The reason behind the new developments concerning infants has yet to be determined. In the year 2040, the first newborn with an abnormality was born. ‘Abnormals’ they called them, human, but also not quite. Frightened, the world turned its back on these children. Mothers and fathers held fear in their hearts where they should have held unconditional love. It seemed that after the first newborn with abnormal factors was born, a plethora of new babies were also born with abnormalities. For two years, these infants were the topic of every news article and magazine cover. Pictures of infants levitating objects into the air circulated the internet, but it wasn't until the first accident occurred that the world started to raise concerns. 

You see, when an abnormal feels any sort of heightened emotion, their abnormality becomes increasingly harder to control. Two-year-old Morgan Ray hadn’t been allowed to have a second cupcake. Morgan was distraught with her father, so much so that her abnormality seemed to reach a boiling point. That day, Morgan's father started to float in the air, until her temporary rage was replaced with surprise. Though accidentally, Morgan had dropped her father and he had broken his neck in the fall, being finally pronounced dead once reaching the hospital. 

        One year later, a law was passed. The law stated all children born with abnormal traits, two years of age and older, would be sent to an AIS facility to ensure the safety of the general public. After the first incident, AIS sprang into action. Only a year later, this new company had a collection of facilities all around the United States. 

        AIS, or the Adolescent Inspection Society, comes to all registered abnormal households and takes children from their slumber in the dead of night, with or without parental permission. However, there are special cases in which parents who decide to nurture their children move off the grid and into hiding, refusing to subject their children to such horror. Horrors they can only imagine. 

        Once AIS takes the child into custody, they inject the child with a drug that induces sleep. When the children first arrive at the facility, they are guided to the lab. In the lab, they are injected with a chip that disables the abnormality. However, these chips remain fairly untested, only being tested on a handful of human subjects. The chip is known to have devastating side effects, leaving the children defenseless against its backlash. Hearing loss, vision loss, fatigue and death rattle through the facilities, the official side effects of the chip remain unknown to the public. No matter the side effect, all abnormals receive a chip directly shot into the back of their necks

        The buildings where the injections take place are white, the structures are two long rectangles crossing over one another. From a satellite view, the building takes the shape of an X. In the middle, where the rectangles intersect, is the lab. The other four lengths of the building are called sectors. The first three sectors are where the units reside. Units are like rooms, the abnormals occupy them two at a time. People in the same unit share the same abnormality. The fourth sector is where the abnormals eat their two meals of the day, along with where they have their 30-minute period of socializing. 

        Alice and Stevie, the twins, have been at the facility the longest, 15 years to be exact. Before them, there were others. They always seemed to disappear in the night, almost like they were never even there. The twins realized quickly that no one talks about the children once they've vanished. Before Josana, Alice's current unit mate came to the facility, Alice had another unit mate, 16-year-old Tara. 

        The girls were as close as they could be, considering their significant age gap. Tara had been at the facility for years before Alice, cycling through different roommates over the years. Tara often told Alice wonderful stories of her time from the outside world, though the time was so little. Tara rambled to Alice about the flowers and the way they smelled. Her eyes would twinkle while speaking of the stars and recalling the way grass felt on her bare feet. Alice sometimes recalls the word ocean and remembers that Tara spoke fondly of this place. 

        For a single year, the girls were unit mates, until one night Tara was acting out of the ordinary, and in the morning there was no trace of her. Alice knew better than to ask for her. The ache in her ribs reminded her of the last time she spoke out of turn. Alice learned to watch her own back. With time, she realized no one else was going to watch it for her. 

        Stevie tragically went deaf after being injected with the chip. Being only a young child, the world transitioning from noisy to noiseless is a subtle one. In fact, Alice assumed he was glad for it. Now, completely mute to everyone other than his group of trusted friends, though, he doesn't talk much to them either. 

        In an environment like this one, it’s either adapt or die, so Stevie learned to lip-read. This is one of his only ways of communication. The little childhood the twins had was violently ripped away when the facility officials came for them. Since their capture, they have been forced to undergo experiment after experiment, all for the same question to remain unanswered. 

