I stop halfway down the stairs, fluorescent light flickering over stones covered in peeling paint. I whip around as the door slams behind us like a gunshot. “What?” I whisper after flinching. “Was it New Bunker? Did someone finally fight back?”
She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Oh, no. No, it was something else.” She motions to the stairs going down, hand on the rail, as she looks at me like she has delicious gossip. “He went into theblight. The one east of us.”
I blink, my hand finding the rail like I’m about to fall off acliff. “What?” Even for Judge, that’s reckless. “There are insane echoes in there. What the hell is wrong with him?”
Everyone knows that story. After thebloom, the labs went dark, and animals got out—twisted things with too many teeth and not enough fear. You don’t see them unless you’re stupid enough to wander into the wrong stretch of unclaimed earth, where blight has consumed normal foliage. Darker, almost black, plants sprout in its place.
The creatures inside are called echoes because they’re an echo of what they’re made in the image of, including the forests themselves. The only good news is that nothing that survives in there can leave it, like a fish trying to leave its bowl.
I’ve never heard of anyone going in there willingly.
Selene nods again. “Have no idea why he was in there, but all I know is Judge made it out practically half-dead.” She lowers her voice like someone might be around the corner. “I’m glad you’re okay. I thought maybe you went into hiding or something.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “Halfdead?”
I don’t respond to going into hiding. It kind of makes sense, given who I am. Although I’m not sure why I’d do that when I’m here, but again, my mind can’t get over Judge being injured like that.
“They say he bled out half his weight and still kept killing whatever damaged him—can’t tell if it’s one of the human echoes or not. He even brought back one of theirheads.”
I exhale a short, nervous laugh. Not because it’s funny—because I don’t know what else to do. “Did he go in byhimself? Why would he bring back a head?”
“That’s just what I heard.”
I rub my brow, suddenly cold despite the warm air. “So what does this mean? You said he got hurt… Is he, like,reallyhurt?” I ask, almost hopeful. “And hey, why would I go into hiding? Is he nearby or something?”
She stops at the bottom of the stairs, hand on the door handle as she looks at me with a heavy rise and fall of her shoulders. “He’shere.”
“You’re shitting me.” I get closer, every fiber in my body spinning into fight or flight. We’re a healing space—itcouldbe true…
“He got here on his bike. Have you even looked outside?”
“No,” I say, my bones exhausted. “I was busy cleaning the bed sheeting. And then had to clean up so much vomit, and then more sheets.” The laundry room doesn’t face the front, and is loud from all the handwashing against metal. It’s also a great way to hide omega scents with all the vinegar and scented oils we use. “Why, what’s outside?”
“There are a dozen Dominion bikes at the front, and like six cage-jeeps. Judge is conscious and has a bag of blood being given right now.” She stops and looks around before leaning in. “I was worried for a second when I didn’t see you.”
The world seems to narrow. My ears ring. I look around like his shadow might be lurking in the alley. He’shere. “We can’t give himblood. That’s a serious resource of ours.”
Selene’s eyes widen. “Diana, don’t talk like that whenthey’rehere.”
I scoff because the sentiment is still just as real. We all donate blood once every few months. We found piles of blood type cards and are able to determine who has what, but it’s such a limited resource that we save it mostly for births or severe trauma. Especially since the tubes have to be reused, which always runs a risk of infection if we don’t sterilize properly. The Os are given more fresh cuts of red meat since we drain them like vampires every chance we can get, and they’re always eating liver pies.
Selene nods, exasperated. “I know. But it’s already done. O-neg from Alice, I think. Maggie authorized it. Him being here is how I knowallof this,” Selene says, her voice low before shesighs, hand still on the handle. “Maggie is sending people around to check on, you know, people like you that are here. She wants you all downstairs in the boiler room.”
“So we can all be taken?” I ask with a crack in my voice, trusting none of this. “How convenient that Judge ishereand we have to help him?” I start to pant, thinking about how fast I need to go to get out of here.
Fuck! Judge ishere!
I start pacing like I’ve just realized I sat in a pile of ticks.
“Diana, it’s okay. Maggie is handling this. We’re going this way. You’re the last one to be called so it’s not too obvious.”
I follow in silence, feeling the threat to my safety mortally punctured, but some part of me trusts Selene, and I cling to it.
It’s all a blur as I mostly follow the back of Selene’s head while we navigate our way down to the boiler room, my mind racing with any and all opportunities to run—where do I go? I can’t hit the mountains without a car, and they’ll notice me stealing one.
West, maybe?
The next time I’m aware of my surroundings, we’re in the boiler room, and I make eye contact with Maggie, then with the four other omegas who work here. This is the same feeling I had when I fled home all those years ago… It’s only a matter of time before theyallknow.
