274 (Complex Series, #4)

Chapter Forty-One

I desperately pull against the bindings, as though I could stop it. They hold strong, but it’s too late anyway.

Piper slumps forward, her limp body straining against the straps.

Everyone’s reaction to the clear was different. Josh’s panicked and violent. Miranda desperately tried to stay strong, collapsing only at the last minute. Piper barely reacts at all, only wilting.

Does the way you react to the clear say something about your personality? Your strength? Your true self?

Can she really be dead? She is too strong to have died so quickly. She was.

Her spitting mouth dangles slightly open. Her glaring eyes now stare blankly ahead. Tears spring into my eyes. One slips down my cheeks, staining my gray shirt darker, almost black.   

How are we going to survive now? Without Piper’s guiding and planning, do we have even a small chance at living? I don’t know where we are in the Complex, even vaguely. How am I supposed to escape?

It doesn’t matter. I need to escape. For Piper. For Miranda. For Charlotte. For Tooth. I need to escape for all the people I failed to save. I need to win just this once, to honor their memories, their dreams, their plans. Ellen mentioned something about the ‘big finale’. I can’t imagine what it means, but it can’t be good.

I glance at Christopher. Fear morphs his features, his cool, careless attitude gone. He’ll be no help either, too busy whimpering in self-pity to think straight.

I’m on my own then.

Derek nods shortly at Jonathan, and then turns to a face a corner. “There you go. Dead. I’ll dispose of the others as well and come meet you for Mid-day Meal, okay?”

Even though the walls meet together in what seems to be emptiness, there is most likely a camera there. Ellen is probably watching the whole thing, cheering over Piper’s death. My emotions beg for me to react the same way Piper did. I want to scream at Derek, spit in his face, and curse Ellen. I force myself to take a deep breath, blinking away the tears gathered in my eyes.

Derek has two other syringes clutched between his fingers. Clear liquid sloshes back and forth inside. Will it work on me? None of the other shots have worked on me. I can remember every time red was forced into my veins. When the green mixed with my blood before I went in with the Ecru, I had to pretend to fall unconscious.

Derek lied and said he was helping us. That means he knows about our plans. Piper said he was helping all the immunes escape. He must know I’m immune. He wouldn’t try to kill me with something he knows wouldn’t work.

Derek hands a shot to Jonathan, Jonathan striding towards Christopher. When Christopher sees him advancing, he begins to scream. He tries to twist his body away. His skin turns bright red from where he pushes and pulls against the bindings. Jonathan’s face is blank as he wrenches Christopher’s arm around, sliding the syringe into his arm.

Christopher’s screams grow louder until they cut off. The room seeming abruptly silent.

I’m alone. I’m trapped. I’m going to die.

Derek smiles lightly, apparently amused at Christophe’s death. I wonder what he’ll think of mine.

Derek twists the syringe between his fingers before approaching me.

I suppose that’s some type of honor. Being killed by Derek Windsor himself isn’t a ‘privilege’ everyone in the Complex is lucky enough to receive.  Christopher died only by an Official.

I push the sarcastic thoughts out of my head. I can’t think that way about my death, showing that I’ve given up hope. Escaping is what I need to focus on.