by Elle Scott
‘Miles!’ Ladlow calls as he runs towards the body face down in the hallway. A body so still, so lifeless.
Everything starts to move in slow motion as my mind catches up to what is happening. Ladlow turns his son over and presses his hands hard into the wet red liquid that spreads across the front of a cream shirt. It's too red for blood, it's too red for blood.
‘Let's get out of here,’ David hisses, as he shoves a portal orb into Frank's hands. ‘Meet me at the lab!’
I rise to my feet, I didn't even realise I had dropped on my knees—they hurt as I straighten my legs, but I don't care. I can't get to him fast enough; my feet slide under me as I surge through the door and fall at his side.
‘Miles? Miles?’ I beg, waiting for a response, hoping for a response.
A quick puff of air and a roll of his eyes, he's alive. He looks at me with those big blueberry and waffle eyes, faded but alive.
‘Viv?’ David's voice shakes but he's made his choice and he runs with it. ‘Are you coming?’
He holds two portal orbs in his hands, another two are placed at his feet. I look to Viv, her face is red from crying, she looks broken and ripped apart. Eli shakes his head and drags her in to his side.
‘Viv,’ David says. ‘Remember what I've done for you? Are you coming?’
Viv steps away from Eli, his arm lingering on her back as she walks. She looks down to me as she passes but when I return the glance she looks away.
‘No,’ I cry. ‘Viv?’
She moves like a zombie, dazed and slow. David points to the two orbs at his feet and Viv collects them, they hold the four portal orbs against the vault. Then David is gone, with the vault, with the orbs, with Viv.
My face is wet from tears and my hands are already stained in Miles' blood. Ladlow howls beside me, shaking Miles' shoulders. I glance down, Miles is still looking at me. His eyes bore right through me but I don't know how because there's nothing behind them anymore, his stare is as hollow as his breath. Completely and utterly gone. My sunshine and blue sky eyes completely shaded by grey clouds.
‘Miles?’ I beseech, I implore, I plead. Don't leave me.
FORTY-TWO
Nora
I try to scream, but my lungs aren't big enough, I don't have enough air. Inside I suffocate, inside I die. I want to push Ladlow out of the way, he hovers over his son letting his tears soak Miles’ body. He doesn't deserve to be here; he doesn't deserve to cry over him. Those tears are mine.
‘MILES!’ Ladlow cries. ‘My son! My son! I’m so sorry.’
A lonely war cry fills the hallway as Eli slams a foot into Miguel’s ribs. He straddles Miguel’s chest to strike blow after blow. ‘You killed him! You killed him!’
I look down at the blood on my hands, my breath quickens, my whole being aches. Xander pulls me up and cradles my weakening body in his arms. This isn't right, this wasn't supposed to happen. Why didn't he stay at the cabin like I told him? A storm of rage, of pain, of guilt swirls inside of me. The answers bubble up from the ground and soar straight through my heart and into my head. They are transparent, I am transparent, there is no denying it now. I know why I never let myself think twice about Miles, why I forced myself to be oblivious to his growing feelings, to my growing feelings. I know why I shied away from him, why I wasn't afraid to fall for Xander, even though I know we aren't right together. My own protection. I knew I wouldn't hurt as much if Xander left me. Not like this.
I thrash and fall apart in Xander's arms, my screams stifled by his chest. I feel my orb in my jacket pocket as it presses up under my ribs, so hard it might crack me open. I pull myself away. Xander looks at me, his eyebrows are low but they don't mask the droplets of tears forming in his eyes. I back away slowly; Miles can't die, I need him.
I move with reason as I kneel opposite Ladlow who continues to wail over his lifeless son.
‘Nora?’ My name sounds muffled through the fog that's beginning to lift from my head.
I pull at Miles blood stained shirt trying to rip it. My fingers are sticky with sweat and blood. I try to be sober, I try to be serious as I block out the nagging voice in the back of my head that tells me I'm not good enough, that I might be going a little bit crazy. That this idea is utterly ridiculous.
‘Nora?’
Ignoring Xander I look up to Eli. ‘Help me?’
Eli rips the bloodied shirt apart to reveal a bullet hole above Miles’ navel. Skin and muscle torn from the blast, blood still pouring out profusely. My own tears flowing as fast as his blood.
Ladlow presses his hands over the wound. I touch his arm. ‘Sir, can I just…’ I don't finish my sentence. Through my teary eyes I know he can't possibly understand why I want him to move. I push his hands away.
‘Nora, we have to go. The bomb will detonate any minute!’
