Page 80 of Us Dark Few

“I killed him,” Derek muttered. Tears pooled at the corner of his eyes, and his hands visibly shook.

“Killed who?” Serene interrupted.

Derek scraped both hands over his scalp like he was trying to rip out the pieces of his mind. “Do you remember when I told you why I was sentenced here?”

“You worked in the Research and Resource Labs. You told me you found something…something they didn’t want you to find.” Her lips pursed, remembering.

Derek’s mouth twisted, and his resolve broke before her very eyes. “I never wanted to tell any of you.”

“Tell us what?” Adan frowned.

“It all began several months ago, when I still worked in the labs,” Derek began. “Several farmers reported to me something strange. Five percent of their crops died after fertilization. I should’ve been able to locate the cause quickly. I checked the sheets on the air pumps, soil content, green lamps…nothing. The data was normal. I wrote it off, assuming the crops would stabilize in the next planting. But the next month comes, and eight percent of the crops fail. The following month…ten percent crop failure. The problem was getting worse, and we didn’t know why.

“I immediately informed my superiors, who reviewed the charts themselves. They told me not to worry, dismissing the issue as improper seed bank cultivation and refusing to believe it was a systemic problem. What I inferred was deemed ‘impossible’ by them,” Derek gritted through his teeth.

“I couldn’t let it go, though. I sensed something was wrong. Over the next few months, I started collecting water and soil samples myself. What I found was…terrifying. There was another substance present in the irrigation pumps. I’ve never seen anything like it in my research, but I can only describe it as a virus consuming the plants from the inside out. Each month, the virus spread through the irrigation system, and if it continued at that rate, all our crops would be dead within a few years.”

Khalani minutely shook her head. Impossible.

Crop failure was unthinkable in Apollo. In the 300 years they’d lived underground, Apollo never had a food shortage.

Serene broke the silence. “Did you show your superiors what you found? This…virus?”

“Of course, I did,” Derek said dejectedly. “I assumed they would immediately fix the pumps and flush out whatever thatthingwas. But they didn’t. They thought I was crazy and feared that if word of a potential crop malfunction got out, it would incite panic. After that meeting, I had a feeling they would soon release me. Before I got thrown into Braderhelm, I gave all my data to a colleague, hoping he would continue my work. His name was Vincent.” Derek closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped over, as if he wished he could disappear like Khalani had always wanted to.

“What are you saying, Derek?”

Derek leveled Khalani with a grim stare. “What you heard the guards say… it’s not a coincidence. Vincent must have been murdered for trying to reveal the truth about imminent crop failure. You know what that means just as much as I do. Apollo never fixed the crops. It’s only a matter of time before we all starve. And prisoners will surely be the first to go.”

His words sucked the air out of the group. A crushing silence settled over them.

“How long does everyone have?” Serene’s voice cracked.

“A year at best.”

“That can’t be true, Derek. You must be mistaken,” Adan denied,his face turning ashen.

Derek just shook his head, unable to speak.

Khalani dug the nail of her pointer finger into her thumb like a sharp blade, focusing on the cutting pain because the walls seemed to draw in closer, threatening to suffocate and grind away every shred of her existence.

A year.

A year before everyone died.

She wanted, noneeded, to deny it. But a memory raced through her mind, and she drew in a sharp breath.

“We have plans to address this in light of recent events, as you know. But in reality, this is all a means to an end.”

Deep down, the horrible truth screamed through her lungs and bloodstream, weighing her down with terrible certainty.

“He knows,” she whispered. “The Governor knows about this.”

“No way.” Adan shook his head vehemently. “I hate the guy too, but no way he’d let this happen.”

Serene's face was paler than usual. “The Governor mentioned that people are expendable last night. They might be keeping this all a secret to prevent panic. But if what you say is true, Derek, the Council must have a plan, or else they’d die too.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Derek asked in a scathing voice. “They have enough supplies for those on Genesis. But for everyone else underground…we won’t be so lucky. The guards will seal off the Genesis entrance and bring up the remaining food. We can’t stop it.”

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