"You've ever climbed a tree before?" Samson asked Todd.

Ren rolled her eyes at him and threw her brown canvas bag over her shoulders. Picking apples wasn't her favourite job, but it was the one that bothered her the least. She liked it up in the trees. She felt so free, like no Officer could possibly hurt her.

Samson had been hanging around her and Todd since they've woken up. He still wants in on Todd's escape plan. With Samson bothering him all the time, Todd hadn't even had time to tell Ren his plan. It tormented her not to know it.

"Not really. But I use to scale buildings so how much harder can it be?" Todd said.

"Yeah," Samson said with a smile. He looked over his shoulders quickly at the Officers checking the Rats numbers and handing them a bag. They walked up the grassy hill to the orchard of trees. Samson leaned in and began whispering to Todd. "Back in Royale we use to have so many trees. They were always scared I'd get hurt, but I did it anyways. See I need to get back there. Royale is my home and those bastards have kept me away from it for too long."

Todd shot a quick look down at Ren and she shook her head. He bit down on his lip to stop himself from smirking.

"I hope ya find a way out soon then," Todd told him.

"Seriously?" Samson asked angry. "Why won't you help me? If we get out together I can make life for you after we escape amazing. You will have everything you'd ever want and you'll never have to live like a Rat again."

"Guess we'll have to risk that," he said.

Samson cursed and ran forward to the group of Rats walking in front of them. The orchard was coming up close and Ren knew this was the only time in a while that he'd be able to tell her what his plan was.

"W...w...what...t...t," Ren began to try to say. She knew she'd never get it out before they had to start climbing.

"What is it?" Todd asked her.

"T...t...th...th...the," Ren bit down on her lip and took a deep breath in. She had to get the words out and she was running out of time.

"The what?"

Todd's lips were curled into another smirk and Ren wanted to slap him. He knew exactly what she was trying to say and he wanted to watch her suffer. It was the same thing Mitch did. She scowled and turned her head.

"I'm just teasin' you," Todd said letting a slight chuckle grow behind his ear. "It's fun because you don't say anything back. Shai used to always snap so easily. That was fun too. I basically just like piss off people."

Ren shrugged her shoulders at him without looking up at him. They came to the trees and they weaved their way through to some that weren't taken yet.

She hadn't climbed a tree since last year's apple picking. She grabbed the rough bark with her callused hands and began to pull herself up. Todd was in the tree next to hers and she began pulling the apples off of the low branches. She put them into her bag and when it was full she brought them over to a large crate in front of the orchard. Other Rats carried the crates away once they were full.

The shade from the trees provided relief from the blistering sun. Ren climbed higher and higher up the trees as she picked it clean. She had to reach out carefully for certain ones and was scared that she would fall and break something. She would be killed if she could no longer work.

The bottom of her tree started to rustle as the branches moved quickly. She noticed that someone was climbing up. Her foot slipped on the branch underneath her as she panicked it may be Mitch. She had a tight grip on the branch in front of her, so it stopped her from falling to the ground. She hit the trunk of the tree with her ribs and it knocked the wind out of her. Pushing her feet up against the trunk she managed to pull herself on top of branch she was holding onto.

She was panting heavily and her side burned in pain. A hand grabbed the branch she was sitting on and the climber pulled himself up so he was sitting on the top of the trunk where all of the branches spiralled out in way different ways. Ren let out a deep breath when she saw it was Todd.

If any Officer saw them both sitting up in the same tree they would punish them for sure. Todd was new and even though he witnessed Evaluation Day and the Butcher, but he hadn't seen any normal day punishments.

Without thinking, Ren raised her arms and pushed Todd. He had himself propped up against the branches and didn't budge. Ren almost slid off of the branch she was sitting on and grabbed it again to steady herself.

"What was that for?" Todd said quietly to her.

Ren didn't even attempt to talk to him. She just let her eyes grow big and pointed to the ground.

"I'm not staying for long. Don't worry," he said.

Ren took a quick look at the ground to make sure no Officers were standing below them. It seemed to be clear, but she was still nervous one was near.

She couldn't believe how relaxed Todd looked. He was leaning back against a branch and he had his one foot resting on another branch. His other foot was dangling down.

Ren grabbed the branch over top of her head and pulled herself up onto her feet. She wrapped her arm around the branch to steady herself and stop her from falling. She continued picking apples. She wasn't going to let herself get punished because of him.

"Can I ask you something, Stutter?" he said.

She hated it when he called her that. She shrugged her shoulders. He could ask, but he most likely wasn't going to get a response. This would be the perfect time to ask about his plan to escape. She knew it would take too long though and he would never get out of her tree.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

She knew that she told him the other day how she got arrested. He probably wasn't listening or didn't care, so he forgot.

"B...bread," she started.

"No," he cut her off. "Why are you still here?"

She turned around and looked at him confused. He no longer seemed so relaxed. His body was tense as he was leaning forward, no longer against the branch.

It was such a stupid question. No one stayed in the camps because they wanted to. No one ever had the choice to leave. Once you were arrested this was your life forever.

"Y...you c...c...can...n...n't leav...ve," she struggled to say.

"Yeah, I know we'll never be let out," Todd said. "But what's the point of living if this is our life? Always being afraid and abused. There's no reason to live anymore. We'll never be happy here. All we are doing is waiting for an Officer to kill us.

"I know I said I had come up with an escape plan, but it probably isn't what you thought it was goin' to be. We can't leave. There's no way we can leave this farm without being gunned down. We have to free ourselves. We can't give them the satisfaction of ending our lives. Ren, tonight we have to kill ourselves."

