I gently place her back on the bed, turn around, and run.

Ten

Grace

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a knock on my door.

Casey lies on my bed, hands behind his head, and I lie curled up across his chest. Casey snores a little, and his arm twitches. His heart beats steadily underneath my cheek. I hear it. I feel it.

We never do anything but sleep in the same bed, and it’s the safest place in the world for both of us. We soak up each other’s presence. Find comfort and courage in each other. This is the only place where Casey can relax at night, ever since the guards found out that he can only sleep when it’s quiet.

I’ve always wondered if this is what it’s like to have a brother.

When someone pounds on the door, Casey’s heart skips a beat. He tenses, from sleep to fight-or-flight in a second.

I sit upright before I’m fully aware of what I’m doing. “Who is it?” My voice croaks. It’s morning. I must have slept some, though it seemed an impossibility. I rub at my eyes.

“What’s going on?” Casey’s voice isn’t any less ragged. I reach for his hand and squeeze it.

Heavy pounding. It reverberates through the room.

“Calm down, I’m coming.”

I stumble across the room, trying to catch up. Last night feels like a cruel nightmare. Maybe I dreamed it all. Except if I did, we’ve been left in our rooms way past movement line. My head still feels sore. I push open the door, and Logan stumbles in.

That’s when everything falls to pieces.

The twins are Hunter’s pets. We share our school hours, but we’re in different wings. I’m okay with that. I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that they apparently tried to kill someone.

But I also can’t wrap my mind around the fact that one of them is here, now. Still in pajamas. Her hair a wild bird’s nest. “What do you want?”

Logan signs at me frantically, panic in her pale-green eyes. Her hands are stained with blood, and they tremble when she isn’t signing.

All the warnings from the soldiers flood my brain. A plague. So contagious that everyone’s confined to their houses.

“No. Go away.” I shake my head. We were supposed to be safe here. I want to stay because it’s safe here. Fuck, no.

“What’s happening?” The bed creaks, and Casey gets up too. He walks toward the two of us and pauses. “Oh.”

Logan signs again. Palms up, her fingers curled toward her. She pulls the hands toward her heart. Then another sign. One hand balls into a fist, and she wraps it with the other. Her right hand is the bloodiest of the two, with red stains crawling up to her sleeves.

I have no idea what she’s saying. I never learned sign language, and I can only pay attention to the blood.