TORN FLESH

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: DEADLY DEALS

MARGO watched her brother with hardened eyes, "it was only on for a few seconds, he can't possibly know that quickly."

Eddie shook his head, a small, quick shake that gave way to show the horror in his eyes, the fear.

"We gotta go-"

Wiping his hands on his shirt he began to rush across the room grabbing small things and leaving them in a pile in the kitchen, moments later he'd come back to them and slide them into his duffel bag.

But Margo had no clue as to what he had planned, "where are we going?" She questioned, she'd quietly entered the kitchen to watch her brother and was surprised to see that tears had begun to form in his eyes, "I- I'm not sure, somewhere..."

"We'll figure it out as we go."

She shook her head, she didn't want to go, and she knew she still had to go back to Violet, to Mitch.

Even if she didn't want to.

She approached him, as carefully as possible, and cupped his cheeks in her hands, "I can't go with you," she began, a small smile parting her lips, "I have to go back to Violet, and Mitch."

A tear slid down her brother's cheek and she watched him for a few moments before a few of her own followed, "I'll- I'll get them, and we can all leave together, alright? Just stay here, if I go back Stan won't bother coming here."

Even though he didn't want to let her go, not again, he nodded his head and tightly pulled her against his chest, "just be careful."

She sat there, her head pressed into his neck for a few moments before she found the courage to pull away, god, she really didn't want to go.

"I'll be back," she stated, and with a final smile, she turned and made her way for the front door of the house.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Mitch was fuming, he'd woken up to find that Violet was gone, and having located Sam to offer him some answers, he found that she'd been taken in for testing.

"What do you mean William brought her in?"

Sam frowned and raised a hand to pinch at her brow, "I don't know, okay? He sent a nurse to go get her this morning and by the time I found out he'd already drawn blood, if I had known I would've shut it down, Mitch, you know that."

Mitch let out a shaky breath, he was going to beat the son of a bitch, he had established that much.

"I want her out of there, now."

With no other choice than to do as requested, Sam disappeared down the hallway and minutes later returned with a quiet, pale-faced Violet drawn in at her side.

When her eyes fell to Mitch, the small child softly smiled and tore away from the woman and into the man's arms.

The second she reached him he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he knew he could and lifted her from her feet so she was perched against his chest.

After a few moments he nudged her away from his chest and holding her in his arms raised a brow, "are you alright?"

She nodded her head with heavy lids, she was far too tired to even be awake right now and he was surprised that Sam hadn't brought her out in a wheelchair.

"You wanna go back to the apartment and sleep?"

"Mhm," she mumbled before placing her head into the crook of Mitch's neck, he gently rubbed her back as he looked to Sam, "I want to schedule a meeting with the Commanding Officer, and I want William there too, and you."

Sam's brows tensed and instead of arguing she nodded her head, "I'll get the message to them."

And with that, they parted ways.

When Mitch did arrive at the apartment, he found that as per usual, it was empty and left just the way it had been, and yet, something didn't feel right.

With a quick glance into the small dining room the apartment offered he found Stan sitting at the table with his hands intertwined across the top. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

He looked up at Mitch, almost as if he was the one who was supposed to be asking the questions, lifting a hand, he gestured to Violet.

"Her."

Violet's head slightly moved against Mitch's shoulder and he fought the urge to set her down and kick Stan out, "what about her?"

"Williams interested in her, and now I am too, make a choice."

Mitch's brows furrowed, make a choice? What fucking choice?

"Me or him."

He stared back at the older man for a few seconds before he flicked his gaze down to Violet wrapped around him, he couldn't have picked a worse time.

"Why's he so interested in her? What's so fascinating about her genetic structure?"

Stan, seemingly unbothered, scooted himself up a bit in his seat, and with his hands still folded, he gestured to the girl once more. "Her cells, when paired against small samples of virus' she wouldn't yet be vaccinated for they almost immediately repair themselves and the virus practically disappears."

"Speak in fucking English, Hurley."

"Her body creates antibodies faster than the medicine that's meant to help you do it."

With a small scoff escaping his lips, Mitch set Violet down on the bed before cocking his head in Stan's direction, "so what, you're saying that she heals faster?"

The older man watched as Mitch pulled the covers over Violet, he'd never been that gentle with something, not from what he'd seen at the barn, and in Istanbul.

"Yes, but she gets sick a lot less than you do."

After a few moments, Mitch plopped down in the seat across from Stan and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm still not seeing the relevance."

Leaning forward on his elbows, Stan stared down at Mitch, "it means, she can't be killed by the virus."

The two silently watched each other for what felt like forever before Mitch spoke up, "so you're saying, that if she were to get bit she'd be absolutely fine? She wouldn't turn into one of those things?"

