Hey there! Sorry for the late post, I was pretty busy today. This chapter is potentially my favorite chapter so far... maybe? Well I'm not sure. Anyways, as always please enjoy, and I hope you have a good week! :)
Chapter Fifteen
Surprises
Montreal Ski Resort
Montreal Quebec
January 9th
1830 hours
For the next week, Erica stayed in bed, and the students in our cabin took turns caring
for her. Charlotte and I hovered over her every hour of the day though. As she lay there, sleeping soundly, her fever rising,I counted the time she could have come in contact with the virus and how affected she would be. We'd come in contact with Clarice, Dane, Brane and whoever else had been in the contaminated room, and then she'd gone in without a mask on herself. From there, we'd come in contact with CROATOAN more, and then she'd injected herself. It was the first major screw up I'd witnessed Erica commit.
"I'm assuming you want to hear the story of how I reacted to the virus?" Charlie asked quietly as she folded blankets on the end of Erica's bed. We hadn't brought up anything other than Erica over the past several days.
"I do, but maybe wait for Erica," I replied, still sitting tensely in her wickerwork chair.
"Erica won't want to hear it yet,"
"Fine, tell me," Charlie collapsed on the desk chair, and ran her index finger over the intricate wood carvings on the back.
"Well, I didn't get sick the way Erica did. Instead, I was completely fine. So I went about my normal schedule, and it wasn't long before all the students in my age group were falling ill. We had no idea what it was, so we assumed it was the flu. Even I had no idea what it was. The next week, everyone was siding against me, saying since I was the only non sick one, I caused it. That was when I realised that the needle had done something to affect them. So, I left at dawn the next day. If Clarice found out I had been in the headquarters, she would have had me killed. I stayed low, sleeping in the forest most nights, and then I called my sister to ask if she would house me a little. I never told her why. But she accepted, and then one night I saw the cabin lights turn on, and then the next morning students were filling the winter game park, and then I left my sisters. It was only a week or two later that I saw you and Erica running from the headquarters with Clarice and her thugs on your heels." She stopped, and the room fell silent save for the ticking clock on the wall above the door.
I took the last two papers of Charlie's notes, and scanned them.
Manon's room
Manon fell sick today, and Clarice told her to stop being a baby. So now I'm watching over her. I have a feeling I started this sickness.
I heard that James fell sick as well.
If I'm caught for being in the headquarters, I'm dead meat.
The needle did nothing to affect me. I've been fine ever since I injected it.
I passed the paper to Charlie, who was still running her finger over the wood. She took it, and then put it on the pile of the other papers.
I turned my attention to the last paper.
I actually have no idea where I am
Everyone in my group became sick, and I was blamed, so i left
Now I'm staying on the edge of the forest, and snacking on the food that I took from the cafeteria.
WHen the phone booth becomes available, I'm going to call Ashley and ask for her house to stay in.
I whipped my head over at Charlotte.
"You've mentioned someone named Ashley several times. Who is she?" I asked her.
"My close friend, and I would almost consider her my sister. She worked at the research lab, and then she left. She was working at the hospital in Florida before that, but then she was found half dead, and was moved away from there."
I had to contain my look of surprise.
"Ashley Sparks?!"
"Yeah… Do you know her?"
"Do I know her?" I laughed weakly. Do I know her? I knew who she was, but did I truly know who she was on the inside? When I thought of it, I really didn't. Deep down, she was just a human. "I don't even know anymore, Charlotte."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I know her, but she's different than I thought she was. Welcome to my wonderfully confusing life."
We fell silent for 30 minutes after that. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn't know how to word them properly. Charlotte had fallen asleep in the chair, sitting backwards with the side of her head resting on her arms. I didn't do it on purpose, but I found myself watching her breath deeply, rising up and down slowly. The clock continued ticking, and eventually I found myself reading a book that Erica had put on her bedside table. Erica had woken up briefly to drink water, but hadn't acknowledged our presence.
I closed the book, and stood up. I felt like doing something, not sitting in a silent room. So I tiptoed towards the door, planning to go find Mike. As I passed Charlie, something wrapped around my ankles, tripping me. I held in my cry, but the crash of my chin hitting the ground was loud enough for both the girls to wake up. Charlotte was laughing hysterically.
"Thought I was asleep did you?" She taunted, moving her foot out from underneath me.
I glanced at Erica, and one look told me that it was time to leave.
"Out. Now." Erica breathed, and in a heartbeat Charlotte and I were at the door.
But something unpleasant was waiting for us on the other side. Sophia was standing there, her silky black hair tied up in a messy bun, and her normal wear on. She shifted her weight onto her right leg, and crossed her arms.
"Whatcha doing?" She asked slyly.
"We're leaving," I said, before Charlotte could say anything.
"Move. Erica needs tending to."
I took a step over, but Charlotte didn't. Instead, she crossed her arms as well, and stared, bored, into Sophia's eyes.
"Want to play that game huh?" Sophia asked her, and I had a bad thought of what was coming.
"I do, yes," Charlotte said.
Sophia glared at her, and then turned on her heel before storming away, the room dropping a few degrees. As she flew around the corner and down the hall, she shot a glance that told me all I needed to know.
Don't think you're getting away that easily.
Charlotte stayed livid as we walked down the stairs, and as we put on our winter gear and trudged over to Mike's cabin. There, we parted and she said she was going to the icicle throwing range to get her anger out. I didn't try to stop her. Instead, I walked straight up to the cabin and knocked on the door. A small boy with straw colored hair and freckles opened it.
"Hello," He said, beckoning me in. I did, and the toasty air heated me up instantly.
"Is Mike here?" I asked him, knocking the snow off my boots.
"He - He said he's busy and went up stairs and didn't come down."
"Can I go see if he's in his room?" I asked, but I didn't need an answer because I was already taking my jacket off. Then, in my sock feet I slipped up the stairs, the boy on my heels.
"His room is down there," He said, pointing to a door with a lock hanging from the handle. I wasn't surprised. I could tell which one was Zoe's too, because there was a sign pinned to the middle with the letters ZZ printed on it in sparkly green.
"Thanks -" I paused, realising I didn't know his name.
"Rowan," He said, smiling.
"Thanks Rowan," I said quickly, and then headed to Mike's room. I knocked, and after a few seconds Mike had appeared, telling me to unlock the padlock.
"What's the code?" I asked him, wanting to do anything but this.
"It's four letters, and it starts with an M."
I started listing off the possible options - Mean, Mall, Mope and it kept going - when I realised how stupid I was for not realising. Obviously it was Mole!
I put it in and… it didn't work.
"Mike," I groaned, and he came back to the door.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Wow. I thought you might have a brain. It's Mike."
"Oh," It made sense, and when I put it in, it worked. His room was a disaster. Worse than Chip's. He had a bed, but his floor couldn't be seen. It had turned into a huge laundry basket. Somehow, he had smuggled his PS4 into the building, and he was currently sitting there, his fingers moving wildly across the buttons.
"Hey Smokescreen," Someone from behind me said. I whirled around to find Zoe sitting in the one clean spot in his room. She had cleared it in a circle, and then loaded it up with pillows.
"Hey," I replied, and then plopped down into a chair. Zoe pulled her phone out of her pocket, and then became deeply immersed in it. Mike didn't look up from the tv. I had nothing to do but sit quietly and be bored. And that's what I did - Until I noticed I had a text from Erica.
Got us tickets to China. We're leaving on the last day of vacation.
