"Shit, did you actually see them go into the factory?"
"No," Leo said. "I immediately went to alert everyone else."
That answer pissed me off instantly.
"What the fuck do you mean, no? That was your whole job!"
I was basically yelling at that point.
"If you knew what they were planning, then you follow them. You find out if they actually went in. Then you come tell us!"
Shit.
Now we didn't even know if they were inside.
That was the worst part.
The only way to see clearly into the factory was through the office window, and that still hadn't been replaced. The front door Andrew's group had broken down during the last attack had been put back together by the members afterward, but it was done badly. Solid enough to close, not good enough to see through.
So we were stuck outside in the dark, not even knowing whether the people we were preparing for were actually in there.
What the hell were we supposed to do now?
Liam suggested sneaking in through the office window. It was still open and exposed, and technically it was the easiest entrance left.
It was a decent idea.
If somebody was watching that side of the building, whoever went in would get caught immediately.
Still, out of all of us, Liam knew the layout best. He had the highest chance of getting close without being noticed. So, in the end, we agreed he should go alone.
Melanie handed him a whistle.
"Hey. Bring this with you, just in case."
She still had hers from the first attack. If something went wrong, we needed a way to know fast.
"Okay," Liam said. "If I'm not back in ten minutes, or the whistle hasn't been blown, assume something happened."
Then he disappeared around the side of the factory until we couldn't see him anymore.
The rest of us stayed away from the front gate, standing in the dark and waiting.
Silently.
Every minute made it worse. The longer it took, the tighter everything in my chest felt. It was the kind of waiting where every little sound starts to feel important. The wind in the trees. Breathing. Nothing was happening, but it felt like something already had.
Then ten minutes passed.
Nothing.
No whistle.
No sign of Liam.
I looked around at everyone else.
"Okay," I said. "Let's circle around."
But right as we were about to move, Liam stepped out of the front door.
"Guys! No one's here!"
"What!?" George said.
"Yeah," Liam called. "Come inside!"
Huh?
George and Leo looked relieved immediately.
The Melanies didn't.
Sarah didn't react at all.
That was what stopped me first. Not Liam. The Melanies.
They both looked wrong.
Not scared.
Not relieved.
Just... off.
Like something about the way Liam said it didn't sit right with them either. And the second I noticed that, I felt it too. I couldn't place it at first, but it was there.
George and Leo had already started walking toward him.
I didn't move.
Instead, I thought it through all at once.
No whistle.
More than ten minutes.
He went in through the office side, but came out the front.
And now he was standing there in the doorway, calling us in?
Why?
If the place was really empty, why didn't he circle back and tell us quietly?
Why stand there in the open like that?
Why rush us?
Why try so hard to get us inside?
As George and Leo started to run over, I reached out and grabbed George by the arm.
"It's a trap."
He turned around and looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"What are you talking about? Liam just said no one's there!"
"Yeah," I snapped. "That's the problem."
He blinked.
"Why did it take him over ten minutes? Why didn't he blow the whistle? Why didn't he come back the way he went in?"
George opened his mouth, but I didn't let him get anything out.
"And if it really was empty, why is he trying so hard to get us inside?"
That shut him up.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Liam called out again.
"Guys? Come on, it's all good!"
That fake-cheerful tone made it worse. He was overdoing it. Like he wanted us to hear "safe" more than he actually expected us to believe it.
Then it clicked.
Intent.
He didn't want us informed.
He wanted us inside.
I stared at him.
"Liam," I said slowly, "what are you after?"
A smirk flickered across his face.
"Hmph," he said. "So you figured it out."
"With acting that shitty? Anyone would've figured it out except these two idiots."
"Well..." Liam said, "it's already too late for you."
Shit.
That was planned too.
No wonder his acting sucked. It wasn't supposed to convince me. It was supposed to delay us. Distract us. Keep us in place long enough for whatever came next.
But from what?
"Guys," I said, my voice sharpening immediately, "we need to get out of here."
"What?" George said. "What about the factory?"
"NOW!"
That got them moving.
We rushed for our bikes and started pedaling to get out of the area, but the second we did, shapes started appearing around us.
Out of the forest.
Out of the dark.
One after another.
