Free The Disappeared by C.J. Harper

it’s no better. I turn on the squeaky tap and I’m blasted with icy-cold water. I shrink back against the door, hoping it will warm up, but it doesn’t. I have a quick splash and then give up. I’m in such a hurry to get my clothes on before anyone else comes in that I end up with my trousers sticking to my damp legs.
    I follow the stream of Specials down to the dining room. Breakfast is the same horrible nozzle-sucking business. I don’t eat from the one with the sedative, or whatever it is, in it. The best part of the meal is a piece of bread which has been left in each pod on the drainage tray. After I’ve eaten I realise I probably should have saved the bread. If I’m going to break out of here I’ll need supplies. Food, water and something to carry them in. I’ve got to take my time and get properly organised.
    The day goes by in a blur, and the next few days pass in much the same way. I can’t see how I’ll ever be able to escape. During the day the enforcers keep us locked in the grid and the rest of the time there are patrols of impeccables watching our every move. I spend a lot of time observing. I keep quiet and try to blend in.
    In the grid we mostly study electronics, I’m surprised by how advanced some of their work is, but it all has a practical basis, so I suppose they’re preparing the students for work in an electronics factory. To my horror the other main lesson is Physical Education. Most afternoons we’re taken to the drum-shaped room and are expected to run and jump and generally throw ourselves about. Enforcer Tong keeps telling us how we need strong, healthy bodies to make our contribution to society, but I’ve never felt more weak and exhausted in my life.
    Secretly, I keep expecting someone to appear and take me away from this place, but it doesn’t happen. No one wants to listen to me when I tell them I don’t belong here. Ilex is the only person who talks to me, but he spends a lot of time with Ali in the kids’ dormitory.
    Mostly, I sit around thinking about food and watching the blonde girl. I notice at mealtimes that she doesn’t drink from the first nozzle either. I wonder if she’s getting food from somewhere else. Last night I woke up when she got up to go to the bathroom and she didn’t come back for a really long time. She’s definitely up to something. So tonight I’m keeping myself awake.
    Just when my stomach cramps are fading and I’m starting to get warm and sleepy I hear the squeak of a bare foot on the tiled floor. I open my eyes. The girl is creeping down the dormitory. She swerves into the bathroom. I wait a moment and then I follow. The freezing bathroom is deserted and silent except for the echo of a dripping tap. The stalls are all empty. The girl has gone. In the corner there’s a tiny strip of light around the edge of a door that must lead on to the corridor. I try the handle. It’s locked. I can just about make out a keypad next to it. The girl must know the code. I remember the impeccable typing CLASSROOM into the grid door-pad, on the day I arrived. Maybe all the codes are ridiculously simple. I tap in CORRIDOR. But nothing happens. I try LANDING. There’s a high-pitched beep and the door clicks open. Incredible. I can’t believe Specials aren’t pouring in and out all night long. I slip out of the door, squinting at the brightness, even though the lights are on a night setting. There’s no sign of the girl. I decide that I may as well take advantage of my freedom and head for the kitchen.
    I sneak down the stairs and round to the dining hall. I tiptoe between the shadowy rows of feeding pods. I keep expecting someone to emerge from one. I find the door that I’ve seen kitchen workers use and lift my hand to the punch-pad, but the door is wedged open with a chunk of wood. Someone else is already in the kitchen. I put my eye to the crack. It’s too dark to see. Slowly, I open the door till there’s enough room to creep in.
    Inside, it’s