Johnny raises the alarm as the water swells towards his feet. We jump up the stairs, the water chasing my ankles closely. Jacob grabs my arm and hoists me up to his level. I squeeze his wrist with gratitude.
A cry as Mark overbalances backwards. Peter grabs Mark's collar, halting his fall as the water gathers at his feet. The water stops rising, as Mark's rucksack falls into the water with a faint splash. Mark dodges the splash, and we all watch the bag in horror.
The bag sinks beneath the surface of the seemingly harmless water, fabric and content dissolving completely with large sparks.
"Thank god that wasn't me." Mark says, staring at the clear water in undisguised surprise.
Harry silently sinks to his knees, grappling his visor with convulsing limbs. Andy takes off Harry's visor, shrieking with shock.
Just like James, Harry's bruises have exploded, only much, much worse. Eyes screwed shut, blood pumps out of the openings like water. He opens his eyes, pupils completely overshadowed in red.
Finn mutters a curse and a prayer, as well as a hasty apology, before dunking Harry's face into the acidic liquid, his head shaking and resisting against Finn's grip. Finn pulls him out by the hair, the bleeding replaced with horrible black burns. Harry lies limp at his side.
"YOU KILLED HIM?!" Nick yells incredulously. Kun kneels down to take his pulse.
"Nah, he's just fainted. He'll recover." Kun begins to treat the burns swiftly as the others debate over the cause.
"Did he touch the water?"
"No, he was right at the front."
"Was he injured in the first task?"
"Completely unharmed."
I catch James's eye. I need to speak up.
"It was the trust disease. The one they warned us about before the task-"
"020, what are you talking about?" James interrupts, confused. He was with me, how did he not hear?
Unless...
That message was only intended for you, Candidate 020.
"You must've been asleep," I recover hastily. "It's spread by mutual trust."
"Mutual trust?" Johnny repeats, thoughtfully. "So that means someone else in this group is infected... and could spread it to everyone!"
Unease sweeps across the group. Finn interrogates each of the youngsters, who deny trusting Harry back. Johnny loses his temper. He fires his machine gun at the staircase above us, bullets cascading all over, dust falling down on the cowering crowd.
"SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!"
No reply.
The youngsters scream and Johnny points the gun at Tommy's head, finger on the trigger.
"ALRIGHT FINE! IT WAS ME! JUST DON'T HURT US!" Andy surrenders, stepping forward with his arms outstretched. He has no bruises anywhere I can see. He's lying. Johnny grabs my arm, tossing me towards him.
"Check him."
"Johnny, calm down..." Jacob mutters, but Johnny refuses to listen, raising a hand to Jacob's face and slapping his cheek hard without hesitation, knocking his head sidewards. He wipe the drips of blood from his lips, threatened but defeated.
"Do it, 020." I approach Andy cautiously. His skinny torso is bare, devoid of any bruises. I stare into his face. He gives me a fractional nod.
'Say yes'
His eyes beg imploringly, knowing full well he is not the culprit.
"He's infected, but the symptoms aren't prominent yet, so he isn't a danger-"
"-Yet. He will be soon. It's him, or us." Johnny states coldly.
"Johnny! Stop this, he's a bloody kid for God's sake-" Nick pleads, shielding Andy with his arm. Johnny ignores him, jerking his head at the hole in the spiral staircase.
"Jump."
YOU ARE READING
PANIC ROOM II
Mystery / Thriller- second instalment to "PANIC" series- Tensions rise within the group, whom unable to trust one another, enter the second labyrinth. Challenges await them at every coil, forcing them to work together. But with trust, comes a price: a curse that will...
