“Lexi!” a voice yells.
I cough, twice, three times, and raise my head. A layer of gray ash covers everything. I pull my shirt up over my nose and try to breathe.
“Lexi, answer me,” Cole says with panic in his voice.
This time, I shake my head, and I hear him clearly.
“I’m here,” I say. “I’m all right.”
I cough again, wondering what the hell happened. Slabs of concrete encircle me like a cocoon. The wall I crowded against is still standing, miraculously. I thank my lucky stars Cole’s alive. We’re both alive.
“Where?” he asks in a panicked tone. “I don’t see you.”
“I’m … ” I don’t finish. Where am I? Trapped. “Against the back wall. I think.” When my eyes come into focus, I reach out and touch the concrete that surrounds me. My skin is clammy, and I clutch my throat. “Oh my God. Get me out, get me out … Cole, please get me out of here!” It feels like the walls are slowly moving closer to me and soon I’ll be a pancake. My heart pounds as a sharp pain shoots across my chest.
“Don’t worry; I’ll get to you,” he says.
“I’m going to have a heart attack.” I dig my nails into the back of my neck and clench my teeth so hard, I’m afraid they might break.
“No you’re not. Close your eyes and just keep talking to me.”
Zeus starts scratching away at the concrete that surrounds me. He whines and whimpers, and he moves all around. I hear him digging and breathing hard, trying to get to me through the pieces of cement floor.
“Zeus, good boy. Let’s find our girl,” Cole says, as Zeus continues to tear away the debris.
I retreat into the fetal position and cover my face with my hands. I swallow hard, only to gag on the dust ball that’s stuck in my throat. It’s an awful feeling. Gagging, gasping for air, and fighting the panic filling your lungs. I want to be brave. I want to be found. I don’t want to die.
“Okay, Lexi, you have to calm down,” Cole says. “I need you to help me out here. I know this is difficult for you, but try to think about me and not your fear.”
My lips and chin tremble. I am starting to hyperventilate. “Get me out.” I scrape my hands against the floor, and debris cuts into my skin.
“Working on it,” he says. “Listen to me. I need you … to open your eyes just for a minute, and see if you’re able to move anything.”
“Are you serious?” I ask, but it sounds like I’m blubbering.
“Yes, focus on my voice and do it.”
“But what if … ”
“I’m not going anywhere without you. Even though you can’t see me, I’m right here.”
Opening my eyes, I’m immediately lightheaded. The room spins, and I see black spots. “I’m going to pass out.”
“Oh hell no. Don’t do that. Breathe, deep breaths … slow deep breaths. You’re strong; you can do this.”
My arms shake when I try to move a piece of cement; my muscles feel like jelly. I try again but with no luck.
“It won’t budge,” I say.
“It’s all right,” he says in a not-so-calm voice this time. “Just give me a minute to think. There’s no need to panic.”
“Too late.”
I run my hand down the wall, and sweat makes my fingers slip off. Ash covers my arms and hands, making a thick, filmy layer on my skin. I taste the thick, dry paste coating the inside of my mouth. Yup, here we go. I’m going to puke. I turn and heave, but only saliva-thickened ash comes out. That’s new.
I pull my legs to my chest and rest my forehead on my knees. I hear Cole moving chunks of concrete. But then I hear someone or something moving around on the other side of the back wall. The movement stops.
“Cole,” I say through my clenched jaw.
“Yeah?” he asks, slightly muffled.
“How long?”
“Not sure,” he says.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice some of the rubble moving in one little area, and then Zeus’s paw breaks through.
“Zeus.”
I scoot forward and reach out to touch him, wrapping my hands around his paw. His pads are rough, almost like sandpaper, and his nails are worn down to almost nothing. He whimpers, and he doesn’t pull back his foot, almost like he knows I need a paw to hold on to.
“Not good.” Cole grunts, and I hear something scrape across the floor. A giant crashing noise follows. “Damn it,” Cole says.
“Now what?”
“I’m not gonna lie,” he says. “This might take a while.”
I say nothing in response. Zeus whimpers, and I hold on to him. On the other side of my prison, Cole’s feet drag back and forth. I imagine he’s working as fast as he can, but from my end, nothing looks like it’s opening up. I close my eyes and hum a tune to calm my nerves.
Pretty soon, I notice it’s getting darker. The sun is setting. How long have we been here? I try shifting my position, but my tiny cell doesn’t allow me to stretch out my aching legs. I lick my lips, but my tongue’s dry and scratchy.
“Cole?” My voice comes out raspy.
“What?”
“Can you hand me your water?”
“How?”
“Through the hole Zeus made.”
“Huh? Zeus made a hole?”
“Um yeah, I’ve been holding his paw.”
“What the heck? Why didn’t you tell me?” He sounds exhausted. I’m furious with myself for needing to be rescued.
“I figured you knew.”
“How would I … Never mind. Hold on. Zeus, move your paw.” But Zeus growls at Cole as he pulls his paw out of my hand. “Geez, controlling much? She’s mine too, you know.”
I picture Zeus lowering his chin to his chest, but keeping his eyes on Cole. He does that when Cole annoys him.
