Found (Book 1 of the Haven's Army Trilogy) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 31

Kathryn shook me awake the next morning, when it was still dark.

"Wake up!" she whispered furiously.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What is it?" I grumbled.

"Andrew's in the infirmary. The poison's taken hold!"

I ripped my blankets off and followed her down the hall, still in my pajamas. Not long later, we arrived in the infirmary. There, laying on a bed near Dennis', was Andrew. Katie and James were working hard to help him but he was groaning in pain. Peter stood against the wall, looking at the floor. Katie and James were both pale and sleep-deprived.

I went to Peter. "What happened?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Either the people from the Gear are immune to the anti poison or Andrew's just the first to react to it. The anti may have only slowed it."

"But if it won't help you," I said, "why aren't you or Kathryn down?"

"Neither of us got cut," Kathryn explained. "It never entered our bloodstream."

"It's reacting really badly, apparently," Peter said. "Worse than with Dennis."

I looked back to Andrew, clenching his teeth as James and Katie tried to heal him.

I sat down, shaking my head. "So we might all die? We've only drawn out our deaths, knowing we'll die soon, wondering who will go first, only leaving a few behind. Those few will be captured and executed."

"Unless it's only the Gear," Peter said hopefully.

"But what are the chances of that?" Kathryn pointed out. "We have no way of telling with the evidence we have."

"Let's just make sure we enjoy the precious time we have left," I said.

***

"So, I heard Andrew's in the infirmary," Julia said as she approached me on the side rail.

I nodded. "We're not sure why yet."

"He's the boy from the Gear, no? How's his friend handling this?"

I shrugged. "Hard to tell."

"You're really vague, you know?"

"Well I'm sorry." I stormed off. She grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around.

"Charlotte." She looked into my eyes intensely with her dark brown ones. "I know you're under a lot of stress. You don't want anyone else to die. You don't want to die. You don't want the healers to overwork themselves trying to save everyone." She pulled up her torn sleeve to reveal a deep slash mark. "But trust me, if we are poisoned, we'll all be fine. We have an amazing team of healers and they'll find a way. We're going to win."

I took a deep breath.

"It scared you, didn't it?" she asked, letting go and breaking away from my gaze. "When Dennis told you we couldn't win. You looked up to him."

I nodded.

"Well I looked up to someone too," she said. "Even though he was a little younger than me. He was a great leader and we had grown up together and everything. When he died, I lost my hope. But a new hope came along, someone with almost as much enthusiasm." She clenched her fist. "That's why I'm determined to protect Nathan for him, no matter what the cost."

I looked at her, a little surprised. She had looked up to Nathaniel. It seemed everyone on the Shadow had. I smiled, wondering if he would be proud that so many had loved him.