The bright lights running along the tunnel ceiling illuminated the haggardness of Berretti’s face. His flesh was waxy, his eyes looked bruised, and his greasy hair lay flat on his head. Corpse-like would be an apt description, and even then, that might not have been doing his appearance justice. It seemed as if death was hanging over him like a storm cloud.
He stopped, brought his cupped hands to his mouth, and then tipped his head back. His throat tightened as he struggled to swallow.
Pills, but what kind? And what was wrong with him?
Judging by his appearance, a lot.
I waited a moment to see where he was heading. It wasn’t that I was afraid of him—far from that—but I found seeing him like this, in a moment of weakness, to be oddly sobering. In a weird way, I felt bad for the guy. Even after he’d locked me in a cage and had his pals beat on me. The pain in his face knocked him down a few pegs, made him seem human too—or at least something close to it. I could tell how he didn’t want anyone to see him this way. He looked around, up and down the hall, behind him, then up and down the hall again. He didn’t see me.
Ell came out a few minutes later.
Now, I believed she was my soulmate, despite us only knowing each other for a short time. I was also deeply in love with her—as I hoped she was with me. The trials and tribulations we went through together brought us closer than anything could have. So that short time felt like years. I guess time is also relative when it comes to the power of love.
Because of this, it was easy to tell when something was wrong with her. I don’t think anyone else—aside from maybe Mikey and her parents, all three of which are deceased—could’ve caught that vibe from her.
She was all smiles. Bouncy. Talkative. You would’ve thought she had just won the lottery. Her tell lay in the eyes. She squints slightly, just the smallest amount, when she’s upset, as if to stop herself from crying, and she was doing it then. It wasn’t hard to guess who had been the cause of this problem after seeing Berretti leave the area.
“It was Berretti, wasn’t it?” I said, looking at her with serious eyes.
She glanced back and quickly looked away. “What?”
“Ell, c’mon. I know you. You’re upset.”
“I’m not upset—”
Berretti’s face swam up into my mind. A building anger shortly followed. I clenched my teeth before saying, “What did he do to you, Ell? If he so much as laid a finger on you, I’ll kill him—”
“Calm down, Grady.”
We had stopped walking and were standing in front of a mural of a garden. The pictures were the last thing on my mind at the time, though. My rising rage had plateaued, but that didn’t mean it was apt to stay that way. I pushed Eleanor for more information about what happened. For the most part, she remained coy.
“Nothing,” she said, leaning against an oddly proportioned sunflower. “He was just…mean, that’s all. You know, not grateful, rude, all of the above, yada-yada-yada.”
I did know, but I wanted to know more. “What were those pills he took?”
Eleanor ran a finger across her lips and made the sound of a zipper. “Doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“Even for him? After all that I told you he put me through?”
She chuckled. It was without humor, kind of sad-sounding. “I’m messing with you. He said he had a headache, and that he wanted to catch it before it exploded into a migraine and knocked him on his butt for a couple days. I just gave him a few Advil.”
Rider and the other bigwigs didn’t allow us to keep medicine. It was all brought in by the Scavs, who left it in the care of Doc Hart and the others working at the hospital.
“Ell…” I said, “you saw the guy. He looks like walking death.”
She shrugged. “That’s all I know about it. If you wanna know more, you should ask Sharon. She handles the serious cases. I mean, I’m not even technically a nurse. I never passed my test.”
“You never had the chance to take your test. You would’ve passed with flying colors if you had.” I waved a hand. “That’s not the point. And I can’t ask Sharon. I barely know her, and I don’t think she likes me very much.”
“She likes you, she’s just shy.” Ell pushed off the wall, started walking again. I followed. “Better yet, ask Berretti himself.” That was something I certainly wasn’t going to do, and Ell knew it.
As we headed back to the barracks, I remember thinking whatever was wrong with Berretti was much more than a migraine.
As it turned out, I was right. For once. But I wouldn’t know this until it was too late.
5
The Mission
I heard low voices in the hallway. Whispering. I was on my way to the watchtower, bundled up in my heavy coat, hat, and a leather pair of gloves. I turned the corner and nearly jumped into George. Stopping short, I said, “Whoops, sorry.”
Nick was standing next to George. He looked to have lost twenty pounds since the attack. Still, he smiled a mischievous smile.
“There’s our guy.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
“We have something we want to ask you,” George said. I already knew what it was. “We’re planning a supply run. We need more gas ASAP, and after we lost…well, the Scavs aren’t as strong as we once were. We’d love to have you on board, Grady.”
I took a step
