After taking a minute to calm down, Marcus came up to the front with me and Hiram. Hiram looked pleased. I sat back, not knowing if I felt proud or nervous about changing Marcus's mind. I wanted to save Tilly and Aster from the Pestilention, but I was also afraid of what would happen. Would I be able to get them back, or would I end up imprisoned as well?

"Twenty more minutes until we land."

Marcus slapped his hands on his knees. "Great, so how are we planning to get in?"

He looked at me. I slid lower in my seat. A nervous laugh escaped my lips. "I'm not sure."

"Seriously?" Marcus cocked a brow. "We're just going to walk through the front doors?"

"I mean, no..."

Marcus was right. It had been stupid of us to have gone this far without a plan. Something inside of me had thought that Marcus and Hiram would figure it out. They had done all the thinking up until now. I hid my flushed face by looking out the window, embarrassed by the assumption.

"She can sneak in from the back," Hiram told Marcus. "We'll just leave the door open."

Marcus nodded. I stared at the two, confused. Were they not going to expand on their idea? After sitting in silence for a while, I assumed not. I couldn't believe that I, the one who was supposed to be sneaking in, was out of the loop.

The next twenty minutes felt like forever. I examined the trees below, my heart skittering. Though it had only been a day, I felt like Aster and Tilly had been gone for years. What had happened to them in this short amount of time? Nothing? Everything? Were they even still alive?

Oh God, don't start thinking like that.

A large building came into view. My breath hitched. Marcus's plan to go to Hawaii suddenly didn't seem so bad.

The helicopter moved away from the entrance and towards the back. A door lifted, revealing other helicopters. Well, too late to go back now.

Hiram landed the helicopter inside of the room. The blades halted and silenced. Hiram and Marcus didn't move from their seats. I shifted my weight uncomfortably. They waited another moment before turning to look at me. Marcus sighed.

"Kat," he said gently, "you're on your own from here. I'm not sure where your friends are being held, so you're going to need to go to the screen room. Go to the fourth floor; it'll be the door on the far left. You can't miss it.

"We'll be back here in a few hours. If you can't make it today, then we'll come back tomorrow. Try to sneak back here as quickly as you can. If you get chased, get out of here and run. We'll find you. Just don't stop running."

It dawned on me that I may never make it back to the helicopter. I blinked back my uninvited tears. I was scared to leave. I wanted Marcus and Hiram to come with me. All they had ever done was help me. I would be vulnerable without their presence.

Hiram spoke next, "When we leave, poke your head out - just a peak, I'm not sure whether other guards will be around or not. We're going to leave that door open and get rid of any guards nearby. I want you to go through that door and take a sharp right. Hear me? Right. You're going to find a closet. Put a uniform on and go through the motions. You're going to have to do something to disguise your hair and face. But once you do that, you should be able to move around freely."

My head spun. Why didn't we plan this during the long helicopter ride? Maybe Hiram and Marcus were making up this idea on the spot. Marcus stared at me nervously. I gave him a reassuring smile. "Sounds easy enough. We'll be out of here in no time."

That was a lie. We should have stayed for a minute longer and reevaluated our plan, but we had already lingered inside for too long. Anyone from the outside would be suspicious of why someone hadn't gotten out of the helicopter already.

"You'll need this." Marcus handed me a card. I admired it quizzically. It had an image of him—assumably from when he was younger—and a number. Under it, there was a code for doors to scan. I grinned. Even in a short amount of time, they had thought of everything.

They nodded. We were ready.

Marcus and Hiram left first. Marcus gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze as he got out of his seat. My shoulder tingled at the touch. Don't go, I wanted to cry. We can figure out another plan that involves the three of us. Just don't leave me alone.

I crept away from the windows in fear of a guard seeing me. I counted a couple of minutes before I looked back up again. The room was empty. The lights flickered off and enveloped me in darkness.

I stood up and felt around for a door to exit the helicopter. Once I found it, I flung the door open and stepped down. I cringed as my feet fell to the floor with a thud. Holding my breath, I stayed still and listened to ensure that no one had heard me. No guards came. I was safe.

The door, as promised, was ajar. I creaked the door open. It led to a hallway. I walked a couple of steps before turning a sharp right—like Hiram had said to. I searched for a door that screamed "closet." So far, they all looked the same. I opened a couple of random ones. They were all empty.

I approached a door that had a sign labeled "Uniforms." Bingo.

The closet was much larger than I had anticipated. I had also imagined there to be racks of clothing, but there wasn't any of that, either. Instead, there was a large machine perched in the center of the room. A red dot blinked.

Hesitantly, I fished out Marcus's keycard from my pocket and scanned it. The light blinked green and a screen appeared.

"Welcome, Marcus Ford," the machine said. "Would you like to wear a guard uniform?"

I paused. "...No?"

The screen hesitated. The green light blinked. "Pick a uniform."

A line of options popped up. I was surprised by how many job options there were. My finger pressed on an image of a nurse outfit. It was one of the only ones with a hat option, which was crucial for me to undergo this mission.

My face. There had to be something that would cover it. I clicked around frantically. If only I had gone for a guard uniform. Then I could have worn a hat and shades. I clicked on a surgical mask. It was going to have to work.

The clothes spat out from the bottom. A pair of metal hands plucked the clothing off of the floor.

"Extend your arms." When I did, the machine slid the shirt over my head. It also insisted on helping me put on the pants and shoes, but I turned it off before it could continue.

In the end, though I couldn't see myself, I assumed that I was admissible. I balled my old clothes up. I would have to throw them in the nearest trash can.

I only had time to throw my clothes away before I collided into someone else. A shriek caught in my throat as I looked up at a guard. His hands clutched onto my arms tightly.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" the man asked.

