Surviving Patorum

Chapter 24

The walk back through the tunnels was the easy part. The heat barrels down onto us like a rainstorm when we exit the compound. My sallow skin feels like it's cooking in the sun's rays. I had to remove my jacket and throw it over my shoulder to cool down as I helped Dally walk through the slippery sand. Sweat drips down my forehead and onto my dull, tattered, white shirt, mixing with the blood stains from my gunshot wounds.

The group hasn't said anything since we left Mr. Smith in the Hub. There's just been this thickness in the air around Paige. I'm sure everyone can feel it since the rest of the group has kept their distance from us. I don't know what to do about it. Talk to her or leave it be?

Jacobs is leading us through the desert, carrying his gun practically at a shooting position. I'd say he's paranoid about the crickets. But, we hadn't seen one—an alive one since we passed Gate 4 when we returned to get supplies in the compound. We haven't seen a single animal. No birds flying in the sky, no rodents skipping through the sand. Nothing. And that makes me worried. Where are all the animals? And are all of them as big as the crickets?

I hear Red curse as he hits his shin against a rock. Wellings asks him if he's alright, and I hear Red grunt to confirm he is. The King family is walking in front of us now. Liam is playfully jumping off rocks and digging his hands into the sand. Jaime constantly asks him to return to her side since he keeps getting distracted. I forgot that he's never been outside the compound. He's never seen the sky or an animal other than those crickets. He must be in amazement even more than I was last night.

Dally's heavy to carry, and I can sense he's still trying to keep himself out of unconsciousness as we walk north through the scorching landscape. His head has fallen onto my shoulder twice now, and his legs almost fall from under him. We probably should have eaten something before we left the compound, but we'll have to stop in some shade soon, or my skin will boil off.

I watch Paige as we walk through the barren terrain. She's stepping over the dried bushes, careful not to catch her skin on their sharp thorns or blunt sticks, and cautious of the cacti we pass. Her hair is pulled into a messy bun, but I can see the sweat-drenched strands sticking to the back of her neck. She should have changed out of her sweatpants before we left or at least taken them off. I feel my heart beat faster thinking of Paige walking around in her underwear, but I shake the thought off. I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel about her or how she feels about me.

I pull Dally closer as I quicken my pace to catch up with Paige. We both round a pile of orange clay rocks before I get the nerve to speak. "Can we talk?" I say to her, and I can feel my gut squeeze.

"Should I not be here for this conversation?" Dally chuckles nervously, arm still draped over my shoulder.

I shake my head. "It's fine. I want to ask her why she's okay with talking to me now."

Paige stops looking at the ground to look up at me, her eyes locking onto mine. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I cut off your Dad's hand." I pause. "You should be furious with me."

Paige takes a second to think, and I see her eyes flash from the ground to me again as we step over a prickly shrub. "It needed to be done."

"How could you say that?" Dally huffs.

"There was no way we would escape the compound if we didn't go to those measures."

"I doubt that," I say, guilt bubbling up inside me. "There could have been other ways we could have tried. We could have sat down with your father and asked him about the air toxicity levels and room 32..." I trail off. I shield my eyes from the sun with my hand.

"He would have never listened or told us the truth," Paige says. "He was too set in his ways."

"He was trying to keep us safe," I say. I don't know why I appreciate Mr. Smith right now. Maybe it's because we left him to die, and I feel bad about it. And I would have kept the air toxicity level from everyone, too.