10 Chapter 10

Garbage. That's what surrounds me. Where am I? Maybe Hawthorne Park? All I know is that Thomas is lying next to me, asleep, his hand still clasped in mine. I slowly sit up, my joints aching. Looking around, I try to find another person, someone that saved us. I see no one, though.

At that moment, Thomas is awake, sitting up next to me. "I told you it would be okay," he grinned, rubbing his ribs tenderly. I try to laugh, but it comes out as a sob when I realize that we're actually alive. "Hey! Listen it's okay," he says softly. "We're okay. You're okay, I'm okay." I'm still crying out of happiness; we're alive.

Once I get used to the fact that I am in fact still a breathing human being, it's all business. "What did he do to you?" Thomas asked. "Did you find anything out? Crap, this wasn't supposed to happen."

Where do I even start? "Umm... he knows something's wrong with me, and he-"

Thomas cuts me off harshly, "There's nothing wrong with you. It's not you. They're the ones who are messed up."

I shoot him a look, "Do you want me to tell you or not?" Once he nods, I continue. "He shot me with this serum that was supposed to... well, I dunno what it was supposed to do. But it didn't work and I saw..." I have trouble getting the last part out. "I saw Amelia."

He looks surprised, "Isn't she the girl that was kicked out? Made an outcast or something? Yeah, I always wondered what her deal was."

"No, that's not what happened. They- they killed her. With Procedure 250 or something. Because there was something wrong with her. And they killed her," I say, not able to continue. I can't cry in front of him again.

He touches my shoulder gently, "Did she say anything?"

"To- to be careful. That things aren't what they seem, to look at the bigger picture."

Thomas brightens at once, "Well now we have a start!" He then chatters on and on for several minutes about conspiracy theories he's had about what's going on, none of which are even close to realistic. I'm working on drowning him out so I can think when I hear this mix of a hiss and a hum. At first I think it's just my imagination, but it doesn't stop. "Thomas?" I interject softly. He looks at me, obviously annoyed that I interrupted him. "Do you hear that?"

He pauses for a moment, listening. His face then pales, and he turns to me. I can see he's trying to hide his obvious fear, but it's not working. "What?" I ask. "What is it?"

He doesn't have a chance to answer, though. The sound just gets louder and louder. Before I can react, Thomas grabs my arm and lunges towards a pile of debris, pulling me with him. We fall in a heap hidden behind it, and his arms cover my head protectively. I close my eyes, now knowing what's going on. Holding tight to his arm, silent tears run down my cheeks. Please don't make us die. Then my thoughts seem to go still. They're completely silent compared to the earsplitting bang that sends a shiver down my spine. It lasts only a second, but it feels like hours. Thomas's crying now, too. I can feel the tears dripping onto my arm, but I don't care. I just want to get out of here alive.

And just like that, it's over. I try to squirm away so I can stand, but Thomas's still holding on to me. "Shhh," he whispers, "someone's coming."