Thoroughly neglected, the children within the facilities are used as lab rats, a means to an end. They provide the children with nothing a child needs to flourish, subjecting them to an inhumane way of life. Some will never know what the outside world is like, the facility being all they know. The doctors are driven to know why these abnormalities came to be, so they can prevent them from happening again. Nothing else matters to them more than this. The twins arrived at the facility when they were three. The AIS hadn’t come for them, their parents had made the call themselves. When the twins were born, they weren't listed as abnormal, so their parents were under the impression that they were one of the lucky ones. One evening, when the twins were already in bed, their mother was on her way down the hall, doing one of her routine check-ins. Her disturbed screaming echoed and ricocheted off the walls of the small domestic home, seeming to vibrate the trinkets and shudder the furniture. There sat her babies, Alice bounced Stevie up and down in the air, in sync with the bobbing of her infant head that was erupting in childlike giggles. Stevie's eyes had been alight with something that looked like fascination, like he knew the answer to a question nobody had the answer to. Their parents had AIS on the phone after one evaluation stating that their children were, in fact, abnormal. Marlo joined Stevie in his unit when Stevie was four and Marlo was five. Marlo hadn't known what it meant to be deaf and Stevie didn't know how to explain it, so for the first few months of their time together Marlo did most of the talking. He still does. Now, at the ages of seventeen and eighteen, the boys are attached at the hip. Marlo is loud, rambunctious, and he would do anything for Stevie. Stevie still doesn't talk much but Marlo is someone he holds very dear to his heart, more so than others. Before AIS found Marlo he was living in foster care, his abnormality only known to himself. 

        As a child, Marlo knew the thoughts in his head were not entirely his own. One day, on a walk with his foster parents, the voices in his head were singing their regular tune, until they weren't. It wasn’t his fault, however. Marlo was far too young to differentiate the words being said aloud and the words being said internally. He had stopped walking abruptly, turned around, and pulled on the hand of a kind-looking lady. With something like childlike innocence, he asked why she was planning on divorcing her husband. How was he to know that the lady wasn’t speaking directly at him, to Marlo, that's what it had sounded like. 

        The woman was shocked, but Marlo’s foster parents were enraged. His foster mother pulled him roughly by the hand and back to their house. The lady squawked angrily about how the ‘devil was in that boy’ behind them. Back at the house, Marlo was met with the burning taste of super glue, the stinging on his lips reminding him he’d have no way to defend himself. Lips locked shut, he watched as big men entered his house, he watched as his foster mother pointed directly at him, he could only watch as an AIS official pricked his neck with a needle. Soon he couldn’t see anything at all.

        Josana was ten years old when she was found and brought to the facility. Her mother had left her father to bring her into hiding when she was born. For ten years Josana and her mother stayed in a secluded cabin in the middle of the woods, living off only the resources the land had to offer. 

        After some time Josana's mother had fallen ill and Josana had cared for her to the best of her ten-year-old ability. But death waits for no one and he ripped Josana’s mother away from her. All at an age where a girl needs her mother the most. Josana soon ran out of resources for herself, resorting to other means of survival. During her time in the forest, Josana’s mother had tried her hardest to nurture Josana's abnormality, or “gift” as Josana likes to call it. With nothing but will, her mom’s picture in her pocket, and the ability to control things with her mind, she arrived at a gas station, this being her last attempt to fill her stomach. 

        She peered through a window and started moving her hand in such a way it allowed for items to start levitating toward her. She swayed her other hand and the window in front of her popped open. The snacks from the store were about to be in her grasp when the gas station clerk grabbed her by the nape. Josana wiggled and shook, trying to free herself from the man's grasp, loathing the promise she made to her mother before she passed away. Josana’s mother made her promise to never use her gift to harm another person. Her mother’s last words rang in her head, “Show them who you are, Jo.” 

- 

        It is the year 2076, unit-mates Alice and Josana along with unit-mates Stevie and Marlo, sit in Sector Four at the same table, discussing in hushed whispers a plan to escape. “That won't be sharp enough.” Jo shoots Marlo down. Cardboard is about the sharpest thing that they have access to, but it wouldn’t cut flesh. 

