The Island by Michael Bray Read Free Book Online Page A

refocused his energy on the job fair. With luck, he could get something. He had to get something. Although he had said it before, this really was his last chance. Or, at least his last sane chance. Wishing he had never seen the advertisement for The Island, Chase turned back towards the hall and waited for the fair to open.
     

 
    THE EIGHT
    NEW YORK CITY
    FEBRUARY 28th 2044
     
     
    Chase walked through the city streets, the anger finally simmering down from the initial overwhelming boil. It was rare for him and Ashley to argue at all, even less for them to have such a monumental explosion like the one that had occurred earlier that morning. He expected it to be bad when he had shown her the application form for The Island and he had seen a side to her he had never seen before. She had screamed at him, telling him he didn’t care about them if he went through with it. How he wasn’t cut out to do something so brutal and barbaric, how he would die and leave the two of them behind. He wanted to argue that she was wrong, but the words she had said were ones he had stewed on himself since he had made the decision to apply. Ashley had argued with him that he should wait, and he might yet hear from one of the jobs he had applied for at the fair. He told her that wasn’t an option, that the number of applicants for The Island would likely be in the thousands and he had to ensure he was one of them. What he didn’t tell her was that his experience at the fair had only hit home how difficult it was going to be. He had walked from booth to booth, sure they could smell the desperation as he tried to sell himself to whatever job was being advertised, and glad that the little thing called pride was no longer a factor. For the most part, the employers looked through him, eyes glazed as they listened to him reel of his skills and abilities, close to almost begging for a job. The issue was, he wasn’t alone, and the employers knew they would be able to cherry pick those most suitable to work for them. Only The Island had seemed like a viable option. Somehow, deep down, he knew he could win it. He had an overwhelming belief that he loved his family so much that he would do anything to protect them.
    Ashley didn’t seem to care. She was screaming and crying, cheeks flushed and her eyes raw. She told him she had looked into what happened before the last time they had tried to get the show off the ground, how nobody to date had survived long enough to get to the end and tell the story about what was in there. He knew all this of course. He had researched it, becoming obsessed with finding out everything he could about the mysterious island. He had asked her why she had so little faith in him, to which she replied it wasn’t a question of faith, but of stopping him from killing himself on live television. That one had hit home, and for a second, he almost considered forgetting the entire idea until he thought of the alternative, which was sitting and waiting until his daughter died.
    Desperate, she had even turned on him, mentioning his own failing health. She asked how he expected to traverse The Island when the cancer was well on its way to ravaging his lungs. Again, he had no answer. Just that overwhelming self-belief that sat like a comforting ball of warmth in the pit of his stomach. He had grabbed her then by the arms, looking her in the eye and telling her he had to do it. There was no other choice. It was the first time he had admitted it, and it seemed to at least hit home. The way she had looked at him, like he was already lost to her, was one of the most painful things he had ever experienced. He knew she was just afraid and rightly so, and the things she was saying to him were born from frustration. He didn’t hold it against her, and hoped she knew. The change in her had been instant. It was as if she had been deflated. She had crumbled into his arms, head on his shoulder, whispering to him and begging him not to go through