Pain split through her skull. That was the first thing she felt when she came to. And the irritation of these bright, white lights that stung her eyes. Her body was incredibly stiff, and cold. Her head lay on something soft and pillow-like.

Her vision flickered around. Okay...where the hell am I? A hospital-looking room. She was on a hospital bed, with a thin blanket over her body. It wasn't helping with preserving her body heat. Her clothes clung to her body, feeling damp. A sensation of prickling needles poked at her skin as she tried to sit up. It was either a hissing or a groaning sound she made. Maybe it was both. Having successfully sat up, she got a better view of the room. It was plain, aside from the stacked boxes to her right, and a chair or two to her left. Her bag perched on the closest one. A roll-y table with a bunch of medicines and a syringe on it.

"What the fuck happened?" She rubbed her temple tenderly. The last thing she could recall was being on top of that bus when the water turned it upright and knocked her off into the current. The back of her cranium warmed, as a reminder that she had hit her head on something. Obviously hard enough for her to be knocked unconscious.

"Oh, you're awake." The voice startled her at first. A girl about her age had come in holding a tray of what looked like food. She seemed just as surprised as she did. "I guess that's good. Here, you should eat something."

"Who are you?" Maeve eyed her warily. "Where's my sister? Where's TJ and Joel?"

"Marlene's with them," the girl answered, approaching the bed and setting the tray at Maeve's feet. "They haven't woken up yet. Or so I'm told."

Her eyes fell to the tray. A sandwich and a bag of unexpired keto chips.

"I'm Abby, by the way." The girl sat in the empty chair, watching Maeve while she laced her fingers together.

"Maeve." She replied, her voice soft. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Saint Mary's Hospital," Abby answered as she twiddled her thumbs. "We found you guys near the tunnels. Half-drowned. So I'm told."

The auburn-haired teen nodded numbly and leaned back with a sigh. That meant the others were okay, too, right? Was Ellie okay? TJ and Joel too?

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"Just my head."

"There's some pills on the table if you need them."

"Thanks." Maeve glanced at the pill bottles laid about the surface. The headache she had wasn't bad, or it didn't hurt terribly. Her skull was sore, mostly. If she was still enough, the stinging would settle. Maybe it was because she had hit her head that she couldn't process what had happened, past and present.

Okay. They were in the tunnel. The bus turned over. They fell into the water. She hit her head. Lights out. While she was under, the Fireflies found them, and got them to the hospital. Seems grand and all. But where was her sister? The girl hadn't answered her question. Where was TJ, and where was Joel?

And why was it so quiet? She thought there would be more Fireflies roaming about.

"You're up," Marlene's voice broke her thoughts. "How're you feeling, kid?"

"Marlene!" Maeve's head shot up toward the doorway to see the dark-skinned woman enter the room. "Ellie, is she okay? And TJ and Joel?"

Marlene smiled lightly, but there was something about her smile that discouraged Maeve somehow. The woman gave Abby a weird expression, which caused the blonde to stand, wave farewell to her, and then leave the room.

"I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to not freak okay, all right?"

"Saying something like that won't guarantee anything." Maeve watched the woman anxiously. "What's going on?"

Marlene sighed and sat on the empty seat. Her clammy hands wiped her mouth. She was frightened, Maeve realized. Scared, even. And remorseful? What happened? Did Ellie or one of the guys not make it? Oh, God...

"Maeve, I..." she began and then stopped. "I'm sorry but there's no other way to say this and not make it sound like bad news."

"Just lay it on me." Maeve gnawed at her cheek. "Does it have to do with Ellie? Or the guys? Were you able to find out how to make a cure?"

"It's not that simple, kid," Marlene frowned at her. "Listen and don't interrupt me, okay? This is important and you need to listen to me."

Okay, it was serious. That scared Maeve to hell and back. She sat silently on the bed and watched Marlene contemplate.

"The Cordyceps inside Ellie mutated, and it's why she's immune," the woman began slowly, not looking at Maeve. "The doctors here have found a way to reverse engineer a vaccine."

"That's great, isn't it?" Maeve's heart thumped nervously. That was good news, right? A vaccine was great news! But why didn't Marlene look like that? "It's good news, right?'

"There are some...complications to making the vaccine, Maeve."

What? What kind of complications would she be talking about...no. Her heart thudded painfully against her chest. The smile on her face dropped in an instant and horror filled her. She'd suspected this would be a potential outcome. Her head had begun to move from side to side.

"No." She said. "No. No. No."

"Maeve, I—"

"Please don't, Marlene!" She pleaded tearfully. "She's my baby sister!"

"I know."

"Please don't take her away from me, Marlene!" Maeve threw the cover off her body and got out of bed. "She's all I have."

"I understand what you're feeling, I do," Marlene stood up too, towering over the sixteen-year-old. "But this isn't something we can let go."

"Please, please! Don't take my baby sister from me!" Maeve seized the woman's arms. Tears streaked her face. She couldn't imagine her life without her sister in it; it terrified the shit out of her. "Isn't there anyone else?"

"Unfortunately, not."

Maeve hiccupped a sob, feeling sick to her stomach. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Not to Ellie. Not to her little sister.

"Don't you think I know what you're feeling? I promised your mother I'd look after you girls. I'm hurting just as much as you are." Marlene embraced her tightly to console the weeping girl. "Please understand Ellie would want this."

