Arcadium by Sarah Gray
Chapter 17
DINNER IS TINNED mushrooms and a handful of rice. If it wasn’t for the salt and pepper the meal would have no taste at all, like eating textured air.
“Cardboard probably has more nutrients than this crap,” Kean says, spearing a droopy mushroom on his fork.
Every one eats slowly, picking over the food as if there might be something extra hiding under the rice or disguised in the mushrooms. The morale at our table is pretty low, like everyone has suddenly flat-lined.
Kean is sitting across from me so I kick him gently under the table and look away. He stares at me for a moment and a few seconds later I get the response I’m after. He steps on my toes, pretending to squish them and I stifle my smile. “As if I don’t have enough injuries,” I say under my breath.
Kean tips his head back, pushes away his empty plate and releases the pressure on my toes, but he does leave his shoe overlapping mine. “And how was your day?”
I shrug with one shoulder. “I have a few things to show you.”
Kean arches one eyebrow and the other quickly follows. “Interesting. You finished?”
I roll my eyes. “Not that kind of interesting.”
“Well, I’ve been staring at rubbish all day so pretty much anything’s going to be better than that.” Kean stands up and leans forward on the table. “We’ll meet you guys back in the room later.”
Me and Kean take our trays to the rubbish trolley and I hear Henry in the background saying, “There they go again, running off into the sunset.”
I step out into the corridor as Liss and Henry start giggling. Kean looks over. “So you’ve been sleuthing all day?”
I start walking and he follows. “Actually, I’ve been hanging out with a mad scientist’s son.”
Kean makes a surprised frown. “Should I be jealous?”
“He’s a bit too weird for me.” I cross my arms loosely. “Have you met Doctor Harding?”
Kean shakes his head.
“Doctor Harding gave me my check up. He’s… weird too. It’s like they’ve forgotten how to act around people.” We pass the library and stop at the surveillance room door. “I’m pretty sure Harding runs this place. Anyway, it was his son I met today, Adrian. And he happened to show me around.”
Kean listens with a flat expression and then purses his lips. “How am I supposed to compete with that?”
I rub the side of my face and laugh into my hand. “Anyway…” I glance down the corridor to make sure it’s clear. “Yeah, anyway, this is where all the security camera feeds come into. It’s full of monitors. He even showed me a recording of us arriving.”
Kean tries the door handle and looks back at me.
“You need a code to get in… to get anywhere important around here. I caught the first three numbers but the rest…” I shrug.
“How many cameras are there? And where?”
I touch my temple trying to remember. “Like thirty something, mostly on the outer and inner perimeter, a few in the elevator and the rest in the labs.”
“None in here?” Kean glances around.
“Nope, none in any of our living quarters or hallways, just the science labs.”
“That’s weird. Almost like we don’t matter.”
“I don’t know, I’d rather not be on camera twenty four seven. And there’s more.”
I take him further along the corridor to the rooftop door. “You know how you said there was no way out?”
“Yeah.” Kean looks over the door with curiosity.
“Behind this is a stairway leading to the rooftop.”
“You went out there with him?”
I nod. “There’s a fire escape ladder over the side of the building, and he says the main fence against the road is electrified but there’s a part that backs onto houses that’s not.”
Kean is staring sideways at the wall with a strange expression. I can’t tell if he’s just soaking in the information or kind of edging into anger.
“Either way,” he says, with a tiny shake of his head. “It’s not much of an exit if we don’t have the door code. The full door code.”
“I can get it.”
Kean glances up. “At what cost?”
“What do you mean? They take me through the doors every time I have a check up. And every time Adrian takes me somewhere new. I’ll get it eventually.”
“Do you even know this guy? Don’t you think it’s dangerous? What if he’s a serial killer?”
My lips fall into a frown and I lean my shoulder against the wall. “You’re not going to like the rest then.”
Kean takes a sharp breath and steps closer. “Go on.”
“I talked Adrian into sneaking me into the labs… tonight.”
