But why?
Another shadow whispers to me, reminds me of Harley’s dark moods, of the extra meds Doc feeds him, of how he’s probably missed a week’s worth of those meds in all this chaos.
I take a deep breath to clear my mind.
Harley’s no killer.
Right?
No—no. Harley would never—
“And—” Amy starts.
Beep, beep-beep.
My hand jumps to my wi-com button just as Harley’s does. We glance at each other. It’s rare to get a com-link at the same time as someone else.
“What is it?” Amy asks, her eyes darting nervously between us.
Then that deep, aged voice fills my ear.
“Attention all residents of Godspeed. I have a very important announcement. ”
51
AMY
“WHAT IS IT?” I ASK AGAIN. BOTH BOYS HAVE THEIR HEADS cocked to the side, listening. I’m reminded of the last time an all-call went out, the time when the people in the common room all turned on me. My stomach drops, and I feel my muscles tense. What if Elder and Harley turn on me after this? They’re all I’ve got.
“What is it?” I ask again, more urgently. Elder waves at me like I’m a bothersome fly. I turn to Harley, but he’s got his face all scrunched up in concentration, as if he’s hearing something direly important. I grab his elbow, but he shakes me off. Elder glares at me.
I can’t let them hate me now. I don’t know what they’re hearing, but I can tell it’s bad. They look very serious. And now Elder’s staring at me, with this darkness in his eyes. I can’t let them hate me. I won’t let them hate me.
I grab Amber from the desk and squeeze her into me. I taste copper before I realize that I’m biting my lip.
I snatch the empty glass of water, run to the bathroom, and refill it.
I drain it in five seconds flat. Fill it up again. Then gulp it all at once.
There’s something to Harley’s mothering; the water does actually calm me down a bit. It’s like taking a deep breath just before lining up for a race.
I go back into the bedroom.
Elder and Harley’s heads straighten. They both look at me.
I knew it. They hate me.
Whatever that ear button said, it said to hate me. And now they hate me, and they’re going to turn on me just like the other people in the Ward. The space between my eyes at the bridge of my nose feels tight. I can’t breathe.
“What is it?” I say, unable to bear it any longer.
“It’s not good,” is all Elder says.
“You don’t know that,” Harley says.
Elder turns to him. “It can’t be good. ”
“What is it?!”