She felt her face flush and her stomach started to churn. This was his big escape plan? She had fought for her life for years. She wasn't going to let some guy she had only known for a couple days ruin that.

"W...w...what?" she managed to say. Her grip on the branch tightened and she felt the bark tear into her skin.

Todd's lips curled into a smile and he started to laugh uncontrollably.

"You...you should see your face right now," he said in between breaths. "I was just joking."

Ren bit down on her lip hard. Anger washed over her as Todd made her feel like a complete fool.

"D...d...dow...wn," she warned him.

"What?" he asked continuing to laugh.

"Get out of my tree," she snapped at him.

She took in a sharp breath. It was the first time she had spoke without stuttering in years. Todd looked just as surprised as her.

"Okay," he said sliding off the branch he was on and swinging his leg over. "Be ready. Tomorrow is our last day here."

He winked one of his crystal blue eyes at her. She grabbed an apple out of her bag and whipped it at him. She felt a lot better.

--

Everything in Brodhi's body ached as he began to regain consciousness again. When he opened up his eyes his vision began to spin and he shut them tightly. His entire body was shivering, but he felt sweat drip off of his forehead. He rolled over onto his back and felt the cool tiles of the floor press into his back.

Digging the palms of his hands into his eyes, he slowly opened them again. The bright strips of lights were still on the ceiling and he turned his head to the side to avoid them.

A man was sitting up against the wall across from him. He looked to be the same age as Brodhi. He was much skinnier than him, and had a mop of dirty blonde hair on his head. It stuck to the sweat collecting on his face. His skin was pale and he had a light blue uniform on. Brodhi took a quick look at himself to see he was wearing the same thing.

This must have been Sawyer. The boy strapped down on the table next to him. Kirby had threatened some girl named Eden and he assumed it was his girlfriend.

Brodhi had to get up and find Lynn. He had to get her out of this hospital before they hurt either her or their baby. He pushed his back off the ground slowly with his hands. His temple ached even more and when he took a deep breath he realized how dry his mouth and throat were. All of his muscles ached as he got up onto his feet.

He took a few steps forward and the room started to spin again. He fell onto his knees. Sawyer watched him as he settled himself against the wall he woke up beside. Brodhi put his head between his knees and took in a few deep breaths and squeezed his eyes shut. He ignored the way his throat burned and the terrible taste that filled his mouth.

He had to get up and try to find Lynn. He tried again. He only managed a few steps before he started getting dizzy again.

There was nothing in the room anymore other than Brodhi and Sawyer. The tables they were strapped to were gone. A small counter and cabinet were in the corner of the room.

Brodhi took another step and fell back onto his knees and put a hand on the ground to stop him from falling over. He looked up at Sawyer to see him looking at him sympathetically.

"Good morning, boys," they heard a voice say.

The turned to see that one of the walls had disappeared and Kirby was standing there. He had on a long white coat and held his hands behind his back. His lips were twisted into a sick smile.

The floor to the room Brodhi and Sawyer were in was made of dark blue tiles, but Kirby was standing on bright white tiles. The walls surrounding Kirby were the same white, and their room was a dark blue.

"How are you feeling?" he asked them.

"Like shit," Brodhi snarled. He was still crouched on the ground. He moved his other arm so that it was cradling his stomach. Because he felt like he was going to be sick at any moment.

"You should," Kirby agreed. "I've infected you both with the Virus."

Brodhi's arm came out from underneath him and he hit the ground. He couldn't go look for Lynn now. As soon as he saw her he would infect her and the baby. There was nothing he could do now.

"What do you gain from this?" Sawyer asked.

"Well, it's not exactly the Virus," Kirby started to explain. "We have engineered a mutation of the Virus."

"Why would you create that?" Sawyer asked.

"That really doesn't matter. Does it?" he said shrugging his shoulders. "What does matter is that you have both been injected with a vaccine. If you're lucky that vaccine will stop you from dying."

Brodhi and Sawyer quickly looked at each other. The fear was noticeable on both of their faces, but neither one would admit it.

"Where's Lynn?" Brodhi asked him.

"Dr Cendrowski is with her right now," he told him calmly.

Brodhi's heart started beating faster as he thought about the man that convinced them to come to the hospital. He didn't want to know what he was doing to her right now. He may be infecting her and then injecting her with some other vaccine.

"What is he doing to her," Brodhi barked at him.

"Delivering her baby," he said with a smirk. "Or should I say your baby."

Anger overcame Brodhi and he got up and charged at Kirby. He ran, but then was quickly knocked down. He hit the ground hard and his head throbbed his pain. He could feel the bile rising up in the back of his throat.

Kirby continued to stand there with his arms behind his back. He looked down at Brodhi who was crumpled up on the floor.

"Thank you for volunteering your family for this experiment," Kirby said walking away.

Brodhi wanted to get up and try to break down whatever was separating him from Kirby. He wanted to find Lynn. He always told her that he would be with her when she was giving birth. She was terrified about it and he wanted to be there for her.

He tried to get up, but he had no energy. He quickly passed out on the floor again.

--

When Brodhi woke up again the floor in front of him was covered in a sticky substance. His mouth tasted awful and he realized that he was vomiting in his sleep.

The wall Kirby was standing behind was blue again. Brodhi rolled over onto his other side to get the stench of his vomit out of my nose. Sawyer was still sitting up against the wall he was beside when Brodhi fell asleep. He had his long legs stretched out in front of him. His face was still flushed and his hair still stuck to his face. He was staring at Brodhi with his light brown eyes.

"Cendrowski showed up earlier while you were sleeping," Sawyer told him. "It's a girl. They've named her Juno."