Sorry again for the super late update, I've been very, very busy lately. Like, I-took-a-summer-job-that-turned-out-to-be-ten-times-more-work-than-school busy. (Not that any of you guys seemed especially anxious to see an update. :/ Just saying.) Anyways, here's the next chapter! :)
16 - High Stakes
...And then I burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" I cried, "This is all my fault! Please don't hurt him!" I threw myself into Craig's confused arms, "It's just that it's been months since I've seen him, and I just wanted to—oh, please, I was the one who snuck over to talk. I swear, he had nothing to do with this!" I looked up at Craig with big, dramatically frightened eyes.
Craig caught on pretty fast from there. "No," He insisted, wrapping his arms around me protectively, "it's my fault too. She shouldn't be the only one punished." We stood there in our awkward embrace, looking like a couple of scared, pathetic, love struck teenagers.
The guard glared at us for a minute, then rolled his eyes as if to say, you stupid kids. I held in a sigh of a relief. "You two are the last finishing your cleaning assignments."
"I-I'm done cleaning my hall," I sniffled, "I'm so sorry, I know I shouldn't have, I just—"
The guard cut me off, "I'll let you off the hook this time. Just don't let me catch you sneaking around again. Now come with me so that your boyfriend can finish his cleaning." There was no pity or mercy in this statement, just disinterest mixed with impatience and mild irritation.
I dared to steal a glance back in Craig's direction as the guard was leading me away. He gave me a thumbs up, a smirk of approval lingering on his face. Nice one. I stifled a self-satisfied smile and allowed myself the tiniest bit of relief. My part was done for now; all that was left to do was wait for the guys to come through.
When I arrived at the barracks the other girls were either sitting up in bed or poised on the edge of their bunks, eager to hear how the exchange had gone. All I did was nod slightly, and say, "It's good," then I retreated to my bunk, feeling thoroughly spent. I took in a sharp breath as I eased myself down, finally allowing myself to be aware of how much pain I was in. You're almost there, I told myself, a few more days and you're home free. But then a wave of nausea hit me and I twisted my body over the edge of the bed, retching onto the floor. The sudden, painful movement combined with the violent gagging was almost suffocating, and it hurt enough to make me want to scream. Could I really make it to the end, or was I as good as gone already?
The next day Vera was sitting uncomfortably in her cage, stomach grumbling. Where is Ella? She wondered with annoyance. She'd better show up. The measly little rations those mad scientists had supplied her with that morning had long since worn off, and Vera's stomach had been grumbling for the better part of an hour. But Ella would be showing up any minute now, food packets in hand and optimistic escape plans in tow.
To say that Vera trusted Ella's plan would be a pretty big stretch. She of all people knew that the odds were stacked against both of them, and all it would take is one wrong move or stroke of bad luck to make Ella's schemes come tumbling down. Still, the girl was determined and, Vera had to admit, not altogether incompetent. Who knew, something productive might actually come from this alliance.
Finally the doorknob jiggled and slowly eased open, and Vera felt her spirits brighten. Food! She was highly surprised, however, when a girl other than Ella stepped through the door. "Um, hi, you're Vera?" the girl said nervously.
Vera's felt her chest seize up a little, and she narrowed her eyes. "She's dead, isn't she."
The girl stared at her in confusion for a moment, before realizing, "Oh, you mean Ella?" she shook her head. "No no, nothing's happened to her, at least, not yet. I'm Kendra, and Ella sent me here to give you these." She pulled out two food packets and then approached Vera, pushing them through the bars for her to grab.
"Not yet," Vera repeated quietly, the uncomfortable feeling in her chest only slightly relieved. "How bad is she?"
Kendra sighed, a troubled expression lingering on her face. "She's sick, sicker than she's ever been. That's why she stayed back—she thought she should keep resting so she'll be ready for the takeover, when it finally happens." She grimaced. "Though honestly, there's probably no way the guard would've let her volunteer for cleaning duty again anyways. She looks terrible."
"Huh," Vera replied casually, as if someone had just told her about the weather or their pet cat, "So the plan got passed on, then?"
"Yeah. Ella had a close call with the guard, she said, but they don't suspect anything."
"Good." Vera shifted in her cage. "Do you know when the breakout's happening?"
Kendra shook her head. "It depends on how long it takes the boys to get organized."
"I see."
"Oh, that reminds me," Kendra remembered, "Ella gave me a message for you. She said to tell you that she wrote you into the plan she gave the guys, so that when they get out of the barracks you'll be a top priority. If they can't find the password for the lock, they'll break the cage open somehow." She paused. "She also says that there's no strings attached once you're free. You've held up your end up the bargain, so we'll hold up ours."
Vera nodded solemnly. "I'll be ready when the time comes."
Once the wrappers were discarded and Kendra was gone, Vera used the silence to mull over her situation. So, Ella was doing poorly. Huh. An odd feeling was stirring inside of Vera, one that she was not used to experiencing. She wasn't actually getting sentimental about Max's kid sister, was she?