        “Fine! You come up with an idea then,” Marlo turns his nose up at Jo. Jo scoffs and shakes her head in an irritated motion. 

        “I will!” Jo turns her entire body and plants a pleasant smile on her face as she faces Stevie. “Stevster! Just hear me out a second.” 

        Stevie’s entire body starts to vibrate as he watches the way Jo’s lips move, a familiar feeling of anxiety starting to take over the same way it does when he's in any social encounter. His hands start to shake and he slides them under his legs to halt the movement. He doesn't enjoy the interaction, Jo can tell. He shakes his head as if giving her the go-ahead, light shaggy hair falling over his shoulders. 

        “Okay, so a toothbrush right? So what you’ll do is, and really just hear me out ok, so you’ll use your teeth to chip away at the bottom of the toothbrush until it sharpens into a point,” Jo's eyebrows are raised to their full capacity as she explains herself. “And just keep at it until it starts to work, you know?” Jo looks up to meet his eyes, she can immediately recognize the look of doubt. “I don’t really see any way around this my friend.” Her face is deadpan and Stevie knows he's not been given a choice in the matter. “Plus, Marlo, Alice and I all got our toothbrushes confiscated, remember? Bad behavior or something, whatever, not the point.” 

        She looks up to her left, meeting his gaze for a second time. When they lock eyes she knows she's won him over. He flicks her forehead in response to her ramble, everyone at the table knows that's a yes. Step one officially commences. 

        The timer in Sector Four has three minutes left on the clock and the friends each have a grim look on their faces. There are three minutes until it's time to return to Sector Two, the sector in which they reside. Before the alarm starts to shake the walls of Sector Four, they move to stand in a line behind the door that leads directly into Sector Two. Alice, who had been silent during the duration of the 30-minute social period, speaks up for the first time, “After we get out of here, and we’re all safe and all that, I want to light this place on fire.” 

        Marlo’s boisterous laugh erupts from his belly, a hearty sound coming out of his throat. Marlo throws his arm over Alice's shoulders, not noticing the way Alice's eyes widen in alarm. He turns his face so he can whisper in her ear. 

        “Sweetheart, if I make it out of here alive, this place won't just burn.” The alarm goes off. The awful sound scraping the back of their ears, sending a menacing shiver down their spines. The sound will forever send a tense shadow over the group of friends. Slow footsteps cause the tension in the room to thicken. Stevie can’t hear them, but he can feel the vibration of the steps ripple up his legs. He has memorized the pattern of these specific steps. Big Red, guard number three, rated number eight on the temper scale, according to Josana. This particular guard is well over six feet, with shoulder-length red hair and muscles almost bulging out of his skin. Big Red walks up to the four of them, footsteps still slow, almost as if his intention is intimidation. Rank breath close enough to hit Marlo’s cheek, he simmers. 

        “Now tell me why,” crusted lips pull into a sour yellow snarl, “I saw you in physical contact with another abnormal.” 

         Big Red barely utters the words, but nonetheless, Marlo understands the indication. The punishment for physical touch is the Blue Unit, located in Sector Three. Marlo knows resistance will put him in an even worse predicament, so he says nothing. Big Red's large, rough hand grabs a chunk of Marlo’s dark hair, blunt nails scratching his scalp to turn his head to meet his foul stare. Despite his efforts, Marlo remains unmoving. However, Big Red is relentless, his nails digging even further into Marlo’s scalp, blood now trickling down the back of his head. Marlo can only imagine the angry red marks trailing from the middle to the bottom of his head. Still, he reveals no sounds of discomfort. “Sector Three, Blue Unit. Two hours.” When Marlo doesn't immediately move, Big Red’s face turns an ugly shade of pink, “Now!” 

        The hand in Marlo’s hair is being used as leverage to throw him in the direction of the door that leads to Sector Three. His friends are unable to utter a single word in defiance, their vexed faces will remain true until they see him safe at the same table they always occupy, at the same time tomorrow. 

- 

        Staring at the ceiling in their shared unit, Stevie tries to take his mind off the incident, counting the lines littering the ceiling, a game Stevie and Marlo had struck up during one of their many sleepless nights. The boys would take turns counting sections of the ceiling, comparing the amount of lines they were able to count. Both of the boys would say a number and then they have to quickly add those two numbers together. Whoever got the sum of the two numbers first, won. Stevie always won, although he's sure Marlo let him. 