I nodded. He stared at me, concerned. His eyes analyzed me for a second longer before he stepped back. "What's the rush?"

My heart skidded. I had a feeling that I would have an intervention with someone, but I didn't think that it was going to be this quick. I had hoped to have at least a little time to make up a story. My hands trembled. "I...I..."

The guard stared me down. His concern transferred to suspicion. My mind spun a mile a minute. Think, Kat, think.

"I can't talk right now," I explained shakily. "There's a patient who really needs my help."

Were there even patients? Sure, runners usually needed help, but that was after an obstacle course. There weren't any runners to help after the Eradication. Maybe I could play it off as a guard?

He stepped to the side. "Of course, I'm sorry. Go on ahead."

Relieved, I walked—well, it was more like a frantic jog—past him. I prayed that I wouldn't have any other encounters. The last thing I needed was for there to be rumors of a suspicious nurse roaming around the building.

I continued straight. It was hard to tell where I was. Unlike the extravagant high ceilings and beautiful wall decorations that I was used to, this area was small and dull. It felt like a section of the building that had yet to be designed. All I hoped was that it would eventually lead me back to the space that I was used to.

Instead, I found myself turning left and landing in another unfamiliar room. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling and there was a sink piled sky-high with dirty dishes. An old woman was standing in front of it, placing a few of the dishes into a washer next to her. I turned and tried to leave before she caught me.

"Hey!"

Too late.

I turned back around. The woman had a steak knife clutched tightly in her hand. I tried to push down my fear.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" she demanded.

What was I supposed to say to her? With a guard, it was easy. But for a nurse to be wandering around a kitchen would need a different story.

"My patient asked me to bring him up some food," I said.

She raised a brow. "Why didn't you just go to the dining room and get him something?"

"He doesn't want what's over there."

"What do I look like, a servant? I'm not just going to whip something else up because someone doesn't want what I make!"

"I understand. I-I'll just go and tell him..."

"Wait."

I stopped mid-turn. My mind screamed for her to stop talking. I just wanted to continue searching. She was taking up too much of my time.

I felt her stare taking me in from head-to-toe. Her glare seemed to tear my disguise off and reveal my true motives. I shivered. Please say never mind. Just let me leave.

"Are you new?" she asked. I hesitated before nodding. "Oh, no wonder. Everyone knows to keep out of my kitchen."

I muttered an apology. Then, without waiting to hear anything else she had to say, I scurried out of the kitchen.

My head was pounding from the stress that I had endured. Two people had already been enough to put me on edge. I just wanted to find Aster and Tilly so that we could leave. I had wanted this to be easy, I thought, disappointed—even though I knew that the idea was implausible.

After what seemed like ages of lying to numerous people and being lost, I found a stairway. I grinned. Finally, I was getting somewhere.

There were doors with the same gold lettering from a month ago. It was funny that they had never bothered to take it off. I knew that my room was on the next floor, and then I would be able to reach my destination on the fourth floor.

Another set of stairs greeted me at the end of the hallway. Next to it was a plain door. It didn't have golden letters on it as the runners' rooms did. I would have dismissed it if it hadn't been cracked open, allowing recognizable voices to flood out from behind it.

"...us two. We're the only ones who made it back, sir," a low voice said.

"Oh, really? Where did everyone else go?"

"I'm not sure. They were looking for Katherine on foot while we waited in the helicopter. They never came back. We searched and couldn't find them."

Though I couldn't detect one of the voices, I knew that the other was Marcus. My heart hammered. He was trying to steer someone away from my path. I hoped that the diversion would work. I was so close to reaching my destination.

A smack came from inside. I staggered back in shock. Marcus's hand came into view as he pressed against the wall.

"How difficult is it to catch one girl?!" The other man exclaimed. "He's not going to be very happy to hear this, you know. You two need to fix this. Now."

The door flung open. My breath hitched. I looked into the room. Marcus was massaging his red cheek. It took a minute for his eyes to lock with mine. His eyes widened. Marcus blocked the doorway and started talking to the angry man.

I scanned my card and opened the closest door. I clicked it close and let out a long sigh. That had been close. Even with the disguise, the man would have been suspicious to see me eavesdropping on their conversation. That would have been difficult to talk myself out of.

Footsteps came from the other side of the door. I peeked through the peep-hole in the hope to see who Marcus had been talking to. For a second, I was able to see a man with white hair. A cold aura surrounded him, causing chills to crawl down my spine. I watched as he walked up the stairs, confused. The only person that ever gave me that feeling was Officer Kurk. But why would Marcus be talking to him?

I turned back around and scanned the room I had entered. It was a standard white room. I had been in one like this many times.

What I hadn't expected, however, was the guard who was laying on the bed. His sunglasses were off, revealing a set of enlarged eyes. The man slowly went for his belt. He curled his fingers around a gun.

"Who are you?"

NOTICE: If you read last week's version of Chapter 5, REREAD! There is much more content in this version, and you will be confused next chapter if you don't reread!

Hey guys! FInals week is finally over for me, meaning that I have all summer to give you guys on-schedule content! Thank you so much for being patient with me. I'm so glad to be able to have time on my hands to write again. Balancing schoolwork and writing has been difficult this year, but I refuse to let that stop me from finishing this series. :)

I rewrote this chapter because I wasn't really vibing with how I had written it originally. It had felt too rushed. I'm trying my hardest to give you guys quality chapters, which includes not rushing as much as I had done during The Eradication (which will be edited this summer!). Thank you for being patient with me, once again.

Don't forget to comment, to vote, and to share this story with a friend. Try to vote for this story with something white. Stay awesome!

This song is called Running Scared (Desert Song) by The Strumbellas. Enjoy!