mealtimes and though the guards on the far side of the room seemed not to care there was no point giving them a reason to start swinging their stun batons. Nigel frowned as he saw the fresh cuts and bruises on Laura’s face.
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Laura replied with a sigh. ‘Just took another beating in the pit. It’s nothing. How are you feeling?’
Nigel had taken several months to fully recover from the gunshot wound he had suffered when the Disciples ambushed the Hunt. In truth, he had been lucky to survive but he still looked thin and he tired quickly.
‘Better every day,’ Nigel said. ‘The doctor said that I should be ready to start with physical training in a couple of weeks. Though looking at you I’m not sure that’s actually a good thing.’
‘Yeah, well no one hates you the way they do me,’ Laura said, glancing across the room at the table where the other captured H.I.V.E. Alpha stream students all sat together, eating in silence. Within just a couple of hours of arriving at the Glasshouse, Furan had gathered them together to explain the situation they now found themselves in. She had made it clear that escape was impossible and that any attempt to prove otherwise had only one punishment: immediate summary execution. Just when Laura had thought that things could not get any bleaker Furan had then, with obvious pleasure, explained to the other H.I.V.E. students that the reason they were in such danger was because of Laura’s treachery. She had neglected to mention that the only reason Laura had betrayed the school was in a desperate attempt to save the lives of her parents and newborn baby brother, who were being held hostage by the Disciples. From that point, her life had been a living hell; on one side were the existing Glasshouse trainees, who hated all of the captured H.I.V.E. students, and on the other were her former classmates, who now blamed her for not only their capture but also the deaths of many of their friends. The only people that still spoke to her were Nigel, Tom and Penny, all of whom had been present when Laura’s betrayal had first been exposed. They were the only ones that understood the nightmarish position that Laura had been put in and even they had still found it hard to forgive her. She knew how they felt; she still had not forgiven herself.
‘I’ve tried to explain what happened to people,’ Nigel said quietly, ‘but most of them don’t want to hear it. It’s going to take time.’
‘Oh, I don’t expect anyone to forgive me,’ Laura said, pushing the grey slop on her tray around with her plastic spoon. ‘Even you, Nigel.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s not your call,’ Nigel said with a tiny smile. ‘I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I know you, Laura, and I know that you’d never have given them the information they wanted if you’d known what the consequences would be. We’ve got to try and stay positive if we’re going to have any hope of surviving this place.’
Tom and Penny walked past Laura and Nigel and sat down opposite each other at the far end of the table. The last traces of Penny’s exuberantly pink hair had vanished weeks ago, to be replaced by her natural shade of dark brown and she too bore the marks of the Glasshouse’s training – a fresh pink scar on her neck from a recent defeat in a ‘mock’ knife fight. Tom glanced over at Laura and gave a small nod as their eyes met. The pair of them had barely spoken to Laura since they had arrived at the Glasshouse, partly because they did not want to incur the wrath of the other captured H.I.V.E. students, but also, Laura suspected, because they too blamed her for their current predicament.
‘I understand that, Nigel,’ Laura replied, a sudden look of deep sadness in her eyes, ‘but what if there’s no one coming for us? What if they can’t find us? What if they don’t want to?’
‘You can’t think like that,’ Nigel said, shaking his head. ‘You know they won’t give up
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Laura replied with a sigh. ‘Just took another beating in the pit. It’s nothing. How are you feeling?’
Nigel had taken several months to fully recover from the gunshot wound he had suffered when the Disciples ambushed the Hunt. In truth, he had been lucky to survive but he still looked thin and he tired quickly.
‘Better every day,’ Nigel said. ‘The doctor said that I should be ready to start with physical training in a couple of weeks. Though looking at you I’m not sure that’s actually a good thing.’
‘Yeah, well no one hates you the way they do me,’ Laura said, glancing across the room at the table where the other captured H.I.V.E. Alpha stream students all sat together, eating in silence. Within just a couple of hours of arriving at the Glasshouse, Furan had gathered them together to explain the situation they now found themselves in. She had made it clear that escape was impossible and that any attempt to prove otherwise had only one punishment: immediate summary execution. Just when Laura had thought that things could not get any bleaker Furan had then, with obvious pleasure, explained to the other H.I.V.E. students that the reason they were in such danger was because of Laura’s treachery. She had neglected to mention that the only reason Laura had betrayed the school was in a desperate attempt to save the lives of her parents and newborn baby brother, who were being held hostage by the Disciples. From that point, her life had been a living hell; on one side were the existing Glasshouse trainees, who hated all of the captured H.I.V.E. students, and on the other were her former classmates, who now blamed her for not only their capture but also the deaths of many of their friends. The only people that still spoke to her were Nigel, Tom and Penny, all of whom had been present when Laura’s betrayal had first been exposed. They were the only ones that understood the nightmarish position that Laura had been put in and even they had still found it hard to forgive her. She knew how they felt; she still had not forgiven herself.
‘I’ve tried to explain what happened to people,’ Nigel said quietly, ‘but most of them don’t want to hear it. It’s going to take time.’
‘Oh, I don’t expect anyone to forgive me,’ Laura said, pushing the grey slop on her tray around with her plastic spoon. ‘Even you, Nigel.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s not your call,’ Nigel said with a tiny smile. ‘I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I know you, Laura, and I know that you’d never have given them the information they wanted if you’d known what the consequences would be. We’ve got to try and stay positive if we’re going to have any hope of surviving this place.’
Tom and Penny walked past Laura and Nigel and sat down opposite each other at the far end of the table. The last traces of Penny’s exuberantly pink hair had vanished weeks ago, to be replaced by her natural shade of dark brown and she too bore the marks of the Glasshouse’s training – a fresh pink scar on her neck from a recent defeat in a ‘mock’ knife fight. Tom glanced over at Laura and gave a small nod as their eyes met. The pair of them had barely spoken to Laura since they had arrived at the Glasshouse, partly because they did not want to incur the wrath of the other captured H.I.V.E. students, but also, Laura suspected, because they too blamed her for their current predicament.
‘I understand that, Nigel,’ Laura replied, a sudden look of deep sadness in her eyes, ‘but what if there’s no one coming for us? What if they can’t find us? What if they don’t want to?’
‘You can’t think like that,’ Nigel said, shaking his head. ‘You know they won’t give up
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