Perish • Ben Parish

09

We had no clue what to do.

Megan was there, a ticking time bomb leading the Others to us, and we were sitting ducks. Over the past week we'd thought of every possible angle, pictured every single scenario and...nothing. The only conclusion we'd been able to reach was that we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We were no where closer to figuring out how to save both her and the squad.

We were at a cross roads. An impossible, complicated crossroads that provided not a single favorable outcome.

"What're you thinking about, Lucy?"

I looked up from the dirt I was picking out of my fingernails. "Everything," I said softly, shaking my head.

Cassie gave me a small, knowing smile, scooting closer to me. "Were you thinking about Megan?"

I looked out the window, briefly scanning the area around the hotel. Cassie and I were on night watch; ever since Megan had arrived, we'd been assigning two people to be on guard at night. The Others knew we were here- they could strike at any minute.

But part of me believed they wouldn't plan an attack...at least not with Megan here. Why waste the time? Especially when a little girl would do the job for them.

"Yeah. About Megan," I admitted, going back to my fingernails.

"Me too," Cassie said, drumming her fingers on the floor. "And Evan. Evan would know what to do if he was awake."

I nodded slowly. "Probably. By the very least he'd have a better idea than any of the rest of us."

Cassie nodded, murmuring in agreement. "There's no easy way out of this situation. It's either we kill Megan, to discard of the tracking chip inside her or we somehow miraculously find a way to get the chip out without harming her. At least if Evan were awake we'd have help."

Cassie shifted and she wiped her sleeve across her nose.

I looked over, realizing she had started to cry.

"I just-I just wish there was something we could do, you know? I wish we could find some medicine or something to help Evan. I-I mean he saved me and I can't do the same for him and I-"

"Cassie, Evan is an Other-"

"I know he's an Other, Canary-" Cassie interrupted, starting to get upset.

"Wait," I said, cutting her off, "Evan is an Other, which means he had access to the kind of resources to help you. He had medicine and food and a functioning shelter. We don't have any of that. Dumbo had a can of dog food this morning, we have a single roll of bandages, and our shelter? Just look at this," I said, gesturing around me. "There are rats- rats sleeping in our beds. We don't have food, we don't have medicine, and we don't have shelter. You can't compare yourself to Evan. It's completely different."