Noa suddenly looked like a small child going to a theme park after his discovery. He was smiling from ear to ear and skipping his way towards breakfast.

He wanted to skip breakfast and immediately make our way over to the letters, but I insisted on having at least a bite to eat first.

Walking over to the counter I see Swot carefully pushing Spot out of the way to be able to serve us instead.

'He-llo Grace, he-llo Noa,' he greets us. 'Good morning.'
'What would you like today, fruits, eggs and bacon or a sandwich?' He asks. 'Well, Noa wants me to hurry up so I think we're both just taking the sandwich today,' I respond.

He nods as he takes out some plates from underneath the counter.

'It's ham this morning.'
'That's fine, thank you.'

Noa is still so full of joy that he forgets to take his plate with him.
I shake my head as I walk behind him with both our plates.

'Are you okay if we sit down with Ace? I want to at least tell him we're going to look at the letters,' he asks. 'Fine, but only because you're so happy right now.'

He thanks me with a quick kiss on my forehead before we continue our journey to the picnic table.

I feel nervous sitting down at this table, definitely after what happened, but with Odin and Noa at the same table, I should be fine.

'Ah Noa and the woman,' Ace says as we sit down.

He sounds tired and he looks like it too as dark circles are noticeable underneath his eyes and he's leaning his head in his hand with droopy eyes.

'Right, are you okay?' Noa asks as he's noticing the same thing I am.
'I just had a bad night.'
'We can tell,' Odin responds.
'Just a few weird dreams, nothing to worry about.'

He plays around with the food on his plate and every time he's about to take a bite he drops it down again.

'So, uh.. I'm taking Grace to the letters today, I think we might be able to open hers,' Noa states.
'Have fun,' he mutters quietly.

What happened to their insufferable leader? Yesterday he wanted to punch me and now he looks like even a fly could knock him to the ground.

'Are you sure you're, okay?' I ask.
'I definitely don't need you to worry about my health,' he bites back.

Noa places his hand down on my thigh to show he's still here.

'Why do you dislike me?' I ask.

Noa now softly squeezes my thigh in response to my question. Almost like he's telling me to stop.

'I don't have to like everyone.'
'It's not like I did anything for you to dislike me,' I explain.
'I'll tell you, you nosey little sh-'

He dashes forward trying to grab me, but Odin is quick enough to hold him back. He's visually shaking as he squeezes his hands into a fist so tightly it could bruise.

'Ever since you showed up all I see when I close my eyes every night is a knife being stabbed into my chest over and over and over again!' He yells.

'What the fuck do I have to do with that, it's not my problem that your bad dreams happened to appear when I arrived.'

His eyes narrow as he stares at me.

'You're the one holding the fucking knife!'

Noa grabs our empty plates and gets up trying to pull me with him.

'Grace we should go.'
'And you,' he points at Noa, 'can't you see that woman is walking all over you!'

Noa doesn't waste his energy as he walks away with his hand on my back to guide me with him. He's walking fast, making me almost trip over my own feet trying to keep up. He was so excited, but his happiness disappeared as fast as it came.

'I'm sorry,' I whisper.
He stops in his tracks when my words reach him.
'What are you apologising for?'
'I shouldn't have tested him like this, I'm sorry.'
'I don't care,' he shrugs.
'Are you sure, you look a bit.. annoyed.' 'I am annoyed, but not with you,' he explains.

We continue walking after that. He leads me to a trapdoor hidden underneath a chest in the meeting room. Pushing it out of the way he inserts a key and opens the trapdoor revealing a ladder down.

'Ladies first.'

Carefully I make my way down as he follows behind me until we reach a small room.

'What is this place?' I ask looking around. 'Storage for important things, sit down.'

I sit down at the table in the middle of the room, a small light bulb hanging above it. He walks over to a specific closet and takes out a wooden box, placing it in front of me before he sits down too.

He takes out a pile of small metal rectangular boxes locked with some sort of padlock. He flicks through them looking for a specific one.

'This looks like a lot.' '37,' he responds immediately. '37,' I repeat, 'And with how many people are we here?'
'21, we lost 16 guys already. Here.'

He hands me one of the boxes.

On the front of the box was my name and the number 37 written in fancy letters.

I move my hands towards the padlock slightly jumping as a screen appears when I touch it.

It's asking for my real name, just like Noa said. Slowly I type in the name I was told to be my own.
A green light appears when I press enter, making me assume it is correct, but the padlock doesn't open. A new task appears on the small screen.

'It's asking me to insert the key.'

I take the padlock in my hands as I examine it. I find a circular hole in the bottom of the lock. Hesitantly I take my necklace and insert it. The screen turns green again and this time a click can be heard opening up the metal case and giving me access to whatever was inside.

Carefully I take out a piece of paper and open it up. It was indeed a letter. I quickly scan the context before reading it aloud.
___________________________________

Dear Georgia,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I'm sorry for leaving you two behind with the white coats. I hope one day you'll understand why I had to do it.

They told me it would only take a few years and we would become one happy family once again. It's worth the wait as you might be able to save us all from this awful disease.

Please take care of yourself and don't worry too much about us. They're keeping us in a bunker until the project is finished.

I know you two aren't the biggest friends, but please keep an eye on your brother for me and I'll keep an eye on your father for you.

I'm proud of you.

Love,

Mom
___________________________________

A mix of emotions come over me as I lay the letter down on the table.

'But didn't you say my parents were eliminated?' I ask.
'That's what the sky box said.'
'They betrayed us and those white coats betrayed them in return,' I whisper.

It's my parents' fault I'm in here.