        The toothbrush he is supposed to be sharpening is now lost in the thin blankets the facility provides. Stevie had only been to the blue unit once before. Even then, he had only been sentenced to 30 minutes. Marlo had been given two hours. Unimaginable, unspeakable pain comes from the blue unit and Stevie is beginning to wish it would have been him in Marlo’s place. Stevie squeezes both of his eyes shut tight, trying to erase the image he creates of Marlo crying out in anguish. 

        In the blue unit, Abnormals are met with a doctor wearing a white face mask, dressed in a fully blue medical gown, white gloves fit perfectly to the doctors’ hands with thick goggles covering their eyes. Next to the doctor is a wooden chair and directly in front of the chair is a small table with only one thing on it, a torch. The room is completely dark, the only light in the room is right over the torture chair. Recalling these memories leaves Stevie feeling incredibly faint, he decides it better to count the lines of the wall rather than be at war with his mind. 

        Stevie is still awake when Marlo returns to the unit, he quickly turns over on the bed, steadying his breathing. The door bangs against the unit wall, creating a thud that echoes through their sector. The guard lazily throws Marlo onto his bed before leisurely closing the door behind him. Marlo groans and rolls on his back as he touches the bed, bandages are badly wrapped around both of his hands and Stevie knows there is little he can do for him. Unconscious, but still breathing, Stevie leans over Marlo to press his ear to his chest. Stevie knows what they do in that room. Every rational part of his brain is reminding him that he just heard his friend groan, even saw him move, but he can't help himself but to check, if only to calm his own racing heart. Satisfied that his heart is beating at its normal rate, he leans back to sit on his knees by Marlo’s bedside. The tips of Marlo’s fingers are bloodied and mangled, Stevie scans his body for any sign of another potential injury but finds none. He breathes through his nose deeply, his mind briefly flies over the fact that Marlo is lucky they only burnt his fingertips. 

        All night Stevie sits with Marlo, watching his pale face throughout the night. When morning falls, Stevie languidly detaches himself from Marlo’s bedside, bones cracking as he rotates his body into a more suitable position. Stevie puts distance between Marlo and himself, hoping to make it seem like he hadn't spent the night by his side. Stevie directs himself into a sitting position on his bed, trying to appear nonchalant. 

        Stevie had no idea that tormenting him was at the top of the list of things Marlo had to do that day. A puff of air escapes Stevie’s lips and as if on cue, one of Marlo’s eyes pops open. Soon after the other follows and before Stevie knows it, Marlo is already sitting up. Stevie stands in protest to Marlo’s bodily movements, already on the way to insist he lie down. Stevie puts both hands on Marlo’s shoulders, ushering him back into a lying position. 

        “Woah, woah, relax I’m all good,” Marlo’s gruff voice insists. “It's my hands Steve, not the goddamn rest of my body.” Stevie knows better by now, after 12 years with someone in the same room, you learn a thing or two. 

        Stevie doesn't reply, just continues pushing on Marlo’s shoulders until he's firmly pressed to the bed. Eyes now both level with each other, suddenly, loud mouth Marlo can’t think of much to say. All Stevie can think about is how lovely Marlo’s deep eyes look at this moment. He thinks he’ll engrave that image to the back of his eyes, so he’ll never forget the sight. 

        “Whatcha lookin’ at?” Immediately Stevie moves, opting for sitting on his bed instead. Face flushed, Stevie doesn’t know exactly what to say. 

        As usual, he says nothing and Marlo never really expects an answer. Sensing that he created a rift between the two, Marlo attempts to mend the situation. 

        “I get it, okay. I’ll just lie here. No need to worry, promise.” Marlo turns in bed so he's now lying on his stomach. He extends his arm, pinky poking out in Stevie’s direction, hoping he’ll wrap his finger around his. Stevie waits a moment, but he responds, paying careful attention to avoid the burns higher up on his pinky. A light pink tinge covering his cheeks. 

