Variant

“All four of them will get detention anyway. Whose dumb idea was it to open the doors? Did you see Benson and Jane leaving together all gooey eyed? I wanted to throw up.”

The voices faded away and I closed my eye again.

I could tell that I was breathing because it hurt to do it, but my brain was foggy and sluggish. My muscles weren’t responding.

I was cold.

Two four-wheelers were out in the forest, one far and one close. I could hear their engines.

Footsteps somewhere nearby. Someone was running.

“Hey, guys!” someone shouted. “I think they tried to escape.”

“What’d you see?” It was Curtis.

“Blood, and lots of it. Around the front of the school. The Society just found it.”

“I knew it. Benson ran.”

“But Jane?”

Curtis’s voice was hard and angry. “He talked her into it.”

There were more footsteps crunching in the loose rock, and the voices disappeared.

I opened my eye again and found the strength to move my head slightly. I was in the forest, but I wasn’t sure how far. There was a patch of dry grass a few inches in front of me, and bare dirt. A lone intact paintball lay among the pebbles.

My left hand was in view. It was swollen, caked in blood, and purple.

I could hear more voices now-not clearly enough to understand what they were saying, but I knew that there were lots of people outside. Probably all the students.

Dylan, Laura, Jane, and I were missing. They were searching for us, just like when Lily disappeared. But the Society must have been able to unlock the doors to check outside this time.

What would the announcement say about Jane? Hit by a car?

Grunting, I moved my right arm underneath me and began to lift myself off the ground. It felt almost impossible, like I had an extra hundred pounds of weight strapped to my body.

I coughed and nearly fainted.

I could see the students now. They were spread out across the campus, some in groups and some alone. Most were over at the school, and more were heading around to the front, to where the blood had been found. Jane’s blood.

Why would an android have blood?

I raised my right hand, hoping to signal someone, but I couldn’t keep it up. It was too heavy.

“Hey,” I croaked, but even I could barely hear myself.

I watched them as they searched. It wasn’t organized, not like how Curtis had set things up yesterday- was that only yesterday?

It would be a tough search. If they were assuming we were in the woods somewhere, they’d have a huge area to scour. Still, if they quit ogling the blood, it wouldn’t be hard to find me.

Did I want them to find me?

I raised my hand again and managed this time to give a little wave before dropping it. Still no looks in my direction. I was wearing my red uniform sweater. That had to stand out.

My mind was numb now. I wasn’t angry, wasn’t sad. I was nothing. I would die in this school, today or a year from now.

There were footsteps behind me, but I couldn’t muster the energy to turn.

“Hey,” a voice said. “Hey, what’s that?”

The footsteps sped up, getting louder and louder, and suddenly they were next to me.

“Benson? Oh, wow.”

Someone stepped in front of me and then darted out onto the track. I tried to identify her. My brain was moving so slowly. I knew her. Gabby-one of the V’s. She was screaming for the others to come, jumping and waving her arms.

“Oh, Bense,” a voice beside me said, and I felt arms around me in a hug. “Hang on, okay?”

I nodded.

“Do you know where Jane is?” the voice asked.

I turned to look, rotating my head slowly and shakily. Brown hair, curled. Becky. I stared at her, not sure what to say.

“Jane,” Becky said again. “Do you know what happened?” Her gaze was moving around my injured body, from my hand to my face to the bloodstains all over my clothes. Not all the blood was mine.

“It was Dylan,” I said. “And Laura.”

Becky gritted her teeth and looked down at the ground for a moment, tears forming in her eyes. After a moment she spoke again. “Do you know where they took Jane?”

I stared. Was Becky friends with Jane? I didn’t know. What would Becky think if she knew the truth? Maybe she already did. Maybe she’s one of them.

“No.”

Becky bit her lip and nodded. “You’re going to be okay, Bense,” she finally said, her voice quivering, but her smile appearing. “The infirmary’s great. You’ll be okay.”

Others were almost to us, and Gabby came back. She asked the same thing about Jane, and Becky answered for me. A moment later Isaiah arrived, two younger Society guys in tow.

“What happened?” he asked accusingly.

Becky stood, stared at him, and then walked away.

“It was your stupid goons,” Gabby said quietly. “Laura and Dylan did this.”

The two Society guys flinched, stepping forward like they wanted to shut her up. Curtis appeared and jumped in front of them.

Was this real? Were they humans? Or was I watching an elaborate play designed to make me think they weren’t all in on it?