Wicked Atmosphere | Aris Jones [2]

5 || Aris' Discovery

The next night at dinner, which was the only time I ever got to see Aris now due to his schedule being changed, I told him about the files that I found, which he thought was odd.

"Files?" he questioned.

"Yes. There were all these files with information about us."

"What kind of information?"

"Our age and family members. They also had other...titles for us."

"What do you mean?" Aris furrowed his brows at me, a bit confused.

"Like for me it said 'Subject B20.'"

The boy was still puzzled. "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea, but it was like that for everyone's files. You were 'Subject B1.' It seems kind of weird, don't you think?"

Aris nodded his head. "Yeah, it does."

"Not only that, but it had something about the Flare," I continued. "Like whether or not you were immune to it. Janson acted all nonchalant about it when he found me, like it was no big deal." I paused for a moment, then went on. "Why would Janson need all of that stuff, all of that information about us?"

Aris shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

I sighed. "I don't know, either. So, did you find anything last night?" I asked.

"I think so," he replied. "It's not much, but I'm sure it's something."

"Okay, let's move it, everyone!" a soldier announced to the entire cafeteria. Aris and I parted ways, wanting to know what he found.

*******

I never found out what Aris discovered the next day, or the day after that, or even the day after that. I could tell that he wanted to tell me, but it seemed like he was a bit paranoid with everyone all around us, listening in to our conversations. Of course, he had a fair point, but I was dying to know what he saw that night.

It had been a full seven days, one week since I arrived here with what friends that were still with me from the Glen. But that began to change after I was caught after hours by Janson. Every night, more of my friends left the cafeteria with him and never returned. Aris noticed this, too, and he was just as curious and concerned as I was. At this point, we were only able to rely on each other, wondering if one of us would be taken next. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen. We couldn't be alone, not now.

As I was making my way towards the cafeteria for dinner, I spotted a new group of kids that showed up once we hit the seventh night. This time, they were all boys and only one girl. I didn't take a good look at all of them, but there weren't many that arrived. They were in the same lab we were in, all cleaned up and looking better than ever, I figured.

When I got to the cafeteria, I sat down across from Aris and huffed a sigh. He didn't look up at me when I sat down. I stared at him, hoping he would know that I was here. I cleared my throat and he finally noticed me.

"Hi," he said, sounding slightly upset.

"What's with you?" I inquired.

"I've been going back in the vents to the same place for the past week," he said.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to say more. "And?"

He swallowed hard, then continued, leaning in closer. "It's hard to explain, especially in here, but I've noticed a pattern."

"What kind of pattern?"

Instead of replying, he looked up by the entrance. I turned my head to see the new arrivals strolling inside the cafeteria, sitting with some boys that had been here for a few days.