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“Cia, help is coming.” A hand digs into my shoulder and shakes me. “Cia. Do you hear me?”
I look up through my tears to see Raffe’s face looking down. “I’ve put out the rest of the flames and have told everyone coming up the stairs to go outside, but that siren means officials are going to arrive soon. They’re going to come here to your rooms and see what’s happened. Do you understand what this means?”
“It means they’ll help Enzo.” I feel a moment’s relief and then realize that I’m wrong. Raffe isn’t telling me that Enzo will get medical attention. His words are a warning. University officials will be here soon. They will ask questions about what happened and why I created a device that caused this kind of injury. Enzo broke into my room, but I am the one who will pay the price if I don’t leave.
“I have to go,” I say.
It takes two tries to rise to my feet. Raffe moves to help me but I shake off his hands. I walk to my wardrobe, grab my extra boots and another change of clothes to add to the one already in my bag. I pull my jacket on to protect me from the rain. Then I look around rooms that still contain a haze of smoke. Books. Papers. Writing utensils. Many items have been burned, but some were untouched by the flames. They are what have defined me and my goals for most of my life. There is no way to carry more than the paper and pencils I already have stored in my bag, and even if I could, I will have no use for anything else now. Today I am being forced to leave behind the books and the knowledge they contain. From now on, I must have faith that I have learned the lessons I need to take the next step.
“What happened in here?” Ian yells from the doorway.
I have no answer to give, but I’m thankful Raffe does. Over the shrill siren he yells back, “Enzo broke into Cia’s room. He must have been trying to set some kind of trap. It backfired. We figured it would be best if we got out of the way. Right, Cia?”
Ian looks to where Enzo lies shaking on the floor. Then back at me. For a moment he seems conflicted. Then he slides his hand into his coat pocket. When he removes it, a gun is wrapped in his hand.
Enzo moans on the floor. Officials must be arriving now. My time to flee is running out. I need Ian to let me go.
“I know you’re one of the rebels,” I say. “The one Michal told me would keep me safe.”
“Michal would understand. The rebellion has to come first.”
“Michal can’t understand, because he’s dead,” I scream. I think about the listening device behind the wardrobe and lower my voice as much as I can while still allowing myself to be heard. With the emergency sirens blaring and officials on their way, I doubt anyone is listening to what is happening in here now, but I don’t want to reveal more to those who are spying on me than I have to. Lightning flashes in the window. “Symon killed him when Michal gave him proof the president could use to end The Testing. I know, because I was there.”
“I was, too,” says Raffe, standing next to me. His hands are clenched at his sides. I know he is waiting for the right moment to strike. Ian doesn’t know it, but he is now in as much danger as we are in from him.
The gun in Ian’s hand shifts downward as he looks from the open door behind him back at me. “That’s not possible. Symon—”
“Symon is working with Dr. Barnes,” I say. “He’s not trying to stop The Testing. He’s working to make sure the people who want to stop it are controlled and then killed. I’m trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you want The Testing to end you have to let me go.”
Voices can be heard over the din of the sirens. Coming up the stairs or down the hall. The time I have to escape is ticking down. If I don’t leave now, The Testing might never end. My brother could die and everything I have done will have been for nothing.
I see Raffe put his hand into the side pocket of his bag and nod at me. I shift my feet and prepare for flight, but before Raffe can attack, Ian yells, “Cough.”
Raffe stops and looks at me.
“What?” I ask.
“Start coughing. Both of you.” Ian shoves his gun back into his pocket and takes two steps toward me. “I need you to trust me or you won’t make it out of here.” He leans down and puts one hand around my back and the other behind my knees. Before I know what he intends, he sweeps me and my bag into his arms and hurries toward the door, yelling, “It’s going to be okay, Cia. Come on, Raffe. We have to get her out of here. She can’t breathe with all this smoke.”
I go limp, close my eyes, and start to cough. Raffe coughs, too, as Ian carries me away from the smoke. From Enzo. From the damage I have helped cause.
“What happened up here?”
I force myself not to react at the sound of Professor Holt’s voice and wait for Ian to stop moving. But he doesn’t. He just yells, “Enzo set off some kind of explosive in Cia’s room. I need to get her away from the smoke.”
Raffe’s coughing tells me he is still behind us when Ian starts down the stairs. More than once someone bumps into us as they go to help Enzo. I keep my eyes shut tight as the chatter of voices grows as loud as the shrieking sirens. Students yell above the screech of the alarm to find out if anyone knows what is happening. Ian screams for people to get out of the way. Before I know it, I feel moist air on my face.
“She’s fine,” Ian yells. To whom, I’m not sure. The change in his words makes me stop coughing. “She got overwhelmed by the heat and the panic downstairs. But Professor Holt asked me to tell the rest of you to come upstairs. Someone’s burned really bad.”
I open my eyes as two officials head into the building, leaving Raffe, Ian, and me alone outside the residence.
“We have to leave,” I say as Ian sets me on the wet ground. “Now.”
“I think I can buy you five minutes,” Ian says. “After that, there’s nothing I can do.”
“You can’t stay here. There’s a listening device planted behind the wardrobe in my room. Whoever put it there will know I told you about Dr. Barnes and Symon.” Even if they didn’t hear the rest, that will be enough to put Ian in harm’s way.
Ian looks back at the residence, then shakes his head. “If someone was listening, I’ll just have to find a way to talk myself out of trouble. I’m not leaving. If you’re right, the students who follow Symon are in danger. I can’t go without letting them know.” Ian puts his hand on the door. “I’ll stall the officials but it won’t be for long. You have to hurry.”