Cole’s bloody hand comes through the hole, and he grabs my fingers.
“Thank God,” he says as he gives my hand a squeeze. I don’t want to let go. “If you want water, I need my hand back.”
“Sorry.”
“Here.” He shoves a small canteen through the slit. It’s warm going down my throat, but it takes the pasty crap with it.
“Thank you.” I push it back through the hole, and immediately Zeus sticks his paw back through so I can hold it. “Any progress?”
Cole’s silent at first, and I bite my lip. “I’m going to die in here, aren’t I?”
“No,” he says.
“I’m gonna lose it soon.” Sweat pours down my face, back, and chest. I feel warmth throughout my body, and my ears burn.
I rest my head back on the wall and wait for it.
“Look what’s here,” he says.
Keegan places his palms against the tall bureau and pushes it along the wall. The knobby legs wobble as it catches on the carpet in his bedroom. A small, wooden door appears out of nowhere.
“Wow, when did you find it?” I ask.
“Just last night,” he says. Keegan bends over, putting his hands on his thighs, catching his breath. “The door’s stubborn as nails, but I eventually got it open. It takes you to the hallway, near the fire escape.”
“You snuck out?” I ask, my voice squeaking at the end.
“Shhhhh,” he says and quickly locks his bedroom door before returning to jam open the secret passageway. I peek inside, noting the thick cobwebs through the darkness.
“Are you going to tell Mom?” I ask.
“No,” Keegan says. He shoves the door back into place and levels an intense look at me. “Don’t tell anyone—Mom or him—no matter what. No one but you and I can know it’s here. It’s our secret, okay?”
“Okay,” I say.
“Promise.”
“Keegan, I promise I’m not going to say anything.”
“Good.” He runs his hands through his curly hair and takes a deep breath. “Look, if things get real bad, you can escape through here.”
I lower my eyes and fiddle with my hands. The fact that Dad’s gone and we moved to High Societ
y is bad enough. But I can’t even begin telling Keegan about the burning sensation in my arm or how our Stepdad shuts me away in the closet when Keegan’s not around.
“Lexi, answer me!” I hear Cole’s voice yelling at me, and I’m back in the cement trap.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” I say. My arm tingles with pins and needles, and the memory lives fresh in my mind. I shift my legs as much as the space allows.
“What do you mean you didn’t hear me? I was screaming,” he says.
“I blacked out, and I had a flashback.”
“Well, no more of that. You scared me.”
“It’s not like I can control them … ”
“I know. I’m sorry. Okay, let’s keep talking, maybe that’ll help. What was the flashback about?”
“Nothing significant, just something from my past,” I say, shrugging it off. I can’t admit how the clarity of my memories seems to be coming back. Like I was in a fog for years. A shiver runs down my spine, and I grasp my arms.
“Such as?” he asks.
“Keegan showed me a way out of High Society.” My voice catches.
“Really? Is that how he got away?”
“I guess so.”
“Are you sure these flashbacks are real?”
“I’m not sure. Sometimes they’re foggy, but this one I remember clear as day. I’m actually hoping one of them will give me a clue as to why Wilson wants me alive. Or maybe just help me understand how the hell I ended up here.”
We’re silent for a while. I think Cole has stopped digging. Zeus is panting.
“Mind if I ask you something?” I ask.
“It depends on what it is.” Cole resumes throwing chunks of cement.
“Your parents. What happened to them?” I ask. Cole sighs, and then he’s silent. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I was just curious.”
“No, it’s all right,” he says. “I don’t mind telling you.” His voice sounds serious. “My mom was a good woman.” He breathes hard, and I can’t imagine how tired he must be. “She worked hard and loved me and my father. But when I got older and she didn’t need to take care of me, she spent all her time with my dad. So that’s when I started doing my own thing.”
“Like what?”
“Wrestling. And not to brag, but I was really good. I kicked everyone’s ass, hard-core.”
“Oh my God. I’m picturing you wearing that lovely outfit right now, and I have to be honest … it’s not really a turn-on.” I laugh so hard my chest burns.
“I made that thing look sexy; all the girls who watched me wrestle never complained.”
“Okay, trying to make me jealous isn’t a good idea right now.”
“I figure you can’t punch me through the walls.”
“Smart-ass,” I say.
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t interested in girls back then. Wrestling was my life.”
“I want to hear more about your parents.”
“Well … my mom got really sick, and my father wouldn’t leave her side.”
“What was wrong with her?”
“Not sure. We couldn’t afford to take her to the doctor,” he says in a flat, monotone voice. “So when the guards recruited me, I joined without hesitation, because I knew the money could help my mom.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe you wanted to be a kick-ass killer or something.”
He laughs wryly. “Not so much. Just wanted to compete in wrestling. That was as far as my aspirations went at the time. I was not a diehard fan of the regime.”
“But that’s amazing, what you did for her, for your family,” I say. “Did she get better?”
“No. It was too late. She passed away shortly after I joined.” He clears his throat and takes a drink of water. “And then my father committed suicide.”
I’m shocked into silence until I cannot hold back.
