The other articles all have similar headlines. I go through each one, hoping to learn more, but none give any hint as to why I did it. Most of the articles are short—just another random murder in a big city. They don’t even have pictures of our bodies or names or locations or anything I could use.

“Hey,” Trent says.

I jump and twist around, using my body to block my screen. Trent’s leaning back from his cubby, which is next to mine. His face looks even whiter than usual, bleached out by whatever he’s learned. Does he know I’m the one who is going to kill him? If they find out, I might not make it to tomorrow. Zoe wouldn’t do anything, but Chris or Trent? I’m not sure.

“Are you…” He stops and closes his eyes for a moment, but I know what he means.

“Yeah. I’m dead too.” I rub my sweaty palms on my jeans and watch him for any reaction.

“Tomorrow?”

I nod. He’s not freaking out at me and neither are the others, so they must not know that I’m the one who killed them. Good. But if they keep poking around, they’ll find the same articles I did sooner or later. I can’t let that happen.

I close the screen—everything I saw is imprinted in my memory forever anyway—and spin around. “Did you guys find anything?” I ask, loud enough for the others to hear.

“Just that I’m gonna be shot tomorrow,” Chris mutters, turning away from his screen. “Like Shawnda said. What about you?”

He doesn’t know. Thank God. My shoulders relax, and I tilt my head at Trent. “Us too.”

We all pull our chairs close so we can talk quietly. Adam stands on the fringe of our group, silently watching our discussion. He’s the only one who isn’t going to be dead tomorrow. I study him for a moment, with his black glasses and rumpled brown hair, wondering why I will spare his life.

Zoe hangs her head in her hands, hiding her face. “Everything my sister told us…it’s all true. It’s all in my death certificate.”

“Cause of death, multiple gunshot wounds,” Trent mumbles, and my throat clenches up.

Chris swears and runs a hand over his scalp. “So all four of us, tomorrow?”

“Looks that way,” I say.

“But why?” Zoe asks. “Why would someone do this?”

I need to think of something, quick. Otherwise they might start digging through the past for more information. “It has to be Aether Corporation.”

Zoe blinks at me. “You think…you think Aether did this?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. It’s the only connection between us, other than foster care.”

Chris studies me, his brow creased. “You think they killed us to keep the project secret?”