Wiped | The Trapped Trilogy

Nine

NINE
BRYNLEA
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I sit in my bed, waiting for Tari to come back with some Domesclothes. The pain in my shoulder and all over my body has numbed, thanks to the medicine being pumped in my system.

Justin has agreed to take me outside of the Dome, but on the condition that I waited two days while I healed. The President hasn't bothered us so far, he's probably busy trying to clean up his mess.

I was raised to think that we can't survive outside of the Domes, but Justin tells me otherwise. He tells me of a whole civilization he's lived with all of his (short) life, and that they lived off the land. I can't tell if the kid is delusional or telling the truth. All I know is that my father wants him dead for a reason, so anything that kid says is something to pay attention to right now.

We just need to come up with a plan to get to the exit. He tells me that it's beneath the Home Dome Government Building. He remembers exactly where it is and how to get out; the only problem is all of the people that work down below. He said that it's only the high up Government Officials that work there, and if we go down and get caught, then bad things will happen. I almost don't want to know what he means by "bad things".

Tari returns with my clothes and we talk the plan over. Justin tells us about what it's like down there. There's no way that we can get into enough trouble to get down there without harming anyone.

"What if we told people I touched the wall?" Justin offers. "Maybe it would work so we can all go down there."

"Justin, I don't think-"

"No, that's good," Tari says, turning from the machine next to me. She's trying to get some of the fluid out of it so she can make it portable for me, just in case the pain returns. "When someone touches the wall, the Doctors are supposed to notify a Government Official, and they're supposed to take them away. Maybe they take them down there."

"There's one problem," Ken says quietly. "None of us are Government Officials."

Tari gives him a faint smile and holds a finger up to him. She leaves the room, and returns with two sets of white clothes.

"We can just pretend then."

o0o0o

Tari stands with her hands on Justin's shoulders, who is leading us down several flights of stairs and hallways. The lights grow dimmer as we descend and the halls get narrower, turning to dirt.

A few minutes pass by, and to our right, the walls open back up, going back to normal walls and floors. Many people are working at lab tables.

That's when I see a purple beast.

Justin takes in a sharp breath, his eyes widening at the sight.

A flash in my memory of a Safety or a Government Official walking away, flickering, with a tail swinging behind him.

"They're real," I hear Justin whisper in awe.

"Keep moving," I say to Ken and Tari, trying to keep myself from looking at it for too long. We can't let them know that we don't know what that thing is. We also can't let them know who I am, with my being the President's daughter. Who knows what'll happen if they realize-

"Excuse me," A woman walks up to us, holding a clear screen with information buzzing on it. "What are you three doing down here?"

"We got a call," Tari says, sounding older than she is. "This boy touched the wall. We were told to bring him down here."