just disappeared.
“You just signed his death warrant,” she said.
Yanis didn’t react. “I . . . I don’t get it.”
She sat up, battling the tape. “Then let me make it crystal clear. This school is experimenting on students. They’re preparing us, like fucking animals, to use us in whatever fucked-up experiments they’re running. And just now, when she said ‘you’re next’—that means she’s going to do it to me. And you’re protecting them.”
It was silent for an impossibly long moment.
“So this whole time,” Yanis said slowly, tonguing the inside of his teeth between phrases. “That’s what you were all afraid of?”
Neesha nodded.
“I’ve been looking for Emma . . . for her? So she could . . .”
Neesha nodded again.
“They can’t—I mean, she wouldn’t . . .” Yanis marched up to the door to Dr. Richardson’s office and slammed the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. He felt along the face of the door, over to the edge, and slid his finger down it. He slammed his hand against it in fury. “This is reinforced steel. Why would a psychology teacher . . .”
Neesha didn’t say anything.
Yanis backed away from it, weightless until his body connected with the wall. He stared at his own hands for a long moment. “The boy,” he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. “The one who can’t speak . . .”
“He was a sociology student,” Neesha said. “He had the Bible memorized. He had friends. They did that to him. And he’s been stuck here ever since.”
Yanis looked mortified.
“Hey,” she whispered. “You’re supposed to protect the people around you, right? You said that you’re one of the good guys. Did you really mean that?”
She watched him reclaim himself, inhaling through his nose and curling back up to his full posture. “I did. I do.”
“Then help me get out of here.”
His eyes shot around the lobby. Through windows, they could see several other maintenance workers moving through the building. He nodded.
“What about the others?” she asked.
“Aiden’s in my office. In the GRC.”
“What about Zaza?”
He nodded. “Same.”
Neesha sat up a little farther. “You have to help me.”
His eyes lingered on Dr. Richardson’s door for a second longer. “Okay,” he said. “Okay—” He moved quickly to unbind her. “We can go to my office, grab your friends, and—where do you need to go?”
“The back lawn, behind the maintenance shed.”
He nodded. “I can get you there.”
Neesha marched to the door, but Yanis didn’t move. She turned around.
“What about . . .” He nodded toward the closed door.
Neesha swallowed. “He’s a hero.” She stared through the door, cringing at the image of him inside. She said a final prayer for Evan and turned to leave the room.
Their walk became a run as they tore down the Human Building hallways toward the GRC. Yanis stopped in the middle of the hallway and spun on her. He grabbed her aggressively by the shoulders and threw her against the wall, forcing her hands together behind her back.
“Ah,” she screamed. “What the fuck are you—”
“Shut up,” he barked loudly, shoving her farther into the wall. “Dr. Richardson has been looking for you—”
Neesha swallowed her response, letting her forehead fall against the wall. Past him, down the hallway, she could see another maintenance worker, his head turned in their direction, watching.
“Sorry,” he whispered between his teeth. “That was a little hard, I’m sorry.” He turned her away from where the man stood and began to march. “Pretend to fight back a little.”
“Gladly.” She swung her right foot back toward him, connecting with his shin. Yanis winced behind her.
After they were gone, Yanis started marching her toward the C-School exit, then veered right, through the P-School. Once inside the GRC, he let go of her hands, and she began to sprint toward his office door.
Aiden and Zaza were seated in the only two chairs in the room, as far from the door as possible. Both of their heads were hanging in the dark. Neither looked up when they entered.
“Guys,” she said cautiously.
Zaza’s face shot up when he saw Neesha with Yanis. He began to scream. “No! Let her go! She didn’t do shit!”
“Guys!” She tried to calm them, but Zaza had descended into full-on panic. “No, no, no! She doesn’t deserve this! She didn’t have anything to do with—”
“Zaza,” she said, grabbing him by the face. “I’m here to get you out.”
His eyes were electrified with shock and bright red with tears, but the second they met hers, his face melted into her shoulder. “Ah, fuck .