My lips twitch. I guess Sue and Philip learned their lessons. Sue does keep staring at me more than usual, and I think she might be giving me nasty looks, but she hasn’t bothered me. Philip hasn’t been back to work since his shift ended the day he fell. I heard one of the Blanks say to another that he’s off with a sprained ankle for a few days. Janet, that reporter, is definitely gone. I haven't heard anything about herat all. I went up to the art room and checked under the floorboards. The papers were gone, but the flash drive was still there. I’m guessing she didn’t see it. I’ve left it there for now in case she comes back, but it’s been a few days since she told me who she really was. I’ll have to take it with me when I escape.
It shouldn't be too long now.
Even though no one was with me on the run, I still made sure to do exactly the same one as I did before, and I’m keeping to my plan of not drawing attention to myself in any way. It's important that nothing I do seems suspicious.
So, even though I can hear that William is being bullied by Crewes and one of the other Blanks, I make myself sit still though my body is shaking a little with the effort it’s taking not to help him. I find another page in the coloring book and begin again. I can’t intervene. What good would it do?
But then I hear a slap, and Crewes threatens William with the Board again. I clench my eyes shut. I shudder. It's been a long time since I was subjected to that, but the memory has stayed with me.
I hear another slap and a low cry. I don’t even know what William’s done wrong this time. I’ll bet he doesn’t either. And, all at once, I can't take it anymore. It’s wrong.It’s so wrong!Before I know what I'm doing, before I can talk myself out of it or remind myself that this is a very bad idea, I’m rising and turning around to face them.
They have William trapped in the corner. He's up against the wall, tears tracking down his cheeks. They're looming over him, saying nasty things, telling him he's useless and asking him why he can't understand anything. Why can't he just do what he's told and follow the rules?
I see myself in his place a decade ago, the Blanksgoading me, breaking me down, correcting me for stupid things, trying to change the way my brain works.
Crewes is jabbing William hard in the chest with his finger, scolding him in a hushed voice, and then the other one takes William by the throat and squeezes.
William isn’t looking at them, but his hands rise to pull ineffectually at the fingers around his neck.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen something like this, but I can't just sit here and take it today. Before I know it, I'm across the room, wrenching the other Blank away, and punching him square in the face.
'Bloody hell!' Crewes snarls, yanking me backward.
'You bloody bitch!' the other Blank snarls, his arm swinging in an arc and backhanding me across the cheek.
Pain explodes in my eye and the side of my face, and Crewes lets me fall. I go down hard onto the linoleum with a low thud.
Crewes says something to the other Blank in a hissed voice I don't catch, and I’m grabbed by my hair and hauled to my feet. I scream through clenched teeth and flail, trying to get out of his grasp.
'You're going to Stoke,' Crewes snarls, dragging me down the hallway toward the office.
'Good!' I yell back, my fingernails scratching at his hands.
He lets out a muffled bellow as my nails rake across his skin. As soon as we’re at Stoke’s door, he pounds on it hard and grabs the walkie-talkie from his belt.
'Code 43,' he says into it and I let out a gasp.
I know what that means.
Crewes pulls my head up so that he can look into my face and smiles nastily.
‘Good luck,’ he grates out. ‘After that stunt, you’re going to need it, you little bitch.’
Stoke opens the door. I'm dragged in and pushed into the chair in front ofthe good doctor’sdesk.
'Stay where you are,' Crewes snarls at me.
He tells Stoke what has happened in the doorway. I turn around to stare at them, giving Crewes the nastiest look that I can muster.
'I’ll take care of this,' Stoke murmurs, calm and stoic as ever.
He closes the door and comes slowly toward his desk. He sits down. He just watches me for a solid minute, and I watch him right back.
I've just blown my plan to smithereens. There's no way he's going to let me out on a jog after this. I won’t be goinganywherewithout close supervision. I won’t be by myself at all. God, did I really just assault a Blank? What was I thinking? My stomach twists. Code 43 is for a very specific correction. A bad one.
I glance outside. There's frost all over the adjacent roof. This isn't going to be fun.
'When did you realize?'
