thirty-two

                                    

                                          
Mr. Watson was the first to break the silence. He stood up from the recliner, his jaw wide open and looked at me like I was some kind of freakish animal.
                          
    "You mean this is Zoe Greene?" He said in utter amazement. "This girl, Andy, standing right here is Zoe Greene?"
                          
    Andy nodded slowly. "She is." He looked down at me. "I changed your name after I adopted you to throw Radcliffe off his tracks. Sadly, it didn't fool him for long." He met eye contact with Mr. Watson again. "Stanley, we need to get out of here. He'll probably want to search here first. So we need to be gone by then. Des, I need you to pack your things."
                          
    "Yes, sir," I said, running upstairs. I quickly snatched my school backpack, dumping out all of my useless papers and binder.
                          
    I snuck into Andy's room and took his pocket knife from his nightstand drawer. I was glad it was still there. He didn't know it yet, but I was going on that rescue mission, despite his warnings.
                          
    I am going to save August.
                          
***
                          
I left in the car the very same day I got home. I only packed the essentials in my backpack: an extra pair of clothes, Andy's pocket knife (sorry not sorry, Andy), water and a few protein bars and a "sharing size" of Skittles for emergencies.
                          
    I was totally prepared.
                          
    Yet I still felt very scared and vulnerable. I mean, what can go wrong when you have a bag of Skittles?
                          
    When we arrived at the facility, I quickly stepped out and hugged Andy goodbye. I wasn't worried. I would see him soon enough.
                          
    The facility looked very torn up. There was a lot more damage than I expected. Not only was there a giant whole in the left corner of one of the buildings, plenty of the windows were shattered, and no kids were playing outside as normal. It was like a ghost town.
                          
    I heard about half of the kids went home to their parents or guardians. One-fourth of the kids were injured. Three-fourths were perfectly fine, physically. Two staff members were found dead. And one of the kids was missing.
                          
    My little sister.
                          
    I was strolling through the nearly empty floors as I climbed up steps, glancing at the closed and unwelcoming doors. It was kind of creepy. I walked up the echoing steps, looking around for any sign of anyone. I knocked on my dorm door, looking around, still. No one.
                          
    Orion opened the door slightly to examine who was knocking. Then he opened the door wider and suddenly hugged me.
                          
    "Des, I'm so glad you're here!" He let go and I wished I could wipe off my blushing on my cheeks. I can't believe he hugged me. "Are you here because August is back?"
                          
    I shook my head. "My guardian and Mr. Watson are taking a small team of the facility's staff to go rescue her from Facility 01."
                          
    Everyone in the room froze. A couple of them looked like they wanted to run away screaming.
                          
    "Why is everyone so jumpy about Facility 01?" I ask, stepping into the room. Every kid in the room was in bed and no board game or cards were on the floor. That was a first. I noticed August's made bed in the corner of the room. I ignored it.
                          
    Orion closed the door. "Not all facilities protect ataxias, Des. Facility 01 is an experimenting facility. They treat ataxias very inhumanely there. Like animals. Like they don't have souls or feelings. A couple of us were rescued from there like Ben and I. Trust me, all it is is bad news."
                          
    I was quiet and set my bag down by the bed. "That's why I'm going to rescue her, too."
                          
    "That's suicide!" A girl on top of her bunk shouted, throwing off her small blanket dotted with snowflakes. "You honestly can't say that you're going there! You have to be insane."