Stan shook his head, "no, she'd still have to fight off the infection, but that's the thing, she'd be able to fight it off, the rest of us? We can't."

He glanced over at the girl, just for a moment, a small sliver of a second, he saw Margo.

His Margo.

"They've already found it in one of the boys in the compound too, the same age as Violet, the cure is their generation, Rapp."

Mitch frowned then, something that had become so known on his face that it almost didn't require any effort, "so what? We take samples from all the kids and weed out the ones with the immunity to the virus?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Stan stood up and quietly made his way over to where Violet lay, he stared down at her sleeping form for a few moments, reminiscing about when things had been this peaceful with Margo.

"I could've stopped us from getting to this point, I could've stopped everything that happened in Istanbul if I had just killed Ron. If I'd kept Margo hidden the way I had intended."

Instead of replying, Mitch simply shook his head and watched Stan from his seat, "Margo was meant to be the thing you saw in the movies, the hidden killer, but once she worked her first job it was intoxicating, the feeling of getting one job done successfully. I couldn't pull her out."

"She was just too good, and now..." he gently grazed Violet's hair with the end of his index finger, "now it's up to her to make sure the country doesn't fall past saving."

"So when I ask you, me or him Rapp, I need you to make the right choice."

The words heavily hung in the air and Mitch almost wanted to pretend he hadn't heard them, but he knew he couldn't.

"Can you promise she'll be safe?"

Stan looked up from the girl and offered a small nod, "you."

Averting his gaze, Mitch watched as Stan carefully grazed the girl's blonde hair again before making a move for the door, "keep her here, otherwise William will find a way to get her in for testing again."

And then he was gone.

Like a ghost.

Mitch remained seated at the table, trying his best to summarize what had just occurred, what was he supposed to do? It wasn't like he could contact Margo and tell her everything that was going on. She'd been gone for almost a week and a half now.

A part of him knew she'd come back, and another part kept telling him that she was already dead, that in her final moments she hadn't regretted leaving them at the compound.

Pushing the thought from his head, he stood and made his way over to the bed where he kicked off his shoes and climbed in on the side opposite Violet.

But sleep didn't find Mitch until the early hours before dawn when he was so tired of himself and the world that he was able to find some peace and drift off. Violet didn't wake until a quarter till noon and when she saw that Mitch was still asleep she didn't bother to climb out of bed.

She knew that with her blood having been drawn the day prior the last thing she should be doing is running around the compound, much less the apartment, just to find something to do or eat. She'd wait until Mitch was awake to do anything as she knew he'd be worried if she passed out in some random hall without knowing where she was going.

When Mitch finally did wake an hour later Violet had fallen back asleep and was peacefully tucked under her side of the comforter the two had been sharing. Mitch, however, had not slept very well, even with said comforter to keep him warm.

All night he'd been stuck on his conversation with Stan, the determination of the old man to get that one little agreement from Mitch.

And he knew Margo would kill him if she ever did come back. She'd kill him for practically signing Violet's life off into the hands of someone all too known for creating weapons out of children.

But that was the thing, Margo wasn't here. So he had to make the best choice for Violet, even if it meant throwing her into the hands of a man capable of destroying her.

So tomorrow he'd go to Stan and tell him his decision, he just had to hope it was the right one.

Meanwhile, Eric had found himself seated in a chair for the last six hours shortly after Stan had come to him saying they needed to talk.

While tied to a chair with no way out didn't seem like much of a talk, Stan had done plenty for Eric to understand the severity of the situation.

He stood in front of him now, the balding man rubbing his finger over his lip in thought.

"Do you know where she is?"

With a small shake of his head Eric prayed that the older man finally let up and let him go, he was sure Willow would be wondering where he'd gone and he also knew that if she left their apartment she was as good as dead.

And without the medicine he would bring her she'd die. Either way, fate was not in her favor.

"I'll ask you one more time Bander, where is she?"

When Eric didn't answer Stan let a small huff fall from his lips, "if I have to search that god damn apartment of yours, I know I'm gonna find all sorts of things, is that what you want?"

Eric's face had drained of all color and he watched Stan with glassy eyes, Willow would be dead if he didn't say something. Anything.

Even if it was a lie, he'd have time to go to the apartment and leave the compound with her before they realized they'd been tricked. He could still save her.

"She's at Rapp's apartment, she went to go get some things."

Stan didn't seem pleased with that response, but instead of yelling, he crouched down just slightly and carefully grabbed the man by his jaw, "you tell me the truth now or things are gonna get ugly."

Tears had begun to form on the younger man's cheeks and through the tight grip of Stan's hand, he managed to open his mouth enough to speak.

"T- the beach house, she's there."

"She went t-to learn the truth."

TORN FLESH

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: DEADLY DEALS