Hidden (Book 3 of the Immune Series)

Catch-22 (Part 2)

Mya

The creator of the first virus stands right in front of me. He was president of the United States before the split, before he threw the world into chaos. He coined the phrase 'make america great again'.

He ordered Finn and Sakir to be killed. I recognize his voice from the video call I overheard the day I bumped my head.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, stepping up to my table and leaning forward to inspect my ankle.

"I'm okay," I mumble as my eyes follow him.

"That's good news."

He pokes my ankle with an unnaturally small finger for his height. A twitch in pain as fire erupts under the skin. When he looks up at me again, his eyebrows nearly blend in with his hairline.

"Tell me, dear. How did you get out of your house in the first place?" he asks, circling the table. Silence falls over the three of us, and I swear I hear muffled yelling.

"Mom left the door open," I say. Lying for her isn't an option. It's her own fault. After what she did to Finn, she deserves every possible punishment.

"Oh, did she?"

He looks back at Mom who cowers away like an injured dog.

"Don't worry, Doctor Julien. One mistake won't condemn you," he says, shaking his head. "Two might, though. So be careful from here on out."

With that, he crosses over to the mirror. He stares at himself for a minute before speaking again.

"Actually, I think you can redeem yourself, doctor."

I hear my Mom swallow from across the room, but my eyes remain glued to Ashford.

"Do you have the third strand with you?" he asks.

"Yes, sir," she says in a voice smaller than a mouse. That's when I turn to look at her.

When did she become so weak? I used to see my mother as my hero for saving us from the infected and protecting us. Now, I feel like I don't even know her. As more and more secrets unravel themselves, I slip further and further away from her.

"That's good," Ashford says. "Please give your daughter a dose."

Mom gasps and falls back another step. She shakes her head violently, resulting in even more strands of hair falling. Tears brim her golden eyes.

How many times have I cried the past two days? She deserves every moment of agony she's going through right now. I feel nothing but anger, simmering low in my stomach.

Will she do it, though? Killing Finn was easy.

Will it be just as easy to kill her daughter? The one who looks so much like her?

I take a deep breath and decide in that moment not to plead with her to let me live. What good would it do?

I'm turning into a pessimist. This isn't the first time I've decided to die since Finn was taken from me.

"No," Mom begins to repeat, walking further away from me.

President Ashford circles around the table and draws a black gun out of the inside of his suit jacket. He aims it at her without thinking twice.

"We've been here before, Ava," he says in a low voice. "Someone is going to die in this room today, and your actions decide who. Give her the final strand, and you live. Refuse, and you both die. Pick your poison, sweet doctor."