Compliance (18 page)

A tear slides down the side of Cal’s face and I brush it off with my thumb.

“Get me out of here,” he says hoarsely. “I need to save my brother before they kill him.”

“Don’t expect the worst,” I say. “His injuries might not be that bad. Remember how Mrs. Kalin helped when you broke your nose? She’ll help Scout too. I’ll make sure of it. If she doesn’t come, I’ll go to her office and beg her.”

“No.” He bucks against the restraints again. “Her office is in the Hospital. Stay away from there. Get me out of these things. I’ll break into the Hospital myself and get Scout.”

I touch Cal’s cheek and it’s on fire, slick with sweat. I’ve never seen him like this. So angry, so out of control.

The door opens and I turn toward it.
Mrs. Kalin.
She came.

Her eyes are filled with concern. Warmth spreads through my chest and tension melts from my neck, my back, my shoulders.

She’ll know what to do.

Cal fights against his restraints. “Don’t kill my little brother. Please. Let him go. I’ll take his place.”

She walks to the side of the table and rests her hands lightly on Cal’s arm. He turns his anger-distorted face toward her.

“Don’t worry,” she tells him. “I’ll check in on your brother personally and make sure he’s well taken care of. He’ll be fine.”

As Cal listens to Mrs. Kalin, an immediate change comes over his face; his entire body relaxes. “Really?”

“Of course. I care about every Haven employee, but a friend of Glory’s?” She turns toward me and smiles. “I’ll see that Scout gets special treatment.”

“Thank you,” Cal says. “Thank you.”

The change in Cal is astounding, and I’m so grateful her presence calmed him. My whole life I believed that everyone in Management was unfeeling, that they considered us lower-level employees to be interchangeable, barely human, but Mrs. Kalin seems different. She cares.

As soon as I saw her, I felt better too, but my skepticism’s returning. “Trust no one” has been my mantra since Drake and I were left without parents. Distrust is what helped me keep Drake hidden for three years, but I wish I could let it go—just a bit. I wish I could maintain the warm feeling I get when I look into Mrs. Kalin’s kind eyes.

“Your brother’s suffered several broken bones and a head injury,” she tells Cal, “but the doctors are doing everything they can. The Hospital’s the best place for him. He’s in good hands.”

“Did you hear that, Glory? Scout’s in good hands.” The relief in Cal’s voice is incredible.

Too incredible? The hair at the back of my neck stands up. Did Mrs. Kalin do something to Cal when I wasn’t looking? Did she slip him a drug? If a drug calmed him down, maybe that’s fine. A big part of me wants to trust her completely, but I can’t. The trust part of me is broken.

“You need to rest.” Mrs. Kalin pats his hand. “I’ll remove these restraints if you promise to get some sleep.”

Cal nods as best he can with his head strapped to the table, and Mrs. Kalin reaches into the pocket of her white coat and brings out a syringe. If she didn’t drug him before, she will now.

“I’m going to give you something to help,” she says. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” he says. “Thank you.”

She injects a clear liquid into Cal’s arm. His eyes flutter shut. Then she turns to me. “How are you holding up?”

“Thank you for coming.” My voice is shaking, so I draw a long breath. “Scout’s not only Cal’s brother, his dating partner is my best friend. I’ve known Scout since pre-GT. If there’s anything you can do to help him get released, I won’t ask for your help with anything ever again.” My insides won’t stop trembling.

“You can ask for my help whenever, however, and as often as you like.” She rubs my upper arm. “You’re like a daughter to me.”

I nod my thanks, but keep my eyes on Cal who’s breathing slowly now, clearly asleep. “The only thing I care about is getting Scout out of the Hospital.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” She tips my chin toward her with soft fingers and I look into her eyes. “Trust me,” she says. “The Hospital is the best place for him.”

I’m flooded by warmth that reminds me how it felt to be bathed in sunlight at dawn. Like anything’s possible, like I’m safe, like everything is going to be okay. “When will Scout be released?”

“That’s up to his doctors.” Her light brown eyes flash kindness. “My team will do everything they can. Would you like to see him?”

“Yes, please.” Excitement stirs inside me. What better
way to assure Cal and Jayma that Scout is fine? “When can we go?”

