"Ha ha. No. We're all going. Who knows if she is held hostage by psycho girl ninjas hiding in that shack of hers, who are waiting for us to come so that they can throw their ninja-star blades on us. Or slice us in a clean half from our waist in one...
[TRIGGER WARNING: SLIGHT DESCRIPTION OF PANIC ATTACK]
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ADELAIDE
I am apprehensive of the Aislinn, who seemed to know everything about me whereas I knew almost nothing about her. So I decided that I will try to stick to her as much as possible and try to fish out everything about anything I can.
I wasn't sure if Aislinn didn't find it even remotely different about me trying to stay with her. Even if she did, which I knew that she did, because she was that smart, she didn't show it to me.
Aislinn was sitting on the bench in the dining hall opposite to me and was swiping through a tab.
The people around me keep sneaking uncomfortable glances at me, whispering under their breaths, huddled in tight groups. Some even unnecessarily sneered at me.
That might have been another reason why I chose to stick with Aislinn.
I don't want to fall alone in an unknown place where majority of the people hated my guts.
I try hard to ignore, but it is quite impossible to tune out their constant hushed whispers, which is of course, directed towards me.
If they spoke a little louder, I could have heard what they are talking about.
Aislinn's brows furrowed and her eyes set in concentration, she enlarges an what she is seeing in the tab and rests her chin on her palm.
Slurping noiselessly an orange juice, I try to look at what she's seeing. I find some pie charts and lot of small squiggly footnotes. She swipes her finger on the screen and it now shows a map of an area with two- three flickering red dots and a few maroon, non flickering dots.
"What's that?"
"Location of WICKED labs." Aislinn doesn't look at me. I double take in surprise. I observe the coordinates of the red dots.
"And the blinking red mean...?"
"Active labs."
So the maroon dots means non active labs.
"What made the others non active?"
Aislinn looks us at me. She flips the cover of the tab, close and takes a slice of tomato from the bowl of salad kept in front of her. "A lot of causes. Flare being mostly. Others might be rebellion or infestation of Cranks."
"There are rebellion?"
"Of course there is. You think only we know about WICKED?" she points at the both of us. "The whole world knows. And apparently, only a few percentage of people agree with WICKED policy. The rest are angry on them for using their resources and money and making promises for a Cure that hasn't been there yet."
My heart thumps loudly in my ears. "Wh-what do mean 'hasn't been there yet'? Aren't they close to making the Cure?"
Aislinn just laughs. "Do you think that they can find a cure? All they do is make empty promises. With the virus mutating faster than ever, there can't be any cure. No one can make a cure for that kind of virus."
"But... she said that.. they are almost made the cure, that ... Violet..she said that if we go there.. we can find a Cure...." I feel nauseous now, my head spinning wildly, my heart beating at my throat.
Aislinn looks worried. "Who-who exactly told you that? To go where?"
"Violet.. She's uh- a girl who gave us a place to sleep and eat and she told us that WICKED has cure for people who are recently infected. She told us that there is a station at the North where.. if we find good person, they can get us the cure."
Aislinn grimaces. "Shit." She runs her fingers through her hair. "She lied to you- there is no cure and no safe place. All there is left of the world is a few cities, surrounded by high raised thick walls to keep cranks out. That is for the non infected people. Whoever she is, she just lied. Everyone knows that there is no cure."
What? Why will Violet lie to us?
A terrible realization draws upon me and my head starts spinning. My vision turns blurry and the pressure against my chest increases.
"She's not a regular Crank. She's a WICKED agent." I whisper.
And now, the boys are running after a cure that doesn't even exists. They're being puppets. WICKED is using them, exactly the way they want.
Kevin died for nothing. I got my ear blasted for nothing. Minho got burnt for nothing.
"Flo?" Aislinn leans towards me, playing a hand on my shoulder, but I shrug her off, and with wobbly feet, try to stand.
What if Newt dies? Or Minho? Or Thomas? Or Fry? What if Winston die? Or Aris?
Bea?
What if they're already dead?
Everything around me is hazy as I try to make my way out of the place. I have to get them away. I have to save them before they die.
A strong hand grabs my forearm and yanks me back. "Stop!" Aislinn orders firmly.
"You don't understand. My friends- they are running after a cure that doesn't exist and they're die for a cure. They think that there is a cure in the North, so they are risking their lives for the cure. I-I have to warn them."
Aislinn nods. "How many of them are there?"
"Seven."
"I know I can't stop you but you have to -"
"No! Why don't you understand?! My friends could be dying! I can't stay here, I have to save them!" I yank my hand out of her grasp and try to walk backwards.
A crowd has gathered around us. They are whispering even more, pointing fingers at me.
Stop! Stop whispering! Stop talking!
"Listen I know that you are worried but think logically-"
"I can't, okay! I can't think logically! The only thing I know that I need to get to my friends." My chest gets constricted.
Not a panic attack! Not a panic attack!
"And I'm not stopping you!" Aislinn raises her voice. She notices my struggle and holds me by my shoulder. She slowly rubs her hands up and down my arms.
"But if you go out there, you won't survive a day. Have you even looked at your state? You are two steps away from being a corpse. And not to mention that nightfall is the top time of Crank activity." She keeps rubbing her arms up and down steadily.
Whatever she is doing is actually helping me. I could breath much easier and steadier.
"So if you actually go there then you are doing nothing to save your friends. You want to save them? First save yourself."
I heave a sigh of relief when I find myself breathing perfectly. I nod gratefully at her and she smiles back, giving a soft pat on my cheek. I smile inwardly at that motherly gesture, enjoying it wholeheartedly.
I know she is right, but how can I rest, not knowing that my friends are safe and alive?
"I will go out by tomorrow. I won't wait. I'm leaving." I make my voice full of authority.
Aislinn nods. "I know better than to stop you."
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