Night of the Alphas

Chapter 23

"So this is why you dragged me out of bed? You had a bad dream?"

Over the course of a few hours, I had been able to locate everyone and take them to our usual table in the cafeteria. I was even able to pull a few strings and get Joshua's sergeant to let him out early. As for everyone else, though, I had to drag them out of bed. Luckily, no one was in the cafeteria other than the cooks. The people passing by did give us some strange looks though.

"It wasn't just a bad dream," I told Abel, who didn't seem happy with me at all. "I think it was a glimpse of the future."

"Zane," Alex said, his voice calm but firm. "Dreams don't act like that in real life. Just in books and movies."

"You don't get it," I said. "It was so real. Please just listen to what I have to say."

"Fine," Abel said grumpily.

I told them all about my dream; The murderer, the shifting corpse, the person strangling me, everything. When I was finished, they just stared at me like I was crazy. Finally, Amanda spoke up.

"Well..." She avoided my gaze. "That sounds really scary, sweetie. I get why it scared you. And I would just like to say that-"

"You believe me?" I said hopefully.

She bit her lip. "Zane, you've been through a lot. Are you sure that this isn't just your brain playing tricks on you?"

My heart sank. Amanda had become a mother figure for Charity and I. To hear her say that she didn't believe me made me feel like dirt. "But..."

"She's right," Joshua said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "It's probably just your imagination."

"Listen, I know it sounds far-fetched, but you have to believe me! What if one of you died?" I glanced at my sister. "Charity, you of all people should understand. I've had dreams like this before. Right?"

She nodded. "He's right. He's had these... unusual dreams before. They've all come true."

Mr. Edger's eyes widened. "So... Can you tell the future?"

"Not exactly. It's more like-" I thought for a moment. "Yeah, it is like telling the future. But it's never really good."

"Do you think we can change it?" Zaria asked.

"That's why I gathered you all here. To figure out how to avoid it."

There was a long pause. Finally, Alex spoke up. "We could ask Major Evans if we can have the same shift and work in the same area. That way, we can protect each other."

Joshua snorted. "Are you kidding? He wouldn't believe us. Plus, I'm pretty sure the guy's convinced that we're trying to sabotage everything. He wouldn't trust us if his life depended on it."

"And he has good reason," Mr. Taylor mumbled. "You directly disobeyed him, Joshua."

"Oh, come on! I thought that was water under the bridge."

"He has to judge people on his past experiences with them. You proved to be untrustworthy. That's your own fault."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Any other ideas?"

"We could just get in really big trouble and be relieved of our duties," Zaria suggested.

Alex sucked air through his teeth. "That's too risky. If we do something too extreme, then we could be seen as spies and killed. Or, more likely, we'll be imprisoned for treason."