When someone knocks on the door a few hours later, there's a crick in my neck, and my butt is numb.

"Come in," I manage to say, even though my throat is hoarse and dry.

Rivers pops his head in, motioning me out.

"Let's go, Austin. Day's over."

On the screen, there's a half-finished plan, riddled with errors and empty spaces. There's so much left to finish that the thought crosses my mind that I should stay. Yet, I still have tomorrow. It can wait one day.

I follow him out the door, carrying one of the books from the shelf under my shoulder. It's a rebinding of an ancient looking novel.

Rivers drops me off at the bunks, telling he that he won't be here to walk me to work in the morning.

"You're a big boy, I think you can handle it," he says with a smile.

"What time should I be there?" I ask, returning the smile.

"Seven sharp," he yells as he walks away, towards the Living District.

Inside, the chaos has returned, making me miss the quiet of my office. Everyone is out of uniform, sitting around in their pajamas. Tonight, I have a better opportunity to look at them all as I walk through the crowd. Men are still playing cards or arm wrestling in the floor between bunks. Some half-dressed women are lounging around with their tablets, whispering to one another. Two individuals are locked in what looks like a make-out session, arms and legs tangled together, while his friends cheer him on.

What catches my attention is their age.

No one here is over twenty. That's why it's so chaotic. We are a bunch of kids living under one roof. At twenty, most people get married and move off to the Living District. Even if you're not married, you still move away from the BT bunks. I guess they just grow out of it.

"Well, hey, Q."

I look up, catching sight of Lexi, legs dangling over the edge of her bunk. She's kicked her shoes off onto my bed, as well as her uniform.

"Hey, Lex," I say, waving. She catches sight of the book under my arm, rolling her eyes.

"You brought home work?"

"Yeah, I have this plan I have to finish tomorrow about the-"

The word 'attack' catches in my throat. Rule number four: never talk about the things I do. It seemed so natural to tell Lexi. After all, I tell her everything else. I shut my mouth, trying to think up a lie as fast as I can.

"About the... recent rise in reassignment."

Lexi watched me, squinting her eyes. The sweat beads at the base of my hairline around my neck. Eternities pass as she scrutinizes me.

"Sounds boring," she says, finally, jumping down to stand beside me.

"How was your first day?" Naomi asks, as she walks up from behind me, carrying her uniform. She's changed into shorts, the kind that are embarrassingly short for guys to wear, and an oversized t-shirt. If she wasn't carrying her clothes, I'm sure her shirt would cover the shorts.

"It was pretty good," I say, sitting down on my bed. "Yours?"

She takes a deep breath and launches into this lengthy explanation about how she learned the proper way to sterilize equipment when you're out on the field and don't have the right chemicals. None of it is new to me, but I listen intently, watching the way her dark eyes seem to dance as she talks.

"Tomorrow, I get to learn how to take vitals without using a machine," she says, clapping her hands together. When she does, Lexi snorts from where she's sitting beside me. "Can I practice on you guys? Please? It won't hurt; I promise."

Lexi shakes her head, red hair smacking me in the face.

"Absolutely not," she says, "I have to be in peak condition for training, and I'm not about to let you poke and prod at me. No way."

Naomi looks at me, pleading with her giant eyes.

"Um... Sure," I finally agree, nodding, "I don't mind."

Naomi jumps the expanse between the beds, throwing her arms around my neck. I get a mouthful of her hair which tastes like saltwater. Spitting it out, I laugh and hug her back.

"Thank you, Quinn," she whispers, pulling away, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Lexi has a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter, but she can't hide the fact that she's wiggling her eyebrows up and down at me.

"Lights out!" someone calls from the front.

"Is it already that late?" I ask Lexi as she stands and climbs the ladder to her mattress.

"Yeah. You missed dinner."

The lights go out, and I'm left staring at the blackness, my stomach growling and heart racing. When my eyes adjust, I watch Naomi wave at me and then roll over, away from me.

Still in my uniform, I lay back on the pillow, letting exhaustion take over.

I eat breakfast the next morning, reading my book while Naomi and Lexi talk about the work they'll be doing today. I catch bits and pieces of their conversation, things like sparring, needles, and fights. Naomi jokes about being there to sew Lexi up when she comes home valiant from battle.

While they joke about the idea of a fight, I feel sick. If I could only tell how real the threat is, they probably wouldn't joke about it anymore. We are days away from launching an attack, and no one even knows.

Telling them both goodbye, I hurry off the the Headquarters building, bringing nothing but the book back with me. No one even glances at me as I get in the elevator alone, pushing the same silver button that Rivers did before.

