run into anyone, no one would know we were even out of bed.
We made our way down to Dante's office. We had to hide in a random room once but other than that, we were okay.
Monty got to work on the door with Harper and I while Jasper and Nate kept watch.
"Today, Monty," Jasper said.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Monty said. He was connecting wires and trying to get the door open. I watched him carefully. It was really cool how he could figure this out.
"Relax," Jasper said. He must be talking about Nate. "Maya's decontaminating the surveillance room. No one's watching. We got this. If we can get that door open."
There was a beep and the door opened. We all looked at each other with a smile.
"Ye of little faith," Monty said, looking back at Jasper.
"That's my boy," he said with a smile. We all walked in.
The office was nice and big, full of paintings and other artifacts.
"Harper, watch the hall," Jasper said.
"Why do I have to watch the hall?" she whispered, looking mad.
"Monty's good with computers. Miller's a thief. Cory's Cory."
I smiled at that and kept looking around.
"Why can't you watch the hall?"
"I'm the mastermind," he said with a smirk. "Just go watch the hall."
She sighed and watched the hall. I felt bad. I should be out there too. I don't really have any useful skills in here.
"Guys," Jasper said. I looked over. He was holding a sword. I rolled my eyes.
I snooped around the office, looking for anything really. I looked in a filing cabinet but all I found were records of who people were and where they lived. There wasn't anything important in there.
I closed that and turned to look around the rest of the room. The rest of the room just had paintings and artifacts. Besides the desk, is there anywhere Dante would hide something important?
It didn't matter. The other two had better luck.
"Hey, I got something," Nate said.
"Me too," Monty said. "Damn, I'm good."
I nearly laughed as I hurried over. I stood behind Nate, leaning over to look at the computer first.
"They're alive," I whispered.
On the screen were pictures of a camp. A camp of our people. From the pictures Monty determined it was Alpha Station.
That means David's okay, right? What about Farm Station? Are they okay too? Are they there?
I didn't see any pictures of Tabs or Bryan. But we saw a lot of the same people, mostly the guards. They could just be inside or something. They could still be alive.
"Okay, we've got to go," Jasper said, looking at the time. Maya was only going to be able to be in the room for another ten, maybe fifteen minutes.
Monty shut down the computer. Nate closed the drawers. We kept what he found. It was a map of the place. Monty was going to find a way out.
"Where's Harper?" I asked, looking around.
"She must have gone back," Nate offered. "She probably saw someone."
We snuck back to the dorms and went to sleep. We would figure everything out tomorrow after the treatment.
Harper wasn't there. Maybe she went a different way. Maybe she got stuck somewhere. She'd be back tomorrow morning.
I woke the next morning and got dressed. I wore the first dress I'd worn. I wanted to try to look as innocent as possible.
This morning I woke in a cold sweat. I knew exactly where Harper was.
I went to breakfast as usual and waited for the perfect opportunity. It appeared sooner than I thought.
"Oh," I gasped when I ran into someone. "I'm sorry." I paused. "Hey," I said with a smile when I looked up.
"Hi," Isaac said. He seemed surprised to see me. "What are you doing today?"
"Not having the treatment today," I said, shaking my head. "The doctor said I need a day of rest."
I hated lying. And I hated ditching my friends. But I needed to find Harper and I think I know where to look.
"Well, have fun," he said with a smile. "I'll see you later." He went and got some breakfast.
I nodded with a smile. I grabbed my plate and put it away.
I hurried down the hall to the elevator. I went to level three and carefully snuck to the door. I peeked inside and nearly gasped. People were in there. There were two scientists prepping the chair. They glanced to the right. I leaned a little and saw Harper in a cage.
I looked around for something I could use as a weapon but there wasn't one. That didn't matter. I'd still take them down.
I unlocked the door. I walked in and the scientists instantly looked over at me.
"What is she doing in here?" the first one asked.
"I don't know," the other said. "Get her out."
As the guy closest walked closer, I rolled forward. I was right next to him when I came out of a ball and swept my legs behind his. He fell to the ground and I immediately straddled his chest. I punched him once, twice, three times before I was pulled off of him.
The other one had grabbed me, locking my arms to my side. I struggled but this guy was surprisingly strong.
The other one got up, spit blood and walked over. Big mistake. As soon as he was within reach, I kicked him in the groin. When he bent over, I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards.
Now for the other one.
First, I head-butted him. But no one really wins with a head-butt. So now I had a headache and I was mad.
I used my momentum to lift my legs and swing them towards the ground. I ended up on my stomach and the guy was flipped over me. I straddled his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. I only had to hold for seconds before he passed out.
I jumped off of him and looked at the other one. He was standing up again. Does he give up? He's a scientist, isn't he? He shouldn't be this strong.
We came at each other at the same time. He pulled back to swing a punch so I just ducked under his arm and quickly twisted so that I was looking at him again. I brought my leg up as I twisted so that I caught him in the face as soon as he turned.
Definitely not just a scientist. He took that kick way too well.
I kicked the back of his knee before he could react and he dropped to his knees. I grabbed the back of his head and rammed it into my knee. I took a couple steps back and kicked him in the face again. He was down now.
The door opened and I turned quickly. I prepared for another fight.
"Isaac," I gasped. What was he doing here?
It didn't matter. I was just happy it was him.
"Cory," he breathed. "What is going on?"
He was looking at the bodies. The one was still unconscious. The other was bloody and groaning but not moving much.
"I had to stop them," I said, grabbing for the keys. They were on the bloody one's belt. He tried to reach for me again but I punched him in the throat and he was too preoccupied with trying to breathe to try to stop me.
"Watch those two." I pulled off the keys and hurried over to Harper.
She was smiling now. "Oh God." Suddenly her smile faded and was replaced by a look of dread. "Cory!"
I was hit from behind and I fell to the ground.
