The Cost of the Cure

Chapter 123

You force yourself to sit on the chute and before you know it, you're sliding down it as well, faster than you could have ever imagined. A scream escapes you and you doubt you could have held it in even if you had tried. You fall faster and faster.

The tunnel starts to spiral, just enough for you to finally begin to slow. Your feet smack into Newt's back. You go around and around, still falling. The echoes fade and you fly out of the tube, landing on top of Newt. You groan, the world spinning around you even as your stomach twists.

"Sor--" you begin, disentangling yourself from him.

Chuck crashes into you. You squirm out from under him and away, not in the mood to get smashed into by anyone else. You pull Chuck after you before Teresa can crush him.

For the first time since arriving, you look around at your surroundings. You stand in a huge chamber. On one side, there's a row of forty or so... white... coffins. They're too big to be for humans, Regardless, you shudder.

On the opposite, a glass door stands, asking for you all to leave.

None of those are what really catches your attention, though. Instead, it's what's in front of you. Walls of glass separate you and other... people. They sit, observing you, their bodies pale and thin, so sickly they almost look like ghosts. They stare at you, their eyes vacant. With a jolt, you realize who they are. The Creators.

You step back with everyone else, the group of you forming a defensive pack once again. Silence buzzes in the air and you stare at them, unwilling to let them out of your sight for more than a second. They all wear black coats over crisp white shirts. A word is stitched on the right breast of their coats. You squint, trying to make it out, but it remains a blurry blob of text. They occasionally take notes, devoid of any emotion.