Six (Countdown book 1)

Chapter 19

I'd got the lights working again. We all sat around in the kitchen. Me, Tony and Wyatt were all slightly cut and bruised from the brawl. We all had a cup of hot chocolate (there was no way I was having coffee) and there was no inanimate objects talking to me, which was nice.

"You all look terrible." Wyatt said, looking around at us. "Especially you, Eli." He was one to talk. He was a lot thinner than last time I'd seen him, and he's shaved off his beard, which made me kind of sad. His face was strained and tired, and his hair was greyer.

Everyone turned to look at me, and I looked guiltily down at the floor. I cleared my throat. "I've, uh, I've been working on replicating the formula."

"When was the last time you slept?" he asked, looking at me with obvious concern.

I cleared my throat again, warily. "Not too sure. Probably around five days ago. That's if napping counts, of course." Wyatt turned sternly to Scarlett, and I cut across before he could tell her off. "She told me to sleep and eat properly and everything, I just ignored her." I said, still looking at the floor.

Wyatt breathed deeply, seeming suspicious. "I'm glad you all made it here in one piece nevertheless." We all quickly recounted everything that had happened from the moment that we were captured by the Hunters. Wyatt nodded approvingly. "It's good to know that you kids used your brains. I had noticed that this old place had been cleaned up a bit when I came in, so I assumed it wasn't the Hunters nestling here. I fear they let you go rather too easily though."

I nodded. "I was thinking that too. It was all way too easy, even if I nearly killed myself in the process."

"What happened to you, though?" Andy cut in.

"We expected you to be here when we got here." Mackenzie added.

"I got a bit side tracked." Wyatt admitted. He undone his top shirt button and showed us a small, round white scar on his left shoulder.

"They shot you?" Aiden asked incredulously. Wyatt nodded.

"Luckily, I had some friends in the area who found me and took me in. I asked them to drop the car and supplies off at your parents' house, Scarlett, under my name, so you'd know where to go. After that, it was simply a matter of waiting until I was healthy enough to come here. I should probably still be in bed, but I was worried about you six."

The word six sent a shudder down my spine. Six of us, six years to live, our birthdays were on the sixth of the sixth. Six was not a good number. "I think we should have a celebratory party." I said, changing the subject quickly. "To celebrate Wyatt getting back."

Scarlett nodded. "We should. It'll give some people time away from the science lab, eh, Eli?"

"Right." I said, going slightly pink. "I can set it up."

"I'll help." Mackenzie offered, sounding excited. "We've had nothing to do around here other than cleaning and fixing up the rooms." I nodded.

"No." Wyatt said. "You don't have to-"

"Yes we do." Aiden said. "Life is so boring. A party sounds great to me."

"Come on." I said to Mackenzie. "We can start setting up now."

Wyatt frowned. "You're just looking for an excuse to not have to clean, right?" We all nodded in unison. "Fine." he sighed. I lead Mackenzie upstairs and into the lab. On the paperwork-cluttered desk, there was a stereo system with speakers, that I'd rigged so that none of their sound could be heard outside my room. Then, I'd soundeproofed the whole school as well, just to be on the safe side. 

I unplugged them carefully and passed them to Mackenzie. "Your hair's gotten really long again." she told me.

"So I've been told." I said, grabbing a touch-screen tablet off the side. It controlled the stereo and speakers, so there were no buttons on the actual machine. We walked down to what used to be the school hall, and I found a suitable place to put the speakers, and plugged them in. I turned on the speakers, and began flicking through the music I'd installed onto it. Most of it was jazz, so I decided I'd have to install some more before the party.