Revived (Revived, #1)

by Jodie Kobe

The line of people trying to get their food continues to decrease until finally, Fox, Rian, and I are five people away from the food panel. Fox gets his food first, and Rian goes next. They wait for me while I get mine, and we set off on a journey, trying to look for a table to sit at.

  Fox seems to know where he wants to go because he practically speedwalks across the whole cafeteria. He plops down at a table that I am hesitant to sit at. It's crowded here and I can't really see how I'm going to find a spot to sit.

  Rian sits down next to Fox. I slowly follow.

  It’s a tight squeeze so I try to keep my arms as close to my body as possible. I’m pressed up against Rian and some random guy. My breaths come out slow and steady at the tightness.

  Glancing around, I am surprised to see a few familiar faces.

  Megan, Verity, and Addison. Right between Megan and Verity sits a young girl. Her face resembles Verity's and Megan's. Judging by her hair and how it matches the two girls', I make the conclusion that all three of them are sisters. The young girl must be Verity's twelve year-old sister Fawn.

  Megan gives me a shy smile and continues stuffing food into her mouth. This is the first time in several days that I’ve seen her. I ask, “Hey, how are you getting along here?”

  She brushes a few crumbs off her shirt and says with a smile, “Pretty well, actually. I’ve started taking some classes. I never knew they had school here.”

  Neither did I.

  “Hey, hey, hey!” A voice booms out from behind me, almost in my ear. Rian jumps at the sound. I shrink down, knowing who it is immediately. He found this table quickly.

  I turn my head to greet the person standing behind me. My brother.

  “Any open spots left for me?” he asks.

  Everyone else isn’t really paying attention to Piers. Except Megan. She’s staring at him like he's an alien.

  “Any spots?” Piers repeats, bringing his face close to the ear of the guy who’s sitting next to me. He almost shouts as he says, “Scooch, please. I’d like to sit by my sister.”

  There’s barely any room left to move but the guy doesn’t protest. He struggles out of his seat and picks up his food, walking off in silence. I squint my eyes at Piers but he only laughs as he squeezes into the open seat. He's bigger than the previous guy so now there is even less space left for me.

  Piers bites down into his sandwich. Chewing, he says, “Some guy dropped a flask today back at the lab. He's lucky it wasn’t anything toxic or else it would’ve made a hole in the floor.”

  No one seems to be listening to him.

  It’s almost impossible to breathe from the tight space. Rian has started talking to Fox, and I can hear their conversation. However, they're not talking about the mission because we were told not to discuss it with anyone except for the people who are already part of it.

  I need to leave. The idea of eating my food alone sounds better than eating it here.

  I tap Piers’ arm and say, “Can you move a bit? I need room to stand up.”

  Piers blinks at me. “Are you leaving now? But I only just got here.”

  I shrug. “I’m not very comfortable.”

  He stares at me with narrowed eyes. For a moment, I think he's going to go back to his food, but he leans away as far as he can, giving me enough room to pull myself out of the tight space.

  Right before I leave, Rian notices the empty spot where I used to sit. He turns around to look at me. “Where are you going?” he asks.

  “Leaving.” I grab my food from the table and set out toward the exit. The crowd by the door is not as packed as usual.

  A hand clamps down on my shoulder and I jump, nearly dropping the food in my hands. Piers appears by my side.

  “How are you feeling about the mission?” he asks after we step out into the large hallway. It's a lot less noisy out here.

  He knows about the missi—oh, of course he does. Mr. Welds was the one who told me my brother gave them permission to stick an artificial heart inside me.

  “Feeling fine about it,” I say, know fully well that I just told a lie.

  “Did they tell you how they’re deciding to launch the mission a day earlier?” Piers asks me.

  I nearly trip over my feet, causing half of my food contents to plop to the floor. I look down at the slices of fruit and sigh.

  No, they did not tell me they wanted to launch the project a day earlier. Here I am, trying to fix this weird condition I have and they just made it worse by moving the launch date of their project up one day.

  I continue walking, having no destination in mind.

  “So you’re okay with that?” Piers asks, falling into step next to me. “You’re okay with this mission starting in two days?”

  Two days. Not three, but two.

  I rub my forehead and try to get that thought out of my head. I’ll just have to hold myself together. I don’t want to quit this mission. I want to go out there.

  I break into a sprint, finally knowing where I need to go.

  Piers is taken by surprise by my sudden action. He stares after me for a few seconds before taking off too. He calls, “Where are you going?”

  I’m not sure where any of the Welds are, but I have a pretty good idea where Janelle’s office is located.

  They can’t change the date of the launch without telling me. I have to ask Janelle what’s going on.

  “Where are you going?” Piers repeats.

  I didn't answer him the first time and I’m not answering him now.

  “Vivian!” he calls, catching up to me and sticking an arm out to block my way. I duck under it and skid to a stop by a white door.

  My brother watches me with a frown on his face as I push the door open. A wave of pride washes over me. I actually found Janelle’s office.

  She’s sitting at her desk.

  I take a deep breath and try to recover from my sprint. Piers appears by my side as I step into the room.

  “What do you want?” he asks, looking around.

  Janelle looks up from her work at the table and spots us. She gives Piers a welcoming smile while rewarding me with a frown.

  “What do you need?” she asks.

  I walk up to her desk, still panting from the run. Each word is strained as I say, “Was the project launch date moved up one day?” I’m expecting an instant answer, but it doesn’t come. “Was it?” I ask louder.

  Janelle gingerly picks up a pen from the table and clicks it once. Then one more time. I tap my foot as I wait for her answer. She clicks the pen another time before clearing her throat.

  She is not going to use the pen as a weapon, is she—?

  I shake my head and continue to stare at Janelle. She tilts her head but does not say anything.

  I take a deep breath and try again. “Dr. Janelle, was the date of the launch moved up?”

  Instead of her answer, I get Piers’. “Yes, they decided to change it. I already told you. Is that why you came here?” He grabs my shoulder and pulls me away from her desk, probably afraid I might lunge at her. I have no intention of doing so. I'm just trying to ask a question.

  Shrugging out of Piers’ grip, I say, “Why would they change it? Why do they want to start earlier?”

  Janelle drops her pen back on the desk and clicks her tongue. “What’s the matter? Frightened of the outside?” There is a hint of a smirk on her face. “Are you afraid, Ms. Vivian?” She nearly spits my name out.

  She scoffs and leans back in her chair, examining the edges of her lab coat sleeves. “The date was moved because it's been decided that the sooner the project commences, the faster it will be completed.”

  I feel like my mouth is hanging open.

  I’ll be outside in two days, that is if I don’t die of a heart attack.

  “Who else knows about this? Fox? Rian?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “Out of you three, you only know about it. We were going to announce it after we’ve made it official.” She throws a finger Piers' way. “I suppose Mr
. Clancy over here spilled this secret before we had a chance to make a decision.”

  Piers looks away, a smile creeping onto his face. Oops, he mouths.

  “Have you made it official yet?” I ask.

  “Almost.”

  “Almost?”

  Janelle nods.

  I’m afraid and excited at the same time. I mean, who knows what’s out there. There can’t possibly be monsters.

  Right?