Zero

18 : The Eleven

P A R T 1 8

I am sitting on a beanbag seat, thinking about Paige's death. It's not that I've forgotten about her completely ever since I escaped her home- but with the search for Eleven to Nineteen, things have been too busy for me to have time to mull.

It was quite a mysterious murder. I have no idea why someone would kill Paige, or if she even had enemies. My best guess is that someone saw me with her and reported it to the Central Government Firm. If that's so, then the current Number Chief should have taken her (and me) in for questioning.

But the Firm is known for their various dastardly ways of dealing with the people who break this law.

And they're probably the only ones with silent bullets.

A shuffling sound interrupts my thoughts. Jarren is crouching against the wall, burying his head down and wrapping his arms around his bent legs.

"Jarren?" I utter, unsure of what is happening. "Are you o-"

He leaps up, eyes wild and unfocused. He faces in my direction, but I doubt he actually sees me. I am shoved aside as he opens the shed door with a bang and dashes outside into the night like there is a lion after him.

I am extremely confused. Just what is going on?

Then I hear the screaming. It is actually like tortured, terrorized growling sounds. I run out after him, watching as he capers madly about in the dark, making his way to the forest, holding his head in his hands. He is still making those horrible terrified sounds.

I wait until the growling stops, then head into the forest after him. There are scattered leaves and flattened grass where he has trodden. I find him at the base of a tree.

He looks frightening. His ice blue eyes have lost the light in them and he is staring so blankly that at first I think he is dead, but then I spot the rising and falling of his chest.

There are tear stains on his cheeks. I've never seen a guy cry before, but he is not doing so now. I shake his shoulder and get no response. Should I get Monty? Maybe not, I can't wander around in Four looking for him.

But Jarren can't be left here in the forest. I pull on the collar of his shirt and try to tug him across the grass. Obviously, I am not strong enough.

But I do know a person who is.

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{M I T C H E L L}

It sucks to be a One.

We are not much different from Zeros, except that we have jobs and places to stay.

But while Zeros have nothing, the stuff that no one else wants is given to Ones. We get jobs like road sweeping and cleaning; we stay in little room-sized houses made of corrugated metal sheets.

I used to get bullied all the time because of my unfortunately small size. Then one day I found out I could lift heavy stuff. Really heavy stuff. It started with a crate full of tools, one month ago.

Tate Quaro is the king bully in One, fifteen years old with greasy long ginger curls tied in a ponytail, dark eyes and a pasty, pimpled face.

His pastime? Beating up small sized kids for his enjoyment. I was previously on his list of victims, always getting chased down alleyways then punched and kicked to a pulp. Sometimes there are other kids around watching, but they never lift a finger to help. And then they always look away.

Then came the day that I fought back. I was cornered against a stack of crates with Tate and his gang, Rufio, Andre, Dallas and Rey, closing in.

If I didn't do something I'd return home with injuries like I did every couple of days. So I grabbed the only weapon available - one of the crates from the pile.