Nothing surprises Jacob Price. My father could win the lottery and somehow be completely calm. He'd say he expected it. I used to be obsessed with trying to scare him. I hid behind doors and under covers, then I would jump out and scream. Dad would always look at me and smile gently before patting me on the head and walking away.

This moment is no different. Staring down at me from the staircase, all he does is scowl and look disappointed. It's almost like he expected me to be in our living room.

I freeze, holding a bottle of painkillers. His eyes dart between me, Clare, and Isaac. Is he trying to figure out what's going on? His eyes float down to Clare's leg, and reality sinks in. Dr. Price comes to life, and he bounds down the stairs.

"What happened? I need every detail you can remember," he says calmly, grabbing gloves out of the kit. He doesn't look at me as he speaks. Instead, he turns his head this way and that, inspecting the leg.

"She was shot," I manage to spit out. "I can't find an exit wound."

"Probably still in there," he mumbles. "Hold her down."

Isaac moves higher up and pins Clare down. She buries her face in his shoulder, too out of it to care.

Dad pushes the pills out of my hand. "That syringe." I hand him the needle he points to. "Keep her still, Isaac. This will help." Isaac grunts and tightens his grip.

As Dad pushes the needle into her leg, Clare buckles. Isaac's too strong for her, though. She moans and thrashes her head, but Isaac doesn't let her move anything else. Dad draws the needle back out and administers more medicine in a different spot. After a few more insertions, Clare goes still. She takes a few strong, deep breaths and closes her eyes.

"What was that?" I ask, sitting back on my knees.

"Anesthesia. Localized. She won't feel anything from her kneecap down for at least a few hours." Dad reaches for the box again and pulls out a medicine bottle. "Take these," he says to Clare as he shakes out a small white pill. Isaac takes it and shows it to Clare. "That's just hydrocodone. For the residual pain."

Clare takes it anyway, shoving her head back into the pillow. Isaac brushes her hair out of her face.

Dad looks up at me. "What were you thinking?" he hisses. His cheeks are flushed, and the vein in his forehead, above his left eye, pulses erratically.

"What?"

"Why did you come back here?"

"I—I wasn't—"

"You weren't thinking, were you? That seems to be the root of all your problems."

I stand up, scowling down at him. The adrenaline of Clare's injury has passed, and everything I've learned about him comes back to me. He created the virus. He made Mandy sick. He ruined my life. He ruined the world. Rage hits me like a tidal wave.

"Were you thinking when you invented a virus to wipe out the human race? Because that seems pretty stupid."

"Don't condemn me for things you don't understand," he says calmly, looking back down at Clare's leg.

"Things I don't understand?" I respond, gaping. "Dad, I've seen what this virus can do. I lived with it the entire time Mom was sick. I've seen true Infected up close. I had to force myself to forget that they were once human, just so I could survive. What you did was unforgivable. You took away their humanity, made them into animals. Don't tell me I don't understand the virus."

Dad sighs. "That's not what I meant. You don't understand the part I played in it."

"Then explain it to me," I plead. That's all I really want—an explanation. Why lie to me about Mandy? Why create the virus in the first place?

"I did what I had to do, what I thought was best at the time—for you and your mother. That's all I can tell you."

I groan. "You're still not going to be honest with me? I deserve to know the truth."

"I can't tell you everything." He shakes his head and glances up at me. His dark eyes plead with me. "Trust me, I had to."

"What does that even mean?"

"I can't explain right now." He pulls out a scissor-like tool. "There are things you don't know, things two files cannot hold."

"You know about the files?"

"I'm the one who filed them as missing documents," he says, using the scissors to dig into the wound. "But they're incomplete files. Don't let your mother feed you half-truths."

"You know about her, too?"

"Not until recently." He looks back at me. "I can't explain that to you either. Not now."

Why is he being so cryptic? There's no one in the house but us! He could tell me if he wanted to.

Dad finishes wrapping up Clare's now clean leg and stands up. We glare at each other for a minute, fuming.

