The Immune

20. Light in the Darkness

But I don't know how to fix it.

"I'm sorry we brought you into this," I mumble in apology. Isaac and Clare reappear, arms full of skinny twigs. "It's not right."

"You didn't do this, darlin'. It ain't neither one of y'alls faults." He hands Isaac the matches and sighs. "Eleven years ago, some high-up official got some wild idea that the world needed to be fixed and that it was his job to do it. Ashford brought me into this. Not you."

Isaac's fire comes to life in front of us, and the air starts to warm up. We fall into a happy, sleepy silence and watch the sun set on the mountain behind us.

"Get some sleep, Jay." Stephen pushes off the ground and walks to sit beside Clare on the edge of the road. He signs something to her, and she laughs silently. I watch as he wraps his arm around her and pulls the girl into a hug.

It's not fair that these people have to suffer because I decided to leave the compound. I should have stayed put.

With a loud sigh, I remove my jacket and spread it out on the grass. Then, I lay down with my hands behind my head. The fire draws me towards sleep, and before I know it, my eyes droop closed.

"Will you be my pillow?"

My eyes pop open, and I look sideways at Isaac, shocked. "Excuse me?"

"Can I use you as a pillow?" he repeats with a laugh. "The ground's way too hard, and I can't spare my jacket."

I laugh and lay my head back down. "I thought that's what you said. Go ahead."

Isaac scoots closer and lies perpendicular to me. He rests his head on my thigh, sighing happily.

"I'm hungry," he whispers, letting his eyes close.

"Yeah, me too."

"I think I've been hungry since we left the compound. The food may have been terrible, but it was reliable."

My hand moves to his head, stroking his hair with a smile. "You'll have to be hungry for just a little while longer. There isn't enough food for everyone. Stephen and Clare need it for the trip back."

Isaac nods. The weight of what I just said must've gone right over his head. He is tired.

I don't have much of a plan going forward, but I know that I can't keep letting people make sacrifices just to help me. If they go into the compound, they won't come back out. I refuse to be the reason a boy lives the rest of his life fatherless, especially when I had to go motherless. They cannot go past The Wall.

Within a minute, Isaac falls asleep. I continue running my fingers through his hair until my arm gets tired. Eventually, I let my own eyes close and fall into an exhausted sleep.

###

"Jay."

I jerk awake. Stephen kneels in the grass beside me, barely visible in the dim moonlight. Rubbing my eyes, I shake Isaac awake by twitching my leg. He sits up with a yawn.

"Is it time to switch?" I ask, stretching with Isaac. Stephen nods.

Around us, night continues. We're surrounded by some of the blackest darkness I've ever seen. There are no streetlights; clouds partially cover the moon. I can't even see the stars through them. As Isaac and I take our spot on the asphalt, a thought hits me. Would we be able to see Infected coming? If it wasn't for the fire, I wouldn't be able to see my hand in front of my face.

Crickets and cicadas sing in the trees behind us. An owl hoots occasionally, reminding me of the joke I told Howard that unfortunate night. I haven't spoken to him since then. Is he okay? Did they punish him for my behavior? Is his new partner treating him right? He really was my only friend for those two years on The Wall.