Free Project Aquarius (The Sensitives Series Book 1) by Colleen Jordan Page A

will not change no matter what your argument. Don’t worry, as we speak, your offices are being outfitted with cots, clothing, and food supplies to make your stay as comfortable as possible—”
    “You can’t hold us here against our will!” a man from the back row yelled.
    “I’m doing this for your own good! This is an honor. You could not possibly understand now.”
    The crowd united in their dissent. Shouts of “This isn’t a prison!” and “I quit!” could be heard around the room.
    Dr. Shin kept his composure. He appeared to have anticipated this response. “Please remain calm. After the mandatory one-week lockdown you will be free to go and you may quit then if you desire. However, I encourage you to grasp the full state of the world before making that decision.”
    “This is illegal!” the crowd roared once more.
    “If you review your contracts carefully, you will note that your job description includes mandatory overtime for safety-related issues…”
    Sara’s chest tightened. He had planned this. It must have taken years.
    “I’m calling the police!” shouted a woman Sara knew from the nanotech department.
    “You don’t realize what has happened yet. The police will not respond. And you’ll be thanking me in a week. Project Aquarius will be vital in restoring order and you all have important roles to play. Now please remain calm and stay in your seats. In a few minutes we will share images of the outside world taken by our Ground Team.”
    Dr. Shin made eye contact with Sara Owens. There was a subtle nod of approval.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER TWELVE
    Darnell
     
    The sight of the fat lunch lady’s crumpled body stopped Darnell in his tracks. There was something grotesque and familiar about the pose.
         Blink. A dead body, limp on the living room floor, needle in the arm, hunched over in an impossible position. Angry purple petechia skittered across the dead guy’s pale skin.
         Blink. Darnell stared at the lunch lady’s corpse, the present mixing with the past in a strong mental cocktail. Her body was discarded like a peanut shell. Empty.
         Darnell knew now, all dead bodies looked the same–– the eyes, vacant like a motel on a weeknight in winter.
         Blink. The man who had OD’ed had gray eyes. Pained eyes. They held the desperate stare of a junkie, even after death.
         Blink. The memory conjured the taste of pennies in Darnell’s mouth. He swallowed it down.
        “Don’t be a pussy,” he said sternly to his stomach.
    “Come back, Darnell!” his teacher called in his direction.
    There was nothing to come back to. Before everything went dark, he had wished his teacher dead. Then the old lunch lady had fallen to the ground and there had been a blinding pain in his head. Darnell had killed the old lady and now he couldn’t stop staring at her dead body.
    Ms. Harding staggered her way out of the freezer. “Oh, God,” she gasped as she bent down and took the woman’s limp wrist in her hand.
    Ms. Harding looked up at the clock to check the pulse and Darnell’s gaze followed. The dial was frozen. He had never seen a school clock stopped before. So many times in class, he had wished for the second hand to stop endlessly gliding around the face.
    Maybe, his wishes were coming true after all…
    Ms. Harding shook her head regretfully and dropped the lunch lady’s arm. From his position, it was hard for Darnell to see the look on her face, but he knew that grief usually looked like the moment before someone puked all over the place.
    It was over.
    For ten seconds, they stood still, unsure what to do.
    Darnell felt nothing. He was as empty as the lunch lady’s carcass.
    At eleven seconds, his heart rate increased. He started to freak out. He couldn’t afford to get in trouble. And he had messed this one up pretty bad.
    His body knew what to do. Mindlessly, he put one foot in front of the other, gliding quickly across the kitchen. In the next instant,