The Immune

27. Sacrifices

"You're telling me you have no idea?"

Isaac shakes his head violently. Strands of black hair escape his bun.

A gunshot echoes through the two rooms, and my eyes instinctively clench closed. Chills spread over my body. When I look again, Isaac twists on the ground in pain, clutching his leg. Blood pools on the floor beneath him. It grows with the passing milliseconds.

"Stop!" I scream, slapping the glass to get Hartley's attention.

"Then either come out or tell me the code." He says this without looking at me.

"No!"

Another gunshot sounds, and Isaac screams. He pulls his leg closer to him. Now his shoe is red with blood. I tighten my grip on the door handle, but he looks up at me and shakes his head.

"Go," he mouths, starting to cry. The sight shatters my heart, and I feel my knees grow weak under me. Every part of him trembles.

I can't do this. I can't let Hartley hurt him. It's over. I look down at the door handle and start to turn it.

"Jaelyn Price!" I snap my head back up at Isaac. "Go!" The words leave his mouth in a desperate scream. I choke back a sob and press a shaking hand against my mouth.

Hartley finally looks back at me. The anger written in his face is a fury I've never seen before. He taps his watch with the hilt of his gun. "Every five minutes you're over there, I waste another bullet on him. I'll start on the lower limbs and work my way towards his heart. It'll be a slow, painful death, because I want you to hear him screaming."

I back farther away from the door, swallowing back bile and fear and anger. Tears run rivers down my cheeks. I have no choice. I have to do this; everyone's counting on me.

"You'll bear responsibility for his death, girl," Hartley growls. "Is that really what you want?"

I shake my head but still back up.

I have to.

Isaac wants me to.

Without thinking, lest I chicken out and open the door, I turn and sprint towards the back of the room. I throw my body into a chair facing away from the window and cover myself with my arm. A computer screen groans to life before me. I press a sweaty hand against the reader, and then tap the only file.

Instead of a video, a typed message pops up on the screen. Wiping snot and tears with the back of my hand, I sit up to see it better.

Jay:

Congratulations on making it into the inner room. By now, I hope you realize I'm on your side. I wasn't able to openly support you without risking my own life. Yes, I'm aware of how selfish that is, but I want to see you grow. You're already so amazing. You are going to do great things. Forgive me for wanting to be present for them.

You're here now, though, and you know. You have to destroy the second strand. It's our only chance of making it out of this in one piece. Hartley won't kill you; he wants to use you. Use that to your advantage.

He won't kill me, but he will Isaac. The thought makes me shake.

The key to destroying the second strand of the virus is to contaminate it. You can do that by injecting some of the cure into the storage containers where the virus is being held. There is a soft lining on the top of the containers that can be easily pierced by a syringe. Inject the cure; destroy the strand.

The tricky part is going to be getting a hold of the cure.

I have confidence in you.