EVELYN

Back in her room, Evelyn's mind raced as she went over her plan again, nervously sliding her thumb over the contours of the silver key Liz had pressed into her palm. She didn't know what had changed her sister's mind, but now she was holding the literal key to their salvation. They were all counting on her, and everything was riding on her next move. No pressure.

She glanced at the pile of pillows she'd tossed in the corner of the bed and adjusted the comforter again. Truth be told, it looked more like a lumpy burrito than a body, but it would have to do.

She waited until the sounds of the guards' footsteps faded, and once she was certain they were gone, she fit the key into the lock and crept out into the hall. Without hesitation, she snatched the extra lab coat hanging off a hook by the door and slipped it on. The NeuroGen logo hung heavy on her chest, and she resisted the urge to tear the symbol from the fabric. Her pace quickened as she moved down the hall, eager to put as much distance between herself and her cell as possible. She released her hair from her scrunchie and combed it down over her eyes, parting it down the middle in her best imitation of Liz.

She didn't have time to question whether her disguise would work because, as she turned the next corner, she collided immediately with a tall, armored figure.

"Hey!" the guard yelped in surprise beneath his helmet.

Evelyn hadn't seen this guard before-he was taller and lankier than the others she'd encountered.

"God! Liz, you almost gave me a heart attack!" The guard exclaimed, and it took Evelyn a moment to recognize his voice.

"Tony," she said, trying her best to imitate the tone she'd seen her sister use with him in their previous interactions.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quickly, hoping that by asking him first, it might dissuade him from asking the same question. "Dodging responsibilities again?"

"What? Me? Never!" Tony said, holding a hand up to his chest. "I'm doing my job. What are you doing here?"

Evelyn hesitated. It was the question she was still desperately trying to think of an answer for. "I'm... uh... going to see Elliot. I'm on my way to procedure room 4, and I just... need to... um... talk to him first."

Tony's shoulders softened, and he put a hand on Evelyn's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "We all saw what you went through last time. That's tough. But you know this is for the greater good. You're doing the right thing. Yeah, this one won't make it, but think of the lives you'll be saving. Think of the good you're doing. What's one life stacked against thousands? You know?"

Evelyn nodded slowly, and Tony continued his speech. "Everyone makes sacrifices in this, but think about how exciting this is for our research! We are so close. I mean, our first human trial since Dayna's accident? This is our chance to really test the cure! Those Soulless meat sacks you've been working on have nothing on someone who's freshly turned!"

Evelyn's stomach churned at the mention of Dayna's name. She hated the way Tony spoke so casually about her sister's loss and the aftermath of that trial.

She forced a tight-lipped smile, though she knew it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yeah," she said quietly, her voice lacking conviction. "Exciting."

She glanced behind her, toward the hallway leading back to the procedure rooms and Jonathan's cell. It felt wrong-all of it-the cold, sterile walls, the hum of machines in the background, and the thought of another life being sacrificed.

"You know, Tony," Evelyn responded, "not everyone is as enthusiastic about making sacrifices. Some of us-" she hesitated, then pushed the words out, "-some of us still remember the people we're losing."

For a moment, panic rose in Evelyn's chest, fearing her comment might raise suspicion. But Tony didn't seem to catch the underlying tension in her words. He was too wrapped up in his own excitement, his voice rising with enthusiasm.

"Look, I get it. You're attached, and that's human. But we're not talking about people anymore. We're talking about data, about results. You know how this works. If this trial works, it could change everything. We'll be heroes, all of us."

Evelyn's eyes flicked to the floor, her throat tight as the words cut into her. Heroes. She wondered how many times Liz had been told that line. She wanted to scream, to tell him they weren't heroes-that NeuroGen had caused the problem in the first place and, instead of fixing it, they'd covered it up. Now? It was clear they were just people with too much power and not enough compassion. But she couldn't. She knew that would be too much.

Instead, she settled for a simple, "I'll do what I have to do."

Tony clapped her on the back, grinning. "That's the spirit! We all have our part to play. You're one of the best we've got, Liz. Don't let anyone forget that."

Evelyn's gaze hardened, but she nodded, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Tony. But I really need to get going now. Elliot's waiting."

Tony didn't seem to notice her discomfort. He just gave her a wave and turned, continuing down the hallway, whistling as he went.

"By the way, you're going the wrong way!" He called casually over his shoulder. "They moved you guys down to level 3, remember?"

As soon as he was out of sight, Evelyn took off down the hallway toward the staircase.

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It didn't take long to locate Elliot. The moment she entered the hallway on the third floor, she noticed him peering out from a crack in one of the doors, backpack in hand. The way his hands gripped the doorframe suggested he was ready to bolt at any second. His eyes widened when he recognized her.

"Evie!" he hissed down the hallway, motioning for her to come toward him like they were in one of his beloved action movies.

As she approached, he pulled her into the room and closed the door. Liz and Elliot's living space was comfortably furnished, and the normalcy of it all made Evelyn feel even more uneasy.

"Dang, without your glasses, for a sec there I thought you were Liz!" Elliot exclaimed.

Evelyn let out a small laugh. "Well, that's kind of the idea. It fooled Tony."

Elliot's eyes sparkled. "Total Superman effect!"

