NUMB

Day Forty-Six (pt. 2) - Elyse

Jet had a plan himself. After we hashed out the details of mine and Krysta's, he told us about how he had been talking to Seth, and the two of them were going to get some people out of the Compound now rather than later.

So after curfew, we wait in the east corridor for them, a whole group of us. There are ten people, not counting us, most of them younger Numb. We managed to sneak out two Threes, four Twos, and four Ones. Krysta stands off to the side with Quinn. They have been talking amongst themselves ever since we got down here. Quinn wipes at his nose and nods at something she says to him.

Edie worries her thumb between her lips as she sits next to me. I drape my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to me. She leans on my shoulder. Earlier, Edie had broken down about Isaiah, about the plan to get him out. Her eyes are still puffy from crying.

It feels like forever before a door creaks open and Jet steps into the hallway. Edie slides my arm off of her so I can stand up.

"Is this everyone?" Jet asks as he moves towards the group.

"Everyone we could grab without it being too obvious," I reply.

His eyes move over the group of Numb standing in front of him. The oldest ones here are Krysta, Edie and me. Majority of them are Quinn's age, around thirteen. A few of them are younger.

"Okay, kids first. Good thinking." Jet's eyes meet mine and I give him a quick nod.

Seth steps out of the same door then, his expression gruff and in the darkened hallway, his scarred face is menacing. A few kids duck behind Edie. Jet notices and crouches down, to be on their level.

"Hey kiddos," he says, his voice soft. "This is Seth. He looks scary, right? But trust me, he's not at all. He's actually pretty nice. He's going to be helping me get you out of here and back to your parents. Do you want to see your parents?"

The kids, the older ones, nod their heads and help coax the younger children out from behind Edie. Seth comes forward and introduces himself to a few of the children, who exchange looks and then take his hands, their little fingers wrapping around his. It paints an odd picture—Seth, towering over the little ones, with his scars and rough appearance, leading them gently towards the door he had just come from.

"What's through that door?" I ask Jet as he comes to stand by me.

"A way out." He folds his arms over his chest, watches the older kids follow Seth's lead and take the children's hands. "Tasha showed it to me. She said it was an emergency exit for the nurses when they lived here. A hidden panel in there opens up to a tunnel that goes underneath the wall and comes out just outside, in Boulder."

"Is that how you've been moving in and out to meet with Seth?"

He nods. "There's also something similar, in one of the rooms at the end of the corridor, that leads to the outside of the building, but still in the walls. I use that often, to meet with you." He eyes me and I feel my cheeks burn a little.

"Is that how you managed to get to the infirmary so quickly that first time? You seemed to just appear out of thin air."

It is Jet's turn to blush now. He coughs out a quiet, "Yeah."

But before he can continue, Quinn steps up to us. "Seth is going to need some help moving these kids, so I'm going with him."

I glance over at Krysta. She is standing with her back to us, but it is obvious she is wiping at her face.

"Krysta wanted to go too, but I guess you two have something else planned that she has to stick around for," Quinn says to me.

I turn my eyes back to him. "Yes. I will need her help here."

"Edie, what about you?" Jet asks.

Edie looks up from where she was straightening a little girl's ponytail and raises her eyebrows. "You want me to go with them?"

"It would help Seth a lot," Jet tells her.

She drops her gaze down to the little girl, who is staring up at her with wide eyes. "Of course, I'll help them. I'll go."

I look at her, thank her with a smile. She smiles back at me and then gives me a one-armed hug. "See you on the outside, Elyse."

"Be safe," I tell her.

Behind Edie, Krysta finally faces us. She has tears in her eye and her nose is running. Quinn walks right up to her and wraps his thick arms around her waist, buries his head against her shoulder. She winds her arms around his shoulders loosely and presses her forehead against the top of his head. They break apart after a long moment.

Krysta walks over to me as Edie walks away with Quinn and the rest of the kids.

"I'm gonna miss that boy," Krysta chokes out. "I know we started off on the wrong foot, me and him, but he's like the little brother I never wanted." She turns to me then, and throws her arms around me.

My body tenses. With Edie, it is easy for me to hold her or pet her hair, but Krysta and I are not that close, so at first I do nothing. But after a moment, it becomes apparent that I should just do what I do with Edie. Krysta needs a friend and I would like to consider the two of us as such.

I wrap my arms around her, pet her hair gently. "It will be okay. We are going to see them again," I tell her. "Very soon."

Jet gives me a look that I am unable to decipher.