The Priceless Variable

Uncovering the Truth

It was hard for Thomas and Mallory not to think about what Aris showed them that previous night. They decided to only tell their friends because they don't want anyone else to either panic or not believe them.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's the next night and Janson was calling names again at dinner. The kids made their way to the front of the cafeteria.

"Avery, Graham, Lillie, Samantha..." Janson called out.

"I wanna know what's through that door." Thomas whispered to himself.

Newt heard his whisper.

"Look, we've been over this. You said that they were covered up, so you don't know what you saw. It could've been anything under there." he said.

"I know exactly what I saw. They were bodies." Thomas said.

"Aris said that they bring in a new batch every night." Mallory said.

"Who is Aris?" Minho asked her.

She pointed to him in the corner of the cafeteria.

"Well, I'm sold." Minho said.

"And, last but not least...Charles. Thank you for your attention. Enjoy the rest of your evening." Janson said.

The kids who were called were escorted out by guards. Some people clapped as they left.

"Until we know anything for certain, we should just keep our heads down and try not to draw any attention to ourselves, alright?" Newt planned.

"Agreed." Mallory said.

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the guard that always stands at the door where the called-out kids always leave.

"Are you Mallory?" he asked.

"Y-Yes." she stutters.

"I need you to come with me." the guard said, then grabbed her arm.

He pulled her up from the table and started walking towards that door. Mallory looked back at her friends with fear expressed all over her face.

Thomas knew he was playing a dangerous game, but they couldn't sit back and watch their friend being taken away. So, he got up and went after them. Thomas got close enough and grabbed Mallory's left wrist. The guard noticed and pushed him away.

"Back off!" he yelled at Thomas.

Newt and the others got up and ran over there. The other kids were watching the fight erupt.

"What's your problem, man? Huh?" Thomas yelled back.

Minho, Frypan, Winston, and Jack held Thomas back. Mallory was able to break free from the guard's grip and ran into Newt's arms.

"What were you gonna do with her?" Newt yelled at the guard.

"Control your friend!" the guard said to them.

Then, Janson came into the scene.

"What's happening here?" he asked.

Janson looked at Thomas straight in the eye and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thomas, I thought we could trust each other. You know we're all on the same team here." Janson said.

"Are we?" Thomas questioned.

Janson had a small smirk on his face. He knew that this was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He looked over and saw Mallory in Newt's arms.

"You're Mallory, right?" Janson asked.