The van hissed to a stop at the massive steel gate of Facility 9, its sleek walls rising like a fortress against the broken world outside. A biometric scanner beeped as a screen extended to the driver's window, scanning his eyes. After a moment, a green tick appeared on the display, with APPROVED in bold capital letters.
For some reason, Lily felt that word held more weight than just its literal meaning. Like it was permission for something far bigger than she understood.
The massive gate rolled upward with a mechanical groan, revealing another gate behind it. This one lined with vertical and horizontal bars and plastered with a stark sign: DANGER: KEEP AWAY.
A guard stepped forward, his face unreadable beneath a dark visor. The van's door slid open.
"Step out. One at a time," the guard said flatly.
The new arrivals obeyed, stepping out of the van one after the other. Zack extended a hand to Lily as she climbed down, her fingers clutching her backpack tightly. Her eyes scanned the area warily. They stood in a narrow space between the two gates. On either side of the walls were steel doors.
Once all six had exited the van, the guard gestured to the door on the right. It opened with a mechanical hiss, revealing a concrete path.
A path between walls?
Lily glanced at Zack. She couldn't hide her fear, it sat heavy in her chest like wet cloth. Zack gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder, his eyes reassuring.
They followed the concrete path, which sloped downward, slightly. Underground, Lily realized. Cameras followed their every move.
At the end of the path, another set of guards stood at attention by a steel door, armed and still.
Then a woman stepped out. Her lab coat gleamed white under the floodlights, and her smile was just as bright too.
"Welcome to Facility 9," she said. "All new arrivals will undergo initial quarantine protocols for seventy-two hours. Any symptoms will result in immediate relocation." She gave a slight nod to the guards, who stepped forward and gestured to the door.
Lily's stomach tightened. Beside her, Zack stiffened slightly.
Was she going to see her brother soon?
Definitely not. Not until after seventy-two hours.
It sounded like an eternity.
---
The quarantine chamber was cold and clinical. Each cell was separated by thick walls, with a clear glass panel at the front. Lily dropped her backpack and sank onto the edge of the narrow bed. She glanced around, the room was nearly bare. Just a trash bin beside a small door and a strange machine that looked like a mini refrigerator.
She lay back and stared at the ceiling. The silence pressed in.
Then she remembered the little box Daisy had slipped into her hand that morning. She sat up quickly, digging through her bag. She held it gently like an egg. Inside the box was a fine silver chain, no pendant, just a note tucked neatly beside it.
"No one's going to help pick your locket if it falls off again."
Lily pressed a hand over her mouth, tears stinging her eyes.
Oh, Daisy… you really were thoughtful. You always have been.
She quietly switched her locket onto the new chain.
Through the glass panel across the aisle, she saw Zack leaning against the wall, tossing a crumpled paper in the air. Their eyes met.
He mouthed, "Still breathing?"
She gave a tired nod. Zack responded with a small thumbs-up, then went back to tossing the paper.
The woman and guards who'd led them here were gone. Around her, the other new arrivals were visibly unsettled, some pacing, others pressing their hands to the glass. They were panicking probably overthinking everything.
Then a mechanical voice echoed from a speaker above, cold and detached:
"All new arrivals are expected to take a bath and change into the clothes provided in the sanitizing machine by the bed. Candidates must place their belongings into the machine, except for the clothes they remove, which are to be discarded in the trash bin. Each candidate has access to a notice tablet beside the bed. Schedules will be displayed on it."
Lily approached the sanitizing machine and carefully retrieved a thin set of clothes from inside. She placed her backpack inside, hesitating only briefly. Then, after discarding her old clothes, she stepped into the bathroom.
The hot water helped, at least a little. Her thoughts softened. When she emerged, she lay on the bed again and let her eyes flutter closed.
---
Zack sat on the bed, picking up the tablet beside him. The screen lit up immediately at his touch.
High-tech stuff. Fascinating.
He scrolled through the schedule. Everything was listed in perfect order meals, evaluations, physical assessments, blood work. All precise.
He set the tablet down.
And his thoughts drifted to the letter he'd received back at Hope Sector.
Why would someone send that.