        Marlo grins as he speaks, having one more thing to say before letting them fall into silence, hands resting carefully on his chest. His keen, dark eyes stare at the ceiling as he speaks, “I do believe you have some sharpening to do.” nodding at the toothbrush that had fallen to the unit floor. 

 

Three days later 

Alice brings the sharpened blade of the toothbrush to the curve of Jo's neck, cutting into the raised flesh directly over where the chip sits. 

        “Shit! That stings Alice!” Alice rolls her eyes, shoving her as if to say be quiet, there could be people listening. 

        “You thought it was going to feel good?” She jokes sarcastically, handing Jo the toothbrush. “It's over now anyways, I just have to pop the chip out.” Alice uses her pointer finger to slide the chip out of Josana’s neck. The chip falls and lands on the floor, making a gentle clinking sound. Jo steps on it the second her eyes land on the thing, twisting the sole of her foot over it to finish the job. “Do me now.” 

        Alice turns around and pulls her hair out of the way so Jo can have a clear view of her neck. In a swift motion, Jo cuts and pops the chip out of Alice’s neck, handing it to her. “So that's what it looks like, ugly little thing.” Alice does the same thing as Jo, stepping on it, crushing it in two. Jo feels it the second the chip leaves her body, the surge of power she hasn't felt in nine years. As the minutes pass by she can feel it replenishing itself. 

        “Do you feel that?” Jo asks. Alice doesn't say anything for several moments, taking in the foreign feeling. The rush of power is unfamiliar, but it's welcome. It’s like feeling a warm hug from someone you haven't seen in years. 

        “Yeah, I think I do.” 

        Jo sweeps her foot and slides the remains of the chips under the bed. It's not like the employees at the facility clean the units. 

        “I wonder what the boys did with theirs.” Alice inquires. Jo scoffs. 

        “Marlo’s probably keeping his, fuckin’ weirdo.” 

        Alice laughs, nodding her head in agreement. Alice jumps in on the joke adding, “He probably asked Stevie if he could keep his too!” Jo’s delighted giggle sends Alice into another laughing fit. 

        “Or maybe he got hungry and decided it would be a good snack,” Jo adds, moving to sit all the way back on her bed, leaning her back against the white wall. “I mean, we’ve all seen the way he eats! Remember that one time he spat food on your face!” Alice's face scrunches in disgust, grimacing at the memory. 

        “I smacked him so hard after that, lucky no guards were in the room.” 

        Jo nods her head, “Damn lucky Alice, damn lucky.” 

        Comfortable silence settles over the pair, they know tonight is going to be life or death, in some variant, the girls are experiencing the calm before the storm.

        “Are you nervous, you know, for tonight?” Jo has been itching to get Alice's feedback, craving her reassurance during this unstable period. Alas, Alice has no reassurance to give. “If it works, it works.” She turns her head to meet Jo’s gaze, “If it doesn't, we die.” Jo doesn’t like this answer, pushing for more. “I’m just getting a bad feeling, like something really bad is going to happen.” 

        Alice clears her throat, obviously done talking about the plan. Alice searches her head for a better topic of discussion to cover up her discomfort, finally landing on something promising. “Teach me how to use it, my abnormality I mean.” 

        “Gift,” Josana corrects gently. 

        Jo is happy for the distraction so she leans forward, feet hitting the floor, elbows leaning on her knees in an eager manner. “Oh man, I've been so waiting for this!” 

- 

2:00 in the morning 

        The guard that roams the hall of sector two is fast asleep, snoring, blissfully unaware of his current predicament. 

        “Careful, carefulll, carefulllll,” Alice whispers timidly. 

        “I got it, thanks,” Jo whispers back harshly, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. Jo can see the outline of the keys in the upper left pocket of the guard’s shirt. She knows exactly where they will be thanks to Stevie and Marlo, who found out the whereabouts with one swift mind reading. 

        Peeking through the eye slits they have for a window, Jo can see the keys start to ruffle. She holds her breath as she shifts her hand and the keys start to float. Momentarily, the guard's head turns to the side, a sleep-induced movement. Luckily, he's still out like a light. Jo moves her fingers in a come-here motion and ever so slowly the keys begin their subtle departure towards the girls’ unit. Alice rubs her forearm up and down to soothe her pounding heart - so far so good. Once the keys are at eye level with the girls, they let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. 

