Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

secrets of the night

In the confusion I hadn't realized that we'd walked towards Raya's administrative style building. What Cody had suggested, that Beck had been a part of the plan, still bothered me. Mostly because it made sense, and it made even more sense that he and I would be left out of the plan.

There was only so much acting I could manage. It wasn't my strong suit, and I knew that if I'd walked to the medical center, knowing there would be an interaction with Beck of all people, I wasn't sure I could have done it. I would have been too nervous, anticipating the worst of the possibilities.

The night was moving quicker than I'd expected it too. Part of me had thought it might drag out. Every moment lasting eternity until we were caught, and punished for our efforts. But it had been the opposite, so far. Time moving so quickly through me that I was still struggling with what had already happened rather than looking towards our next moves.

Cody wasn't though. He seemed to be operating at a perfectly respectable level.

Except the part where we walked right up to Raya and a group of her people.

"What's going on?" Cody asked, raising his voice so he'd be heard before we'd even officially approached Raya and her people.

Instinct begged me to run off, to leave Cody to his own downfalls. But I realized when Raya's eyes landed on us, that this is where we were probably expected to be. Raya looked between our faces, her thoughts clearly anywhere but us, and then her eyes dipped to Cody's hand which held our bags.

"We were just on our way back from getting our dinner and our supplies when we heard noise. Is everything okay? Are the gates secure?"

Cody didn't looked at me as I asked my questions, and I was grateful. Thanks to the growing darkness around us, the clouds of smoke that had begun to pour from the building behind us by now couldn't be seen. Our lack of knowledge was plausible.

Raya looked like she'd rather be anyone but herself currently.

"It's probably nothing serious... reports about a kitchen fire. You two don't mind yourselves, you're fresh from beyond the walls and I need you ready for tomorrow night," Raya seemed to focus on us better when she spoke of the following night. She shook her head, mind made up, "no, we don't need your help tonight. Go home, make yourselves comfortable and settle in, put your things away!" she gestured to our bags.

Behind us, the commotion got worse.

Cody glanced in the direction of it, then back to Raya. He raised an eyebrow.

"You sure?"

My heart was beating heavily. I glanced to the few people who stood around Raya, some of them were on their hand held radios, a few of them looked to be waiting for Raya herself to speak on the plan. She regarded us for a moment before shaking away whatever she'd thought of.

"No, it's fine. We can handle it. If things change and we need the extra help, I know where to find you."

Cody nodded then, done offering our help. Raya looked slightly taken back when he abruptly conceded and suggested to me that we hurry and get home, then. I looked away from her quickly, worried she might see what we've done on my face. Or worse, decide she did need our help after all.

My eyes landed on several figures as they walked up. I was the one tugging Cody away from them, then. He didn't need very much prompting to start walking. True to the fact that he was better at all of this than I was, Cody turned to bid Raya and her team of helpers a good night.

As we passed the figures on our way out, I recognized one of them. He gave me a conspiratorial wink. I had to force myself to continue walking, to not falter at the strange expression. I turned to look at them over my shoulder.