Outside the Box - Chapter 16

16

“I’m a bit … confused,” I say quickly before Dr. Sybil can rattle off any more of her complex and crazy plans. “Why me? Why boats? And how are we…” 

“Let me explain,” Dr. Sybil cuts me off. “The Box has been receiving supplies from elsewhere - we’ve watched, and once a week a shipment arrives at the edge of the dam. The Box sends out a vehicle to go pick it up. So obviously there’s something out there, something on the other side of the dam. 

“The Box is killing people. We need an escape - so the best solution is to run. We can’t fight against the Box and there’s nowhere to hide. And we need boats to sail across the water out there. We know that the Box has boats for sure, as our sources were able to tell us. All we need is someone inside to let us in and steal the boats. Mental has created hovercrafts underground for the past few years. They can lift enough boats to the dam for a good amount of us to escape. We can flee.” Dr. Sybil pauses, as if waiting for Aspen and I to dismiss her plan. 

It’s not a bad thought, but I still don’t know that it’s good enough. 

“I suppose if you fine tune the details, everything should work out okay,” I sigh with a shrug. “How soon do you plan on sending us in? And how exactly…” 

“Like you said, we’re still working out the details. But I suspect it’ll be about a week or so before we do anything,” Dr. Sybil answers. “For now, you and the Hidden need to remain, well, hidden. Until then, you can…” 

Dr. Sybil is interrupted as the door flies open and a guard dressed in light blue enters. He looks panicked. Aspen and I share a look. 

“Doctor,” he pants. “There’s been a development …” 

He pauses looking at Aspen and I. “They’re with us,” Dr. Sybil says quickly. “What’s wrong? Did the Box discover our project?” 

The guard shakes his head. “The Box isn’t involved with any of this, as far as we are aware. But there’s a girl - a teen - at the entrance to the city. She won’t speak at all, but we’re unsure of what to do with her.” 

Aspen and I meet eyes again. Her mouth forms the same word I’m thinking. “Sir,” Aspen says slowly. “What did the girl look like?” 

If the guard is confused he doesn’t show it. “She has dark hair and green eyes. But I’m not sure how that will help us.” 

“It should help you decide,” I say. “The girl is our friend - Gretchen.” 

Dr. Sybil arranges for Margot to drive Miguel, Ezra, Aspen, and I down to the entrance of the city. She says she’ll be along, but she has other matters to attend to. Besides, Gretchen is our friend - and I had no idea she was even alive. 

It comes as quite a shock to all of us, especially Miguel and Aspen who knew her the longest. Caspian is dropped off at the corner of one of the streets with some money and sent to find a place for the Hidden to stay better hidden. 

The car bumps along the road, and that’s the only sound. I kind of assumed Gretchen might still be alive, but I didn’t know for sure. 

And I have no idea how she escaped the Box again. By now, she’ll probably have every single Ninja on duty looking for her. Not that it matters, anyways. We only have a month before the Box kills us all. 

We climb out of the car at the very entrance to the city. And standing there at the gate is none other than Gretchen. 

Any negative feelings I had for her before (mainly because of our weird brawl) are gone now. There’s no way she would be right in the head after this. I thought being held hostage by the Box once would be a lot, but twice? 

The girl is covered in cuts and bruises. She’s limping, barefoot and her clothes are torn. Her hair has been cut extremely short and she clutches her stomach as she stumbles blindly towards us. None of the guards make any move to stop her. Miguel and Aspen barrel past me, heading straight for her. Ezra follows a bit more slowly before breaking out into a run. 

All of them wrap their arms around her, embracing like the old friends they are. 

I spot Margot, leaning against our car with her arms crossed. She looks at me, a bit confused. “Why don’t you join them?” 

I shake my head. “The last few times I saw her were a bit disastrous. I don’t want to ruin this for the others.” I really am telling the truth. It’s not that I don’t trust Gretchen, but she obviously doesn’t trust me. Besides, this moment is supposed to be happy. 