Snap out of it, Vera, she told herself, you have more important things to worry about. A chance to escape was coming up soon, however slim it might be, and Vera wasn't going to lose focus now, when it mattered most.
The rain was never going to stop falling, Iggy decided. The sky was just going to keep on pouring, and pouring, until this little force field bubble was filled to the top with water. It had been storming endlessly for four days straight already, which meant that he was still grounded and Ella was just out of Iggy's reach, the pouring rain effectively holding both of them hostage. It was maddening, really.
Tired of hiding away all day long, Iggy walked along the shoreline with Gazzy by his side, feeling the torrent of raindrops soak his hair and slide down his face. He could hear thunder rumbling loudly in the distance, which of course meant that there must be lightning nearby. Iggy knew he shouldn't even be outside in this weather, let alone up in the air, but there were times that he was tempted to throw caution to the wind and take off in the middle of this storm.
Of course, that's when he would remember that one time he had to fly in the middle of a hurricane, and that if he went flying like a maniac into the storm clouds Gazzy would fly right into the sky with him. No, flying in this weather would just get them both killed. He needed to wait for better flying conditions.
"It's such a bare-looking place," Gazzy commented as he gazed at the island in the distance, "I see some pine trees and the factory, but the rest just looks like rocks and dirt. Of course, the rain makes it kind of blurry."
Iggy hmmm'd thoughtfully. "Are you sure you don't want to stay behind, Gaz?" he asked his young friend. "You don't have to go."
"No, I'm going," Gazzy replied with certainty, "There's no way I'm letting you do this alone." They both knew that trying to persuade the Gasman otherwise was pointless, so they fell silent on the subject.
"I wonder if she's alright," Iggy murmured thoughtfully, almost too quiet to be heard over the rain.
"She's been gone for about a month, I think," was the Gasman's grim estimation. "Do you think that place is like the School?"
"I hope not," Iggy sighed, "Because if it is..." he didn't finish, because he knew they were both thinking the same thing: if that place was anything like the School, there's no way Ella would come out of there unchanged. She might not even be alive. "We still have to try," he was adamant, "You never leave family behind."
"I think Max would be proud of us," Gazzy said, "if she was here."
"Maybe," Iggy turned towards the island, staring it down with blind eyes, "but let's make her prouder yet." Then he and Gazzy left the beach to take shelter again.
The days following my final rendezvous with Craig were the slowest, most miserable days of my life. It was like I had just run a marathon and then caught a bad flu times ten. Every time I thought the pain couldn't get any worse it did, and before long I felt so bad it was all I could do to crawl to the bathroom every few hours. I was determined to fight when the time to escape came, though; even if I was hooked up to an IV or dying in a hospital bed, when the cavalry came charging in I'd be up and fighting with the best of them.
There were times, though, when I doubted that I'd even live long enough to see the breakout. The virus' usual symptoms were bad enough, but I could tell that something else was wrong now. Something felt worse; it felt... different. Something inside of me had changed, and I was scared to admit what it could be.
It was five days after the plan transfer when Kendra finally returned with the news: the guys were organized and ready to go tonight. Moving was agonizing by then, but I still managed to prop myself up into an upright position and smile encouragingly at everyone. "This is it," I whispered, "Tonight we're not holding anything back."
"Do you really think we can do this, Ella?" Heidi asked, eyes wide and frightened. I could tell she was having trouble wrapping her mind around the realization that we were finally going to go through with this.
"We're going to make it," I declared firmly, "We've come too far to lose now."
I warned everyone to keep quiet for now, to avoid talking about tonight so that the guard wouldn't overhear our plans. It was hard to stay silent though—seeing the hope in everyone's eyes, knowing that we were finally going to take a stand for ourselves, it made the atmosphere in that barrack more optimistic than it had been in weeks. Now we weren't just waiting around for the end to come; we were conserving our energy, saving our strength for the big takeover. It was an unspoken source of pride and empowerment for all of us.
A collective breath of excitement escaped from the barrack when the lights flickered out for the night. I knew I should sleep while I could, especially in my sick state, but I was way too nervous and excited to get any shuteye. It was like Christmas Eve, and I was the child who had too much pent up anticipation to relax. The time ticked by painfully slowly that evening, and there was nothing more than I wanted to hear than the sound of our self-made cavalry storming in.
"Remember the plan," I uttered when the guard was out of earshot, "The other girls will have no idea what's going on, so we have to guide them. Tell them that we're taking over, and to attack anyone who's an adult. Also, grab anything that could be used as a weapon." There was a low murmur of agreement, and then the room returned to silence.
For ages I lay there in the agonizing darkness, impatient, in pain, and nearly anxious enough to start screaming. The wait was killing me! I wanted so badly to jump off of my bunk right about then, tear my way through that electric fence and start swinging at the first person that came my way, but I couldn't. Not yet. Just a little longer, I reminded myself, taking another ragged breath, they'll be here any minute now.
And that's when finally, after all the sneaking, scheming, and waiting I had done in the last few weeks, I could hear a noise echo down the hallway. It was a faint shouting noise; quiet, but growing louder by the second. It was the sound of freedom.