High schoolers.
Big ones.
Too many.
They stepped out so naturally it was obvious they'd already been there, already in position, already waiting for us to make the wrong move.
Perhaps they had surrounded us the whole time.
Right as we tried to ride away, the members of Thomas's group closed in and blocked every way out.
"Hello, Factory 24 founders," one of them said.
"And Monarch of 24," another added.
"■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■, Monarch."
I looked past the others until I found him.
Thomas.
■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■.
■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ in The Claim still felt disgusting.
"Second time I've heard that," I said. "I thought you were after the factory for the space. Did that turn out to be a lie in the end?"
"Hm? No," he said calmly. "I do want the space."
"Then why all the commotion?"
He shrugged.
"Because you'll be back."
Fair.
I hated that he was right.
"What's your plan now, then?"
Thomas tilted his head a little.
"Hm... I don't know, actually."
"What?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'm not really sure what to do. You see, Liam has actually been leading my group within The Claim."
That took a second to land.
So Liam had actually been working for them.
No, not just for them.
With them.
He had been leading them from inside our group.
"Interesting," I said, mostly to buy myself time. "Just how long has he been collaborating with you guys?"
"I'll answer that," Liam said.
He stepped forward just enough to make it impossible to ignore him.
"Ever since Factory 24 lost against Andrew's group, I knew you guys had no hope in the future. I figured it was better to join a stronger group who also just wants the space."
"What makes you think we have no hope?"
He stared at me for half a second.
"Don't you see your current situation? You're surrounded."
Yeah.
I don't know what I thought I'd get out of asking that.
We were stuck.
Still, I kept talking because if I stopped, I'd have to admit I had no plan.
"What about Andrew's group? Didn't want to join him?"
"Hell no," Liam said. "That bastard is dead to me. In fact, I have Null to thank for what happened that day."
"Ehh... so is Andrew's group weak now?"
"I don't know. I've been too busy keeping communication with Thomas's group to check on Andrew. What I told you about my living situation wasn't a lie."
That meant one thing.
Liam had lied in pieces.
Not all at once.
They say half-truths are the best form of lies.
Sarah spoke then, her voice colder than usual.
"What about my scout in Thomas's group? They never told me about you."
"Oh, you mean Phillip?" Liam said. "Yeah. He's also working for me."
I didn't have time to look at Sarah's reaction.
Nothing was going right for us.
I didn't know what to do.
But I stayed calm.
I am better than breaking down.
I have to be.
The six of us were surrounded by fifteen big high schoolers and Liam. No escape. No obvious opening. No easy move.
I looked at Thomas again.
"So what's your plan for us?"
He gave the same answer as before.
"I still don't actually know yet. We weren't really planning on doing anything to you guys. We aren't like Andrew's gang. We want to keep things peaceful. But if you attack first, we won't hesitate."
He said that so calmly it sent chills down my spine.
What the hell was wrong with every group in The Claim?
Andrew's group was sociopathic.
Thomas's group felt psychotic in a completely different way.
Too calm.
Too casual.
Like violence was just a possibility they'd already filed away.
Then Thomas looked toward Sarah.
"Hey, Sarah. Little girlie. How did you take down all of Andrew's gang? That's the one thing I'm most curious about. There's no way you could've done that yourself, but no one saw your group."
"I'm not telling," Sarah said. "I'm just here to report for Null."
"See, that's what I hate most," Thomas replied. "Now that we've taken over, you're just another one of these founders here. No one can come save you."
Sarah tilted her head.
"Hm? What?"
"Can't get it through that skull of yours?"
"No," she said. "I'm confused as to why I can't get out of this situation. You said it yourself. I couldn't have done it all myself. Who said I'm alone now?"
At that point, I was overstimulated.
Too much had happened too fast.
Liam was working for Thomas, inside The Claim.
They had us surrounded, but apparently weren't sure what to do with us.
They didn't want to let us leave, but they also didn't seem ready to actually hurt us.
Sarah was reporting for Null, but apparently had Null members somewhere nearby, ready to move if they needed to.
What the fuck!?
I was getting left behind.
I had no real plan from the start.
Ever since Liam betrayed us, everything had gone downhill.
What do I do...?