Hollow Veins

Chapter Twenty Two; The Clentch

Seven bags plopped on the ground. Ari looked up, heaving, "Either you got barbells in there, Prince, or a body." Prince, who was sitting next to Jaden, grinned, "It's my burden to bear of being incredibly hot." "Or of being incredibly big headed," She muttered. Prince smirked, "Oh come on, everyone likes me." Jaden gave a grumble. Prince glanced at him, "We've been having best friend bonding time." Jaden signed, "Help me." Alice gave a tired laugh, "Prince, you're an idiot." Jasper rested against a wall, "Took you that long to notice?" Prince grinned in Ari's face, "See, Ari, they all like me." "Uh huh," She leaned away from him, "Do you want a repetition of the cave incident?" "Uhg no," Prince jerked back. Aaron looked to Alice, "No trouble?" Ari gave a snort, "Obviously not. We ran into a flesh eating monster, thanks for asking." Aaron looked sideways at her, "Just asking." She rolled her eyes and grabbed her backpack, "We need to bandage you up." Jaden frowned and gestured at his side. They'd used a belt and the hoodie to stop the bleeding. "We need to bandage you with a real bandage." Jaden sighed and nodded.

After Jaden was bandaged they decided they needed a plan. Jasper groaned as he sat up, "Firstly we need to decide how long to stay here. Obviously we should wait so Jaden has time to recover." Jaden rolled his pained tired eyes. Jasper continued, "Our problem is our supplies. We're running low. We're still a good distance from the city." Silence held the air for a minute, then Alice spoke, "Can I ask a question." Jasper nodded, "Shoot." "That guy back in the street... he said they were going to... sell us?" Ari nodded, "Yeah, as test subjects. Oh and the official name for it is Behavior Dysfunction Infection or B.D.I. Most just refer to it as the Infection or Virius." Prince nodded, "Where I lived, most people called it the Clentch." "I've heard that name a lot. I guess Behavior Dysfunction Infection is harder to remember," Jasper said. "The labs in most cities refer to ut either. Anyways, the labs, they're open to volunteers. It's supposed to be a rumor, but pretty much everyone knows that they'll buy people as "volunteers" for experiments." Alice inhaled, "What do they do to them?" Ari shrugged, "No one's fully sure exactly what they do. Most people think they dissect them to figure out how exactly the disease effects their bodies and how they can fight it." Alice noticed Jasper fidgeting. He looked almost scared and muttered, "It's wrong. The ends don't always justify the means." Ari nodded, "It's awful. Anyway, the most people are certain about is that the 'volunteers' don't come out back out of there." Jasper looked away from them. Alice shuddered, "That's horrible. As much as I hate this virus or B.D.I., it's still not right." Ari nodded, "Even if the immune people do exist it's not ok-" Jasper jerked his head back towards them, "Immune? What do you mean 'immune?'" Ari raised her hands, "Don't freak out. It's just a rumor. But some of the scientists think there might be some people immune to the disease. Which is probably a good chunk of the reason they do the testing. If there are immune people, they'll probably dissect them. No wonder they haven't found any. If they do exist they're probably in hiding or something."

Aaron sighed, "Seems to me, people are desperate." "Everyone's desperate," Prince said. Ren nodded, "I just want this to be over. I just want to make to the city." Ari nodded, "Mainly I wanna see my parents. I don't know if they're in that city or even still alive but I wanna see the look on their faces when they realize I'm still alive." She laughed bitterly. Ren adjusted her sitting position, "I want to have a normal life." Prince crossed his legs, "I don't know what I want. Getting there is enough for me." Aaron fidgeted with a the zipper of his jacket, "Honestly I don't know what to expect." Jaden yawned and gently adjusted himself. Ren spoke for Jaden as he signed, "I wanna die naturally." They all starred at him and he shrugged, "You know like not from the..." He paused signing and smirked, "The Clench. I want to spite the odds." Ren fixed her eyes on him, a curious expression on her face. Jaden grimaced and as he lay back down. The others began getting ready for bed as well. Jasper sat, leaning against the wall, shot gun propped next him, "I'll take first watch and no Jaden you cannot have a turn." Jaden grumbled from his corner.

Alice rolled for what must have been the tenth time. Sure she felt worn out, but her mind would not allow her the sleep she needed. Alice flopped back on the backpack she was using for a pillow. Jasper, who sat near the door, gun in hand, looked up at her. Alice flushed, feeling a little stupid. He smiled a little, leaning closer to her to whisper, "Can't sleep?" She shook her head, "Too much adrenaline, I guess. I don't how Jaden's asleep." Jasper glanced over at the passed out boy, "However he's asleep, I'm glad. Stops the pain." Alice fiddled with a small curl of her hair, "Do you really think we'll be able to get there?" Jasper inhaled, "I think we will, Alice. Even if him being injured effects how long it'll take. He'll probably try to get us to leave him. The guy's stubborn I'll give him that." Alice smiled, "Really, I never noticed?" "Ok now you're sounding a lot like Jaden." "It's hard considering he's practically made of sarcasm." They both tried to hold in laugher, as Prince mumbled and rolled over in his sleep. Ari moaned and curled herself tightly in a ball next to him. Alice brushed her side bangs out of her face, "Monumental moment in history, Ari has not insulted or given Prince a disgusted look in the last minute." Jasper laughed quietly, "It would be kinda hard for her to, considering she's asleep." "Well I bet she dreams of insulting him and he probably dreams of being obnoxious to her." "Eh, I think his dreams are probably about different things." "Like what." "Hair products." They both irrupted into fits of silent laugher. Prince sat up, mumbled something unintelligible and fell back down. Maybe it was because she was so tired, but Alice had to press her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Jasper smiled and met her eyes. For a long moment they looked at each other. Then Jasper said, "Well we should probably be quiet now before we wake them up." "Alright," Alice laid back down and rolled over. The smile unable to leave her face. Suddenly a feeling of guilt filled Alice. Here she was, laughing, talking and joking with the guy she'd told only a few days ago that she could never forgive him. And now she was acting like it had never happened. Worse, Alice felt as if she was using Jasper. Giving him some sort of hope that she'd forgiven him. But hadn't he showed himself trustworthy? Jasper had saved her life many times. Could one moment of cowardice overcome hundreds of acts of selflessness. Didn't Jasper deserve a second chance. Then Alice thought of Aaron's face in the car yesterday. He didn't think Jasper should be forgiven. But he hadn't known Jasper before than. She had. So did that make her naive or Aaron distrustful. Alice fidgeted. She needed sleep, but there was so much in her head at that moment. Jasper made her both happy and sad. But the sadness was when she dwelled in the past. Alice knew she shouldn't stew in her misery of the past. Wasn't that what she was doing by thinking about Jasper's abandonment? Or was she trying to learn from her mistakes. Alice didn't know, couldn't know.