Lego House

xxxi. Survivor

It doesn't take him long to find Rose and Irisa in the medical centre. The three patients have been roughly spread across the vast room, with rows of empty, sterile white beds in between them all. He squeezes his dad's hand gently and nods reassuringly towards his mother before cruising through the room towards where Rose is situated. She smiles at him when he reaches her. She has a white bandage over her arm, taped in place so she doesn't have to clutch onto her arm anymore. The red stain of blood is beginning to peep through the white already. "They don't have the resources to operate on all three of us at one time, so Maust is going first," Rose explains, nodding towards Maust's bed, where he has been sedated and blue cloths are being laid over his body.

"Hang in there, yeah, Rose? We – um – have to go do a thing?" he says sheepishly, looking towards Irisa.

"Find Autumn? Yeah, go. I'll be fine," she assures him with a gentle smile.

"Are you sure? We can stay –"

"You have to go. Break up the fight, find Autumn. Do it all, okay? Fix this. When I come to and this bullet is out of my arm, there better be peace all around, okay?" she chuckles and he nods with a wink. "See you soon."

"Good luck," Ris says quietly, squeezing Roselle's hand before releasing it gently. "Where do we start?" she asks, turning to Michael as they walk towards the entrance of the medical centre.

"Where's her room?" he says as they round a corner. The sound of fighting and gunshots are ringing through the air, louder now. Michael hears a scuffle and immediately holds his arm out to stop Irisa, who glares at him angrily before shoving his hand out of the way and stepping a few steps forward. "Irisa," he hisses. Two hands grab her shoulders and Michael raises his gun to shoot.

"Jarrett?" Irisa whispers, just loud enough for Michael to hear her. He moves around so he can see the boy completely. He keeps his gun trained on him. Jarrett's hands are still clamped onto Irisa's shoulders. His hair is a tangled, greasy mess and the bags beneath his eyes are so dark they make his grey iris' look almost white. He removes his hands slowly off of Irisa, who doesn't even flinch. "Michael," is all she says, but he doesn't lower the gun.

"We can't trust him."

"I'm fine," Jarrett says, lifting his hands in surrender. "It's been three hours. I'm good." Michael hesitates for a moment, but Irisa flings her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Michael lowers his gun and stares at the two of them.

"Ris, we have to find her. Hurry up." She pulls away and Michael offers a small smile at Jarrett.

"Autumn?" he squeaks, and Michael immediately forms fists by his side. He nods stiffly.

"I swear – if you hurt her –"

"No, of course not. Almost. Um, she should be in her room. I'll lead the way." He moves swiftly through the building, while simultaneously explaining why he knows where everything is. "The mind control, I can remember everything after it wears off. I know where everything is within this building. He had me look at the plans of the building, wondering how the hell the lot of you managed to get in." He stands in front of a door. He frowns slightly before clenching and unclenching his hands a few times. He raises them towards the door and Michael watches in confusion as he strains against the door.

"What?" Ris whispers towards him.

"The door's slightly ajar, I don't really know why. I –" The door slides open completely and Jarrett refuses to take another step in. He flies away from the door, his feet swift and graceful, and vomits two feet from where Michael is standing. He furrows his eyebrows and sees a man lying on the floor, with thick, dark hair and dark skin. There is a pool of blood around his head, and a bullet wound straight through his forehead. Michael is about to ask why one dead body is enough to make him puke – considering the injuries and death they'd already encountered thus far – when he hears his small voice, talking to Irisa, who is crouched beside him.