Subject 116

19

"So let me get this straight. I'm gonna go over the whole thing here. After we tell a few more older people and get them in on it, we take the spare day laundry, build a literal rope with it, and I go down, take out the guards with my ability, get the key, and open the door for you guys. Hallie goes down the hall and snags a key card from one of the staff, comes back with it, we all go down in groups, and get the hell out of here. That's it?" Monica couldn't really handle all those steps, because they still had missing pieces.

"Well, yeah. But I thought I could use my ability to turn out the lights once I see a staff member with a card, and then take it before they can notice. That's a little more realistic." Finn and I had talked about this a lot more after Lydia fell asleep on me the night before. We were both exhausted, but needed to get her in on the plan, just so we could get it done sooner rather than later, to avoid any more sacrifices.

"That's true. But what if they follow you back, if they manage to get the lights back on, and they see all of us?"

"We'll talk to others about their abilities. We're stronger than them, remember?" I was honestly exhausted, but stayed enthusiastic to spread hope. If we didn't have faith in what we were doing, we were all as good as dead. I don't mean that in an overly optimistic tense, I mean we would lose all motivation and concentration, which would just throw everything off, and would most likely result in failure.

"Yeah... yeah I guess you're right. It's going to be a lot easier once we get more people involved. So I'm glad that you two have discussed this a little more, since someone else's death date is probably coming up soon. So I'd rather not have all the lives that've been taken go to waste." She was right. A lot of weight had been lifted off my shoulders once I had a real talk with Finn about what steps should be taken next. I know how much pressure he had been putting on himself, and it just wasn't healthy. I didn't want the first long-term emotion he felt to be something so negative. Once we got out of this place, I think something was going to hit, and it might make him happier. That was what I was hoping for anyway, he deserved it after being blank for as long as he could remember. Now that we were talking to Monica too, things were going a lot smoother, and that was satisfying for both of us.

"Of course. But again, if there are sacrifices, that's unfortunately how it has to be. We'll protect everyone, but realistically, someone else is going to die before we can go through with this plan." I knew how much Finn wanted this to work, and I did too, but he was probably right. There was no way we were going to figure everything out within the next two days or so, it was just unrealistic, as sad as it was.

Monica stayed quiet for a second. She was heavily against that seemingly pessimistic way of looking at it, but she knew he was right too. She sighed, and averted her eyes to the wall next to us. "Yeah. And whoever it is, it won't be for nothing."

We both nodded. She hadn't stopped thinking about Peyton for a second, I forgot sometimes how close they actually were. I think she was viewing everyone here, the adults, the kids, as someone who had more to them than just a random survivor of the accident who had been forcefully taken here. They had families, friends, who were all waiting for them to come back. Peyton had a family too. And now they were never going to see him again. It was going to be really difficult to explain to the rest of the public what actually went down in this place. If they even believed us.

"I wish we could take everyone. But then the rest of us would be at risk." Finn stared at the floor, I could tell he was frustrated.

"Hey, don't do that. We're going to do all we can." I reassured him. He nodded, trying to brush it off. "Sorry. I don't know why I keep doing that."

"Well, self-doubt happens sometimes, to everyone." I explained, but was surprised to see his reaction.

"Really? Even you?"