When the doors slide open, he's there waiting, looking at the watch on his wrist.

"Right on time," he says, dropping his hand, "Let's get to work."

I follow behind him until we part ways.

Through the open door to his office, I catch sight of his camera screens, which display many different scenes. One is of a group of people gathered around a white building with tall columns in the front. There's a woman standing on the stage who looks barely older than me. She's shouting something at the people, her blonde braid swinging behind her. Behind her, a man with dark hair has his arms folded over his chest, and his arms are covered in colorful tattoos. My eyes wander away, catching sight on the posters hanging on whatever empty spot of wall Rivers has found. It's the same girls' face over and over again. There's a name, too, but I can't pronounce it.

Jaelyn Price.

"Hey, nosey."

Rivers snaps his fingers at me, and I look away in embarrassment.

"I'm s-sorry, sir," I stammer, "I didn't see anything."

Rivers glares at me, shaking his head as he slams the door in my face.

I can't get her face out of my mind, though, even as I turn to my office and shut the door behind me. I've never seen someone look so intense, so clear. There wasn't a single doubt on her face, just sheer confidence. Lexi has all the confidence in the world, but even she doubts her intelligence. It doesn't seem to me like the girl in those pictures doubts anything.

Before I get to work on my proposal, I search her name in the archives, but it turns up a dead end. So, I push her face out of my mind, focusing in on what I have to finish.

I work until Rivers comes to get me, when it's already dark outside. Again, I miss dinner by a long shot, hurrying into the bunks right as they call for lights out. How long will it be like this? Going to bed hungry and tired, sleeping in my uniform? Tonight, though, I can't even tell my friends goodnight, or ask them about their day. They're both tucked in their beds and don't notice when I slip in.

Like the night before, I crawl under the covers in my uniform, tossing and turning while the clock on the wall presses on.

"Quinn?"

Someone is shaking me gently awake, both hands on my shoulders. I open one eye at a time, seeing Naomi standing over me. She's holding a bowl of steaming oatmeal, already dressed.

"Did I miss breakfast?" I croak, taking the bowl from her. She nods.

"You shouldn't sleep in your uniform," she says, sitting down beside me. "It's starting to smell."

I fight the urge to swear, lifting my arm up and breathing in my own stench.

"This is embarrassing," I mumble, shoving the food in my mouth. I can feel my cheeks burning as I look down at my sock feet.

"It's okay," she tells me, patting my leg. "You have some time. Go take a shower before you leave this morning."

I nod, handing her the bowl back and gathering up a clean uniform before heading to the showers. It is in and out with no time to even brush my hair. If I'm late this morning, of all mornings, it wouldn't be good.

I have to present to Kovach today.

Naomi is gone when I come out, and Lexi is still nowhere to be seen. So, I hurry on, grabbing my tablet on the way.

"Good morning, Austin," Rivers says, as he leans on the wall outside the tenth floor elevator doors.

"Good morning, sir," I say, hurrying past him.

"Slow down, kid," he calls after me, and I pull myself to a stop. "Kovach needs to see you in her office."

"That's where I'm heading," I snap, forgetting for a moment who I'm speaking to. "Sorry, sir. I'm just tired."

He nods and waves me on, heading into his office. I try to peek in, but he shuts the door quicker this time, leaving me no room to snoop.

I follow the hallway to its end, to a door identical to my own, except it has a '6' on it. Nerves threaten to send my breakfast back up, but I knock anyway, pulling my shaking hand back.

"Come in," a voice calls, sending goosebumps over my arms. Even from the other side of the door, it's a chilling sound. I wipe my sweaty hand on my pants, turning the handle and going in.

Kovach's office isn't what I would have expected it to be. Her personality would have led me to imagine she was a stainless style type of person with little to no memorabilia on the walls. Yet, in the far corner of the room, there's a huge oak desk with a model airplane sitting on it. By her nameplate is a painting of a flower that I've never seen before. On the wall is a giant picture of her father, who I recognize because his funeral was a huge event in Compound 5.

I remember because he contracted the virus. He was the last known case in Compound 5, and that was only three years ago.

"Please, have a seat," Kovach says, motioning to her chairs. I sink into the soft leather of the chair, sitting stiffly upright. "You brought your proposal?"

"Yes, ma'am," I say, handing her my tablet. She holds it in her hand, eyeing the black screen. "Oh!" I snatch it back, unlocking it with a nervous chuckle. "Here."

She sits back in her office chair, reading over the long document. I watch her eye move with precision and speed, more speed than I can even read at. My hands shake in my lap as I pop my knuckles. There's a crack in her desk, and so I reach out and poke at it, feeling the soft finish of the wood under my finger.

