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Chapter 24

Nan walked into the elevator to go check on the patient who was recovering from influenza. He had been quarantined on floor -2 so no one else (worth anything) would get sick and spread it. Nan leaned against the wall, twiddling her thumbs when she saw a napkin in the corner. She moved towards it and picked it up, noticing Marley's handwriting she used when she didn't want anyone knowing it was her.

Tomorrow was great! Isn't it getting cold here now? Going to start issuing out jackets soon. To bad we didn't get new ones this year. Work is going to get busy. Need more people to help. Leave it to us to figure out a way to get this done. After that flu spread, we lost a lot of people. Breakfast should be good tomorrow!

Nan smirked. Marley was using code! Nan quickly looked for the real message before the door opened: Tomorrow isn't going to work. Need to leave after breakfast.

"Leave after breakfast?" Nan stuffed the note into her pocket as the door slid open and she walked over to the boy's room. She pulled out her entrance card and slid it in the door. Nan looked inside and saw the boy sitting up in bed. "You feeling better Lionel?"

"Yes Ma'am." He smiled, showing his missing front teeth. He had just lost them last week and he was so excited.

"Great. I'll check in on you tomorrow kay?"

"Okay." Nan smiled and closed the door. She looked down the hallway and saw Marley's guard standing outside the door.

Nan walked slowly towards him and heard him talking on his walkie talkie. "Yes sir. We need one more guard tonight? Yes sir. I'll make sure we have another one here. Yes sir. The best."

Nan stopped in front of the guard.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"I was wondering what time it is? I need to know what time breakfast starts." Nan hoped that Marley heard that. She needed to know what day she meant for breakfast.

"Uh... it starts at six thirty. And it's six right now."

Nan smirked. "Thank you!" She turned around and walked back towards the elevator. "Marley, please don't let me down."

Marley woke up lazily, looking around her baren, windowless room. She had had a dream about living in her old house with her parents. Her dad had grey hair and her mom had dyed her hair multiple times. Marley's room was purple. Yellow sunflowers littered her room. They were so happy and yet as Marley kept blinking, her parents faded away along with the flowers and lilac walls, leaving her in a white cement room.

Marley slowly got up, feeling the pain from her ribs erupt in her torso.

Two days...

Two days to get Nan to safety.

Today, you need to get the map. You can't hide the walkie talkies the whole day. Just the map...

Marley knew this was her last day of 'freedom' before she was killed. Of course, she had tomorrow but tomorrow she would be taken right from her job and killed. The plan was to escape tomorrow morning when everyone goes to their jobs. It's the most chaotic.

She got up and pulled out her white blouse that was perfectly folded in her little cubby. Her slacks were also folded perfectly so she had a creese in the front of her pants. As she tucked her shirt in and fixed her cuffs, she gently put on her coat, babying her wounds. It was all ceremonial. Her last 'normal' day here. She wouldn't be able to clean these clothes before tomorrow.

Marley heard her guard talking on the walkie as she got ready. It would get even harder to get out now that she had two guards... Marley sat down on her bed to slip on her shoes when she heard a familiar voice.