“It won’t hurt anything,” Margot smiles encouragingly at me. “You deserve to be with them.” I sigh and nod. I suppose it won’t hurt anything. 

As I stride over towards the group hug I spot Gretchen’s torn up face peek out from the mess of arms. Her bloodshot eyes grow wide as she takes me in and I immediately regret coming over to see her. 

“You,” she hisses, pushing the others away from her. Aspen looks terrified, but Miguel and Ezra don’t do anything to stop her. “It was you all along.” 

I take an unconscious step backwards as Aspen reaches for Gretchen’s arm. The girls touch and Gretchen wheels around in a frenzy. Aspen tries to soothe her. “It’s okay, it’s okay, Gretchen. It’s just Jake, you see? He’s not so bad…” 

Gretchen whips back around to me the second my name comes from Aspen’s mouth. “It was you!” she shrieks, breaking free of Aspen. “All along, I knew. And none of them listened. You. Will. PAY!” The demented girl lunges towards me, and I barely am able to roll away as her nails dig into the sandy ground. 

“Gretchen!” Miguel calls, breaking out of his shock. “Gretchen! Stop!” 

The girl growls at me again, tackling me to the ground. She lands on top of my stomach, pinning my legs with her arms. And then suddenly I’m the maze again, pinned by Faspen and my throat being sliced by the sword. 

I yelp, struggling to throw Gretchen off of me. “You must pay!” She tries to grab at my face, maybe to rip off my skin. But instead she punches me right in the face. It hurts, but not terrible. My eye is swelling. Gretchen raises her fist to punch again, but Miguel grabs her arm. 

Gretchen spins to face him, but she sees his fearful face and her expression softens. 

Her legs collapse and she curls into a ball on the ground, weeping. Miguel slides to the sand beside her, holding her in his lap as her body is racked with sobs. 

Not far away, Ezra is frozen in sheer terror and shock. Aspen is wiping tears from her eyes. I’ve never seen either of them show this much emotion before - especially not for Gretchen. 

Gretchen finally straightens a bit and pushes the hair out of her face. Once again, her eyes lock with mine and panic fills my chest with heat. 

I try to run but Gretchen grabs my ankles before I can move. 

“Please!” she cries out as she tries to punch at me again. “Pay!” More words spill from her mouth, most that I can’t comprehend. 

Something thumps on the ground beside me. The pressure on my back weakens as a white smoke fills the air. The sweet smell makes me nauseous and my head becomes light and fuzzy. 

I can vaguely here Miguel in the distance. “Sorry … couldn’t risk … few hours … you’ll be fine.” 

Then the whiteness takes over my vision and I pass out. 

“Sorry again, amigo,” Miguel mutters for the twentieth time. “Margot grabbed the gas container out of the car - she thought it was the only way to get Gretchen off of you.” 

“It’s fine,” I mumble again as I look away. 

We’re in the new Hidden Hideout, as Ezra named it. Gretchen is in her own room, still asleep and getting medical attention from some of the Hidden. 

It’s night by now, and I’m just waking up from the sedative. Miguel has apologized a million times and Aspen’s asked me if I’m okay twice as much. But I want to be alone, I don’t want to see any of them right now. 

“Can you excuse me for a minute?” I climb out of bed and ignore Miguel and Aspen’s worried faces. “I’m going to get a snack.” 

They don’t stop me so I make my way past the kitchen - grabbing some sweet fruit along the way - and find the elevator in the back of the room. 

We’re in an underground apartment building, in a room no one knows exists. Caspian’s old school friend recognized him and offered him support. Caspian asked for help and was given this room for the Hidden. 

Dr. Sybil still hasn’t contacted Aspen or I back, she’s been “busy”. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. I don’t even know what I want at this point. That’s exactly why I need to be alone. 

There’s always the risk of me being seen and recognized on the top of the building. But it’s night, it’s dark, and at this point I just need some time to think. The elevator dings and the doors slides open, letting the cool night air rush in. 

