The Program [Book Two of The Test]

Chapter Twenty-One

The Program

Chapter Twenty-One

I've tried to stop it, the constant thinking about Riley. It's been an hour now, John is sleeping, or maybe he's faking it. 

Everything's coming at me all at once. I can see it, hear it again. She's sitting beside me, telling Reid's story, telling me all she can.

And now she's dead, or not. Whatever.

She told me she can't die, she's a program after all. But my sleepy mind isn't focused on that. It's concentrating on the words she said after.

No. Programs don't die, not really. Only humans die. Her words in my brain, sounding as if she was next to me again, not dead. And you'll die too. So I guess that means the only one dying out of the two of us is you.

It's just happening for you at a really slow pace is all.

These words have echoed in my head for the past hour, causing me to bite my lip nervously. She knew and I didn't catch it. Riley knew the test was killing me.

John is stirring next to me and I contemplate waking him, telling him what I know, but I don't, letting him sleep so that at least one of us has the simulated feeling of being well rested before we both risk everything tomorrow. Plus, not just these thoughts from Riley are the only thing on my mind.

I'm thinking over every outcome, making another plan of what to do after I finish this one. I list off steps of the entire thing in my head.

Step one: Me and John do whatever it takes to combine our disrupting powers together, making us both an extremely powerful weapon against the test, hopefully breaking it forever this time.

There were risks, especially given the fact that Natalie never mentioned that something like this could be done. But something definitely had happened when me and John became intimate, and that kiss...

John groans a bit and tosses, distracting me from my thoughts. I hear the slightest hint of a name leaving his mouth and try not to focus on the fact that its Annie's as I go back to what I was thinking.

Step two: Most likely Reid or his boss will throw another obstacle at us, somewhat like the one Reid used as I was waking up from the test. I still haven't figured out what that tree business was about, and I don't really want to know either.

Step three: Hopefully, we both wake up. And if for some reason one of us doesn't make it, I hope it's me. John came in here to save me, he was being a good person, he deserves to make it out.

I look at John again. Is it really possible that perhaps he has feelings for Annie? He didn't flat out say it, but that's what he meant right? Have I really been so distracted by the feelings I felt for Jack that I missed them growing closer, that I wasn't told that they had.

Running my fingers through my hair, I sighed. I knew my friends could still be in danger. Jack was in jail. Annie could be being targeted by this organization right now. Danny too could be in trouble. And who knew how my dad, mom, and brother were taking this. They didn't even know the whole story, and I would have to make John promise that if I didn't make it, they never would. My family can't know everything that happened here, it will only make things worse.