For several heartbeats, no one spoke.
Devin was sprawled on his back, a black, bloody stain running from the holes in his sweatshirt to the concrete floor beneath him. His chest was still, his eyes fixed and glassy. No spark of life lingered within them.
My lips and chin trembled as I covered my mouth. The sound of my heartbeat thrashed in my ears. Foggy lights bolted to the ceiling bathed the scene in a harsh hospital glow, leering down with fluorescent judgment at the unmoving form in a widening circle of glossy, wet scarlet.
Ethan stepped closer and nudged Devin with his foot.
“What the hell?” Tucker whispered. “Is he still alive?”
Ethan knelt and checked Devin’s pulse, being careful to avoid the pooling blood. A pointless maneuver—Devin was quite clearly dead. But his body was still lying there.
Sarah licked her lips, scraping a hand through her hair. No one else moved. I waited, staring, willing the body to shimmer and disappear like everyone else who’d died since entering the Program. More seconds passed, and it became clear that Devin had no intention of doing so.
“Oh my God.” Colleen backed away from the bars and began rubbing her hands on her jeans. “Is he dead? Like, for real dead?”
No one answered, but the question hung in the air like a guillotine.
My mind raced, one step ahead of melting. Devin was breaking the rules. When you were killed in the Program, you reset. The process of dying was painful and awful and felt completely real, but it wasn’t. Your body vanished, and you came back to life unharmed in one of the four reset zones outside of town.
So why is he still here?
The implications were staggering.
My knees nearly gave out. I felt the walls closing in around me as facts slotted together in my mind. Devin had been picked on. Brutalized. Tucker and Josh had just been joking about how many times he’d been killed for other people’s amusement. Devin might’ve racked up more deaths than anyone in our class.
But how many? Oh God. How many times had Devin died?
My gaze shot to Sarah, who glanced at me, the same realization dawning in her eyes. She stepped over Devin’s body and grabbed Tucker by the shirt, spoke in a low, urgent voice. “You said Toby shot Devin, and somebody else pushed him off a roof, right?”
Tucker nodded nervously. Sarah spun to face Ethan. “You’ve obviously shot him before. How many times?”
Ethan was still staring at Devin’s body in befuddlement. I noticed he was sweating profusely. Ethan cleared his throat. “I don’t know. Two, maybe three times.”
Sarah stepped over Devin again, ignoring the puddle of blood. She grabbed Ethan’s arm. “Two or three times, Ethan? Which is it?”
Ethan rubbed his mouth, still unable to look away. “Three. I mean, this was the third, I think. Or maybe fourth. I . . . I just got mad he dropped our food. The walk back would . . . It’d show him . . .”
He trailed off. Devin was dead on the floor. He wouldn’t be walking anywhere.
Sarah ran both hands down her face. Her eyes flicked back to me. “There’s a limit,” she said softly, as if we were having a private conversation. I nodded, in that moment not caring about the bars separating us.
“What do you mean?” Ethan demanded. “What limit?”
Sarah seemed to remember herself. She straightened. Turned to Ethan.
“We should talk privately. Now.”
But Ethan was too wired. “Why’s he not resetting, Sarah?” He jabbed a finger at Devin’s body, then shuddered as if snowmelt had slid under his collar. “What the hell is going on?”
My cellmates were backed against the rear wall, putting as much distance between themselves and the murder scene as possible. Colleen had both hands pressed to her cheeks. The other girls seemed on the verge of panic. Jacob and Greg looked like they’d seen a ghost, which was an odd way to look at it, since the opposite had happened. Akio had moved to the far corner and sat, watching everyone, his knees pulled up into a ball.
Tucker and Josh still seemed lost, but everyone else seemed to get it.
Devin wasn’t going to reset.
He was dead inside the Program.
Ethan reached down and grabbed Devin by the shirt, pulling him halfway to a seated position. “Stop messing around and get up! Now!” The pale body sagged in his grip.
“Stop it!” Colleen screeched.
Ethan dropped Devin and removed his gun. Aimed it straight at her. “You telling me what to do?” he asked in a high-pitched voice, pupils dilated.
Colleen froze in animalistic terror. “No. Please. I’m sorry.”
Ethan stared at Colleen, panting, the gun quivering in space. Not even Sarah spoke. Then he noticed blood on his fingers. Ethan dropped his pistol and began spastically wiping his hands on his jacket. Red streaks smeared across the waterproof black fabric. With an inarticulate howl Ethan turned and punched the wall.
The building groaned. Spiderweb cracks spiraled from where Ethan’s fist was buried to the knuckles in a cinder block. He ripped his hand backward with a yelp, eyes wide, staring at his fingers as he flexed them for damage.
My heart froze, then started thumping. That swing should’ve broken every bone in Ethan’s hand.
A strange look stole over his face. He closed his eyes. Then Ethan sighed, rolling his head on his shoulders. “I feel . . . I feel amazing right now.”
In the corner of my eye, I noticed Akio squirm in the other cell. He was staring at Ethan with a hunted expression.
He’s scared. Really scared, for the first time.
But why? What did Akio suspect? I recalled his earlier taunts about Noah. His claim that Ethan “didn’t understand.” Had Noah’s group discovered something about the Program that the rest of us didn’t know? Did Akio know why Devin didn’t reset?
“Ethan?” Sarah said, eyeing her companion warily. “Tell me what’s happening.”
He shook his head, blinking stupidly. “It’s . . . this incredible rush . . . I’m not sure . . .”
Before he could say more, a boom carried down the hallway. The whole building rattled, a cloud of dust dropping from the ceiling. The lights flickered.