It may be hot during the day, but at night the temperatures plummet. I wrap my hoodie around myself as I take a seat at the edge of the roof. 

It’s a bit frightening for me to be up this high - especially with my fear of heights. But I’m numb to both the wind and all emotions except for confusion. 

The Box has taken even more people for unknown reasons. They’re killing off the rest of us for unknown reasons. And somehow Gretchen escaped from them again, as did we. Their guard seems weak when it should be growing in the tensions. 

The Clans are planning a rebellion. Mental is planning an escape. 

Gretchen hates me and she thinks I’m a bad person. 

My friends are torn between me and Gretchen. 

And as I begin to think about Dr. Sybil’s plans I realize that I don’t really care if they succeed or fail. 

No matter what, the Box is going to kill so many people for reasons I don’t know. Dr. Sybil said herself that they’ll save who they can - but who decides which people are worth saving and which people should be left behind? 

For me, I know that even though I’m going to be near the top of the list, it’s already risky sending me back to the Box. Dr. Sybil doesn’t understand that the Ninjas don’t care for my well-being, and just because my parents are from the Box doesn’t mean they’ll spare my life. For all I know, my parents are dead. 

And what about the people still imprisoned in the Box? We obviously can’t help them. 

Escape may lead us somewhere else, but I’m not sure that I want to live knowing that our escape left so many others to the mercy of he Box. 

My family is still in the Box. They never doubted me, never tried to use me for an escape plan, never considered even the possibility of a plan of escape. Yes, Bridget and I fought. Yes, my mother seemed overprotective at times. But they’re the only family I really had. 

I don’t belong with Miguel, Aspen, and Ezra. They have Gretchen. The Hidden have each other. 

But going to the Box won’t solve any problems either. Dr. Barron would probably just fidget with my memories and stick me right back in the city. Or they would kill me - but either way the Clans are still dying. There’s no solution. 

Dr. Sybil’s plan is unreliable at best, and at worse it could leave to every single one of us being killed. There would be no survivors. 

I bury my head in my hands, tucking my knees to my chest. My own deaths coming rushing back to me and I immediately push them away. I won’t jump, not again. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as I stare at the ground so far below. 

“Jake?” a tentative voice calls from behind me. 

I don’t turn around, I already know it’s Aspen. She takes a seat beside me, her legs dangling carefree over the edge of the roof. She reaches out to wrap an arm around me but then slowly withdraws. “This isn’t a snack break.” 

I pull the fruit from my pocket without a word and take a bite. Aspen laughs, but I detect no humor. 

We’re silent for a moment before Aspen speaks again. “I’m worried,” she says quietly. “I don’t want to make the wrong choices.” 

At first I’m confused at what she means but then I realize she’s talking about. Dr. Sybil. 

“I’m worried too,” I whisper. 

Aspen nods to herself. “The Box is planning to kill us all, and Dr. Sybil just wants to run. We obviously can’t fight back, so I see where her thinking was going. But I don’t want to run from our problems. There has to be another way.” 

“Don’t look at me, I’m not the creative one,” I sigh, tucking the fruit back into my pocket. The sweet taste makes me want to puke. 

“Why doesn’t Mental just make boats? If they can make hovercrafts why can’t they just make something to sail away on? And why does it have to be you who goes to the Box?” Aspen says in exasperation. 

“I don’t know,” I respond quietly. “I only know that the Box is where I belong.” 

The last sentence comes out a whisper and Aspen stares at me in shock. 

“Don’t say that,” she cries out angrily. “You belong with us now. Miguel, Ezra, and I - we’re your friends.” 

“What about Gretchen?” I ask. “She wants me dead. If I stay here I’m putting her in danger, and all of you in danger. What if the Box can track me? Besides, I have family back in the Box - I’ll go back to them. You heard Dr. Barron, she can erase my memories and give me new ones.” 

Aspen looks hurt. “You would erase me. And Miguel and Ezra and the Hidden. You would take us away and return to your family?” 