"Did you even ask her?" Maeve pushed herself away.

"She's currently being prepped for surgery."

Her heart dropped. Being prepped for surgery. Without a goodbye or an explanation? Her insides clenched like her body was overtaken by severe hunger cramps.

"I want to see Ellie." She demanded, heading for the door. "Take me to her."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Maeve." Marlene grabbed her by the elbow and forced her back. "Joel and TJ have already been detained. Don't make me detain you too."

Maeve leered at her. "What good is a cure gonna do, huh? A vaccine prevents infection, it doesn't cure it."

"But it will save us from extinction." Marlene went to turn around, calling someone from out in the hall.

Straightening, Maeve breathed through her nose. Her hands curled into tight balls. Ellie was going to die for a "maybe"? Not on her watch.

"A cure won't bring him back."

"What?" The woman twisted around, confused for a moment. Her expression melted into realization. Yeah. She knew.

"Jordan wouldn't—"

"Do not bring my son into this, Maeve." Marlene's tone was harsh and cold. A sadness quaked her voice.

"Soldiers didn't kill him, Marlene." Maeve softened her voice.

"What are you talking about?"

This is going to kill her. Maeve grimaced inwardly. "When he was bitten, he asked me to kill him."

Marlene barked, laughing. "No. My son was shot and killed by a soldier."

"He was bitten." The teen shook her head at the older woman.

"What are you getting at." Her laugh died. Her expression stilled with disbelief. Her eyes bore into her soul as if trying to detect any lies. Maeve's heart fluttered within her chest, aching for Marlene. "Are you saying Jordan — my son — snuck back into the QZ and got infected?"

"Yes."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

A painful lump grew in her throat now, almost choking her. "I was there when he was bitten. And when we found the bites on him, he told me he didn't want to change, and that I should shoot him."

"You're lying."

Maeve bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Marlene. But it's the truth."

The woman dropped her eyes to the floor, lost for words. Her breath seemed to escape her, and she held her stomach. A strangled gasp left the woman. She was left crippled by the truth of Jordan's death.

"Marlene, I —"

"Don't touch me." Her hand was harshly slapped away.

"He made me promise to not tell you the truth," Maeve backed away from the grieving woman. "He didn't want you to know that he was bitten."

Minutes ticked by agonizingly slowly. Marlene held herself up, her hand flat against the wall with her other curled under her bust.

"Why did you tell me this?" Her voice croaked. And then she turned to her with an expression of fury, raising her voice. "WHY?!"

"Because you deserved to know what really happened!" She shot back. "To know that a cure won't bring back our loved ones! It's pointless without them!"

"A vaccine will prevent more infected," Marlene marched toward her. "My son, my best friend, your mother. They all died in vain because of no cure. I'll be damned if this vaccine isn't made. The world still had life left to save."

"What are you doing?" Maeve narrowed her eyes at the hysterical Marlene. A slim object is suddenly taken from her cargo pants pocket. It kind of looked like a syringe. It had translucent liquid inside.

"Taking precautions."

"Hey, let me go!" Maeve grabbed Marlene's wrists when lunged at. The syringe dripped some of the mystery liquid. "You of all people should know family matters most! Jordan wouldn't want this! And neither would Ellie!"

"Don't say my son's name! You don't deserve to say his name!" Marlene growled, gaining some strength through her anger and tackling Maeve onto the bed. "My son's name won't be bashed by the likes of you."

"I loved him too, Marlene!" Maeve grunted, struggling against her still. "He was my everything!"

"And he was my son! My world! He was the reason I pushed for this! And you TOOK HIM FROM ME!"

"Marlene, no—ack!" The syringe jabbed into the side of her neck, A sharp pinching rippled through her skin and then a coolness as whatever it was that was inside the syringe was injected into her bloodstream.

"I'm sorry, but this is the way it had to be." Marlene retracted the needle and lifted herself off the teen, plopping it on the side table. "Neither you, Joel or TJ will get in the way."

"What was in that?" She felt light-headed. Very light-headed. The room seemed to spin under her body.

"A paralytic. You'll be fine."

Maeve grunted out, trying to roll over, her limbs beginning to feel heavier than a ten-ton block of concrete. She squirmed around, trying to get up. Terribly wobbly, she managed to peel herself off the bed, only to crash into the side table, launching everything that was on it off. The medicine clattered onto the floor; Maeve stumbled into the wall.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You're okay killing an innocent girl for some make-believe cure?!"

Marlene sauntered away from her as a couple of heavily padded and armed men hurried outside the room. They observed inside and then focused on Marlene.

"We heard yelling, what's going on?"

"Get her hooked to an IV. Give her a dose of Succinylcholine. Put restraints on her, I don't want her walking around." And with that Marlene, cast a wrathful glance back at Maeve.

Her tongue felt loose in her mouth, she couldn't speak a word. She held herself against the wall, attempting to step forward, but her knees buckled. She didn't even feel the pain of her knees smashing against the floor, just the harsh pressure. Dark fuzziness brimmed the corners of her eyes. The medicine Marlene gave her was setting in.

No! She wanted to yell and scream. This wasn't supposed to happen! She tried reaching out, her skin cooled by the tiles. Jordan, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to break my promise to you. If she was crying, she couldn't tell. The numbness engulfed her limbs, her skin. Her mind. I'm so so, so sorry Ellie!

And the last thing she saw was combat boots crossing the floor to get to her.