They don’t see each other much at first because Gee is a few years older than Valentine and several classes ahead. Valentine keeps an eye out though and whenever their paths do cross Gee always greets him with a smile and a wave. This confuses their classmates and earns Valentine a lot of speculative looks. He finds it uncomfortable and embarrassing. Outright hostility is something he’s much more used to dealing with.

He’s still not sure what to make of Gee. He’s never really had a friend before but that’s what Gee says they are and who is he to argue? It’s still hard for Valentine to believe that someone would want to be his friend. But he has his slowly diminishing half of a chocolate bar as a reminder that maybe nice things aren’t completely beyond his reach.

It’s exciting to have something to look forward to. Each encounter with Gee is electric, hitting him with a burst of energy that makes the days go faster. When he doesn’t see Gee for a while it’s like all time slows to a crawl, dull and interminable.

Meal times are staggered by class so occasionally they’ll catch each other coming or going and on rare occasions there’s just enough overlap for them to have a handful of minutes to actually exchange words. There’s also pockets of time between waking and first class, dinner and curfew which Valentine has up until recently been utilizing to work out on his own, to do what he could to try and bulk up and add more muscle. He is now forbidden from doing so.

Apparently he isn’t as sneaky as he thinks and during one of his check ups the doctor sternly informs him that he needs to sleep more and fatigue his body less. Valentine pushes back of course, arguing that his becoming strong is a large part of what the program is designed for, preparing its subjects for a hard life on another planet.

But his reality is this: he has been pushing too hard, wearing himself thin and no amount of exercise is going to achieve what all the experimental medical procedures have not. He’s always going to be significantly shorter than his peers and much more slightly built.

It’s incredibly frustrating and disappointing and suddenly being left with free time to contemplate how he is essentially a failure is daunting. He copes by sleeping in and going to bed early at first and loses all sense of time, days blending in to one another as he listlessly shuffles from bed to class, from class to bed. Gee’s smiles become less wide, more concerned. He’s always asking Valentine if he’s eaten, if he’s feeling alright. It’s annoying.

Then one morning Gee seeks Valentine out. He catches him just as he’s headed past the dining hall to his first class and grabs him by the hand. Caught off guard, Valentine doesn’t say a word as he’s dragged down a hallway and around the corner and out a side door. They’re immediately caught in a downpour, rain pelting down hard on his uncovered face and arms. It stings a bit. Thunder booms and the sky lights up and the air reeks of wet earth and ozone and for the first time in what feels like weeks he’s really truly awake.

Valentine hadn’t realized that they’d stopped moving and Gee is just standing there, watching him. They’re still holding hands. Gee’s hand is warm and rough, his grip firm. Something loosens in Valentine’s chest and he breathes in deep, lets it all out in a sigh.

“What are we doing?” he yells to be heard over the storm.

“Exploring!” Gee grins at him and tugs on his hand and they run in the rain, splashing across uneven pavement. They head out towards the back half of the compound that’s been closed off for renovations that have yet to start. They’re soaked through by the time they find a door that’s been left unlocked.

Valentine braces himself for an alarm that doesn’t come as they enter into the building.

Gee laughs at him. “Power’s been disconnected,” he says, holding up a flashlight. The door slams shut behind them and Valentine jumps, startled. Gee laughs again. “Scared?”

“Oh screw you,” Valentine grumbles, embarrassed.

Gee switches the flashlight on and shines it up under his chin, giving his face a sinister look. “Maybe there’ll be ghosts!” He wails like a ghost and reaches out with his free hand to grab at Valentine, who laughs and shoves him away.

They’re in a hallway that looks like any other in the compound except the floors are carpeted instead of tile and there’s a visible haze of dust on everything. Valentine sneezes. “I wish there were ghosts. What are we even looking for?”

Gee shrugs. “Just needed to get out of there for a while, and it’s not like we can really go anywhere.”

