“Where we’re going doesn’t matter. Just remember what I told you,” Zero replies under his breath. “Do as they say and don’t make a fuss. That’ll keep you alive.”
I gulp. How much farther? We pass through so many doors with electric locks and keypads. My heart sinks. There’s no sign of ice cream anywhere.
She leads us into an enormous white room. It’s like a spaceship. Seeing men in lab coats makes me giggle. Zero elbows me sharply in the ribs to silence me.
“Zero,” Doctor Acacia, the man who introduced himself upon my arrival, says. “We have a new subject joining you today.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Zero says, hanging his head.
“We will put him in the tub first.”
The thought of having a bubble bath perks me up. Mom used to make bath time so fun. I hope they have nice shampoo. Shampoo that smells like her. This place can’t be so bad after all…
“No.” Zero steps up. “I’ll do it.”
“It’s okay,” I chime in. “I don’t mind.”
Zero’s shoulders slump, and he glares at me. I’ve said the wrong thing, but I don’t know why. Maybe he’s jealous.
“See?” Acacia smirks. “He doesn’t mind. Follow me, Twenty-Five.”
Acacia takes me into an adjoining room. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see Zero staring after us. I don’t understand the look in his eyes. It’s almost… sad.
I frown at the deep metal tub that fills the space. Next to it, wires come out of strange beeping machines.
“Undress yourself,” Acacia commands.
I do as he asks, and a few of the men in coats join us. I open my mouth to tell them that I don’t need any help washing myself, but I don’t get the chance. One of them begins attaching the wires to me.
“Ouch!” I yelp as metal clamps grip areas of loose skin. I reach to pull them off, but Acacia slaps my hand away.
“You will follow my orders, Twenty-Five,” he warns. “Get in.”
Shivering, I step into the tub, trying to ignore everyone else. I squeal when my toe breaks the freezing water’s surface. A firm hand on my shoulder stops me from jumping out.
“Sit,” Acacia spits through gritted teeth. “Now.”
My teeth chatter as I lower myself into the icy bath. Something is wrong. Very wrong. I focus on the symbols on the screens of the machines surrounding me, imagining that we’re about to fly into space to visit another planet.
Once I’m seated, Acacia reels off a list of numbers and mentions something about an experiment. I can’t think straight or feel my legs. It’s even worse than last summer when I ate too many Popsicles and had a ten-minute brain freeze.
“Begin,” the doctor says.
My entire body jolts as a bolt of lightning shoots through me. I scream. A bloodcurdling scream. The same noise Mom made before she fell. I grip the sides of the tub, thrashing and clambering to escape.
“Let me out!” I yell. “Let me out!”
Arms force me back down. Shocks keep coming, again and again. So do my screams. I don’t know how long I’m there, but I pray for them to stop. Maybe this is my punishment for not saving Mom. I’d take a thousand of Dad’s belt lashings over this. Eventually, I give up fighting. It’s pointless.
Suddenly, it stops.
Someone fishes my limp body out of the water.
I struggle to stand as dry clothes are thrust into my arms.
“Twenty-Five,” a man says. I can’t remember his name now. “You did very well. That’s it for today.”
I smile, because that’s all I can do, and put on the scratchy sweater and pants before I’m ushered into the main room.
