“What do you think?” Wells asked, taking a hesitant step toward them.
“I’m not sure.” She’d moved her hand to Molly’s neck to feel her glands, then twisted around to glance up at Wells. “Hey, how long have we been here? I seem to have lost track of time with the snakebite and everything.”
“Just over three weeks.” He paused, calculating in his head. “I think it was three weeks yesterday.”
“Day twenty-one,” Clarke said quietly, more to herself than to him.
“What’s that? What are you talking about?”
Clarke looked away, but Wells could see the fear in her eyes. He knew what that haunted look meant. He remembered the anguish he’d felt when Clarke had finally confided in him about her parents’ experiments. “You don’t think it has something to do with radiation, do you?” he asked. “But… wouldn’t people have gotten sick much earlier?”
Clarke pressed her lips together, scrunching her mouth to the side like she always did when giving her body time to catch up to her racing brain. “If it was in the air, yes, we wouldn’t have been able to breathe. But if it was just trace amounts in the water, then this would be the time. But I don’t think that’s what’s wrong with Molly,” she said quickly. “It doesn’t look like radiation poisoning.” A shadow of pain flickered in her eyes, and Wells knew she was thinking about her friend, the one who’d died. “I think she might be having a bad reaction to something. Is the rest of the universal antidote still in the medicine chest?”
“The rest of it?” Wells repeated. “There was just the one vial.”
Clarke stared at him. “Please tell me you didn’t use the whole thing on me. That was probably twelve doses!”
“And how exactly was I supposed to know that?” Wells asked, indignation tugging at the guilt that had begun to coil around his stomach.
“So it’s all gone?” Clarke turned back to Molly and cursed under her breath. “This isn’t good.”
Before Wells could ask Clarke to elaborate, the door flew open, and Eric hurried inside, leading Felix by the hand. “Clarke? Thank god you’re awake. We need you.” Startled to see the normally stoic Eric so agitated, Wells hurried toward him and helped Eric settle Felix in one of the remaining empty cots.
“He passed out on our way back from the stream,” Eric said, looking anxiously from Clarke to Felix. “And he said he hasn’t been able to keep any food down.”
By this point, Bellamy had woken up. He rose to his feet slowly, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. “What’s going on? Clarke, what the hell are you doing out of bed?”
She ignored him as she took a few shaky steps in order to begin examining Felix. His eyes were open, but he had trouble focusing on Clarke, and didn’t seem able to answer any of her questions.
“What’s wrong with him?” Eric asked, searching Clarke’s face with an intensity that reminded Wells of the guards in the command center back on the ship, the ones in charge of scanning the monitors for asteroids or debris.
“I’m not sure,” she said, her voice a mix of confusion and irritation. Clarke hated being stumped. “But it’s probably nothing to worry about. It could be dehydration caused by the stomach flu. We’ll hydrate him and see what happens. Bellamy, can you bring us some more water?”
Bellamy hesitated and looked at Wells, as if about to suggest that he go, but then he nodded and hurried out the door.
Wells crouched down next to Clarke, close enough that he could speak softly, but far enough that there’d be no danger of brushing against her. “It’s weird, isn’t it? That Molly and Felix fell ill at pretty much the same time?”
“Not really. With a hundred people living together in such a small space, it’s a wonder there hasn’t been some sort of outbreak sooner.”
Wells glanced at Eric, who was busy stroking Felix’s hair, and lowered his voice. “But what if it isn’t the flu? What if it’s the radia—”
“It isn’t,” Clarke said as she tilted her head toward Felix’s chest to listen to his lungs as best she could without a stethoscope.
“But if it was. Is there anything in the medicine chest that would help?”
“My parents were developing something,” Clarke said softly. “There’s a bottle of pills that could slow the effects of radiation poisoning.”
“Shouldn’t we give it to them, then? To be safe?”
“Absolutely not.”
Clarke’s tone brooked no arguments, but Wells pressed on, anyway. “Why?”
Clarke jerked her head toward Wells and gave him a look of frustration, mingled with fear. “Because if it’s not radiation poisoning, then the pills will kill them.”
CHAPTER 9
Clarke
“You sure you’ll be okay for a few hours?” Bellamy asked, examining Clarke’s still-swollen arm with a frown. “I’ll try not to go far, in case—”
“I’m sure,” she interrupted. “Go hunting. It’s fine, I promise.” They were low on food, and when Wells had returned that afternoon to check on Molly and Felix, he’d swallowed his pride and asked Bellamy for help replenishing their supplies.
Bellamy jerked his head toward the sleeping girl on the other side of the cabin. “Promise me you won’t talk to her,” he said. “I don’t trust her alone with you.”
“I’m not alone,” Clarke said. “Molly and Felix are here.”
“Unconscious people don’t count. Just keep your distance, okay? And try to get some rest.”
“I will. I promise.” Clarke tried to keep her voice steady so Bellamy wouldn’t suspect how eager she was for him to leave. But the moment he was gone, she rose onto her knees to peer over at the Earthborn girl.
She was wearing all black, but Clarke didn’t recognize most of the materials. The pants were tight and made out of something smooth and slightly shiny—maybe animal skin?—while the fabric draped over the top of her body looked softer. What was woven animal hair called? Wool? The bulky wrap around her shoulders was unmistakably animal fur. Clarke was desperate to find out what sort of creature it came from. So far, the only mammal she’d seen was a deer; the fur on the girl’s wrap was much thicker and darker.
Across the room, Felix moaned in his sleep. Clarke hurried over and placed her hand against his forehead. His fever was also getting worse. She bit her lip as she thought about what she’d told Wells. It was true that radiation poisoning presented differently; after the nausea and fever came sores, bleeding gums, and hair loss. That’s what had made watching Lilly so terrible. Clarke had known what was in store for her friend before each new wave of suffering.
As she headed back to her own cot, Clarke thought about the pills in the medicine chest. If Felix and Molly’s illness had nothing to do with radiation, the drug would kill them. But if Clarke was wrong, she’d be sentencing them to a long and painful death. The pills had to be administered in the early stages of radiation poisoning.
She sat down and placed her head in her hands, wondering for the umpteenth time why the Council hadn’t bothered talking to her before they sent the hundred to Earth. Yes, she’d been a convicted criminal, but she was also the only person intimately acquainted with her parents’ research.
“So who’s Lilly?” an unfamiliar voice called from the other side of the cabin.
Clarke gasped and jerked her head toward the Earthborn girl, shocked into silence. So she did speak English. She was sitting up now, facing Clarke. Her long black hair was matted but still shiny, and her skin had a warm glow to it that made her eyes appear startlingly green.
“What—what do you—?” Clarke stammered. Then she took a deep breath and forced herself to regain some semblance of composure. “Why do you want to know about Lilly?”
The girl shrugged. “You said that name in your sleep, when you were having the fever dreams.” Her accent and cadence were different from what Clarke was used to, slightly more musical. Hearing it was thrilling, like the first time she had listened to a heartbeat during her medical training. “And then that boy acted so strange when you mentioned her,” the girl added.