"You need to learn to think before you act. Coming back here was a terrible idea. Whatever you think you can stop, it won't work. Weigh your decisions from every point of view."

I swing the gun around and aim it at him. Isaac sucks in a breath. He lunges forward, holding a hand out between us.

"Jaelyn..." he says softly.

I ignore him. "I am thinking," I say through gritted teeth. Dad's face falters, and for a second, his surprise shows through the facade. "I'm thinking about everyone who has to live with the consequences of your decisions. The fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who have to make it through another day without someone they love. They didn't deserve to be stripped of their loved ones; you made that decision for them." I take a step towards Dad, and he puts his hands up. "I'm thinking about all the people outside The Wall who will die of hunger or dehydration because you decided to create a second strand."

"I understand why you're mad, honey, but there's absolutely nothing I can do. What do you want from me?"

An apology. A vaccine. A time machine.

But none of those things will fix this. I can't trust him anymore. He's not going to tell me anything, and I'm tired of trying to get it out of him. What's more important is stopping Hartley from releasing the next strand.

"Your badge," I say. "We need to get into the Research Facility."

"You can't go in there, Jay. Plea—"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" I snap, thrusting the gun at him. He jerks away from it. "I'm going in one way or another. Your badge will just make it easier."

Dad sighs. "I don't have it on me. It's upstairs on the bathroom counter."

I smirk. Should have known. That's where he unloads all the stuff from his pockets. There's generally a dozen pens, loose change, paper clips, and scraps of paper scattered across the sink.

"Then let's go get it." I jerk the gun in the direction of the stairs. "Isaac, do you mind staying down here? We'll be right back."

Isaac nods, sitting down on the armrest of the couch. "Be careful."

"I will. Let's go, Dad."

Dad turns and walks up the stairs, saying nothing. It isn't until he steps into the bathroom and starts looking for his keycard that he talks.

"Please be careful, Jay," Dad says softly. He hands me the keycard reluctantly. "You have to think before you act."

"Why do you keep telling me that? I'm not stupid! I know what I'm doing. I've got a plan." What a lie. I have zero idea what I'm doing, but he doesn't have to know that.

With a sigh, Dad leads the way out of the bathroom, back down to Clare. I show Isaac the badge.

"Let's go. We have to hurry." I lower my gun and point at Clare. "Dad, take care of Clare, and keep your mouth shut. If you tell anyone we were here, I'll let Stephen take over the threatening."

"I'm not going to let her bleed out," Dad says.

"I don't know what you will and won't do anymore." I head towards the door where Stephen is already coming this way. "I thought I knew you, but apparently our entire relationship has been built on lies."

His head hangs. He doesn't say anything else, but the hurt is obvious. We've been close for years. This exchange has to be killing him. I don't care though. If he can feel an ounce of how disappointed and betrayed I feel, then maybe there's hope for us.

I say nothing else to him. Stephen stops me in the hallway, looking deep into my eyes, analyzing me.

"Don't let him leave this room," I say, nodding to my dad.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Stephen replies. "Will y'all be alright alone?"

I nod. "We can handle it."

As I step out into the porch, I hear Dad call after me. "Think before you—"

I slam the door to cut him off. Isaac pauses on the top step, one hand on the bannister and the other reaching towards me.

For a second, my knees tremble. I can't do this. Until five minutes ago, I still had an ounce of hope that the file was a lie and Dad didn't play a part in the virus. Yet, he didn't deny it. Who have I been living with this entire time? What else has he been lying about?

If I make it out of this alive, where do I go? I can't stay here, and I wouldn't want to. I can't go with my mom; there's nothing left of the Alma. Who do I trust? What's next?

"Jay?"

I look up at Isaac.

The answer to all of my questions stands right in front of me. He smiles softly, the dimples in his cheeks showing.

As long as he's with me, there's nothing I can't handle. I take his hand and walk off the porch.

"I'm okay. Let's go finish this and get away from here."