        “Just take it easy alright, no pressure,” Alice reassures. 

“Whenever someone says that, that means there totally is pressure!” Jo all but whines, the key still floating in the air, just nearer to the lock this time. With all the concentration she can muster, Jo slides the key into the lock, turning her hand, and in turn, turning the key in the lock. The door pops open. Jo jumps up, surprise painting her features, almost as if she was expecting to fail. She turns to Alice, mouth hung ajar, Alice mirroring her same expression. Alice looks up at Jo, her tuft of short hair bouncing on her head, frigid lips pulling together. They don't say anything but they know what the other is thinking. Step two is complete. 

Alice pokes her head out the door, looking both ways before deciding it's clear to venture to the boys’ unit. The only thing the girls really know is that they are in the same sector, they have no idea which unit the boys are inhabiting. Starting from their unit, the girls are going to go in opposite directions. They will peer through the eye window of each room until one of them lands on their friends. Silently and determined to succeed, the girls begin their descent. 

         One unit at a time the girls patter slowly down the hall, in search of their fellow escapees. Jo is seven units down and still hasn’t seen any sign of them. Alice is about to be at the tenth and last door in the sector, the door closest to the guard. When her eyes look through the window, she sees a pair that looks just like hers staring back at her, she feels as if she could cry at that 

moment, elated to see her brother. No wonder the boys had such an easy time gathering intel, Alice thinks briefly, her eyes flickering to the slumbering guard. 

She turns to face Jo, hands waving side to side to try and grab her attention. Jo had just gotten to the end of the hall when

she noticed Alice's hand movements. Just as she is about to rejoice, the guard next to Alice begins to stir in his sleep, eyes blinking open. The guard sees Alice before Alice sees the guard. He makes a move to grab her but Jo panics, she flicks her hand to the side, sending the guard barreling into the wall, a trail of blood staining the wall in his wake. Her eyes widen, appalled by her brutal behavior. 

Jo feels as if the walls in the sector are getting closer together. The air in her throat is starting to catch and she wonders if

it's even worth it to make it out of this place anymore. Not when the promise she made to her mother just shattered into pieces right before her eyes. Worse than that, the odd crunch of the guard's bones sent a satisfactory shiver throughout Jo's body, lighting her on fire. 

It takes all of Alice to not run to her friend and comfort her in her time of need, but she knows they need to get it

together, and fast. With the guard down, Alice isn't afraid to speak, “Jo! Please! The keys!” 

Jo is unresponsive and Alice knows she has to take matters into her own hands. Alice lifts her hands and wills the keys in

her direction, the same way Jo advised her to. Her fingers begin to scrunch as the toll of levitating an object towards her makes sweat break out on her brow. “Jo! Please snap out of it! We need you!” 

Alice's voice snaps Jo out of her stupor, her mind refocusing on the task at hand. Jo can see Alice struggling to levitate the

keys in her direction, so instead, she grabs them mid-air, sprinting towards them. 

“I can do it.” Jo shoves the key into the lock when she arrives at their unit, twisting it until she hears a pop, the door

swinging open, an ardent Marlo on the other side. “That was insane, Jo!” He slaps her on the shoulder, congratulating her for her accidental kill. Jo remains silent, moving out of the way so Stevie can move into the hall. “You know it's either kill or be killed out there, you really -” Marlo continues but Stevie cuts him off. “We need to take his access card, We’ll need it to get through the exit door.” The first words he’s spoken in months has the group of friends shocked to silence. Alice grabs the access card off the dead guard. 

