Seth’s face remained bandaged for the next few weeks after the incident. His wounds were never attended to properly, so they would most likely scar. Seth didn’t seem to mind though, he said he thought they made him look tough. When 636 asked him to clarify, he added that he’d always wanted battle scars. She had rolled her eyes at him and that was the end of the conversation but in truth she too admired the scars. Every time she looked at his face, she was reminded of what he did for her.

No one had ever defended her like he had. When Dr. Willow had pulled out the knife, the blonde haired boy didn’t hesitate to come to her rescue.

The daily shots had stopped for 636. Every time the golden liquid was brought to them, the doctors only injected Seth. It took a lot of convincing from 636 to get him to cooperate. Now he didn’t fight them whenever they came by and that was good enough to keep the doctors pleased.

The two lay on their mats every night, Seth telling her stories about the outside world. These stories were always 636’s favorite part of the day. He told her about the creatures that had emerged years before he was born. How they had destroyed many of the civilizations. Only a few groups remained but they were constantly at odds with each other. Seth had told her that his mother was one of the leaders of said groups. When he talked about his mother, his face always seemed to brighten. 636 hoped that one day, she’d meet the woman who could put such a big smile on him.

Even though the world was ruined, according to Seth, 636 dreamed of seeing it. Dreamed of feeling the sun on her face and the grass between her toes. She wanted to see the animals, even the creatures Seth told her were dangerous. Even when he had called them monsters, she still wondered what they would look like.

All the stories Seth would tell her, made 636 wonder how he got here. Outsiders were never taken in. They never became experiments like her.

“Seth?” 636 couldn’t contain her curiosity.

Seth was currently making another thing from the hay in his mat and paused his movements to look at her, raising a brow in question.

“How did you end up here?” 636 wanted to know. It was one of the few things that plagued her mind constantly.

Seth didn’t meet her eyes, instead he found the ground to be a more interesting subject of his attention. He was silent, remembering the moments before he was taken to the lab. 636 could have sworn she saw him cringe at the memories. Not wanting to press him anymore, she got up and started to move her mat away.

“My mom made a mistake.” 636 stopped, eyes widening. She didn’t think he was going to answer.

Turning around, she saw Seth still had his eyes downcast and a grave look on his face.

“We were being chased down by a rival group. I’m not sure why to be honest, but instead of sending me away with the rest of our group, she grabbed me and ran in the opposite direction.” Seth cleared his throat and finally looked up at 636. “The people after our group went after me and my mother instead of the others.

“We kept running until we came to a rocky ravine. She told me to climb down but she didn’t follow me when I did.” Seth’s voice got softer and he resumed his fidgeting. “I guess she was trying to buy me time.”

His eyes grew teary and voice started to crack, like he was trying to put up a strong front but didn’t have any more strength to show. “I heard her try to talk to them but they just wouldn’t listen to her. They kept telling her that she needed to hand something over.” Seth looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to keep his tears from falling. “I don’t know why she didn’t listen. Why she didn’t hand whatever they wanted over to them.”

A single tear fell down his face and he quickly wiped it away. “I heard the gunshot and I ran. I didn’t know what to do so I just… ran. But I ended up in front of the scientists here and the next thing I knew I was waking up in a cell.” More tears were falling down his face, 636 did her best to stop and wipe away as many as possible but eventually gave up. Seth, too, no longer tried to stop his tears.

636 took hold of his hand through the bars and pulled him closer. This time, their hug through the bars was a lot more comfortable than when they had first tried.

“I’m sorry Seth.” 636 had never tried to comfort anyone and didn’t know where to start. What would Seth do if their roles were reversed? “I don’t remember my mother.” She hadn’t realized she said it out loud until Seth tightened his embrace.

“I’m going to get you out of here. I’m going to escape and take you with me. I want to show you the sun, Sunshine.” They both chuckled at the nickname. “I won’t run away from people who need me again.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Seth pushed away and held her at arms length so he could look her in the eyes. His blue eyes looked even more mesmerizing glassed over with tears. “I promise that I will get you out of here. This place doesn’t deserve to have you. No one belongs in a cage. So I promise you, I’ll do what I can to get you out.”

636 held up her pinkie finger, remembering what Seth had done the last time they made a promise to each other. When she told him he’d be the first person she told her real name to if she ever figured out what it was.

Seth smiled and hooked his finger around hers.

At the sound of the doors opening, both teens looked at the cage entrance. Reluctantly, they rose up from the floor, ready to meet the scientists for what they could only assume were the daily shots of the golden liquid.

But Seth’s cell door was never opened. He looked at the scientists cautiously, not trusting them to be near 636.

Dr.Willow walked up to 636 and gave her his signature smile. The smile that never seemed to fully reach his eyes.

“Come with me 636.” He held out his hand for her to take and she looked at it wearily. She hadn’t been taken in for tests since Seth was brought here.

“What are you going to do to her?” Seth asked Dr.Willow and showed that he had no intention of letting them take her.

“That is none of your concern 752.” Dr.Willow answered. “Your roles here are very different.”

636 looked over to Seth and saw how hard he was balling his fists. She knew he would snap at any minute.

“It’ll be okay.” She smiled at him. “I’ll see you soon. Cause I’ll come back soon.”

Seth turned his attention back to 636. She could tell he didn’t want her to go with Dr.Willow but eventually he nodded his head.

Dr.Willow grabbed 636’s shoulder and guided her out of the cell and down the hallway. She couldn’t resist the urge to look back at Seth.

He was clutching the bars at his cell and watching her. She smiled at him as she rounded the corner but never saw if he smiled back.