14 Chapter 14

"Then you leave us with no choice," Madison says, facing away from us. When she turns back around, she's holding two syringes filled with an electric blue liquid. Thomas backs up slowly, but I'm frozen in fear. What's in there? Will it kill us? Will it brainwash us? I have no time to figure out because right as I'm about to ask, a needle is jabbed into my upper arm and I'm falling...

I open my eyes, finding myself alone in a room, the needle still jabbed into my arm. I yank it out, wincing in pain, and toss it on the ground, taking in my surroundings. There's not much in here, just the bed I'm laying in and a large black screen. I recognize it as a TV, like the ones I see at my mom's office from time to time, sneaking into rooms when I'm left alone. It suddenly flickers to life, blurry at first, but then I'm able to make out the shape of the woman that stabbed me with the needle. Madison, I think that's what her name was. "Quinn," she says firmly. "Nice to see you're awake. We have a deal to make with you."

I cross my arms, not saying anything as she drones on, "You see this room you're in right now? No food, no water. No doors or windows either. And you see that air vent up there? Right above this TV? It's leaking poisonous gas into the room as I speak. You'll be dead in an hour or so, maybe two if you're lucky. Or, you could take a chance on us."

"Where's Thomas?" I shout, angry and terrified. "What did you do to him?"

"He's safe, unlike you. You're... expendable. Thomas is not. Now if you listen very carefully, I have an offer for you. We let you out of this room if you go into Hawthorne and activate the bomb. If the two of you had let me finish, I could have explained that it will take about 15 minutes for the bomb to react to the arsine. This easily gives us enough time to go in and get you far away before it explodes. If you refuse this offer, Quinn, you'll die. What's your choice?"

I have no idea what to say. I'd be killing my parents, my friends, my teachers, everyone that I know. But if I don't do it, I die. I was raised to be good and unselfish, this should be an easy decision, but it's not. And it's not just people I love that I'm killing. I'm sacrificing them to destroy these people that did horrible things to innocent children. As that thought crosses my brain, I know what I have to do. "I'll do it," I say firmly.

Madison smiles, "Thank you, Quinn. It's the right thing, even though it's difficult."