Page 19 of Us Dark Few

Khalani cut her eyes to him, taken aback. The Research and Resource Labs oversaw Apollo’s food supply and studied new methods of underground growth. Due to the lab’s critical importance for the survival of Apollo, only scientists with top clearance were allowed.

“But you are so young,” she exclaimed.

“Age doesn’t matter. They are hungry for new talent, and I had top marks on all my testing. One of the happiest days of my life was when they accepted me. It didn’t last.” His gaze drifted off.

Curiosity burned inside her. “Why were you sentenced here, Derek?”

Derek slowed his movements and his eyes sliced to the floor.

She couldn’t tell if it was shame or regret, but a haunted look entered his expression and his whole demeanor changed, as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and only he knew that the weight was beginning to topple.

He gripped the sides of the wheelbarrow so hard, the veins on his hands protruded.

“I found something they didn’t want me to find,” the words came out in a guttural whisper, and his brows drew low on his face.

Khalani frowned and tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

He opened his mouth like he was about to say something. She waited, but nothing came out. He heaved a sigh and shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter. None of this does.” He picked up the ends of the wheelbarrow. “You. Me. Everything around us. All a means to an end.” He wheeled his load away.

Her mouth parted at his abrupt departure. Apollo held its scientists in high regard. They wouldn’t have imprisoned Derek over something trivial.

Her mind wrapped around the many possibilities, like trying to pinpoint a singular speck of dust in the misty air. She could try to ask Derek again, but something about his expression stopped her.

She recognized that look. It was mirrored in her own gaze and the sullen eyes of every other prisoner. It was hopeless yet layered with something unique. Not hopelessness because you don’t see a way out, but hopelessness because you had already seen the way out, and the way out was worse.

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“I’m assigning you to work with Winifred today,” George, an old prisoner who assigned Khalani her afternoon tasks, sighed as his eyes swept over her bandages, which were already bleeding through.She barely even noticed.

“Meet her in the library to help with the Ordinances.”

Braderhelm had a library?

As the prisoners began to leave for their afternoon shifts, a rigid body suddenly bumped into Khalani, knocking her to the ground. She opened her mouth in a silent exclamation of agony as she landed all her weight on her bloody palms to break the fall.

Peering up, she saw a beefy, muscular girl with facial piercings and a half-shaved head standing over her. Khalani vaguely recognized her as the girl who threatened her in the pit her first night in Braderhelm.

“Watch where you’re going,” she spat the words down at Khalani and walked over her.

Khalani’s nostrils flared and she jumped to her feet, ready to retaliate, but the girl had already disappeared around the corner.

“You alright?” Serene appeared at her side, helping wipe the dirt off her garments.

“I’m fine,” she seethed. “Who was that?”

“Dana. In here for murdering a woman and her husband. She runs with a pretty bad crowd down here. Don’t know what you did to get her attention, but I would stay far away. You don’t want to be tossed into the pit with her,” Serene warned, noting the violence in her eyes.

Malice rumbled inside her, almost as potent as her hate for Takeshi. Almost. But Dana was twice her size. Even Khalani was smart enough to know that fighting her would be a losing battle. The only thing she could do—the smart thing—was maintain a low profile. Something she was apparently bad at.

Khalani had never been assigned to the library, but every day, she was getting better at navigating Braderhelm. Not exactly a happy achievement, but she’d take her victories where she could.

Khalani walked through the maze of tunnels and approached the black spiral staircase George mentioned. She bit her lip in consternation.

The stairs were rusted and looked like they’d crumble the second she put weight on them. The staircase had to have been constructed when Braderhelm was first built.

She leaned over and peered up. The library was supposed to be at the top.

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