Glitch

I noted with a sense of dread that there would
    be no easy escape if we were found in this narrow space.
    46

    G L I TC H
    “How far do we go?” I whispered.
    “I memorized the blueprints of this place. We’ll walk about
    a hundred paces before we get to the next panel.”
    “How do you—?”
    “Later. I’ll answer any question you have later but now I
    need to focus on counting our footsteps so we don’t miss the
    panel.”
    I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. We started for-
    ward and without thinking, I was silently counted our steps
    too. In my ner vous ness, I lost count somewhere in the six-
    ties. Adrien kept steadily leading me along, so I hoped he
    knew where we were going. If we were found, it would be
    impossible to explain logically. Adrien stopped suddenly.
    “Now what?”
    “Now, I fi nd the sensor switch.” He searched up and down
    the wall with the light from his arm panel. I held mine up,
    too, for more light.
    “Here we are,” Adrien fi nally said. He sounded relieved
    and I realized he wasn’t as certain as he’d seemed. He quickly
    whispered another activation code. I heard the scraping of
    rock again like we’d heard before.
    “Won’t opening these doors set off an alert somewhere?”
    I asked, suddenly worried. What if we went through all this
    only to fi nd a squad of Regulators waiting on the other side?
    “We got this set up when I came on assignment here. This
    was always my emergency way out. Of course,” he said, more
    to himself, “I didn’t expect to be using it already.”
    I bit my lip before asking who we was. I imagined that
    was one of those many questions to be answered later.
    47

    Heather Anastasiu
    “Okay,” Adrien said, “It’s open. Come on.”
    The light from our arms didn’t penetrate very far into the
    open doorway. I took a step while Adrien closed the door
    behind us. I stumbled but caught myself before I fell.
    “Cracking hell,” he said. “You okay?”
    “Fine.” I winced. “Just stubbed my toe.”
    “Sorry, I should have warned you. This isn’t a hallway.
    It’s a staircase.” The door fi nished closing behind us.
    “A staircase . . .” I raised my arm and saw the steep con-
    crete stairwell.
    “Yeah, I guess you’re used to elevators.” He seemed to
    sense my anxiety and went in front of me. “There’s no rail-
    ing, so just keep a hand on the wall and follow close behind
    me.”
    After we’d climbed more than fi fteen steps, I wondered
    just how much farther there was to go and where exactly we
    were going. I tried not to think about the steep drop behind
    me, one that would surely kill me if I fell backward. I lifted
    my other arm to hold the walls with both hands for support.
    “How much farther?” I fi nally asked. I wasn’t strained for
    breath— everyone in the Community did a long cardio work-
    out every night; healthy bodies meant a healthy Community,
    after all— but my thigh muscles were cramping up. I was used
    to running on a treadmill, not stair climbing.
    “Not much,” he said. He didn’t sound out of breath at all.
    Again I was struck by the mystery of this boy. Who was
    he? How did he know so much? Why was he helping me?
    Before I could continue through the long list of questions
    racing through my mind, we reached a small four- by- four-
    48

    G L I TC H
    foot plateau at the top of the staircase. Adrien found the
    switch easily this time and spoke the authorization code. And
    then, as the last door swung open and my eyes were stung
    by blinding light, I learned the answer to at least one of my
    questions.
    Adrien wasn’t trying to help me at all.
    He was trying to kill me.
    49

Chapter 4
    i f linche d and cove re d my face even though I knew
    it wouldn’t help. Exposure to the outside air was deadly. And
    if it didn’t kill you right away, the radiation would lead to
    tumors soon enough.
    I turned to race back down the stairs but Adrien grabbed
    my upper arm.
    “Let go of me!” I shrieked and wrenched away. “Do you
    have a death wish?”
    Images from our textbooks fl ashed in my mind as I strug-
    gled to hurry down the stairs. Boiling skin. Slow, painful
    deaths. It was probably already too late.
    “Zoe!” Adrien grabbed both my arms now, holding me
    back from the stairs. “Zoe, be quiet or someone will notice!”
    I kept pulling away, viciously scratching him with my
    other hand, anything to get away from that rectangular
    doorway of toxic Surface air. He growled in pain as I