I almost smiled when Royce said the fourth floor. It was the former mental unit. Very secure. Easy to lock down.
Royce didn’t trust these people any more than I did.
When they were out in the hall, Royce shut the door and turned to me.
“I’m shutting down all the elevators when they’re settled,” he said, meeting my eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. “I want you guarding the blue floor. All the scientists will be sleeping on that floor tonight. We’re not saying anything about the Pulse, the Extractor, you, or West until we know more about these people. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” I said with a nod.
“Don’t shoot me, Eve,” he said as I turned to leave. “But I think it’s best if West stays up there tonight as well. It’s a little obvious just looking at him that he’s had some major work.”
I gave him a hard stare for a long moment. But in the end logic won out, and I couldn’t argue with him.
“Make sure Avian knows where I am tonight,” I said as I walked toward the stairs.
“Yes ma’am.”
The scientists didn’t even begin to argue when I told them we were all in lockdown for the night. Half of them slept up on the blue floor more than they slept in their own rooms anyway. Many of them had become anti-social after all the years they had spent holed up on the blue floor working on the Pulse. A lot of them didn’t know how to mingle with the general population any more.
Thankfully I could always count on Dr. Beeson to feel guilty about what he’d helped do to me, and he kept West occupied while I stood guard at the door to the stairs that led access to the rest of the hospital.
The floor grew quiet as everyone settled down for the night. The lights along the floor, running through the walls, glowed brilliant as ever. I positioned myself with an assault rifle in front of the door to the staircase.
There was something about what Margaret and Alistar had said that didn’t sit right with me. They were from north of us. But not far enough north that they wouldn’t see the sun on a nearly daily basis. They, as well as the rest of their group, had been white and pasty-faced. I looked down at my own arms. Even though I’d been inside quite a bit the last two months, my skin was still well tanned from the sun.
I wondered how big their lies really were.
EIGHT
“Any idea what’s going on down there?”
I turned to find West behind me, hands stuffed into his pockets. My eyes immediately fell to the blue glow coming through his shirt.
“No,” I responded and turned back to the door leading to the stairwell.
The sun had risen. It was now eight o’clock and the blue floor had yet to receive an update.
“Royce must really not trust them if he’s hiding all of us up here,” West said. I heard him sit on the floor against the wall.
“There’s something not right about them,” I said. I blinked hard.
I wasn’t tired. I was used to staying up at nights and keep guard. This was second nature to me. This was what I was good at.
But my eyes were burning from staring at that stupid door all night.
“You look like crap,” he said.
“I could say the same thing,” I snapped. “But that would be mean.”
“Cold, Eve,” he said. “Not that I don’t somewhat deserve it.”
“Somewhat?”
“I’m not going to make this easy for you,” he said in a low voice.
I could tell he wanted me to look back at him, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. He needed to face reality.
I was trying with West. I really was.
“Lock down is over.” Dr. Beeson was in the hall, a radio in his hand. “They’re calling everyone down for a meeting in the auditorium.”
I didn’t like it, it felt dangerous to gather us all into one room, but I didn’t exactly have the power to override Royce.
Everyone from the blue floor made their way down the stairway and we all exited onto the second floor.
I’d only ever been in the auditorium once before. It was a massive room that dropped down at an angle toward a stage. Rows upon rows of seats rose up from the elevated stage. The room would easily seat five hundred people.
As soon as I entered the room, Avian and Elijah signaled to me from just to the side of the stage.
“What’s going on?” I whispered as I joined them. I was on instant alert when I realized they were keeping to the shadows, out of view of the masses.
“We still didn’t get any answers this morning,” Avian said, his eyes scanning those who filtered into the room. “They mostly just asked a lot of questions. We told them about the Pulse since they basically already knew about it being as they walked into a cleared city. No one is too worried about them stealing it. It doesn’t exactly fit into your back pocket.”
“They’re saying they’d like to stay a while, talk some more, tell us what it’s like up north,” Elijah said. He held a rifle tight in his hands. “They’re asking that we let them stay for a week.”
“I don’t like it,” I whispered, shaking my head. My eyes fell on Margaret, who sat in the front row. She had the tips of her fingers pressed together, her gaze fixed on the empty stage.
“Neither does Royce,” Elijah said. “That’s why he’s having security detail quietly follow them at all times. They know we’re going to be watching them. But not how closely.”
“Why doesn’t Royce just ask them to leave?” I asked. By this point it looked like most everyone had entered the room.
“Because none of us want a war to start,” Avian said.
Royce and Gabriel stepped onto the stage.
“Take the right exit,” Elijah said, pointing back toward the door I’d entered through. “Keep a low profile.”
I nodded and quietly slipped back up the stairs to the door. I kept my rifle hanging at my left side so that it was out of sight, but was ready to use it at one wrong move.
“Thank you all for coming,” Royce said as he turned his eyes out on those before him. “I am sure you are all wondering what the dramatics have been about the last twenty-four hours.”
The members of New Eden looked frightened, glancing around at those they did not recognize. Brady hung tight around Victoria’s neck, Wix with his arms around her. Lin sat next to a few other women, each eying the strangers.
“We’ve been honored with a surprise visit from our friends to the north,” Royce said. Even from a distance, I could see how he clenched his teeth. “They heard our radio broadcast and came to learn more about our way of life. They will be staying on the fourth floor for the next seven days.” There was an underlying tone that said they would not be welcome after seven days.
“You are welcome to talk to them if you like, but I won’t feel bad if you don’t feel compelled to get to know these people who will be leaving our presence in a week. But I wanted to let you all know what was going on,” Royce said.
“Please let your friends and neighbors know,” Gabriel said, stepping forward. “Not everyone is in attendance today, so we don’t want anyone feeling alarmed when they see strangers in our city.”
“Back to life, people,” Royce said with a wave of his arms, dismissing everyone.
Most everyone looked at least slightly wary and confused but they all filed back out of the auditorium. Royce and Gabriel stayed behind with Margaret and Alistar, but Elijah once again signaled to Avian and me.
We all quickly made our way to room 112, center of security.
Bill, Graye, and the other dozen soldiers on security detail were already gathered. I did however notice West was not joining us. Elijah must have finally realized having him mix with the crew was a bad idea for now.
“Royce wants us to tail these people for the next week. That means twenty-four-seven. Raj and Nick, you’ll be on night watch,” Elijah said, pointing to the two of them. “I want a guard in the staircase, and another at the elevator. They’ll know there’s someone at the elevator, but we’re not telling them about the staircase. Royce wants to test them and see if they’re going to sneak out at night and go snooping around.