𝐈𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝

Chapter Twenty: The Arrival

Since it was still early and I couldn't exactly sleep, I decided to pester Dylan with more questions.

"You said those people weren't captured? What does that mean?" I asked.

"Not this again," he groaned, throwing his head back in frustration at my incessant curiosity.

"We just got attacked by an angry mob of people who were upset that we were taking their food," I countered, raising my eyebrows at him. "You really can't blame me for wanting just a little clarification."

"I think I'll have to agree with Nora on this one," Charlie called out from the front. I grinned proudly.

"When do you not," I heard Dylan mutter. He sighed and sat up. "Okay, fine. After the asteroid hit, the people closest to it, who weren't immediately killed by the impact, started to get sick. They'd cough up blood, get fevers, but mainly start going a little nuts," Dylan rambled on, listing off side effects. "Pretty soon this disease started spreading everywhere, fast. But for some reason - I think it's got to do with our blood or cells, I don't know, but anyone who was younger could survive this disease."

"So the asteroid... when it hit, it spread a disease that kills old people-," I worked through my thoughts out loud, not really caring how incomplete and simplified they sounded, but Dylan cut me off.

"No, not old people," he rolled his eyes. "Basically anyone over the age of twenty-five has a good chance of getting infected."

"Okay, got it. So we're safe then? We won't get infected?"

"Yeah. We're pretty much immune."

"But everyone older, they're..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish my sentence and admit that my parents, coaches, and the people I cared about were going to die sooner or later. If they were even still alive.

"If they try to isolate and stay away from the infected then they should be fine," Dylan said reassuringly. I swallowed.

"So Fed...".

"He should be fine. I'm guessing he's a little over twenty, but he looks pretty healthy so you don't have to worry about him." I sighed in relief. Thank God.

"So what does this have to do with people getting captured?" I asked, not following the train of information Dylan was laying out.

"Well Monarch, they realized this pattern and so they started collecting children to run tests on them and find out what's different about them - what makes them resistant. They study their blood, cells, brain patterns, and their responses to certain things - I don't really know the specifics, but let's just say you don't want to be a test subject there," he admitted solemnly. I tried to stop the thought of Connor being at Monarch seep into my mind because I really didn't want to think about what they could be doing to him in there.

"So, they collect these kids and use them for research?" Charlie asked. I knew he was thinking about Bianca too.

"Yeah, basically, Monarch isn't a good place," Dylan replied curtly and I sensed he was thinking about Thomas.

"And that's where Connor, Bianca, and Thomas are?" I asked gently. Dylan looked at me for a moment before nodding sadly. "What do they do to them? The subjects? Do the tests hurt?" I tried to hide the uneasiness I was feeling, but I'm sure everyone in the car noticed or felt the same way. Dylan paused, scanning my face. He was thinking about his answer.

"All I know is that it's not good..." he trailed off.

"Okay," Nora nodded. "So, we're about to go headfirst into an organization that literally tortures children?"