The Carriers

Chapter Twenty One

"Matthew Sallow?" He interrupted.

I nodded sadly. Where was Matthew? I realized that I didn't see him during Brealyn's attack. My mind went back to that evening when Matt brought me back to the camp and Leiana worked on me. After he kissed my forehead he walked outside. Right into that trap.

I realized that I had gotten lost in thought when I looked up at the man in front of me and he was glaring at me again.

"Continue." He ordered.

"I-" I stopped, then looked him dead in the eye. "No." I don't know where that little burst of strength came from, but I decided to go with it.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "I don't think you're in any position to be telling us no."

"No." Inside I was terrified but I wasn't going to show it, not if I was going to get the information I wanted out of him.

"Listen here you little-"

"I will only answer your questions if you answer mine."

He leaned back in his chair, intrigued. "And what questions would you have, Miss Blaire?"

    I swallowed the fear in my voice and took a deep breath. "I want to know what happened that night."

He just chuckled. "You know it's a good thing you were already knocked out, Miss Blaire, I hear that that night was significantly worse than that morning-"

"What. . happened?"

He smirks, seemingly impressed with me. "Chloroforic gas. It's real nasty stuff but it can get the job done, especially when you have a large group of people you need unconscious. We tried to take everyone by force, but surprisingly your little band of nitwits fought back, pretty well actually. Downed a few of our men; that's when we pulled out the gas. Of course there were a few fatalities."

I began to breathe shakily. "Fatalities. . Who-"

He cut me short. "It's my turn to ask a question. Why did this Doctor Kasters choose you and Mr. Sallow to take control of the group?"

I looked down. "I. . Um. . I don't know."

He smirked. "Well, it appears she was mistaken. Look where choosing you two got your friends."

I shut my eyes to fight back tears. He knew he was getting to me, and I knew that he was just trying to beat me down. I just couldn't help it. I knew deep down that it was my fault. Maybe if I hadn't trusted Karli then Brealyn wouldn't have stabbed me in the back. Maybe if I hadn't climbed into that tree with Matt I wouldn't have gotten hurt and I would've been able to help fight. Maybe if I had let more people have weapons they would have been able to fight better and no one would have died. I knew I was a failure. He didn't have to tell me.

After a few minutes of complete silence he spoke up. "I believe it is your turn for a question." He didn't mean it earnestly, I could tell that he didn't. I think he meant for this conversation to keep him entertained. He didn't really care about my questions.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked away the tears. "Who exactly are you people?"
   
    He chuckled. "We're F.E.A.R, obviously." He lifted up his sleeve a little bit to reveal a tattoo similar to the one Brealyn had. "We're the descendants of the people that New Eden's original council left behind. They didn't think we were worth bringing along I guess, and now that's biting them in the butt isn't it?" He chuckled. "My turn."
   
    "Okay."

    "How many quarantined originally?"

    I thought it was a strange question, but I decided I should answer it if I were to get him to answer mine. "Over 5,000. I don't remember the exact number."
   
    "And only 144 survived?"
 
    I nodded, then looked down at my hands. "My turn."