"Jessie!" I whispered in excitement when I opened another door, at last revealing one of my friends.

He sat up in his cot, rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed, "Tess, I don't believe it! You still look like hell."

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and hopped to his feet, only to fall to his knees, twitching in agony. I gasped and ran to his side, hovering my hands over him helplessly. He was being shocked just as I had been, but he resisted fully crumpling to the ground, trembling with gritted teeth.

Once he went still, he huffed and said, with a strained grin, "They had to keep it on the highest setting to control me. I think I'm starting to build an immunity." He swiftly stood and threw his arms around me, lifting me a foot off the ground in a crushing bear hug. "It's nice to see you, little sis," he whispered in my ear.

I gave a halfhearted grimace at his nickname when he released me. "You too, Jess. Actually, I'm glad I found you first, so you can be my bodyguard." I smiled, craning my neck to gaze up at him.

Jessie was built like an ox—less lean and bulkier than Kyle, and even taller. When we lived at the school, he was constantly hunting for extra food to supplement his diet, so he wasn't quite as meager as the rest of us.

His pupils widened as he noticed the keycard in my hand. "Alright, boss, I'll thrash anyone who tries to get in your way!"

Jessie was easy to be around. He didn't ask how I escaped or stole the keycard—or why my eyes were blood red and my face was quickly swelling after the punch I'd taken. He was immediately ready for action.

We were about to take off running when I exclaimed, "Wait!" Jessie looked at me curiously. "I need to cut out the implant in your neck," I explained.

Jessie knelt down before me, joking that it seemed unwise to allow me near his neck with a sharp blade.

He stayed silent but tense while I played surgeon. I made the smallest slice I could and pinched the bead out from under his skin; we left the tracker in his bed, hoping that no one monitoring us would notice that anything was amiss.

"Okay, let's go," I said with a sharp exhale.

We took off, sprinting down the desolate corridors. Jessie kept watch in the hallways while I went from door-to-door, peering my head in each room. Some were empty, but about half revealed more of our family. We were soon reunited with Jade, Kole, Dorian, Ana . . .

I quickly learned to warn everyone not to move until their implants were out. It wasn't pleasant watching them collapse in pain when they jumped up to greet us, though Jessie thought it was hysterical.

Eventually, we split into two groups to more efficiently sweep the building (I'd stolen a second keycard in my fight with the security guard). I warned the other group to avoid the door with a puddle of blood seeping under it, and they nodded with horror in their eyes.

Van had said there were thirteen of us in the facility, so I tried to keep track of the count as we went.

At one point, we passed by a room with an already-open door. I peeked inside, but it was empty—except for a clipboard on a desk. I skimmed the papers clipped to it. After a moment of indecision, I shoved it under my arm to take with me, unsure if it would be worth the effort.

Another doorway revealed a dimly lit downward staircase. Ana refused to descend the ominous steps. I wanted to make sure none of us were trapped down there, so Jessie and I proceeded together.

The uneven stone steps led us to a strange dungeon-like chamber. The hanging lights above flickered eerily, casting strange shadows against the walls. On each side of us were rows of massive metal doors, padlocked shut. My keycard would be useless here.

Every door had a slot near the bottom that appeared to be for sliding food inside. I got on my knees and peered inside one, only to scream and throw myself backward as I was met with a wild-eyed, ashen face. Jessie gasped.

The face before us lingered in view, blinking sluggishly as if slow to process what it was seeing.

"Who are you? How long have you been here?" I managed to choke out, still panting with shock.

The face's bloodshot eyes gradually focused on me, sending ice up my spine. "Years," it said in the most hoarse voice I'd ever heard.

I struggled for words. "But why?" I whispered voicelessly.

The face shook its head. "I was sixteen. They took me in the night."

My stomach dropped like a stone, then churned with nausea.

"Jessie, we have to get them out!" I cried, jolting upright and banging at the giant padlock, hopelessly trying to force it open with my bare hands.

"Tess," he hissed, grabbing my wrist. "You're making too much noise. And what do you mean, who are they?"

I spun to face him. "Don't you see? We escaped when the government first came looking for us. Some didn't." I gestured toward the long corridor of cells.

I began to pace anxiously. I'd never considered this—never given one thought to what happened to those who didn't make it. I tasted bile in my throat, and my heart was heavy with guilt.

"Tess, you can't be serious." I whirled again to face Jessie's wide-eyed gaze. He'd backed away, edging toward the stairs.

He continued, "We need to focus on getting our group out safely. It's risky as is. Even if we could find the key, we can't be responsible for this many people." Jessie shook his head as he stared at me. "I doubt they would even survive in the wilderness. Winter is coming, and look at them—they're skin and bones."

Across from us, arms were reaching out the slot of a door. They were so skinny and pale that I could see contours of bones and a network of blue veins under the skin.

"But anything would be better than this! We can't just leave them—"

"We have to," he said, "or this might be our fate too."

It was dead silent for a moment, apart from my ragged breathing.

Then a blaring siren nearly burst my eardrums, and in response, there were ungodly screams in some of the cells that shook me to the core.

"We've got to go, Tess," Jessie stated.

He grabbed my arm as I hesitated, once again meeting eyes with the sunken face behind the door. Jessie dragged me, stumbling, up the stairs against my will.

It wasn't until we reached the top step that I snapped out of it, blocking what I had seen from my mind so that I could continue to function.

With Jessie now leading, we ran down the halls, eventually meeting up with the rest. They had located the exit—and the other security guard, who Dorian had knocked unconscious (unfortunately, not before the alarm was set off).

I did a headcount. "That's only twelve. We can't leave anyone be—" I snapped my mouth shut midsentence.

"What is it, Tess?" Ana questioned.

"I forgot." I bit my lip. "I left Jason behind on purpose. He betrayed us—he's the reason we all ended up here." There was a murmur among everyone, with many sounding shocked, some angry, and others disbelieving. But there was no time to explain any further.

"Let's go! There are probably soldiers coming," Jessie said, pushing everyone through the passage.

We burst through the main doorway, which led to an elevator and a stairwell, then hurled ourselves up the stairs. It took three flights before we reached the surface. My hypothesis was correct—we had been underground the entire time.

To my surprise, the ground floor looked like a regular office space. We couldn't help being seen by a receptionist when we burst from the stairwell. She dialed a number on her phone in a panic, but Jessie jogged over, plucked it from her hand, and smashed it into pieces under his foot.

At last, we filed out the main doors into the heavy darkness of night. The brilliant lights of downtown sparkled in the distance. I drew in a lungful of fresh air, feeling relief wash over me.

But we weren't out of the woods yet. None of us had any idea where we were. We appeared to be far from the edge of the city, so climbing the fence and disappearing into the woods wasn't an option.

"We need to get out of here. Immediately," Jade said with hushed urgency.

"Split up, steal some supplies, and let's meet back at the . . ." My eyes searched the horizon. "The Amour Nightclub, tomorrow at dusk," I said decisively, staring toward the bustling city. "We'll blend in with the crowd—it's in the middle of downtown. Then we'll find a way to get out of here."

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Question: Are you reading anything else right now?

I'm currently reading the Harry Potter series for the first time. :)

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