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easing itself around him. “Do you think he’s waking up?”
    “Yeah.” Thomas wasn’t sure. He didn’t think he’d killed him. “I didn’t kill him.”
    “Too bad.” Alex’s voice was hard.
    Thomas slid out of the locker, closing it behind himself. He walked quickly to the entrance to the showers.
    “Thom, no!”
    Thomas looked back at Alex. “I stopped the current. It’s fine.”
    He made his way across the room, avoiding the spray from the showers. He pulled the dangling Taser back up by the taut wires stretched over the thin beam of the bench. It hadn’t fallen to the floor, suspended by the sole wire that had lodged in Marreau. He gathered them now, cautiously approaching the Senior Ward. He plucked the barb from Marreau’s shoulder.
    There was a swirling red cloud spreading from Marreau’s head through the water. He hadn’t killed him with the charge. The man might’ve died from the fall, though.
    Thom looked up to find Alex. His friend was moving through the room, turning off the showers, then returning the bench back to the locker area. Thom rose to join him. Alex handed him a towel.
    “Dry yourself, quickly. No footprints in the halls.”
    Thomas nodded, drying his feet. The two of them fled the scene, leaving Marreau and the metal bar he’d shoved through the door handles on the floor of the room behind them.
    They ran through the halls, their desire for silence and to watch for any others who might be searching for them at war with the need to be back in their bunks, back to the illusion of safety.
    They made it, barely breathing so they’d not wake the other boys, long since passed out in their own bunks. They hurriedly stripped and buried damp clothes in their bins before climbing into nightclothes and beds.
    Thomas didn’t know if Alex would have an easier time sleeping than he would. His mind wouldn’t stop working. Why had they come back? Why hadn’t they just headed back up to the surface and left the school in the night? Better to take their chances on the desert than to stay and face discovery. His adrenaline slowly faded and he found himself fighting sleep.
    Rough, hissed voices woke him in the middle of the night. He froze in fear.
    “—all of them? All night?” A man’s hard, intent voice. “This is important, Alex. You’re sure?”
    Alex’s voice, rough with sleep. “Yes, Guardian.”
    “Even Thirteen Eighty-four? Thomas? The Scav rescue?”
    “Yes, Guardian. Everyone. Do you want me to wake them?”
    There was a long pause. “No.”
    “Yes, Guardian.”
    “Just Fourteen Twenty-seven.”
    “I’m sorry, sir?”
    “Wake Fourteen Twenty-seven, Honor Ward. I want to speak to Patrick.”
    Why would they want to wake Patrick? Did they suspect him? Thomas realized the motive with a cold pang.
    They know that if any of the boys will betray you, it’ll be Patrick.
    Thomas could hear a rustle as Alex moved from his bed and down the aisle between the bunks. From below and to his right, he heard Alex wake Patrick. The other boy’s sleepy protests were quickly muffled as Alex whispered insistently that the Guardian wished to speak to him. The two boys returned to the front of the room. Thomas kept his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
    “Patrick.” The Guardian’s voice was smooth. “I need to ask you a series of questions. You must keep your eyes on me, answer immediately, and tell only the truth. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Guardian.” Patrick’s voice wasn’t sleepy anymore. It was wide awake and ready.
    “Were all of the boys in the unit here and present at lights out?”
    “Yes, Guardian,” Patrick smoothly lied.
    “To your knowledge, have any of the boys left this room tonight after lights out?”
    “No, Guardian.”
    “Patrick, this is very important. There was an assault on a Senior Ward tonight. Were all of the boys here and present tonight, all night?”
    “Yes, Guardian.” But this time, there was a hitch in Patrick’s answer, a hesitation.
    Thomas