his security detachment. He made calculated turns at intersecting corridors until he ran inside of a lift, hit a button and was rapidly taken four decks above. Marshall dutifully and exhaustingly kept pace with the kid so as to not lose him but couldn’t catch up.
By the time Marshall and Harman got to the lift, Josh had already made it to a door on the housing deck, punched in a code and slipped inside before it shut locked behind him. Josh was in his house. Or at least, the house he would have lived in had he not been in the Academy. His mother lay in her bedroom being tended by her long time friend and neighbor, Maria Santiago. The two women sat in the shadows, a faint light from the kitchen illuminating their bodies like statues in a museum as Josh’s mother lay dying in her bed.
Maria coughed, covering her mouth. She looked at Josh as if she had seen a ghost. “Josh? Is that you?”
Josh hadn’t seen his mother in years and wasn’t told how sick she had become. The Academy did not tell them much of anything outside of what they wanted the students to learn at the Academy. For the students, the virus had only been a faint rumor. Now he approached the two of them apprehensively and revealed to Josh for the first time the disturbing effects the virus had on its host in their final hours.
“You shouldn’t get too close,” Maria said weakly. Josh came closer anyway, unafraid of the virus. Maria shifted over on the bed so he could see his mother Janice with ashen, sunken skin stretched across the bones of her body. Her breathing was short and rapid and her eyes reflected a dull, lifeless quality.
“Mom!” Josh cried in shock by the gruesome sight. A brief smile came over his mother’s face and her eyes flashed a moment of joy. A boney hand reached out for him as he grabbed it tight.
“I didn’t know you were like this! They didn’t tell me anything about you, mom, what did they do? How the hell did this happen?”
“I know. Sweety, I know. It’s okay. How did ... ?”
“I’m immune somehow, I don’t know why. Now they’re trying to take a bunch of us to the shuttles. I don’t want to do this. I never did! When they took me away from you I cried, I cried for months and they tried to kill that in me but I never forgot, I never forgot you or how I felt about you. I always wanted to come back to you. You’re all I have mom and they took you away from me.” He desperately looked into her eyes as his emotions spilled forth , and he held onto her frail hands and never wanted to leave her again.
She swallowed dryly, “I never lived a day without thinking about you. I worried for you every minute of my life. Josh, I love you, but your place is no longer here now. I wished and prayed every night that things could have been different because this life, it’s all we have and I had to live it without you.”
He squeezed her hand. “If I have to go I will only do it for you.”
She smiled weakly and held his head up by the chin, “There is nothing left here and you’ve been chosen to survive, for all of us. I love you. I’m sorry Josh. I’m sorry you had to grow up the way you did and that I couldn’t be there for you. I couldn’t ... hold you in your darkest hours. I know you had many there Josh. Look at you, my handsome son ...” Her hand slowly caressed his face as she felt the skin of her only child for the last time. He buried his face in the palm of her hand. All he wanted to do was go back to a time before the Academy, when he was with his mother and life held a semblance of joy and hope.
The door behind him had its code overridden and Marshall barged in and grabbed Josh.
“Mom!” He called as Marshall and Harman seized him, his hands reaching out as they pulled him away, but there was nothing they could do. All Josh could see in the light was his
By the time Marshall and Harman got to the lift, Josh had already made it to a door on the housing deck, punched in a code and slipped inside before it shut locked behind him. Josh was in his house. Or at least, the house he would have lived in had he not been in the Academy. His mother lay in her bedroom being tended by her long time friend and neighbor, Maria Santiago. The two women sat in the shadows, a faint light from the kitchen illuminating their bodies like statues in a museum as Josh’s mother lay dying in her bed.
Maria coughed, covering her mouth. She looked at Josh as if she had seen a ghost. “Josh? Is that you?”
Josh hadn’t seen his mother in years and wasn’t told how sick she had become. The Academy did not tell them much of anything outside of what they wanted the students to learn at the Academy. For the students, the virus had only been a faint rumor. Now he approached the two of them apprehensively and revealed to Josh for the first time the disturbing effects the virus had on its host in their final hours.
“You shouldn’t get too close,” Maria said weakly. Josh came closer anyway, unafraid of the virus. Maria shifted over on the bed so he could see his mother Janice with ashen, sunken skin stretched across the bones of her body. Her breathing was short and rapid and her eyes reflected a dull, lifeless quality.
“Mom!” Josh cried in shock by the gruesome sight. A brief smile came over his mother’s face and her eyes flashed a moment of joy. A boney hand reached out for him as he grabbed it tight.
“I didn’t know you were like this! They didn’t tell me anything about you, mom, what did they do? How the hell did this happen?”
“I know. Sweety, I know. It’s okay. How did ... ?”
“I’m immune somehow, I don’t know why. Now they’re trying to take a bunch of us to the shuttles. I don’t want to do this. I never did! When they took me away from you I cried, I cried for months and they tried to kill that in me but I never forgot, I never forgot you or how I felt about you. I always wanted to come back to you. You’re all I have mom and they took you away from me.” He desperately looked into her eyes as his emotions spilled forth , and he held onto her frail hands and never wanted to leave her again.
She swallowed dryly, “I never lived a day without thinking about you. I worried for you every minute of my life. Josh, I love you, but your place is no longer here now. I wished and prayed every night that things could have been different because this life, it’s all we have and I had to live it without you.”
He squeezed her hand. “If I have to go I will only do it for you.”
She smiled weakly and held his head up by the chin, “There is nothing left here and you’ve been chosen to survive, for all of us. I love you. I’m sorry Josh. I’m sorry you had to grow up the way you did and that I couldn’t be there for you. I couldn’t ... hold you in your darkest hours. I know you had many there Josh. Look at you, my handsome son ...” Her hand slowly caressed his face as she felt the skin of her only child for the last time. He buried his face in the palm of her hand. All he wanted to do was go back to a time before the Academy, when he was with his mother and life held a semblance of joy and hope.
The door behind him had its code overridden and Marshall barged in and grabbed Josh.
“Mom!” He called as Marshall and Harman seized him, his hands reaching out as they pulled him away, but there was nothing they could do. All Josh could see in the light was his
Similar Books
The Immortal Coil
J. Armand
Stacked Up: Worth the Fight Series
Sidney Halston
The Truth About Delilah Blue
Tish Cohen
Empire
Edward Cline
A Shade of Vampire 11: A Chase of Prey
Bella Forrest
Bishop's Song
Joe Nobody
Beauty Chorus, The
Kate Lord Brown
Star Crossed
Emma Holly
The Third Figure
Collin Wilcox
Atlantis in Peril
T. A. Barron