Page 84 of The Commons

I suddenly stop myself, gritting my teeth together to be strong. “So, how do we find her?” I ask, shaking.

“I have to go in and do the same thing I did for you.”

“What are we waiting for?”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay. The Experiment Zone is… no joke.”

“I’m fine.” I lie. “But isn’t there a better way to escape this place without you making it obvious like you did with me?”

“No. There’s no way to escape The Seventh Zone without being seen. There are cameras that cannot be turned off. Grey dots. You may not have noticed.”

“Are there cameras here?” I look around.

“No. Because this is where they kill people.”

“Oh my God.”

I feel propelled to throw up, but I hold my chest and swallow my spit.

“Shantavia, I’m really sor⁠—”

“Let’s just go.”

Pesh takes me to the Experiment Zone.

Upon entering, muffled noises can be heard in the air. But there is hardly anyone in sight. All around, I notice white doors encircling us and agonizing screams escaping from the doors. I swallow my spit and take a huge breath, trying not to imagine what horrendous things must be taking place beyond those doors. I notice Pesh’s steps growing louder. Head down. That’s all I have to do for the next minute.

He proceeds with the same stern voice upon entering a main room. “I need a student!”

I cannot see faces, but I hear gasps from the guards around us, and their legs turn toward us. I look to the right and notice large sandals on a woman with claw-like feet. She begins to speak in response to Pesh, but I notice she turns to stare at me for a moment. I hold my breath. I don’t know why she is staring at me. Perhaps because she cannot make eye contact with Pesh. I choose to believe that is the case, to control my tenseness.

“Patron Pesh, what brings you here?” she says.

“Levon Lerogaski. Fair skin. Curly hair. 5’7. Green eyes.”

“You need her?”

“Uh-huh. So what are you waiting for?”

She shudders, stammering, “Sorry, um… let me just check where she is at the current moment.”

She clicks on her keyboard, and I peek to see one of her hands is covered in calluses, the other a bloody red bandage. She flips through scuffles of paper, her hands shivering as though uneasy and restless.

“Is there a problem?” Pesh asks.

“No, Patron Pesh. I’m just trying to find, um, her. We didn’t know you were interested in her before she was assigned. In fact, we didn’t even know you were interested in any of them!”

I don’t know what she’s alluding to. But it seems Pesh does. I wonder what type of assignment this woman is speaking of, but it causes my head to be tangled in terrifying thoughts.

“Find her, wherever she is. You have 60 seconds.”

“Yes. Patron. Pesh.”

My fists curl as sweat begins to form in my trembling fingers. Something seems wrong. I can hear whispers. I know I’m not supposed to look, but I can’t help it. My eyes look to the right, and I notice scuffling at the end of the door. Out the corner of my eye, I see a man who looks like he is in his early thirties or late twenties. He has a scruffy beard, with blazing brown eyes, and his hands are dragging someone. I swallow my spit and peek again to notice that his name badge says, “Gihard.” I can now hear growing whispers.

“I’ve been looking for you!” the Gihard man says.

“I believe she was just stationed into an experiment, Patron Pesh. We didn’t know you had interest,” the woman repeats.