Chapter 9

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                                                                                              Ivaria

Larad creaked the door open and peaked in.

"All clear," he whispered.

I nodded, and me, Florian, and Larad tiptoed inside. The smallest creak of the wooden floor sounded as loud as a scream to me. The whole building looked way cooler on the inside than out. The hallway had light brown wooden floors and baby blue walls. Each room we passed up was the same colors, and had desks filled with different medicine bottles and a hospital bed. On the ceiling were three bright, golden chandeliers in a row, lighting up the pathway. We searched each of the empty rooms for any of the cures, and luckily, the last room we searched in was filled with them! The vials were small, so we stuffed as many as we could in our pockets, and the rest we carried. Ahead we could hear two people talking in one of the rooms. The door was closed, so we hid at the side of the door and listened.

"I don't think this is right. This could kill people!" One of the doctors said.

"You're too soft Andre, it may kill some, but it will complete Malkin's plan." answered the other.

"And what is this so-called 'plan'?"

"Becoming the most powerful in the country."

"Hasn't he already gained enough power? He basically took over the government, so what else does he want?"

"He wants people to put their trust in him, and if he sends out a vaccine to protect them from the virus, even if it kills some, people won't notice, so they will trust that he is protecting them."

"But I don't think—"

Someone grabbed my shoulder, which caused me to scream. He covered my mouth with a large hand.

"Snooping are you? You know breaking in is illegal? So is listening to private official business."

It was Malkin.

"You know what else is illegal? Killing innocent people just to gain power!" Florian shouted angrily.

Malkin smiled and let go of me. His smile seemed very sinister, and made me nervous.

"I have a little surprise for you. Come out, Zayden!"

A young boy who looked sickly and much skinnier than before walked from around the corner. He looked like he was struggling just to stand up, but Malkin didn't seem to notice as he shoved him to his knees in front of him.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Zayden shouted as I stared in shock.

Malkin slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a pistol. He pointed at Zayden's head and then looked up at us.

"If you don't tell me everything you learned from them, and hand over those cures right now, then I will shoot him. You have thirty seconds, so you better get started."

Zayden tried to stand up, but he was so weak and Malkin was pushing down on his shoulder to keep him still. I looked into Zayden's eyes. They were filled with tears, and a few slipped down his cheeks. I looked over to Florian and Larad and they both nodded slowly. I felt the air go thin and it became hard to breathe. I could stop Zayden's death right here, right now if I just did what Malkin asked, and I was just about to open my mouth to tell him what we heard, when Florian talked over me, "We will not give you these cures back," his voice sounded uneven and heavy, as if he was about to cry, "even if... even if it means we lose him."

"As you wish," Malkin said with a grimace, then I felt Florian tug my arm to signal me to run out of the building. Right before we reached the door I heard a gunshot and a thud. He's gone, and it's my fault. That thought swirled in my head as I stumbled out the door and ran as fast as I could away from the building . My fault, my fault, my fault...

"Ivaria, stop!" Florian called after me, but I ignored him and ran even faster. "Please! Slow down!" His voice sounded upset, but it didn't matter. My whole life was being turned upside down. First I lost my parents, then Tessa, then Zayden. It was all too much and I just wanted to run away and hide.

Florian finally caught up with me, dropped all the cure vials he had been carrying, and grabbed me by my waist. His strong arms stopped me from pulling away, and caused me to drop the vials I was carrying. Larad was behind him looking nervous and out of place.

"Hey! Let me Go!" I shouted, twisting and writhing to get out of his grip.

"No, Ivaria, listen to me. I need you to stop. Please. Just let me help you." His voice sounded so sweet it made my eyes tear up. I stopped moving and that's when my body completely ran out of energy to stand, and I began to cry. Florian held on to me, holding me up to his chest, and putting his hand on my hair. "It's okay Ivy. Just let me take care of you now. You've helped me by giving me a place to live, now it's time for me to help you." His arms tightened around me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You just lost both of your best friends. I would be worried if you weren't upset."

"I just—I've been a wreck ever since all this started. I should have thicker skin, I..."

"Shhh, it's okay."

We stayed there at that same spot until I finally felt strong enough to head home. Larad said goodbye but gave us his number to call if we ever needed his help, and then me and Florian went to our apartment. It was almost pitch black by the time we got there, and I was ready to crash in bed.

"Are you okay to sleep by yourself tonight?" Florian asked with worry in his eyes.

"Yah, I'll be fine." I wasn't actually sure if that was true, but I didn't want to impose anything more on Florian than I already did, plus, it sounded too babyish to say no.

"Alright, goodnight then. Come and get me if you need me."

I nodded and we both headed to our rooms and immediately fell asleep.

                                                                                          Tessa

I was working in the kitchen when I saw it out the window. Astril was walking toward her cabin slowly, and she collapsed! I quickly dropped the pan I was cleaning and ran over to her.

"Someone help!" I screamed. How could she die before me? I got sick a lot sooner than she did.

"Tessa, what's going on?" An officer I had never seen before ran over to me.

"She just collapsed. Is she dead?"

The officer felt for her pulse and listened for any breathing. When he finished he shook his head. "She's gone, I'm sorry. I'll call a Medic to take her away."

The officer pulled out a walkie-talkie and said some sort of code into it.

"Her name was Astril. I only met her once, but she was one of the nicest people here. She shouldn't have died before me! I was sick before her!" I was talking to myself, getting angrier by the second...

"Tessa, please calm down and go back to your job. We will take care of everything from here."

"No! Tell me why she died before me. She had only been here a few days. It makes no sense!"

"I'm sure she just..."

"No!" Something clicked in my mind right then. "There's something going on, isn't there? Someone did this to her. When she was first brought here she was given the hardest job, which never happens unless that person is in trouble. What did Astril do that made you guys do this to her?"

The officer said something else into his walkie-talkie then started to walk away.

"Hey, I'm still talking to you!" I grabbed the officer's arm and tried to pull him back, but as soon as I did that, I realized how stupid that was. The officer turned toward me with anger in his eyes.

"You have committed an offense against The Officer Department. You have to come with me."

He pulled his arm out of my grasp, then he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me. I had no idea where we were going, but what I did know was that it was not going to be anything fun, and that this may be my hour on the earth.

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