𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²

16. the test

"With me? Never."

---

My sleep was reckless. Consisting of nightmares and constant waking. So when a knock came at the door a few hours later, it felt like I hadn't even slept at all.

"Come in!" I groaned, shoving my face into the pillow in frustration.

The door slowly creaked open, and whoever the knocker was took a few steps inside. "Aves?" Raven's voice was tentative as she spoke, as if she was afraid I was going to breakdown on her. 

I pulled my head up, looking over to her with a forced smile. "Hey." I breathed. "How are you feeling?" I wondered, instantly regretting that this had been the first time I had spoken to her since we had arrived on the island. 

"I'm okay, I promise."

I nodded, sitting up and looking toward her. "It's time isn't it?" I asked, already knowing the answer. 

"Yeah." she whispered. "Abby wants you to be there."

Silently, I stood and pulled on my shoes as a million thoughts ran through my mind. As much as I did not want to be there to witness this, part of me felt like I had to. 

Raven and I were rather silent as we walked through the hallways, making our way down to the laboratory.  When we finally arrived, they were in the process of strapping an unconscious Baylis in to the radiation chamber. 

I stopped beside Roan, giving him a forced smile as he glanced over at me. It was evident that he noted my uneasiness. "This is for the best." he muttered.

"So I'm told." I responded, crossing my arms over my chest as if that would somehow protect me from what was about to happen. 

I knew that I was automatically thinking of the worse. Best case scenario is that Abby and Jackson did everything perfect the first time, and that Baylis will come out of this with a few radiation burns. Worst case is that he painfully dies in front of all of us.

"Vitals signs are strong." Abby announced while glancing down at the monitor in front of her. "Jackson, seal the chamber."

"Copy that." Jackson nodded, letting out a low sigh as he closed the chamber before locking it. "He's ready."

I couldn't help but envision the chamber as a casket and my blood ran cold. 

"Yeah," Raven announced. "But are we?"

I pushed a piece of hair from my face as I shook my head. "We're sure we want to do this?" I confirmed. 

Emori looked around at the group of us, her eyes widening slightly. "The guy's a monster!" she argued.

"We've been over this," Clarke started, her eyes focused on Baylis. "None of us wants to do this, but the Death Wave will be here in ten days. Luna's stem cells grafted successfully. Baylis is making Nightblood on his own. This really is our only choice." It sounded like she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince the rest of us. 

"Are we really still talking about this?" Murphy questioned. "The black rain is already here. 18 people died in it yesterday at Arkadia, so if Nightblood can let us walk around in it, I, for one, want to know about that."