“How about now?”

“Great.”

She turns and the relief I felt disappears, as if my trust was swept away with the swish of her white coat.

Nerves scramble inside me as I follow behind her. After all these years of fear, I’m going to enter the Hospital. The question is: will I come out?

M
RS
. K
ALIN TYPES A
passcode onto the security pad by the Hospital’s side door. 6-2-4-5-2-1. The numbers burn into my mind, and I’m shocked that she let me watch. Mrs. Kalin doesn’t strike me as careless, so it’s more likely the code gets changed every day, or there’s a camera overhead to see who’s at the door, or it’s some kind of special keypad that only works for her. Entry can’t possibly be granted with just a short passcode. And it’s not possible she trusts me to see it. Is it?

“I like to sneak in the back door,” she says. “That way I have a chance to get some work done, before my staff figures out I’m here and bombards me with questions and problems.” She gestures for me to precede her through the door.

The heavy door clangs shut behind us, and my insides want to scramble out of my skin. I’m in the Hospital.

I blink against the bright lighting bouncing off shiny white walls and floors. I’ve never seen anything so bright, besides the real sun.

Mrs. Kalin strides down the hall, the heels of her shoes tapping a fast rhythm, and she’s at a corner before I’ve even moved. She beckons to me from the corner, and I run past a series of closed doors to catch up. Trembling, I rally my courage. The only thing I was brought up to fear more than the Hospital was Outside, and that turned out safer than I expected—not all dust and Shredders.

Outside wasn’t without peril, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d been led to believe. Perhaps the same will be true with the Hospital. Perhaps the rumor mill has exaggerated its terrors.

Mrs. Kalin stops at one of the doors. “Would you like to see one of our labs?”

“I want to see Scout.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll see your friend, but let’s make a quick stop for you to sign a confidentiality agreement. That way I can explain more of our research.” She rolls her eyes. “Policy.”

The room we enter is equally white and bright and filled with long tables covered by vials and burners and tubes. A vat, nearly twice my height and as big around, sits in one corner, and a man in a white coat stands on a catwalk above it, dipping a long stick.

“This is the water treatment lab.” Mrs. Kalin gestures around the room. “We test filters here and continuously
monitor the water pumped from the big lake for trace elements of dust.”

“Have you figured out why the dust—kills people?”
Or turns Deviants into Shredders
, I think, but don’t ask. I shouldn’t let her know how much I know about dust.

She steps to the side of the room, types another code, and it brings up a display. I chide myself. Awed by my surroundings, I missed what she typed.

“Come here.” She beckons.

“Read this”—she points to the screen—“and sign, if you agree.” She hands me a stylo tethered to the desk. My nerves make it hard to concentrate, but I quickly realize that this is the confidentiality agreement she mentioned. Basically, if I divulge any information to anyone who doesn’t have clearance, I’ll be subject to an immediate transfer to the Detention Center without so much as an audit investigation. More likely, I’ll be expunged.

But I sign. I want to learn everything I can in this place, and there’s no chance I’m letting this confidentiality agreement get in the way.

“Good.” Mrs. Kalin takes my stylo. “Now we can talk freely.” She gestures to the equipment. “The filters safely remove all traces of dust from the water, as they have since the creation of Haven.”

“That’s reassuring.” But she didn’t answer my question.

“However, given the growing number of Deviants in the employee population,” she continues, “we suspect that trace elements of the dust are penetrating the dome, so we keep tabs on the water and air vents to find the source.”

Studying her expression and demeanor, I don’t sense deception, so I nod. “What other kinds of research do you do here?”

She checks the dial on the side of a vat. “We have hundreds of ongoing experiments.”

“Like what?” I try to keep distrust from creeping into my voice.

She steps toward me. “For example, we complete experiments on Normals to see the effect of adding small amounts of dust to their water and air.”

“Without their consent?” I bite down on my tongue.

“Of course not.” Her hand lands on my shoulder and gently squeezes. “Many Haven employees are willing to do their part for science, and we monitor our test subjects closely. No one’s life is risked.” There’s no hint of deception in her eyes and I feel better.

“What have you discovered? Do any of them—change? I mean, does the dust hurt their lungs?”

