INKWORLD

CHAPTER ELEVEN

June 26, 2091

I sat, still in shock, taking in all that Tobi had said. I still couldn't believe that after ten years, there were still people who hadn't been infected. Even while we were still on earth, I knew it was difficult to find someone of age who hadn't been infected. Now, finding out that some people weren't infected yet shocked me. They must consider themselves lucky, I thought.

But were they really lucky? I was sure they lived their lives wondering is they'll be infected, wondering why they weren't infected. I was sure they had to deal with envy and hatred from people who were infected. Some might have tried to kill them out of jealousy.

I turned to look at Anu, the pregnant uninfected lady. She looked down at my stare and seemed to shrink into herself. It felt like an action she was already used to. Like how an ostrich would stick its head in the sand as if that would stop it from being seen. She had a hand placed protectively around her swollen stomach. I wondered how she felt when she found out she was pregnant. Did she spend every night worrying if her child would somehow get infected even if he/she was not of age?

"I can't believe this," Prof. Thomas said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Before we left earth, there were rumours about Erik kidnapping children to test on them. I wasn't sure about that, but now, moving from children to any human at all..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

Dr. Sakshi frowned at him. "Whether it's children or anyone, it's still bad. Kidnapping humans to test on them is disgusting." She seemed irritated that Dr. Thomas would compare the two together and make kidnapping children look like a lesser evil.

"How have you guys survived for so long?" Mr. Brown asked. "I didn't think anyone would be able to survive this long on earth, given the toxic nature of the ink. And it's rising level."

"We were afraid of how fast it would rise. We don't want to wake up one day to realize it has drowned us, that's why we sleep on the higher floor," someone said, pointing upstairs.

"We survived but we have lost a lot of people on this journey," Tobi said, his face falling. I could almost taste the sadness that came to settle in the air. My eyes watered. "Some have been captured by Erik's men, we've had to watch others die. Some begged us to kill them and free them from the pain."

The haunting look in Tobi's eyes pierced through my chest. I could tell he had been in that situation. Memory of my parents writhing in pain, before me, flashed through my mind. If they had begged me to kill them in that moment, I know I wouldn't have done it.

"The pain from the infection has become worse, not just when a person is about to die, but even while alive." It was as he said those words that I seemed to notice the strain in his movements. "Some people have become addicted to pain killers even though it doesn't take away the pain completely. They raid pharmacies and hospitals and attack people to get the pain killers. Life on earth has really been difficult. I was beginning to lose hope, we all were."

Someone else stepped forward. "Some of us were angry when we found out Angela's plan had worked and she had taken people with her away. As bad as it sounds, some prayed that you guys would get lost in space. It was painful to think that people had escaped and left us to suffer-"

"There was no way Angela could have taken everyone," Prof. Thomas said.

"We know that," the man said. "But that didn't mean we accepted it."

"What's there to accept? Whether you accept it or not, it doesn't change the truth."

I winced, hoping he'll drop it. It wasn't easy to accept something especially when you got hurt by it. Prof
Thomas didn't seem to know when to drop a topic. Dr. Sakshi's glare, however, seemed to take his attention away.