Evelyn wrapped her brother in a hug. "I missed you," she whispered into his hair, still trying to overcome her surprise at the foot of height he'd gained in the last two years.

"Hey!" Elliot said, dancing out of her grip. "No time for chick-flick moments. We're escaping, remember?"

Evelyn's lips curled into a smile. "Yes, we are."

Elliot grinned back and tossed her the packed bag, leaning against the bed. His own pile of pillows was arranged on the mattress in the shape of a body.

"Let's get Liz," he said.

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"So which way are we going again?" Evelyn whispered, jogging to keep up with Elliot as the two of them hurried down the hall.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way-at the end of the hall and then left!" Elliot hissed back, taking a sudden turn and darting down yet another hallway with flickering lights. This one, unlike the others, wasn't lined with rooms. Instead, there were just a set of double doors in the middle of the hallway, propped open with doorstops.

Evelyn had already lost track of where they were going, but thankfully, her brother seemed to know what he was doing. There was no one in sight, and Evelyn wondered if it was because Jaycee didn't see the need for any guards or patrols. She remembered the cool look of confidence on Jaycee's face when she had ordered Evelyn out of the room and sent Liz and Jonathan to the procedure room. She believed them trapped and completely under her control. There was no reason to suspect they'd rebel. Even so, Evelyn thought about her and Elliot's burrito blanket piles and hoped it would be enough to convince any random passersby not to sound the alarm.

Evelyn's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as three scientists came sprinting down the hall. Elliot tensed, his fingers tightening around the straps of his backpack. Neither of them was armed-they'd been relying on the fact that no one knew about their plans.

As the scientists drew closer, Evelyn's heart began to race. Panic surged in her chest as she realized they had no contingency plan if things turned violent.

When the trio reached them, Evelyn felt her stomach drop. Something was wrong. Each of them was dressed in blue scrubs, but they were torn and smeared with blood. One of them struggled to adjust his mask, the fabric trembling as he fought to pull it back over his face.

"Run!" one of them hissed, his voice ragged and urgent as he shoved past Evelyn and Elliot.

The other two didn't seem to notice them at all. Without breaking stride, they kicked the doorstops, causing the doors to slam shut behind them with a deafening crash.

Elliot stared after them wide-eyed as they took off down the hall. "What the hell just happened?"

Evelyn glanced back at the double doors, squinting through the tiny squares of glass embedded within them.

"Evie..." Elliot said uneasily, as a shadow appeared through the glass and came careening down the hall.

"Help me get the doors!" Evelyn yelled, and the two of them surged forward to pull open the heavy doors just as Liz came barreling through. She, too, was wearing rumpled, blood-stained scrubs.

"Run!" Liz exclaimed, not pausing to catch her breath. She grabbed both of her siblings by the hand, and the trio took off at a full sprint back the way Evelyn and Elliot had come.

"Liz?" Evelyn shouted warningly at her sister as they dodged a confused-looking guard on their way to the stairwell. "What did you do?"

The sounds of shouting and gunfire filled the air, and the siblings scrambled down the steps, taking them two at a time.

"I may have-" Liz panted. "I may have unleashed-and then triggered-"

"You sicked the Soulless on them?" Elliot howled. "Liz, that's badass!"

"Language!" Liz scolded him. Elliot did not look remotely sorry for his profanity and instead looked unquestionably proud of his sister.

"You what?" Evelyn asked, skidding to a stop as they approached the ground floor, realization dawning on her. "You didn't!"

"It was the only way!" Liz explained. "You're right, we do have a choice, and this was the best I could do for him."

Evelyn nodded, strengthening her resolve. As much as she didn't appreciate the fact that her sister had used Jonathan as an attack dog, Liz had given Jonathan a chance to escape. Now, his distraction would give them theirs, and she was determined not to waste it.

No one stopped them as they bolted out the front doors and into the parking lot. Evelyn could hear gunfire from some distant corner of the facility.

"There!" Elliot shouted, holding up a pair of car keys as he pointed to the jeep parked at the back of the lot, an anatomical red heart spray-painted across the hood. Liz snatched the keys from his fingers, and the three of them rushed to climb into the vehicle.

"You are both so, so lucky I was into sleight of hand when I was nine!" Elliot smiled as he climbed into the back seat. "Came in pretty handy, if you ask me! I mean, Tobias is going to be pissed when he finds out we took his car!"

"Language!" Liz warned again, revving the engine and throwing the jeep into reverse.

"I should get a pass for teaching you how to swipe the key from Jaycee!" Elliot hollered back.

Evelyn tuned out her siblings' bickering, focusing instead on the rear window. The Soulless had started to come, drawn to the commotion and fear inside the facility. It was now clear they were on some kind of university campus because many of the Soulless shuffling through the doors they'd left open were young adults dressed in backpacks and sweaters embroidered with the letters U.B.C.

She scanned the crowd, hoping and praying to spot Jonathan among the horde. Anything to confirm that he had made it out. That he was... alive? No, that wasn't the right word. Free?

She knew it was too optimistic to hope, especially given her terrible eyesight, but just as they drove out of view, she thought she saw someone climbing down a rope of sheets from one of the upper windows.

If anyone was crazy enough to "die hard" out the window using bed sheets, she knew it would be him.