"I'm sorry," I say when I finish. "I know you probably want to help us, but . . ."
"Don't be sorry." She stares at Uriah. "I'm still glad I'm going into the city." She nods a few times. "You'll stop them from resetting the experiment. I know you will."
I hope she's right.
I only have ten minutes until visiting hours are over when I arrive at Nita's room. The guard looks up from his book and raises his eyebrow at me.
"Can I go in?" I say.
"Not really supposed to let people in there," he says.
"I'm the one who shot her," I say. "Does that count for anything?"
"Well." He shrugs. "As long as you
promise not to shoot her again. And get out within ten minutes."
"It's a deal."
He has me take off my jacket to show that I'm not carrying any weapons, and then he lets me into the room. Nita jerks to attention—as much as she can, anyway. Half her body is encased in plaster, and one of her hands is cuffed to the bed, as if she could escape even if she wanted to. Her hair is messy, knotted, but of course, she's still pretty.
"What are you doing here?" she says.
I don't answer—I check the corners of the room for cameras, and there's one across from me, pointed at Nita's hospital bed.
"There aren't microphones," she says. "They don't really do that here."
"Good." I pull up a chair and sit beside her. "I'm here because I need important information from you."
"I already told them everything I felt like telling them." She glares at me. "I've got nothing more to say. Especially not to the person who shot me."
"If I hadn't shot you, I wouldn't be David's favorite person, and I wouldn't know all the things I know." I glance at the door, more from paranoia than an actual concern that someone is listening in. "We've got a new plan. Matthew and I. And Tobias. And it will require getting into the Weapons Lab."
"And you thought I could help you with that?" She shakes her head. "I couldn't get in the first time, remember?"
"I need to know what the security is like. Is David the only person who knows the pass code?"
"Not like . . . the only person ever," she says. "That would be stupid. His superiors know it, but he's the only person in the compound, yes."
"Okay, then what's the backup security measure? The one that is activated if you explode the doors?"
She presses her lips together so they almost disappear, and stares at the halfbody cast covering her. "It's the death serum," she says. "In aerosol form, it's practically unstoppable. Even if you wear a clean suit or something, it works its way in eventually. It just takes a little more time that way. That's what the lab reports said."
"So they just automatically kill anyone who makes their way into that room without the pass code?" I say.
"It surprises you?"
"I guess not." I balance my elbows on my knees. "And there's no other way in except with David's code."
"Which, as you found out, he is completely unwilling to share," she says.
"There's no chance a GP could resist the death serum?" I say.
"No. Definitely not."
"Most GPs can't resist the truth serum, either," I say. "But I can."
"If you want to go flirt with death, be my guest." She leans back into the pillows. "I'm done with that now."
"One more question," I say. "Say I do want to flirt with death. Where do I get explosives to break through the doors?"
"Like I'm going to tell you that."
"I don't think you get it," I say. "If this plan succeeds, you won't be imprisoned for life anymore. You'll recover and you'll go free. So it's in your best interest to help me."
She stares at me like she is weighing and measuring me. Her wrist tugs against the handcuff, just enough that the metal carves a line into her skin.
"Reggie has the explosives," she says. "He can teach you how to use them, but he's no good in action, so for God's sake, don't bring him along unless you feel like babysitting."
"Noted," I say.
"Tell him it will require twice as much firepower to get through those doors than any others. They're extremely sturdy."
I nod. My watch beeps on the hour, signaling that my time is up. I stand and push my chair back to the corner where I found it.