Stevie ushers the group towards the exit door. The walk is silent, no one daring to make a sound. When they reach the

door, Stevie leans forward to swipe the access card. There is a small buzzing noise, indicating the door unlocking. Marlo reaches forward to grab the handle and pulls the door open, letting his friends through first. Taking full advantage of his large stature, he 

blocks his friends from harm, trailing behind them, ready to take any blow. Marlo lightly lets the door fall shut behind him. In front of them is a dark narrow passage. It is only wide enough to allow two people to stand next to each other, side by side. The four walk, Jo and Alice in front and Marlo and Stevie in the back, yellow flickering lights providing the only light. As they trek, the foul scent of rusted metal and mildew invades their senses. Jo’s mind skips over the fact that they may be walking over the grit of their past facility goers, she supposes that if they make it through their endeavors they can touch on the subject once more. The pipes above the friends make for an impressive echo, the sound of their footsteps reflecting off the walls. It's eerie in the passage, a feeling of heavy doubt looms over the group. Did they open the wrong door? Perhaps there is another, safer exit? Despite their anxieties, they push on, too far into their escape to turn back now. Loud silence speaking volumes among the group. The sinister tapping of their footsteps comes to an end when they reach the end of the passage. They are met with three doors, all with no locks, just a simple door knob. “It's definitely a trap,” Marlo realizes. The buzz of a door unlocking makes all four of them turn their head. A person dressed in a white coat walks through, a doctor they presume. She isn't alone, four armed guards stand behind her, ready to fire. 

“We come in peace,” the doctor raises her hands above her head. By this time, Jo has already stepped in front of her

friends, ready to defend. “I just want to talk, that's all.” The doctor speaks again. 

“Bullshit!” Marlo calls angrily, “You don’t give a damn about us.” The doctor turns to her colleagues, communicating

silently. 

 

“I can see you are unwilling to talk civilly, so unfortunately we must handle matters more,” she pauses for a moment,

“forcefully.” Before the doctor can give the guards the go-ahead, Jo has her hand outstretched, forcefully pulling the doctor to her knees. The doctor's eyes widen, “How are you?” She stops herself, “How is it possible that-?” Before she can finish, Jo is squeezing her hand shut, and suddenly the doctor is finding it hard to breathe, like the air from her body is being sucked out of her. The guards are in front of the doctor in an instant, firing in every direction. Jo realizes she needs to flee before she finds herself dead behind a bullet. She makes a bee-line for her friends, noticing Alice deflecting bullets left and right, waving her hands in every which way. Jo is at Alice's side in an instant, starting to deflect bullets alongside her. She turns her head slightly and shouts, 

“Stevie, just choose a door! We don’t have time!” Josana screams. Stevie jumps from brain to brain, trying to find any

information about the doors. The entirety of his irises have rolled to the back of his head, leaving only the whites of his eyes in their wake. They swivel from left to right in desperate search for an answer. 

Just as Marlo was about to make a decision for him, a blood-curdling bellow rips from Alice’s throat. Clutching her side and leaning against the damp passage wall, blood leaks through Alice's fingers, her pale face holding a shocked expression, before she falls limp to the ground, unresponsive. Stevie can’t think, his chest heaves and he feels as if he has taken the blow for his sister, though some part of him knows this feeling is only grief. The thought that Alice may never make it out of here weighs heavily on his heart, he rushes towards her, engulfing her in his arms. He rocks them back and forth as the force of what's happening piles on his shoulders. 

Stevie doesn't immediately notice Marlo pulling open the door on the right, if only he could talk, he would have told

Marlo that the door on the right is the wrong choice. If only his voice wasn’t struck by misery, he would have been able to tell him that he found the answer to this trap. He would have told him that behind the right door is a bomb set to explode 59 seconds after the door opens. But his lips are sealed, shut tightly as if they have been sewn together. Stevie couldn’t talk, not even if he tried. 

After the door opens, the guards cease fire, now realizing the gravity of the situation, they run for the door, taking cover.

One of the guards calls into a walkie-talkie, “Code Black in passage two!” The door shuts behind them with thirty more seconds on the timer. Stevie is clutching Alice, still rocking her back and forth, whispering apology after apology. Unconscious or dead, he will never know.

​

Marlo sits beside him holding his head in his hands, Jo moves to sit next to him, tears staining her face. She grabs his

hand and in response Marlo tightens his grip on hers, turning his face so that he's looking at Stevie, he grabs his hand too. 

Together, they don't accept their fate, but they know that, at the very least, they are escaping at last. The four don’t have time to hold their breaths as a bright light and a booming noise devours them.