“My, you are interested in science.” She squeezes my shoulder again and smiles. “That makes me so proud.”

I blush as she leans back against the table behind us. “We’ve discovered so many things,” she says, “but our main aim remains to improve the quality of life and safety for
every
Haven employee.”

She says “every” like she’s telling me more, and I search her eyes for meaning. Could she mean Deviants too? I lean against the table opposite her. Mrs. Kalin has a knack for breaking through my trust barriers. It must be the sincerity in her eyes; and looking into them now, I believe that Mrs.
Kalin cares about me and wants to make a difference inside Haven. In fact, she might be the key to everything I want to accomplish.

A man in a white coat holds a clipboard toward us. Mrs. Kalin strides across the room and scans it.

I chew my bottom lip. If she’s doing experiments with dust on people, then she must be figuring out some of the things that I already know—and perhaps things I don’t. At a minimum, she must know that Deviants aren’t really dangerous, just different.

It’s no wonder she thinks Haven policies should change. Cautious hope rises in my chest.

She initials the clipboard and hands it back to the man. “Where was I?” She strides back to me.

“You were talking about how your experiments will help improve things in Haven.”

“Yes.” She nods. “Management has done its best, but with the growth in employee numbers, the increasing shortage of supplies, the continued barrage of Shredders, Haven can’t go on like this forever.

“That’s why my department is researching the effects of the dust on Normals. We must find a way to survive Outside, at least long enough for employees to search for the resources we need. And just imagine”—she pushes off her table—“just imagine if there are other survivors!”

I open my mouth to tell her that there
are
other survivors, that I’ve met them, that my father and brother live Outside, but a crash and a scream sound in the hall.

Pushing away from the table, I turn my head too
quickly. I fall to the side, then catch my balance. “What was that?”

“Probably a Shredder.”

I tense. “There are Shredders in the Hospital?”

“Yes. We perform research on Shredders to discover how they can live on the dust.” She smiles. “The creatures are well contained. Don’t worry, you’re safe.”

Walking next to Mrs. Kalin along multiple corridors, I observe as much as I can. The Hospital isn’t nearly as scary as I expected, but it’s difficult to know what’s going on behind the many closed doors.

Passing one with a small window, I crane my neck to peek inside. A man, his wrists tied to ropes stretched above him, is slumped, barely standing. Blood trails down his torso and face, staining the waistband of his pants. My hand flies to my mouth.

“Would you like to look inside?”

Turning sharply at the sound of Mrs. Kalin’s voice, I nod.

“First”—Mrs. Kalin puts a hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes—“let me prepare you for what you’ll see.”

“Okay.”

“The man in this lab is a Comp who was badly injured Outside fighting Shredders.” She shakes her head. “He sacrificed so much for our safety.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was ambushed by a pack of Shredders. They tore off his mask and forced him to breathe dust.” She shakes her head. “He went insane.”

“Dust madness.” My words come out on a shallow breath.

She cocks her head to the side. “Yes, that’s a good name for what we’ve observed.”

“Why is he bleeding?”

Her arm slides across my shoulders and she steers me toward the door. “The wounds you see are self inflicted. He’s been restrained to prevent further self-harm. I’ve personally been testing our latest dust antidotes on him, but so far he hasn’t shown much improvement.” Her eyes become glassy.

“Dust antidotes?”

“To lessen what you called dust madness.” She pats my shoulder. “Are you sure you want to go inside?”

I look through the window again. The man’s tugging against his restraints and screaming. I shudder. She’s right. I don’t need to go inside. I’ve seen firsthand the effects of too much dust, and she’s explained to me what happened to this poor man. “I hope you find an antidote that works.”

“That’s what this is all about.” Mrs. Kalin smiles. “Making Haven safer for all. Shall we go see your friend?”

I nod, but as we proceed down the hall, my unease creeps back in with every step I take. My mind feels clouded and I feel like I can’t trust my judgment. One minute everything here seems horrible, just like it was in my childhood nightmares, and the next Mrs. Kalin’s reassurance washes the fear away.

A large double door opens as we pass, and I catch a glimpse inside. The room’s lined with metal tables, a person strapped down to each one, and from my quick glimpse, a
few are Deviants—several bleeding and writhing in pain.