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An echoing boom reached Aife's ears, and she felt a pulsing sensation in her skull as a groan fell from her lips. Her eyebrows screwed together in pain whilst her head lulled to the side. She laid on her back, her eyesight blurry as she curled her upper lip. She was able to make out the figure of Thomas. Hearing the commotion from outside almost made her want to lose consciousness once again. Once her vision cleared up, she could see that Thomas was laying on a procedure chair, with Teresa sitting beside him.
Aife's eyes traveled down to Teresa's hands, and they widened as she watched him pierce his skin with a needle, thick, crimson blood being drawn as she held a piece of gauze against his skin. Thomas seemed to be coming to his senses as well, as he met eyes with the traitor.
"What the hell?" Aife tugged against her restraints.
"Do you know what this place is, Thomas?" The familiar voice of Janson asked. Both Aife and the said boy craned their necks to glare at the guy, who was gazing out of the window at the sight of what could've been mistaken for the end of all things. Teresa walked away from Thomas' body and headed over to the counter, her back now facing them.
Janson slowly turned around, his lips apart, "It's a life boat. The whole world might be sinking, but, it doesn't mean that we have to go down with it."
Aife rolled her eyes at his dramatics, he's crazy. Her gaze traced to Thomas, and she watched as Thomas' breathing began to pick up, panic taking over as he harshly tugged on his restraints. Janson strolled by.
"How much longer?"
Teresa didn't hesitate to answer, as if she was his lap dog.
"It's almost done."
Thomas slowly turned his head, "Why don't you just kill me?"
Janson nearly scoffed, his eyebrows raising as he looked at him, "Kill you? No no no, we don't wanna do that. We're gonna take special care of you." Janson turned around, glaring at Aife up and down whilst she helplessly tugged on the restraints.
I should spit in his face, she thought with a scowl.
"We'll keep you alive," He turned back to Thomas as the teen lunged at him. Janson couldn't help but smirk. He was getting underneath his skin. Good, "Just. In return, you will give life to the rest of us.. . The one's we choose to save, anyway."
At that, he turned away.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Aife questioned as she watched Janson turn and grab a small hand held device. He shrugged his shoulders before he began to pace.
"Well, of course there's not gonna be enough for everyone. Hard choices are gonna have to be made. In time, the flare virus will burn itself out. The only question is, who will be the ones left standing." He now stood behind Teresa, reaching over her shoulder and plucking a small vial from her grasp.
"Thank's to you, to this, we finally get to choose." He made his way In front of Thomas, still giving himself enough room so Aife could catch a glimpse of what he had in his grasp as well, "The future, in our own making." He put the small vial in the device he had previously picked up, and rolled up his sleeve to reveal hideous veins crawling down towards his hand. It was the cure.
Just then, as Aife looked at him, she now noticed the small beads of sweat that coated his neck, and the way that his eye would twitch every so often. He had the flare. Aife looked away, her lips parted before she gritted her teeth. Her eyes traveled to Teresa, catching the way her stance was so tense. Teresa slowly turned around, her blue eyes hesitantly meeting with Aife's green ones.
It was all so quick, Teresa lunged at Janson from behind, gripping onto a glass beacon and smashing it over the back of his head. Aife's eyes went wide, the only thing being heard was the three teenagers breathing.
Teresa quickly turned, bending down to pick up the cure, that was laying next to Janson on the floor, before she stood up straight turning towards Aife and fidgeting with the restraints, grunts filled the air as Teresa struggled, and Aife's face screwed up in slight pain as she felt the belt clip against her skin. It wasn't long before she felt the restraints come undone.
"Are you okay," Teresa muttered underneath her breath
"Yeah, M'fine." Was all Aife said as she lifted her arms to her chest, left had rubbing at her right wrist. Teresa quickly nodded, turning to release Thomas.
"Okay, lets get out of here." Teresa grunted once more, and she had just freed Thomas before she stood straight.
"Watch out!" Aife warned, she was now sitting up, and she could now see that Janson was standing directly behind the girl that had drawn blood from Thomas, blood leaking from the wound on his head as he glared at the girl who had betrayed him just moments ago. Teresa gasped as Janson's arms wrapped around her neck, and he was quick to pick her up and throw her over the nearest table.
Vials and glasses of liquids were atop of it, and they broke into thousands of tiny shards as Teresa collided with them. She fell to the ground with a thud. Thomas shot up, attempting to help her, only he couldn't, when he realized he was still being held down by his left arm.
"Aife," He yelled, she was quick to run by his side, her hands immediately tugging on the ropes as the cries of Teresa grew louder.
"Give it to me!" Aife glanced back to see Janson weaving his fingers through her raven head of hair, and tugging on it harshly. Her hands moved quicker to free Thomas, and once she finally did, a loud thud rang through the room, and then. . . silence. She turned to see Teresa on the floor. Janson had smashed her head down on the table, hard.
"Teresa. . ." Thomas muttered, standing up and stumbling before charging at Janson. They went through the glass wall, the clash reached Aife ears as she fought back a flinch. She quickly rushed around the table and crouched text to Teresa's limp body, feeling the girls pulse as she slowly shook her awake. It took everything in her to stay next to Teresa, and not rush to Thomas' side to assist him. The sound of Thomas' pained grunts made it even harder.
"Come on, Teresa." Aife mumbled, sucking her teeth as the girl slowly shifted awake, "Come on. We gotta get outta here."
Teresa shakily turned on her side, whimpering as the shards of glass met with the skin of her hand. Her dark eyebrows were pulled together, and her pink lips fell into a pout as she shakily pushed herself to her knees. With her palms resting atop of her thighs, she slowly lifted her head to meet Aife's eyes.