"This is brilliant," she whispers, making me jump. "Let me make sure I understand you." She puts the tablet down, turning to face me wholly. "You want the attack to move in three phases. One, bomb the wall, allowing soldiers to get in. Two, kill all civilians, capturing those in powert, and three, burn whatever is left behind."

I nod, swallowing. It sounds almost crazy out in the air.

"There will be three different maniples, or groups of soldiers. To each will be given a task, which are the three phases. That way, the only real threat falls on the second maniple, the brute attack force."

Kovach is giving me that half-smile again, nodding slowly.

"I love it," she finally says, putting the tablet down. "You've done amazing work, Lieutenant General. I'll let the captains know so they can form maniples. We will move out Monday."

She says all of this like it's casual planning, but I still feel sick thinking about it. Two of my friends will be in those maniples, fighting on the front lines. No plan is soundproof, not even my own. The maniples just allow for less of a personal impact if things go south.

"General?" I say suddenly, my voice trembling, "Can I ask you a question?"

She is already turned around to her computer, typing away on the keyboard.

"Yes, of course, Quinn," she mumbles, not really paying attention to me.

"Who is- um- I can't really pronounce it. The last name is Price."

Her fingers freeze on the keyboard, and it's like I'm watching her move in slow motion. First her eyes cut towards me and then her whole neck turns her head. In a minute, she is facing me again.

"Spell it," she snaps, cold eyes watching me.

"J-A-E-L-Y-N?"

There is no confidence in my voice. I try and tug the memory out of my head of the girl yelling at the crowd on the steps, of the look on her face, of the gentle blue eyes she had.

"Jay-lynn," Kovach says for me, rubbing her cheek. "Jaelyn Price."

I nod. It sounds right.

"Well, I shouldn't lie to you, since you are my partner," she continues, leaning on her elbows on the desk. "Price is the real enemy of Compound 5."

I gape.

"Don't let your chin hit the floor," she says with a laugh, "She's a powerful twenty-two year old, apparently. She's been going back and forth between compounds trying to get a force together against us. The girl thinks that her ideals are better than ours, that she deserves to run a society where she can lead."

One question rings strong through my head.

"Why?" I ask, watching Kovach talk. "What's so special about her?"

Kovach laughs, short and high.

"She's immune," she says, "And apparently, that makes her better than us. She's been slaughtering the presidents and filling the people's grieving minds with illusions of societies without rules."

"How do you know all this?"

I struggle in my own mind, trying to sort out how the girl in those pictures has been killing people in the other compounds. She didn't look like a killer.

"Rivers does surveillance," she answers simply, "He has cameras in all of the other compounds. We have eyes everywhere, Quinn."

Her last statement seems aimed right at me. I look at the shallow carpet on the floor, tapping my shoes.

"That's why this is perfect," Kovach says, in a gentle voice. It's reassuring, almost. "Price comes from Compound 4. If we hit her right in the heart, maybe it will dampen her spirit. Quinn, this attack may just spare us all later. If we sit around and wait, Price will have the force of three compounds behind her. We can't win against a force that large."

I look up at her, where her pale eyes have widened. Her hands are clasped together in front of her, like she's begging.

Do I really have that much sway? Does what I say matter than much?

"So, what you're saying is, we need to move fast?" I ask, letting out a breath.

"As fast as possible."

"Then, send the word to the captains right away," I say, standing up. I feel powerful, the strength of being in charge coursing through my veins. "We will be ready by Monday. Load the trucks with bombs, flamethrowers, gun. Anything heavy we have."

She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. The half-smile returns, threatening to ruin my mood.

"Anything else, Lieutenant?"

"Yes," I say, striding towards the door. It's as if my body is being super charged. "Do it fast."

With that last comment, I step out into the hallway, leaning against the door as I close it. I suck air in fast, my chest rising and falling in rapid succession. I've never talked to a superior like that before. My hands form fists at my side, clenching as tight as I can make them.

I should go tell Rivers.

As I stomp down the hall, I notice Rivers' door sitting open.

There's a crisp ringing sound coming from inside, a sound I recognize as a video call. If he's not in his office, I should answer the call. It might be from Kovach. She won't mind that I stepped in to answer it.

Yet, when I go into the office, the big screen in the middle of a dozen smaller screens doesn't have Kovach's name on it. I read it carefully, shutting the door behind me.

Incoming call...

Source: Compound 2

Caller: Jaelyn Price

My fists fall limply to my side. I should still answer it. My chest swells again, this time with rage, and I push the button on the screen to answer it.

Discussion Question: Is Jaelyn really the real threat here?