Lost {Ongoing:In Editing}

An Unexpected Delivery

Chapter XVII

ALEX TRIED DESPERATELY TO break free from Nathan's grip, who had wrapped his arms around Alex to keep him from running after his sister. "Let me go!" he screamed. "She'll die! I won't lose her!" 

Joey, who now watched from the ground with David's head resting in her lap, panted as she felt her chest squeeze and found it hard to breathe. Jenny was really gone, taken from them by Agcorp's monsters.

A hand rested on her shoulder and she flinched, swinging her head up to meet Ella's concerned gaze. The young girls face swirled as she knelt down, and Joey blinked to clear her vision. She closed her eyes and lowered her head while focusing on getting her rapid heartbeat to slow.

"Alex!" She looked back up as Michelle stepped in front of him and gripped his uninjured shoulder. "You can't go after her! You hear me? We can't risk it!" Her voice lowered as he slowly stopped fighting against Nathan. "I'm sorry." She forced his gaze to meet hers and she stared intently into his eyes. "I really am, but she's gone." She lowered her hand as she straightened her back. "People die in the Domes. That's part of the trials. It's what Claire wants. We try our best to survive, but the reality is that some of us just don't make it. Best thing to do now is to move on, and grieve the dead in a safer environment."

Alex shook his head as he broke down in a heavy sob. "But she can't be dead!" His voice quivered, and with one final shout, he yelled, "I won't let her die like this!" He shook uncontrollably, and with a nod from Michelle, Nathan finally released him. Alex fell to his knees in the snow and he buried his face in his hands.

Joey averted her teary eyes, gazing up at the sky that was streaked with pinks and oranges. She couldn't possibly begin to imagine the pain he was going through. She had lost her dad, but that had been years ago. She'd had her time to grieve, but still she knew there was something different about losing a sibling over a parent. To watch the person you grew up with, who knew you sometimes better than you knew yourself, be dragged away like that ... Her heart ached, but not just for Alex. She knew that none of them were likely to ever see Jenny again.

Her attention was drawn back to the others as Kathleen shuffled towards Alex, her balled hands pressed tightly against her chest. She dropped to her knees and threw her arms around her cousin as she, too, sobbed into Alex's shoulder without speaking a word.

"Michelle, are you sure we can't go after her?" Joey eyed one of the twins who had stepped up to Michelle.

She flung herself around and spoke sternly, bending down to meet his face, "Let me make this clear. We're running out of time!" His head ducked between his shoulder. "So, yes. We could run after Jenny, and quite probably find her half eaten corpse, or we can save the man who we know is still alive!" She stood straight and turned to eye Joey. "Since you were the one so keen on saving David, the choice is yours."

"No!" Alex shouted, springing to his feet and stomping towards Joey and Michelle. He glanced between them while shaking her head. "That's not fair! I know her choice, but it isn't her sister who was dragged away!" He glanced into the forest before back at Michelle. "David will last, but Jenny won't." His head fell in Joey's direction. "If it was David instead of Jenny, wouldn't you go after him?"

She stared at Alex with her mouth open to speak, but couldn't give him an answer. The guilt weighed heavily on her chest, knowing that she would've dashed into the forest the moment David had been dragged away. As much as it pained her, she had to make him believe that Jenny was gone because it was the only way they could keep going, and she couldn't afford to lose someone like Alex on their team. "I'm sorry." She felt hot tears fill her bottom eyelids, and watched as his eyes glistened. "She's gone, but David still has a chance."