Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

08.2|| Monsters

Everyone watched Sam marching away, but no one followed. Tom put his sunglasses back on, the snarl on his face replaced by a worried frown. The sun had already set behind the canyon wall, so soon enough they couldn't see Sam anymore.

"Do you think we should go get him?" Kyle asked after a few moments of silence, his voice blank.

"I don't know. I'm still pretty pissed off at him," Jimmy answered. He'd never thought Sam could be such a brat.

"You shouldn't," Tom said to everyone's surprise. "He's right. I've been annoyed for absolutely no reason. I was following my own ends. And he was also right about Angie. I'm only good at making her miserable..." His voice cracked and he looked away.

"Don't say that, Tom. You know it's not true," Jimmy snapped. "You did stick up for him and you only did it because you care about him. God knows why." He rolled his eyes and took out his bottle of water. It was stupid, they should save their resources, but he was thirsty all the time.

"Look, I've only known you for a less than a week, but—" Jim's words caught in his throat and his eyes widened as he started at Jimmy who was just raising the water bottle to his mouth.

With a desperate cry, Jim lunged and knocked the bottle of water out of Jimmy's hand, spraying water over both of them.

Sudden darkness came over Jimmy, and for a moment, he couldn't see anything, just black, as if he'd closed his eyes. Only he hadn't. His throat burned and he could hear distant screaming. His body hummed and then it was over, he could see again, and even if still thirsty, it didn't hurt anymore.

"Let go, damn it!"

Tom was pulling on his arm. Jimmy looked from him to his hand, yelped and jumped back. His fingers had been tightened around Jim's throat.

"What...?" He looked at his own hands, unable to believe it. "What's happening to us?"

"The water!" Jim said, coughing, but otherwise seeming unaffected by Jimmy almost strangling him. "Where did you get the water?"

"From the river, of course," Jerry answered, a frown on his face.

"Don't drink water from the river, you complete morons! That's where they dump all the radioactive waste."

"What on earth are you on about?" Billy asked confused.

"You're all acting strange because you drank water from the river. The labs were used for all sort of tests, remember? And they dump the waste in the river. That Herrison bloke mentioned it," Jim answered.

"How do you know they dump the waste in the river?" Tom asked. "The water doesn't actually taste bad."

"I've been here before to study the caves, remember?" Jim rolled his eyes. "Honestly, this radiation is making you stupid as well as nasty. You shouldn't touch anything even mildly contaminated. I actually packed my own water."

"Okay, that would explain a lot of things," Kyle said, his expression lively for the first time in days. "I've been feeling extremely strange since getting on this side of the canyon. Always thirsty, always pissed off. Now Jim, is there any way to get rid of these effects?"

"Stop drinking the water and it will fade over time," Jim answered.

"Just like that?" Jimmy asked. "And what, die of thirst?"

"Then drink as little as possible. The labs surely have a clean water source, and we'll steal from there," Jerry said.

Everyone stared at Jerry who only shrugged. It was beyond weird to hear Jerry suggesting stealing as a solution, even if he was right.