A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

“All right. You heard the others. Set that alarm again, make sure it’s working right.” He paused for a moment. “Let’s head to the next level and keep clearing.”

They started back up the stairs. As they left, before the hatch was closed over the stairs again, we heard, “We have to clear out the rest of the shipment—” It shut and we couldn’t hear anymore.

I started to speak, but Gray slammed a hand over my mouth. He shook his head, then pointed to the hallway and leaned close. He whispered into my ear, “We can’t trust the others. I’ve heard them telling information for food.”

I nodded. He lifted his hand and I whispered, “Are you okay?”

His eyes clasped shut and he pressed his hands to his forehead, rubbing his temples. I skimmed him up and down then. He was thin, but Gray had always been scrawny. His shirt was sweaty, bloody, and there were dark smudges I didn’t want to inspect. Kneeling down, I tapped his foot so I could inspect the bottom of his shoes. They were still in good condition. That meant he could run in them.

Looking around his cell, I saw that there was one mattress on the floor alongside two silver pans. My stomach rolled over on itself as I saw one had water and the other had crumbs. They were feeding him like a dog. A third pan was in the corner. That was his bathroom.

I took his hand. “We have to go.”

He shook his head. “We can’t. The door is locked again.”

“No.” I took my pins out again. “I got my way in. I can get our way out. I think we can make it. There’s a tunnel.”

His eyebrows arched high. “The mile tunnel they were talking about?”

We were still whispering, but his last whisper lifted in volume. I shushed him quietly and he nodded, lowering his voice again, standing close to me. My nose twitched. The stench from him was foul so I began breathing through my mouth instead.

As I knelt and began working at the lock from the inside, I murmured, “I think the guards use it to change shifts. The other guards said it’d be four hours. We can make it.”

“If we don’t?” He shook his head. “No, Taryn. They’ll find us and kill us. I was looking for Brian. I didn’t believe he was dead,” he said, his voice growing hoarse.

“I know.” My hand dropped to his on the floor, and I squeezed it.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you right away that I was looking for him.”

I frowned. “Dee said you were looking for Jace.”

“I was, but I didn’t tell her that I thought Brian was still alive. He’s not.”

He sounded so sure and my heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“I saw his body.”

“You saw it?”

He nodded. His forehead fell to rest on my shoulder. He mumbled, “Jace showed me the video. It was Brian in the morgue. I think Jace took the video.”

A shiver went down my spine. I didn’t want to think about that. “You talked to Jace?”

“I was in another room and he had me moved here. He said it’s more secure.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Not that it matters. My friend is gone. We’re probably going to die too.”

I frowned. He was defeated, but I wasn’t. I kept working on the lock. The guard was right. I had messed it up, but gritting my teeth, I felt the second opening with my pin and turned my wrist, pulling it back to the slot.

Then I heard a click and the door opened.

Gray’s forehead was still on my shoulder, and I nudged him with my elbow. “Gray.”

He started shaking his head. “I can’t, Taryn.”

“We have to go.”

“I can’t. I won’t be able to walk that far.”

I stood up. I hadn’t come this far for it to end in failure. Grabbing his arm, I hauled him up with me and then leaned close to his ear. “You will walk or I will carry your ass.”