notion • john murphy

48 - SACRIFICE

[ SACRIFICE ]

༺═──────────────═༻

"Vital signs are strong." Abby commented, eyes on Baylis who laid in the radiation chamber.

Sayah glanced around—everyone was there, waiting to see if the bone marrow treatment would work. Sayah stood with Luna, eyes on a clingy Emori on the other side of the lab, dangerously close to Murphy. She stared at him intensely, waiting for him to notice her. When he finally did, he raised a questioning brow. Sayah shifted her weight onto her other foot, eyes darting to a distracted Emori then back to him. A small smirk formed on Murphy's face as he glanced away, most likely controlling the urge to laugh, Sayah assumed.

"Jackson, seal the chamber." Abby instructed.

"Copy that." Jackson replied, tightening the braces around Baylis' body before closing the chamber with a loud hiss. "He's ready."

"Yeah, but are we?" Raven questioned, obviously not fond of the idea.

"The guy's a monster." Emori spoke up and Sayah couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"We've been over this." Clarke spoke up. "None of us want to do this—"

"Except Emori," Sayah chimed in, earning a small chuckle from Luna and a glare from Emori. Her eyes went to Murphy, anxious to see his reaction. He simply stared at her, but she didn't miss the way the corner of his lips turned up in an amused smirk once again. It was hard to hide her smile.

"The death wave will be here in ten days." Clarke continued. "Luna's stem cells grafted successfully." She looked over to Roan for a moment. "Baylis is making nightblood on his own. This really is our only hope."

"We really still talking about this?" Murphy spoke up. "Black rain is already here. Eighteen people died in it yesterday in Arkadia, so if nightblood can let us walk around in it, I, for one, want to know about that."

"Okay," Abby spoke up after a moment of silence. "Jackson, proceed."

"Copy that," Jackson nodded, hands on a control panel with several dials. "Initiating."

There was a loud thrumming noise as Jackson turned a large dial. "500 REM." Jackson stated and Sayah's eyes stayed glued to Baylis. "850." Nothing intense was happening. "This is where we'd see symptoms in a non-nightblood."

"BP is 100 over 50." Abby commented. "Body temp is 98.7. Resting comfortably."

Clarke was leaned in closer to the chamber. "No visible effects."

"1,000 REM." Jackson stated. Still nothing.

"1,500."

"Heartbeat is all good here." Abby spoke up, eyes on a small screen monitoring Baylis' vitals.

"2,000 REM, the level of the black rain." Jackson spoke up.

"Still nothing. It's working." Clarke observed.

The humming of the chamber grew faster and louder. "2,500."