984 (Complex Series, #2)

Chapter Six

don't allow myself to show any outside reaction. But my mind is whirling. Brinn and Josh. Brinn and Josh. Whoever it is, they know our story. Whoever it is, they could get us into serious trouble. It must be someone I know.

Who could it be? I mentally run through a list of people who know our story, Brinn, Josh, Sienna, and the rebellious Officials. Dana and Canton only know parts of it.

I think of all the people I know in the Unknown: Dana, Canton, Josh,  and Bridget. There's no obvious explanation, unless, maybe the rebellious Officials are trying to get a message to me. But what kind of message are two simple words: Brinn and Josh?"

"We are leaving right now to go see them." Miranda says.

She's trying to hide her confusion, but I can see it in her eyes. She confidently strides down one hall and then another. I have to take fast, long steps to keep up. I'm almost jogging as we turn a few corners and walk through a sliding door.

The first thing that hits me is the stench. On the surface, it smells sterile, but it reeks deeply of grime, unwashed bodies, urine. I fight back the urge to cover my nose, settling for just breathing through my mouth. But it's almost worse, because I can practically taste it. 

Miranda's face is emotionless. Maybe she deals with this a lot. Moans echo off the walls and hollow whispers skitter around the hall. This new section of the Unknown radiates hopelessness. It exhales pain.

The hall is lined with five doors on each side, and then ends abruptly in a dead end. The ten doors are made of semi-transparent glance, so you can glimpse shadowy figures inside but they still get a small amount of privacy. A girl strides up to us, her hair falling out of a messy pony tail, worry creased across her face. I'd guess she was only a fifteen year is she didn't look so exhausted.

Miranda takes steps closer to the girl and says gently, "Milla, it looks like you need a break." The girl begins to protest but Miranda gives her a severe look and says, "Five minutes, that's all I'm asking, while I talk to newest Eekes, okay?"

Milla grumbles slightly, almost gratefully, and sits on the bleak gray floor, resting her head against the wall. Even though it’s the hard floor, Milla sighs in relief.

Miranda shakes her head slightly and leads me down to one of the last doors down the hall. She presses her Notice to the scanner and the door slides open.

There are two cots located in the room. Another small boy bustles around in the room, checking cords attached to the figures lying weakly on the bed. As we step closer, I get a sick feeling inside of me. 

I don't know who they are.

The girl's greasy brown hair lies limply in matted tangles spread around her pale body. Enormous bags hang under her wide-open, terrified eyes. Her pupils dart nervously back and forth. Her bleeding lips part and close in a rhythm. Her breath carries out the words. Brinn and Josh. Brinn and Josh. Slow and raspy, like her throat is stuffed with cotton. Her fingers twitch slightly at her sides, grasping at the sides of her gray clothes, pushing them away, playing with the sheets on the bed. She's oblivious to the fact that we even entered the room.

The boy is lying on the farther cot. His breathes are short and shallow. His arms are connected to all sorts of wires that run into the wall. The wall shows displays that look like nonsense to me, but the small boy stares intensely at them, making adjustments here and there to dials and switches. The unconscious boy's eyes are closed. Dark brown spots scatter his face, standing out against his yellowing skin. The only moving part of him is his chest. It continuously spasms, trying to bring in a small gulp of oxygen.