Generation Infinosil

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

2041

The moon illuminated the night sky; it's light, dim in comparison to that of the sun, guided Paul and Jamie. Paul looked up at the starless sky; the lack of stars mirroring his lack of hope.

When they climbed out the window, they had to jump from ledge to ledge to escape, but realising that the rejuvenation's men would reach the ground quicker than them, they opted for climbing onto the roof instead. Next to the lab building was an abandoned factory, one that was once used to build the facilities that the village needed.

It would require a large jump from roof to roof but they'd have more chance of survival this way than if they kept climbing down where some men would certainly be waiting for them.

Paul climbed up each ledge first so that he could help pull Jamie up, Jamie being smaller and weaker than him. With every ledge, Jamie winced. Paul assumed he was just sore from whatever experiments they had been completing on him, but he had no time to ask.

It wasn't until they reached the roof that they could slow down a little and the adrenaline died down slightly. And that's when Paul noticed how pale Jamie looked, paler even than before. His chalky white skin tone was beyond the pale your skin turns when you're scared.

"Are you okay Jamie?" Paul asked, concerned.

He watched as Jamie moved his hand away from his side, where a crimson patch was rapidly spreading across his clothing. Paul had foolishly forgotten about the sounds of gunfire that followed them out of the window. He rushed towards Jamie, ripped off a sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it tightly around Jamie's small torso in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

Jamie cried out in pain but there was no time to wait around, especially with Jamie's newly discovered injury.

Paul shot Jamie an apologetic look but ushered him to keep moving. "Come on little' un, we just need to make it to this other roof and then we can rest, do you think you can do that for me?"

Jamie gave him an unconvincing nod and followed him in search of the safest place to jump. With horror, Jamie spotted a body on the floor below, a puddle of blood expanding around him that matched the colour of his own once-white top. It looked like they weren't the only ones on this suicide mission, except they hadn't yet fallen to their death.

"It could be us before long, and then I'll never see my family again." Jamie feared.

He felt weak and scared; his clothing was sticking to him with just as much sweat as blood. Everywhere he looked, imaginary stars circled his vision, he was getting dizzier and dizzier.

"It would be so easy to just give up, to just lay down and insist that Paul leave me here," Jamie considered for a moment, "I could just stay here, staring up at the moon and remembering all the times I looked up at the same sight with my parents. Even if I do make the jump to the other roof, I'll probably die shortly after from blood loss. I'm just slowing Paul down. He saved my life, or at least tried to, now it's my turn to save his. If I stay here, at least Paul will probably make it, he's wise and strong. If I go with him, we'll probably both get caught and most likely killed. I need to stay behind, I can't let myself be responsible for Paul's potential death. My Mum and Dad are probably used to life without me now anyway. Maybe they'll spare me, maybe they'll keep me alive to see the results of those experiments. What was it they called that drug? Infino- something?"

And that's when it happened, a surge of warmth came over him, traveling through every limb; down his arms to the tips of his fingers and down his legs, all the way to the soles of his small feet. Once the warmth had reached its optimum temperature, it began to shrink and concentrate around his fatal wound. All the while, Jamie was staring down at his body in bewilderment, but he was no longer scared.

An immense relief and comfort came over him, only comparable to the feeling of being engulfed in the arms of a loved one that has been too far away for far too long.

The warmth rose around its focus point, so much that Jamie thought it might scold his skin if it rose any further, but when he peered down to check for burns, there weren't any.

In fact, there wasn't a single mark on him. Where there should have been a gaping hole, was unharmed skin, as if the bullet never even touched him.

He frantically lifted up his shirt to find his wound, wondering if he had lost so much blood that he'd gone mad and forgotten its location. It was nowhere to be found.

"What are you doing Jamie? Please, we have to hurry!" Paul insisted.

Paul took one look at Jamie before rubbing his eyes, in a way that demonstrated his utter shock at what he was seeing. Standing before him was a perfectly healthy young boy, who looked so different to the Jamie he had seen just moments before.

"Wha- what happened?" Paul asked, so stunned that he was struggling to get his words out.

If Jamie was asked this a few minutes ago then he would have no clue how to answer, but now he knew. For some unknown reason there was no doubt in his mind when he said, "It's the infinosil."