“Earthquake!” Tucker yelled, but I knew that wasn’t it. Seconds later Toby appeared at a dead sprint, scraped up and bleeding, covered in what looked like ashes. “Trouble outside!” he shouted, skidding to a stop just before tripping over Devin’s body.
Ethan’s gaze snapped to his lieutenant. “What is it?” A spasm of gunfire echoed down the corridor, followed by the crash of breaking glass.
“It’s Noah!” Toby answered, though his eyes were glued to the motionless form on the concrete. “His team is attacking Main Street and they’ve got explosives!”
Ethan growled deep in his throat. He scooped his pistol off the floor and started down the hall, but Sarah froze him with an upraised hand. “Stop.”
Ethan glared a hole through her head, but did as instructed. She didn’t seem to notice. Eyes narrowed, Sarah was chewing her bottom lip, seemingly staring at nothing. But that was only if you didn’t know her.
“Why is Devin on the floor?” Toby asked. “He knocked out?”
“He’s dead,” Sarah stated absently.
“Dead?” Toby kicked the body, gaping in surprise. “What do you mean, dead?”
“Dead. He isn’t coming back.”
The truth finally seemed to register. Toby staggered back against the bars, a hand rubbing his bald head in astonishment. “Oh, shit!”
“Exactly.” Sarah’s cool was returning, though a tremor thinned her voice. She finally turned to Ethan. “We have to reconsider our plans. This changes everything.”
Toby was staring at Devin in disbelief. A trickle of blood ran from a cut above his ear.
His back was to my cell.
A small, snub-nosed revolver was tucked into the rear waistband of his jeans.
I thought about Akio’s attempted trick with Ethan. It wouldn’t work with Sarah around, but that didn’t mean I was helpless.
More gunfire carried from outside. Closer this time, riding a wave of raised voices.
Toby stepped back. His shoulder blades kissed the steel between us.
Cat quick, I reached between the bars and snatched the gun from his jeans. Toby spun, grabbing for my arm, but I’d already leapt out of reach. Then I aimed the revolver squarely at his round head.
Toby huffed an exasperated breath, rolling his eyes. “What are you doing, Min? You gonna shoot me? Go ahead. You’ll still be in there, and I’ll be back in an hour.”
I nodded at Devin’s body. “You sure about that? Now open these doors and let us out.”
Toby’s smirk faded, but Sarah spoke quickly to reassure him. “Devin’s been killed more times than anyone. This must . . . must be the . . . end result. But Devin not resetting doesn’t mean the rest of us suddenly won’t. There’s no reason to believe that.”
Toby nodded thoughtfully, then stepped back and crossed his arms. “Nobody’s letting you out, Min. You know it, too, so stop playing around and give me back my gun. You won’t get a damn thing to eat until you do.”
Okay. Fine.
Plan B.
I turned the gun on myself. Placed its barrel against my temple.
Sudden understanding flashed in Toby’s eyes. “No! Stop!”
Sarah surged forward, a hand outstretched. “Wait! You don’t want to do that.”
I hesitated, the revolver’s round muzzle denting a circle in my bare skin. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a bullet would do as it tore through my skull. My arm began to shake.
Glass shattered out in the office lobby. Someone screamed as the buzz of automatic gunfire echoed down the corridor.
“That’s it,” Ethan hissed. “I’m done standing around.” He shouldered past Sarah, signaling for Josh and Tucker to follow.
Toby glanced at the trio disappearing down the hallway, then at the gun in my hand, his face scrunched in frustration. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “I’ve got plenty of guns.” He turned to Sarah. “You deal with this bitch.” Muttering darkly about trailer-park trash, Toby hurried after the others.
Sarah ignored him, her whole focus on me.
“You could die,” she said calmly, looking me directly in the eye. “I could be wrong about why Devin didn’t come back. What if you end up on the floor next to him? We can’t take that risk.”
My heart was pounding. Black spots danced at the edge of my vision.
“We?” I rasped, throat as dry as sandpaper. I was oddly touched by her concern.
“I’m not a monster, Min.” Sarah smiled weakly, eyebrows drawn in. She gave a light shrug. “We might have our differences, but we’re all in this together.”
We’re all in this together.
My mind flashed back to seventh grade. The prank.
The popular girls had planned to sprint out from the locker room in their bras and water-balloon the boys at football tryouts. Impossibly, Sarah approached me about it, and somehow talked me into joining the madness. It’ll be fun, she said, tugging my arm. Pulling me along until I agreed to go with her. But I need all the girls. We’re all in this together.
I’d stupidly taken a place in front. Ran out screaming, balloon held high, only to hear the door click shut behind me with no one following. The football team had collapsed in hysterics as I’d scrambled around the building, trying to get back inside.
I remembered Sarah’s wicked laughter through the door.
We’re all in this together.
A whole hour of scheming, just to humiliate me. She never apologized. I doubt it even occurred to her.
“Wow.” I snorted derisively, wiping the sympathetic mask from her face. I’d been her fool once, but never again. “You really don’t want me to escape, do you, Sarah? Since I’ll tell everyone what happened to Devin, and ruin your kidnapping plan, too.”
Sarah’s eyes went cold. “You can’t beat me. You know that, right?”
I glared right back at her, anger outstripping my fear. “I’ll take my chances.”
The gun steadied in my hand.
Had Sarah been right the first time? Was Devin an anomaly, or was I about to join him?
Only one way to find out.
Sarah grabbed the bars, her nostrils flaring. “Min, I’m warni—”
I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger.