Steel Flight [Completed]

Chapter 43: Announcement

~Skai

"Here it is," I whispered to myself, though I really shouldn't have. I could not afford any chance of being caught that wasn't completely necessary. If I was caught. . . I didn't want to think about all it would entail.

The police I'd been watching pace back and forth from my hiding place were now finally going inside. I waited till all but the last few were inside before leaving my relative safety. Then I slid slowly over the wall, relying on the shadows to shelter me. Thankfully, everyone else was too focused on their areas to notice me. So long as I was careful.

The last person stepped inside and I slipped in right behind her, just before the door closed. From there, I didn't move an inch until the line of police had disappeared down a sterile white hallway.

Then there was silence.

Where was the contact?

From under a flight of winding stairs to my right stepped another person whose face I recognized: Rietta. Only, I was accustomed to seeing her in a doughy apron and rougher work clothes. Now she wore light gray scrubs.

What??? Since when had she been a nurse? She didn't have a high enough status to receive that kind of schooling. Why else would she have become a baker?

Whatever I had thought of her, despite our previous encounters (including the last one, in which I'd "stolen" some of her stale bread), Rietta walked straight up to me, her usual scowl wiped off her face.

"Nicholson. You're here. Good. The Head of Police ordered me to assist you in whatever way I can."

"Why?" I had never known the baker to be a generous person, and especially not when it came to me.

"Because," she murmured, eyes far away. "This has all gone too far."

I was strangely touched, though also somewhat resentful. I didn't want her help, nor Henry's. But if I'd learned anything since meeting Jack, it was that sometimes you had to trust others. You didn't always get burned.

"Where is Jye Cottle being held?" I asked, my voice authorative. I knew who was most likely to listen to me, and though his social standing wasn't much better than mine, it was something.

"Over here." She led me past innumerable patients slowly deteriorating. I recognized the symptoms in each face I passed, as well as the hopelessness and nights of tears now dried on their faces. I looked away. Rietta pointed to the end of the row.

"Sure there's nothing more I can do for you?"

I paused, then looked her in the eye. "Vicissm is steel poisoning. From the steel pipes that carry our water and probably the steel machines that make our food. No matter what happens today, people need to know."

She nodded. I took a deep breath and turned to the gurney at the end of the row. Lying on it was a pale kid only a couple years older than me. Beside him stood his widowed mother and his grandfather.

I swallowed, their grief-ridden expressions all too familiar. I only hoped I wasn't too late. He was still breathing. Barely.

"Peb." My voice was a mere whisper. I cleared my throat, then spoke louder, "Peb."

He turned, his face registering shock. "Block Heel?!" He shook his head. "What are you doing here? You should be hiding! The whole city's on lockdown. Everyone's looking for you."

"Peb. I know what causes vicissm."

"What?"

I looked around, spotted a chair, and pulled it to the center of the room. Then I stood on it, my heels clanging loudly against the metal. "Everyone, listen to me!" Getting everyone's attention wasn't hard. Most people had already been watching me. Well, not the nurses, but they had stopped to watch now too.

"Skai! Get down!" Peb hissed.

"I know what causes vicissm!" My announcement rang through the room, but no one moved. I looked around at all the patients and their families. Their expressions hadn't changed. This was too much to hope for. So it would be better not to.

The nurses started whispering to each other, moving closer to me.

"Chips of steel mingle with our water, and we spend our entire lives ingesting bits of metal."

One nurse with a steel level watch and short, reflective dark gray hair walked up to my chair. "Please get down. You're upsetting the patients."

"Farmers don't have vicissm, because they get their water from streams and wells. No metal pipes, no vicissm."

"I'm warning you, girl. We won't tolerate such nonsense."

But one small group of nurses hung back, brows furrowed, eyes on me.

A doctor in a lab coat the color and lustre of the nurse's hair entered the room. "What is going on here?"

I pushed ahead, voice rising. "Vicissm is a form of metal poisoning- from steel!"

Hands grabbed my arms and ripped me from the chair. I ground my heel into my captor's foot and spun around (it was the doctor), only to be grabbed by three others. I kicked knees and shins and ground my heel down, but for every grip that loosened, another came to take its place.

As I was dragged away from the chair, back the way I had come, I looked back at Peb's family one last time. Zahla's eyes were still hollow, but suddenly showed a spark of hope. Peb looked like he might punch someone, but just shrunk back.

I was alone.

However, as I was dragged to the door at the end of the hall, I caught sight of a huddle of whispering nurses- the ones who'd hung back. Their eyes kept flicking to me. Relief surged up my spine. Maybe someone would listen.

At the sound of a lock clicking, I pulled my thoughts back to my most immediate predicament. A balding doctor to my right tapped the code onto the door's cool surface and I readied myself for Madame P.'s scare tactics and intense questioning.

The door opened long enough for me to be shoved into the room. Then it locked behind me and I was trapped.

"Well, well, well."

I gasped. "You!"

"Hello, Skai," the magician said, slowly coming to stand. "I've been expecting you."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Comment below: what did you like? Dislike? I'd love to hear from you!