Counterfeit

-sixtyseven-

—sixtyseven-

I JOINED THE others back in the waiting section, remaining only for the return of MiKinley. So far, I had been the only one out of to have a different result, and that included Thea, which I was so relieved about. But even so, I knew Thea would have been a lot easier to calm down than MiKinley would be.

After a while, he came back, right before the chaos erupted.

"How did it go?" I blurted out before he was even halfway across the room, desperate for him to not have an awareness of his true fate.

"The same, as always. What else would it be?" He attempted a laugh at my question, as if it was so bizarre that I would ever expected anything else. If only he knew.

"Where's your results?" I asked upon realising that he didn't return with it.

"I threw it away. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that I'm Insusceptible, do I?"

I shook in my head in false agreement. "No. Of course you don't, Kin."

As we all turned to leave, the chaos struck. Yelling, crying, shouting all emerging from the hallway, filling into the waiting section.

"What's going on?" Thea asked, her voice seemingly shaken from all the panic.

No one could answer her honestly, but Ava and I shared a knowing look, having waited for this moment to come. Alarms began to sound again, people running into the building, out from the examination rooms. Charleston had been right about the reaction, but I couldn't find him anyway.

"I thought we were supposed to be safe!"

"It's telling me I'm not an Insusceptible anymore."

"What's going on with this place?"

"Just last week I was immune!"

The guards tried to regain order among all the residents, but nothing was working. Everyone was afraid for their lives, worried that they would each get sick, all losing their hope as every second passed without explanation.

A loud voice roared through the pandemonium, seizing everyone's attention. "Hey!"

It was Marvis Maze.

"Everyone listen up! Many of you are afraid over your test results. Something has gone wrong and we are working to fix it."

"Things keep going wrong around here!" Someone called out, earning a chorus of agreement.

"We're working on getting tighter security. More custodians will transfer here with the Induction Ceremony tomorrow."

"We don't wan't more guards, we want to be alive. We want to be safe." Another resident, clearly angry with his circumstances. The Plan was working.

"The Elite Salvation Assembly is what is keeping you alive."

"So are Insusceptible or not?"

Without an official reply from Marvis, the worry wasn't eliminated completely. He darted from sight, followed by a entourage of guards and echoes of enraged prisoners.

"Hey, let's get out of here." Patrick suggested, finding space to shuffle outside.

"Thea, can we go somewhere? I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure!" She agreed. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just something important." Ava smiled, motioning for Thea and I to follow.

"Hey, Pip, wanna sit by the creek? Maybe escape this crowd for a while?"

Yes, I wanted to so badly. "Uh, I'd love to. But can we do it later?" He looked a little crushed at my answer.

"Yeah, of course."

"I'm sorry. I... I really need to do this, Kin."

"It's okay. I'll see you later?"

I nodded sadly, hurrying to catch up with Ava.

"Where are we going? Why don't we just go back to my cabin?" Thea expressed her confusion. It was evident she had never wondered up this far on her own.

"Because no one else can find out." Ava replied.

"You're kind of scaring me, Ave." Thea tried to laugh it off, but the closer we moved to the Grey Range, the more doubtful she became.

"In here." Ava spoke, cranking open the door.

"Ava, are you crazy? We're not allowed in there. We'll get caught."

"They've never caught us before." She rolled her eyes, walking down into our hideout without waiting.

Thea turned to me, dismissing Ava's attitude.

"It's okay. Charleston takes me here. I trust him."

She met my gaze, sharing a few moments of contemplation before she found the courage to follow through.

-sixtyseven—
Oohh, MiKinley wanted to tell Pip something. What do you think it could be?