He’s mentioned this before, his daydreams of someday finding a way through the outer wall of the compound to the world beyond. Running far away and living off the land. Freedom.

Valentine’s never seen the point to it really. Their world is dying, there’s nowhere left to run to. He hates the program but it’s the only way out, the only way off this rock to somewhere better. Or far worse, that negative voice that’s always at the back of his mind unhelpfully supplies.

“They’re going to notice when we don’t show up for class.”

“Oh no what will they do to us?” Gee pulls an exaggerated look of horror. Valentine just shakes his head and tries not to laugh.

“Better make it worth our while then, come on.” Gee leads the way further inside. The carpet is old, stained and worn and the seams made obvious where they’ve begun to unravel. The ceiling above them is suspended tile, same as the rest of the compound but there’s giant black holes where some have gone missing or crashed to the floor below in a crumbling powdery mess. Some are water stained and drip drip dripping down to the floor below. The entire place smells like dust and damp.

Valentine’s clothes are soaked through, clinging heavily to his skin. Water squelches uncomfortably in his shoes with each step. He half wants to turn around and head back.

There’s really not much to see. All the rooms are unlocked but all that’s inside them is office furniture that’s seen better days. Gee pokes through a few filing cabinets but aside from the occasional dead bug or paperclip they’re all empty.

The long hallway terminates into a wide open cafeteria that spans the entire width of the building. The exterior wall is all windows. Rain pelts against the glass, obscuring the view. Valentine can hear the rain hitting the metal roof in a furious roar of white noise.

Gee stands in front of the windows, hands down at his sides, flashlight still on but pointed down. His voice is barely audible when he asks, “How far do you think we’d get?”

Ah. This again. Valentine stands next to him, looks out the window. The outlines of other buildings are just vague grey shapes. He can’t quite make out the wall that encircles the compound.

“There’s nothing out there Gee.”

“There’s nothing here,” Gee argues. He’s staring straight ahead, not looking at Valentine but his jaw is clenched, eyebrows drawn low, nose flared a bit. It’s an odd look on a face that’s usually so cheerful.

“No, there’s not,” Valentine agrees.

“What’s the difference,” Gee asks, “between dying here or dying out in space?”

Valentine tries to think of an answer while the rain continues to fall. It’s hitting so hard it bounces off the pavement. The rumble of thunder becomes distant.

“We’re going to live longer than everyone else,” he says at last. Gee shoots him a sharp look. “I know, I know. If we make it out of here. I just—they made us stronger, they’re teaching us all this stuff, we’re meant to survive. And I know it could all go to shit out there but maybe…” He trails off, unsure how Gee’s going to take what he has to say.

“Maybe?”

Valentine shrugs, refuses to look Gee in the eye. It’s embarrassing. “They’ll all be gone, the people that did this to us. But we—we’ll still have each other.” He cringes inwardly, just waiting for Gee to laugh at him or say whoa there, I know I said we’re friends but that’s a bit much.

Gee doesn’t laugh at him but he doesn’t say anything either for what feels like an eternity. It’s excruciating, waiting for his response.

“So we’ll go on space adventures together huh?” Gee’s smiling at him, Valentine can hear it in his voice. He can’t quite make himself look though.

“Don’t laugh at me you dick.”

“Who, me?”

Valentine shoves him, face hot with embarrassment. “I was trying to be nice!”

Gee just laughs and grabs his hands before Valentine can shove him again. “It was nice, really. I still think we’re all going to die horribly but if we do survive then yeah, let’s you and me go explore space. We’ll steal a ship and be space pirates.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Valentine sputters as he tries to free himself. Gee just laughs and lets him go.

“Promise me,” Gee says. “We make it out of here, we’ll be space pirates.” He’s still laughing at Valentine but his eyes are dead serious.

“I didn’t say anything about being pirates! I—”

“Promise.”

Valentine rolls his eyes and huffs. “Fine.”

“Fine what?”

Valentine growls in mock outrage and shoves him.