*look, dudes, I suck at titles okay?*
LUC
"THIS SPECIFIC COMPOUND, at least for the above ground levels, is divided into three wings," Caldwell resumed and glanced behind. "They range from A to C so it's not hard to keep up."
My neck swiveled from side to side, taking it all in. Doors lined the corridor left and right, reinforced metal doors lacking windows. Each were controlled by an opening panel mounted to the adjacent wall, and several of them presented a massive security guard frozen in their spot. I passed by and their opaque helmets perched at a diagonal, the only sign telling me they weren't decoration.
Wherever Caldwell stepped, the space filled with people cleared in her path. She prattled on about practicalities I didn't care for and tuned out. I followed through the bustling area as obvious stares roved in our direction. Men and women in a variety of attires did a double-take, seeming to hold this sight for a hallucination. Clothes struck me as a code around here. I saw workers dressed in lab coats similar to what I'd see Heather in, or others wearing suits and trimmed blouses.
The third category showcased the lovely security guards, but half of them didn't check doors. They walked among the rest, usually two by two, with another person between them. A trio brushed past us in the hall, and I stared at a girl in slacks and braids, head down.
Her eyes flicked up at the incessant click of heels. But when she scanned us, she looked straight at me and her lips stretched taut. She was deathly pale all over, white sheet of skin draping her angular body. The hipbones were jutting out, collarbones appeared broader than her shoulders, but her eyes glimmered under the harsh lights, raw and fiery.
When they connected with mine, her eyebrows strained together so tight I worried her forehead would crinkle permanently.
She bounced forward like a tensed spring, hands clasped in her back. The guards coaxed her further down the hall and it was all I could do to watch her disappear. I gazed over my shoulder and through the guards' plodding gait. They parted just enough to let me see a light pulse beneath the girl's neck.
I strode faster to catch up. "Who's that?"
"You mean the one who just passed by?"
I nodded. Caldwell veered a corner. "She's like you, if that's what you mean. You can't feel her because both of your inhibitors bug the signal."
"I haven't see one on her." The bracelet under my sleeve seemed to itch, and I vaguely fought the urge to smash it open into a helmet.
"That thing in her neck you just saw? It's what we prefer to use. Bracelets are outdated versions that don't perform so well, but they're good for the outside, and subtler."
Civilians would undoubtedly ask compromising questions if individuals with glowing necks were to walk the streets for whatever reason.
On our journey among the crowd, I encountered others with devices planted in their necks, most of which were not escorted by anyone. They were loud, often hanging in groups, roguish grins twisting their features. They spotted me immediately as I spotted them, and I wondered just how different they were from us, being raised in this fortress of hell.
Little quirks jumped at me from the get-go. Their movements were fluid, too fluid and too swift. Any human would find it offputting. Other than that, they roamed the halls like they owned the place at a surprising ease, and I didn't know what to make of that. That girl from earlier, she'd been polar opposites with these ones who seemed to enjoy themselves.

YOU ARE READING
The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)
Science FictionBook #3 Lauren is back, and the small town of Oakwood reels into a near-psychosis. In the dead of a harsh winter, mutants struggle to come to terms with reality; NIO is always watching, closing in slowly but surely. A sentence is pending over Riley...