The Program Page 0,109
bra, and then follow behind Lacey as she makes her way to the couch.
I can’t believe I came back here, especially after vowing not to. But I needed to get out of my house, and this is the only place where people my age hang out anymore. At least, the only place where people like me, who have no other friends, hang out. Lacey collapses into the cushions, scanning the room as if looking for someone.
“Who is he?” I ask, nudging her with my elbow.
She widens her eyes innocently. “No idea what you mean. I swear I’m not searching for the guy who promised he’d be here tonight.”
“Oh,” I say, smiling. “So I finally get to meet your mystery boyfriend?”
Lacey turns to me. “I think it’s about time.” Her expression is more serious than I expect, but before I can ask for more details, I catch a black shirt out of the corner of my eye, the color shocking within this room. It’s Liam.
“I’ll be right back,” I say quickly, jumping up.
Liam weaves through the crowd before slipping out the door to the back patio. When I get outside, the night air is crisp around me. Liam’s facing away as he stands at the railing, looking toward the parking lot. We’re alone out here, but I want to ask him about that first night I came back. How he knew me and James.
“Hey,” I say, drawing his attention. When he turns, I’m startled. Dark circles ring his eyes, and his hair is matted. Unwashed. It strikes me then that he’s sick. Oh, God. He’s sick.
“Sloane.” His mouth pulls into a sneer, anger and hatred painting his features. “Did they send you to collect me? Are they recruiting returners now?”
My heart begins to thud in my chest, the idea that Liam’s dangerous backing me slowly toward the door. “No one sent me,” I say. “I just wanted to ask you something, but never mind. It’s not that important.”
Liam lunges, his shoulder banging against the door to stop me from opening it. I gasp and step back.
“I’d love to hear your question,” he says, his eyes wild and unfocused.
“I just want to go inside,” I say softly. “Move and I won’t—”
“Won’t what? Report me? Of course you will.”
He’s right. I will report him the first chance I get. He’s infected. He can infect others. “Let me through, Liam,” I say.
He stares at me, and then leans closer as if whispering a secret. “Do you remember me?” he asks.
“I remember you calling me a freak.”
He smiles. “Before that.”
There’s a twist in my gut. “No.” Just then the handle of the door turns, but Liam keeps his weight on it, preventing it from opening. I think about calling for help, or running, but at the same time, I don’t want to draw that kind of attention to myself.
“We dated,” he says, a bit of satisfaction in his voice. “Nothing serious, but they took that memory anyway. What else did they take? Don’t you see what you are? You’re empty. You’re nothing. And I’d rather be dead than be like you.”
My lip begins to quiver as I’m filled with shame and humiliation, but mostly anger. I reach out to push him, only succeeding in making him stagger a step. He laughs, and then coughs, bringing his hand to his mouth. When he pulls it away, there’s blood smeared across his fingers.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask, stepping back.
“QuikDeath,” he says. “Because there’s no point. We’ll never be free of The Program, and even when we are, who’s to say they don’t change the rules? That they don’t come after us as adults? My cousin?” Liam says, tears beginning to gather in his eyes. “He killed himself yesterday. He was twenty-one, Sloane. That means the epidemic is evolving.”
“Or maybe he just committed suicide,” I say, my stomach in knots. Fists pound on the other side of the door, shaking it.
Liam coughs again, spitting blood onto the patio. Red streaks his lips. He’s going to die. He’s going to die if I do nothing to stop it. I reach to take out my phone, but Liam slaps it from my hand, sending it across the wooden planks.
His eyes momentarily roll back in his head before he focuses on me again. His body convulses. And then he collapses against the door, sliding to the ground, his eyes locked on mine. “You’re no one,” he whispers before he goes still altogether.
I pause only a second, my breaths coming out