Page 15 of The Godhead Complex
“What are we going to do?” Isaac asked.
“I’m not going to kill her, but she can’t get on the boat. No arguments.”
Even if theMaze Cutterwere the biggest ship known to man, having an infected—with anything, much less the Flare—on a floating vessel wasn’t a good idea. Cowan was lucky they weren’t in the Remnant Nation—it’d be the Flare pits for her.
“We can’t leave her out here alone . . . ,” Isaac offered.
“She won’t be alone.” Minho locked eyes with Isaac until the other boy’s eyes reflected the unwanted understanding. Isaac shook his head, but Minho nodded. “You’ve got to stay with her. Take her to the Villa to get help. No arguments.”
“I’m sensing a pattern. Not a good one.”
“Look,” Minho said, “if Cowan has something it could be a virus or it could be a genetic reaction.” He paused, wondering if he should admit what he really thought out loud. Old Man Frypan certainly always did. “I’d shoot her dead right here behind this bush if it were up to me and it’d be done. She’d be safe and we’d be safe. But you all have this little experiment going on and if Cowan’s sick, that means Sadina’s blood—at leasthalfof it—might not be as precious as everyone thinks.” Minho finally let his gun fall to the side. Sometimes it just all seemed pointless.
“I didn’t think about that.” Isaac slowed; his shoulders slumped. Minho had really ruined the kid’s day.
They walked back into view of the group. Trish and Sadina were doing some goofy dance-thing as everyone clapped but Minho couldn’t keep his eyes off of Cowan. He looked her up and down. His training and every last one of his instincts screamed at him to shoot her, but he couldn’t, he just couldn’t—not if he wanted to have friends. Minho looked at Orange, Roxy, Old Man Frypan. Were these friendships worth ignoring his instincts?
“By the way,” Isaac said from behind. “Don’t say anything. I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”
For some reason, that statement annoyed Minho more than anything else he’d heard.
Weak, he thought.All of these people are weak.
PARTTWO
Believing the Belief
Nothing feels good and nothing feels bad, anymore. Nothing feels right or wrong. Hot or cold. Happy or sad. Exciting or dull. I heard an old saying once: Ignorance is bliss. They even named that damn Crank drug after such a notion. The Bliss. All these things relate to each other, and I neither care nor don’t care.
I might be losing my mind, or I might finally understand the whole of it.
—The Book of Newt
CHAPTERSEVEN
Control Subjects
He waited for a chance to talk to Ms. Cowan alone, but day turned into night. He had to wake her up while everyone else slept. “Psst . . .” He gently shook her shoulder while avoiding the rash near her neck. “Ms. Cowan. We—”
“What? I’m fine.” She slowly opened her eyes and tried to smile but the corners of her mouth drooped. So did the corners of her eyes. She was more than just tired. This lady was sick.
“You’re not fine, and I talked to—”
“I’m not coughing anymore. And my throat felt tight before, but it’s not now.” She sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes. “It must have been those plants where we. . . . Somewhere, or the bugs when we slept. . . . Somewhere. An ant bite, maybe.” She lifted her hands in the air as if it were all a bad dream. “I was allergic and now—”
“Your neck,” Isaac whispered. He didn’t want to mention the change in her speech patterns. She used to talk in such a refined manner and now her thoughts were all over the place.
“My neck’s fine. It’s not itchy anymore.”
“Itchy? You said it wasn’t!” He took a deep breath and looked around to make sure he hadn’t awakened anyone else. Being responsible for Cowan weighed heavily on him. He had to get her to the Villa. What if something happened to her before they got there? What if she infected him? He focused on whispering as quietly as he could while still making his words clear. “We’re going to the Villa. You and me.” He made it sound like a fun vacation.
Ms. Cowan didn’t respond but her eyes and her open mouth made it look like she wanted to protest.
“It’s not an option, it’s an order. From Minho.” Isaac paused and waited for the backlash, for her to be disappointed in Isaac for blabbing, telling Minho, the guy with a gun of all people. But she just took the news. Did she even understand what he just said?
“Okay. Thank you,” Cowan replied.
“You understand what’s going to happen? We’re going to have to split from the others”