“Oh no, Cole.” I reach my hand through the hole, and he grasps it, twisting the ring around on my finger. “I’m so sorry.” I fight back tears, just imagining the pain he must have felt losing both his parents the way he did.
“So you see, when I read your ring’s inscription, I believed it because I’ve lived it,” Cole says. His voice breaks, and I hear him sniff.
“If she were alive, I have no doubt, she’d be really proud of the man you’ve become.” I squeeze his fingers.
“I hope so … because I wasn’t always the man I should’ve been. When my parents died, I let anger consume me. I didn’t care that what I was doing was wrong or that good people were getting hurt or killed.”
“Making mistakes is part of growing up. You’re a better man than you were before, and that’s what matters,” I say.
He laughs weakly from the other side of the wall. “Here you are, stuck in a partially collapsed building, giving me a pep talk.” He locks his fingers with mine.
“What would you say to your dad if you could?” I ask, often wondering what I might say to mine if he were still alive.
Cole clears his throat. “I’m not angry with my dad anymore, because now I understand why he did it.” Cole pauses for a minute and takes a deep breath. “When you love someone as much as he loved my mom, you can’t possibly go on living without them. And for all intents and purposes, I belonged to the regime, to the Commander. I was lost to him. I get that now.”
“What made their love so strong?” I ask.
“I was just a kid myself, so I can’t really say. But if I had to guess, it was that they always supported each other and talked about everything.”
“So, they didn’t keep secrets from each other?”
“No, and I know where you’re headed with this … ”
“Cole, come on. You know truth is the foundation for every relationship,” I say. “And I remember when you were angry at me before for not telling you the entire truth about my stepdad.” I hesitate, wondering if pushing Cole now is the right thing to do. “You said, ‘What is a relationship if we can’t trust each other?’ And now, here I sit, waiting for you to open up to me.”
“I’m afraid to tell you,” he says, his voice breaking.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it’s going to break your heart.”
All I want to do is look him in the eyes and read every expression on his face. Instead, I have only walls with soft moonlight filtering in through the cracks.
“Tell me. Please, I can handle it.”
“Lexi, I—”
The sound of footsteps cuts him off. Zeus growls.
“What are you doing in my building?” a male voice hisses.
I whip my head around too quickly at the sound of the voice. Dizziness sets in as I try to figure out what’s going on based on what I hear. “My building.” It’s certainly not a guard. A guard would shoot first and ask questions later.
“We’re stuck,” Cole says.
Their footsteps circle each other. They must be eyeing each other up and down as they talk, evaluating whether or not it’s safe. Zeus growls, planting himself near the small hole. I try to look through it, but his giant body blocks the view.
“Well, I guess I have you to blame for them bringing my building down.” The man seems angry but pensive.
“Why are you wearing lab clothes?” Cole asks.
Lab clothes? Why would Cole be so worried about what the man is wearing? I’d be more worried about his weapons.
“What’s it matter to you? And get that gun out of my face; there’s no need for it,” the voice says. “And by the looks of it you’re not stuck. So get out!”
“It’s not me that’s stuck,” Cole says. “And I’ll keep my gun where it is, for now.”
“Then who is?”
“Do you work in the lab?” Cole asks.
“Why do you care?”
“It’s not a tough question—yes or no?”
“I do.”
“So you work for Wilson?”
br /> “Not by choice,” he says. “I despise that asshole.”
“Can you tell me what’s going on in there?”
“Why would I tell you anything? Talking to you can get me killed.”
“Because I need … we need your help.”
“I’m not sure I can help you.”
“I bet you can. I need to know about experiments being conducted there. Can you tell me about that?” Cole asks.
“Experiments?” The person sighs with frustration.
“Yes. I need to know what kind of experiments are being conducted on Sinners in the lab. The lab where you work,” Cole demands.
“We give them shots. They take them. Some get sick. Others don’t. That’s all I know. You honestly think Wilson would expose his secrets to Sinners?”
“No, I guess not,” Cole says.
“So would you mind explaining to me why you are in my house?”
“We needed somewhere to hide,” Cole says.
“Look, I know who you are,” the voice says.
I suck in a breath and bite my lip. All he’d have to do is call the guards, and we’d be screwed. There’s no way I’m getting out of here without help.
“You can’t stay here. Your presence has done enough damage.” They’re both silent for a few seconds. “But I’m willing to help you get her out. Now move so I can take a look at the wall.”
I hear feet shuffling. Zeus barks. “Easy there, killer,” the man says.
A few minutes pass, and I hear things being moved around. “Yeah, she’s jammed in there all right. Let me see if I can round up a few buddies to help.”
“No way,” Cole says.
“Do you want her out or not?”
“Yes … ” Cole says. “But why do you? For the reward?”
“No,” the voice says. “I do shit work all day, every day. It’d be nice to do something good for once.”
“Why should I believe you?” Cole asks.
“All Wilson does is lie. He’s not going to reward anyone for anything, and I’m not about to give the bastard what he wants.”
“Do it,” I say. “Get me out of here, please.”
“Hello, Lexi,” the person responds.