As we get closer to a town, there are Dwellers everywhere.

“Holy shit, I’m a genius,” I say as I eyeball the clothes of a girl my age walking towards the post office.

Felix pulls up his shirt to wipe sweat from his forehead. “And why is that?”

I point to the girl. “I’m going to compel her to give me her clothes and tell us where Dandux is. Now, I just have to figure out how to get over to her and get her alone.” I look at the fence that surrounds the town but see no one guarding it. “Maybe the guards are at lunch.” I laugh a little because there’s no way it’ll be that easy.

“Fooood,” Felix says in desperation.

I touch my stomach when it growls. “I know. I’m starving too.”

We stop and look as far as we can. I see a few men in uniforms standing guard. Three I can handle no problem. I feel my pocket for the syringe and pull it out. I take the cap off of it and motion for Felix to follow me. I can tell he wants to talk me out of this, but he follows anyway.

I step on a stick and break it on purpose. All three of them turn and look at Felix and me. I hide the syringe behind my back. I need them on the other side of the fence, and I need to see how they get out. That will be Felix’s and my way in. I grab Felix’s arm as we run. I keep watch over my shoulder and see them exit from the far left through a tear in the fence. Our way in. I hold tight to Felix’s arm as I come to a stop, so he stops too.

“Why are we stopping?” He yells.

“We needed them on the other side of the fence. We can handle them!”

The guards come over and circle around us. When Felix’s eyes meet mine, I nod. I lunge myself at the one on my right and stab him in the neck with the syringe. I inject the green liquid and kick him when his body goes limp. He falls to the ground with a hard thud.

I feel arms wrap tightly around my neck as the third guard comes at me. His eyes meet mine. Get your friend off me then kill him. He looks past me then pulls the guard who had a hold of my neck off me. He then pulls a knife from his pocket and slits his throat. Felix whips his head in my direction.

“Get the knife!” I scream as the guard stalks towards Felix.

Felix freezes. He’s never had to fight, and fighting and emotions have always been forbidden here. He’s never been allowed to feel this way. I jump on the guard’s back and knock him to the ground. The knife gets eerily close to my neck; then his eyes meet mine. He looks away when Felix yells at him to distract him. Dammit, Felix! I could’ve compelled him! I think as I dodge the knife.

“Hey!” I scream to get his attention back on me.

He looks in my eyes. I want you to slit your throat. He slits his throat, and his blood spills from his neck and all over me. I move out from under his body and grab the knife.

Felix falls to his knees and starts throwing up. I wipe my face to get the blood off of me, but I’m only smearing it. I stand up and walk over to the guard that I injected with the green stuff. I feel his pulse, and he’s still breathing. I put the knife to his throat but stop when Felix yells for me to stop.

I jerk my head around to look at him. “I have to!”

“No! No, you don’t! He’s out! Let’s just go while we can! Please, Orion. Don’t,” he begs, and his whole body shakes with fear.

I curse under my breath and nod. I put the knife in my pocket.

“Let’s go.”

I have never not finished one off when I had the chance, except for Plath. But Felix saw enough. He couldn’t handle another. He’ll get used to it. Maybe.

We walk over to the tear in the fence, and I let Felix in first. We walk behind the buildings to try to stay hidden. I peek around the corner and spot the post office. I point to the same girl I saw earlier walking out of it. I look at Felix who is clean and doesn’t look like a murder scene incarnate.

“Go flirt with her and get her to come back here with you.”

“This is so wrong. How do you know she will?”

I slap my forehead. He’s wasting time. “Dammit, just do it!” I say in a hurry.

“Orion, I’ve never had a girlfriend. How the hell am I-”

I cover my mouth to hide my huge grin. I then point to the girl again. He groans and walks over to her. I wait for several minutes; then I finally hear footsteps coming in my direction. I peek around the corner and see Felix and the girl. She gasps when she sees me.

“What is going on?” She demands.

I look at her and compel her to give me her clothes and to tell us how to get to Dandux from here. She explains the way as she strips down. Felix is a gentleman and looks away. I take off the white suit and wipe the blood off me the best I can with it. I then grab her clothes and put them on in a hurry. Once I’m dressed, I grab the knife, put it in my pocket, and then Felix and I take off running back towards the fence. We get out and take off in the direction she told us to go.

“She said it was fifteen minutes this way!” I say as we run.

“She’s going to be walking through town in her bra and panties! That is so wrong!”

I slow my pace down when I feel like we’ve put enough distance between us and whatever town we just left. “Felix, you’re going to have to learn to accept bad things happening if you’re going to stay with me. And to be honest, it’s going to get worse.”

“Your hair isn’t blue anymore, and it’s long,” he says, changing the subject.

I laugh. “Yeah. And you should have seen all the tattoos. They’re gone too.”

“How many people have you killed? You acted like a pro back there.”

“A lot.”

“How many is a lot?”

I pull the knife from my pocket to see how sharp it is. It’s dull, but it’s better than nothing. I stick it back in my pocket as I look at Felix and shrug. I look ahead to see the familiar buildings.

Dandux.