Where We Go | Book Three

18. Half Measures

We didn't trust any of the rooms in the hotel. The walls were too thin, and we couldn't take any risks. Instead, we gathered around a group of picnic tables by the edge of the cliff, holding our coats tightly around ourselves for warmth. 

Across the field, Sophia ran around the playground with two other kids her age, laughing as they took turns chasing each other.

"Where the fuck do we start?" Chris began, taking the lead.

Tom folded his arms. "I think you can probably guess the question on our minds." His stare shifted to me, and I could feel myself shrinking, wanting to be swallowed by the waves that broke at the base of the cliff.

Ben sat on top of the wooden table. His feet were planted on the seat, and he rested his arms on his knees. "EDIN and I, we figured out the cure. Em is the only one because of how long it took... She needs a daily serum, otherwise the effects revert."

"What's in the cure?" Tom asked.

He exhaled, blinking slowly. "My blood."

Tom clenched his jaw. "You lied to us."

"The process was complicated," Ben went on the defensive. "It took a full blood transfusion for Em to be the way she is."

"You said there was nothing you could do-"

"It's happened now," Pilot interrupted. "Em is the way she is. There's no point you lot arguing how she got to that point."

Tom scowled, gesturing between the two men in dark clothing. "And you two are...?"

"We were at EDIN the whole time if it matters to you," Donut snarled.

"Okay, okay," Chris jumped between them. "Tom, this is Pilot and Donut..."

"Donut?"

"Don't ask..." Chris took a step back, taking Pilot's hand in his own. "Pilot and I are together so not another word from you. They both helped the scientists working on the cure at EDIN."

Tom blinked, taking in the new information. He took a moment to process it, his eyes darting between all of us before landing on Ben. "Trust you to go away for a year and bring back the cure for humanity."

"You know me," he shrugged. "Can't do anything in half measures."

"You have a supply of the serum?" he asked.

Ben nodded, confirming. "We have a supply, but it's limited, and it's going to run out if we don't find an alternative or some other way to make more."

"How limited?"

Ben sighed. "Two months. At most."

"And if it runs out, we'll have an Infected inside the gates?"

I inhaled slowly, composing myself. "Thank you for putting it so plainly, Tom," I said. "Yes, if I don't get a daily serum, I go back to being Infected... I promise it's just as stressful for me as it will be for you."

"To add to that stress, these people are talking to GUN too..." Pilot explained. "The same people who dropped the bombs and the smoke on your camp," he added, looking around the group.

"These guys are talking to the people who bombed us?" Tom asked. "They didn't say anything when we got here."

"I don't think it's malicious," I replied. "It sounds more like a courtesy, giving them a heads-up before they drop smoke."

"They could've been kind enough to extend that warning to us," Tom muttered.

Ben shook his head. "Either way, unless we have more serum Em will be a walking target."