“Why do you want to see the labs?”
“Don’t you? Don’t you want to be sure of everything before you settle here?”
Kean drops his head, pulls his eyebrows taut and kind of shrugs his shoulders. I can’t understand it. And then he lifts one of his hands and touches my waist. I can’t move. All I can think about is his hand resting on my hip. I lean the side of my head against the wall and barely hear his words.
“Can’t you ever stop being the hero? You’ll get yourself in serious trouble one day.”
Suddenly a set of footsteps comes towards us. We both look up and a small dark haired woman passes us by without even a glance. She continues on around the corner and I keep my head turned in her direction.
Kean lifts his other hand so that he’s holding my waist now, holding me in place. “What are you trying to find?”
“Nothing.” I look back and we’re so close our noses nearly touch. I drop my chin. “Nothing. I just want to know what they’re doing behind all the locked doors. I don’t understand why you don’t.”
“I do. I want to know what’s going on. But I’m not prepared to put you in danger all the time.”
“No one else can do it,” I say.
“Give me a day and I’ll get my flirt on with the weird guy. I’ll do it. Let me do something.”
I can’t help but crack a smile. I glance up, just for a second, and it’s all the time he needs. Kean pulls me in close and presses his lips to mine. At first I don’t do anything; I’m just in pure shock, eyes wide open. Our lips sit still against each other like we’ve turned into a photograph. I don’t know how long we stay locked together this way but it feels endless.
Kean lifts his hands and holds my neck, sending spears of shivers over my skin. I close my eyes, his mouth opens against mine. His warm lips slide over me and my arms hang limp at my sides. I’m like a puppet with broken strings and can’t work on my own.
It’s wonderful and horrible at the same time. As we stand in the cold corridor locked in this kiss, I almost forget which way is up and which is down. I like Kean, I really like him but I shouldn’t get this luxury in the outbreak. He’s like a brick wall building between Liss and I. A really lovely, warm, kind, charming brick wall. Dammit. But a barrier nonetheless.
He pulls back but keeps my head in his hands, which is probably a good idea because I feel like I might collapse at any second. My brain is searching for words that don’t seem to exist anymore.
“If you want to go into the labs then go. I won’t stop you, it’s just…” Kean bites his lip ever so slightly. “Don’t get caught. Don’t get killed.”
I stare up at his clear green eyes. “I can’t get killed here. We’re safe.”
His hands shift, sliding a few centimetres down toward my shoulders, and I swear nothing has ever felt as good.
I make a strange noise, almost a tiny laugh, and Kean smiles. He lowers his fingers from my neck and takes one of my bandaged hands. We walk back to the room slowly. I still feel like I’m in shock, worse than any car crash or infected person could ever do to me. This is something all new. How could I never know this existed?
“What’s the plan?” Kean asks when we reach the door of our room.
“He’s meeting me here
“Is there anything I can do?”
“You’ve done enough today,” I say.
Kean pushes open the door with a smile.
All five of us hang around playing snap with a pack of cards Kean found on rubbish duty. It’s the only card game we’ve successfully taught Trouble and somehow it always manages to get us all distracted and laughing.
At ten the lights automatically go off and a small yellow backup light comes on, dusting the room with just enough illumination to make out the edges of the bunk beds.
For the next two hours I wait in my bed, wide-awake and kind of nervous. Kean stays awake with me, every now and then I look over and he’s watching me but we don’t say anything in case we wake the others.
It does give me plenty of time to think about that kiss though, to replay it over and over in my mind. Kean says I’m bold, but never in a million years could I have done that… just step up and kiss someone. And now I can’t get him out of my head, even though I should be thinking ahead and keeping my mind clear; he fogs me up.
Kean smiles, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and I have to look away. I just watch the clock for a while. With five minutes to go, I grab the paper bag, slide out silently and point to the door. Kean nods but his face is grim. I try to shake the image from my mind, and I slip out into the silent corridor.