“I would,” I nod grimly. “I can’t help these rebellions at all. In the city, I was oblivious to everything. I’ll go back there - I’ll make new memories and…” 

Aspen presses a finger to my lips, making me stop. “You idiot, you just don’t understand, do you?” She turns and huffs, spinning to face away from me. Confusion swirls around my brain until reality hits me like a freight train. 

Aspen fancies me. 

I should’ve seen it in the maze. And in all she’s done for me - protecting me and helping me and caring for me. “Aspen, I …” I stutter. 

Aspen turns back to me, eyes flashing. “You obviously don’t want us, so go away. Run to the Box, to your ‘family’. Miguel, Ezra, and I will be fine without you. ‘Cause you were right all along - we have Gretchen.” She gets up to storm away and suddenly I’m up and moving with her. I grab her arm and Aspen looks back at me, eyes red and wide. 

“I can explain, I didn’t realize…” I begin, but Aspen shakes her head.

“Don’t explain, show me.” I look at her, for the first time realizing that Aspen is probably the closest person to me … ever. Andrew and Laura were only ever friends - we never talked that much. Miguel is great - but he doesn’t trust me. I haven’t spend any time with Ezra. 

But Aspen and I spent so long in the maze together. We fought together, walked together, even died together. And now I realize how dependent I’ve been on her. I need her blonde hair, her sapphire eyes, and her brain that keeps me out of trouble. The reason I’m here is because of Aspen. 

So it feels like coming home when I lean in close and wrap my arms around her. At first I expect Aspen to try and kiss me, but instead she wraps her arms around me. And we stand there on the roof, hugging tightly, clutching each other so hard because I’m afraid to lose her. 

Aspen leans on me for support as we gaze out over the city and towards the Box. I make my decision. 

The Box cannot kill any of us. Because they will not be able to find us. 

The Hidden can hide, so can we.  

I won’t let anything tear me apart from Aspen. Nothing can take her from me. 

And that’s when Miguel bursts out from the door, sending Aspen and I apart. His panicked expression explains everything. We need to hide. 

Miguel doesn’t even make fun of Aspen and I for the moment he saw on the roof. I can tell he’s worried - and if Miguel is panicking then the rest of us should be too. He leads Aspen and I downstairs to the lowest apartment. The elevator doesn’t seem to lower fast enough. 

The second the doors ding and open we arrive in mass chaos.

I don’t know how Miguel knew or any of the Hidden knew about an intruder before we did. But the Hidden are running everywhere, some rounding up friends and others trying to gather supplies. 

“The Box knows we’re here,” Miguel explains. “I don’t know how, only the hospital staff for Gretchen and Dr. Sybil know where we are.” 

“What are we doing then? Why don’t we run?” Aspen asks hurriedly. 

“Because Mental is surrounded by Ninjas. I figured maybe we could hide but it’s too late. The best we can do is gather some stuff and hide somewhere else.” 

Miguel grabs as many of the Hidden as he can - which is admittedly few, and he drags them along with us. Miguel leads us to the corner of the room. The carpet is peeling in the corner, and he pulls it up revealing a small trapdoor. 

I grab the handles and it swings open, revealing a tiny room that could hold at most eight people. Aspen jumps in and begins forcing the Hidden we found in. I climb in after, followed closely by Miguel who rolls down the carpet and closes the trapdoor. He spins a lock on the door and a few lights flicker on. 

Then I realize they aren’t lights, they’re screens! 

The room above us must have hidden cameras that can be accessed by this mysterious room. The purpose may not be clear, but it’s certainly enough for us. 

“We should help them,” one of the younger Hidden whispers. 

“We can’t. It’s too late,” Miguel says. “So be quiet or we’ll all be caught.” 

And Miguel couldn’t be more right. Because at that moment the elevator dings again and the doors slide open, funneling out so many Ninjas I can’t count. 

The Hidden don’t stand a chance.