I look up to Xander. ‘You can leave if you want.’
I take the orb out of my pocket, it's already glowing. The brightness of the orb sends white dots across my eyes. I roll the orb down his chest and onto his torso, leaving it on the gaping hole in his abdomen. I run my other hand through Miles’ hair and rest my thumb against his pale cheek, already cold.
I lean my face over his and whisper. ‘Don't leave me, I need you.’
‘Nora, bring him with you. We have to leave.’ Xander's words roll over my ears and float off the mezzanine into the Square below.
‘Wait…’ I hear Ladlow implore, his hand held up to Xander in protest, his head nodding at me with approval.
I place my free hand on his motionless chest and close my eyes. I think of Miles' face and his eyes and his mouth, not cold and empty and breathless, but full of warmth and spark and life. I see the wonderment in his eyes when I showed him the things I could do. I hear the cool chuckle he gives when I cheated in our race from his old Fort. I see the stance he held when I slapped him and he didn’t think twice about retaliating. I see the water glide off his moving body when he dove deep into the lake. I hear the heart beating in his chest when I pressed my ear against his body. I feel the joy bubble through me from each and every smile he gives. The tenderness, the coolness, the talent, the righteousness, the charm, the doubt, the fear, the love.
Beneath my palm, a rise. Beneath my palm, a fall. I think I’m imagining it until fingers circle my wrist, they are long and gentle. Smooth, like skin that hasn't been scarred by the spoils of life, in contrast the palm that they are joined to has raised streaks of a prominent wound that marks the strength of only one person I know. The touch sends my heart to space and back. I open my eyes to see him staring back at me, this time his eyes are vivid and awake.
‘Hi,’ he says.
I feel like laughing and crying at the same time.
‘How did you do that?’ Ladlow laughs, his tensed shoulders loosen with relief.
Miles lifts my arm that holds the orb, fresh blood drips from it across his stomach but no wound remains, he is completely healed.
FORTY-THREE
Nora
The whole floor is in silent shock but the buzz in the air is thick. A chamber of bubbling magma that waits to erupt. Below us, flutters of deep voices echo up through the Square to remind me there is still more left to do.
Now I know that Miles is fine, I shift my focus to Xander. ‘What was it you said about a detonation?’
His mouth is agape as he stares at Miles, the rise and fall of Xander’s chest makes his t-shirt creases look like they are dancing.
‘Xander?’ I demand. ‘How much time do we have.’
He shakes his head and runs to pick up the portal orb Miles dropped when he was shot. ‘We gotta get out of here!’ Xander skids his knees beside me until they touch Miles’ leg, he reaches across and digs his fingertips around Ladlow’s elbow. Eli runs over and he leans down to touch Xander. A small moan breathes a few feet away, Miguel’s arms twitch as he lays on the ground after Eli knocked him out. We can’t leave him here, I think, but it’s too late, Xander has already transported us to The Fort. W
e sit huddled together in Miles’ office, sunshine streaming through the large window onto our tensed-up bodies. A welcome reprieve.
Miles sits up as Ladlow inspects the closed-up wound. Ladlow mutters words of wonderment like: ‘I can’t believe it. It’s like you weren’t even shot at all. There’s not even any scar tissue.’
‘I’ve got to go back!’ I blurt out.
‘What?’ Xander spits.
‘To the Base, there are people still there.’
‘You won’t get them out in time! NO, you’re not going,’ his voice is heavy but his eyes are soft.
I smile defiant and determined. ‘Yes, I will and yes, I am.’
I don’t give him a chance to stop me. I stand in the Square for a split second before I begin to walk down the hallway towards the food hall. My hands are shaking. I can still feel the rush of energy that shattered from my orb while healing Miles. My brain tells me that I am exhausted but my insides are intoxicated by adrenalin. I walk through the hallway, my head in the clouds, I feel like my feet are floating above the ground I walk on. From my fingers to my toes, I am light—and not just light in the sense of freedom, it's glowing light—I'm buzzing like a bee that's made honey for the first time.
‘Are they done yet Kip?’ A loud shout shocks me back to reality.
‘I’ll go check!’
I freeze mid-step, I'm about ten metres from the food hall where the voice echoes from. I tip-toe to another pathway that edges the Square, Kip's boulder-like body pushes me into the wall. He stops and turns to look at me, except he doesn't look mad or happy to find me, he looks confused. He spins back around and runs to the elevator. Am I invisible? I didn't even think about it. I scoop the orb out of my pocket, it's glowing.
‘Thank you,’ I whisper to it as I slink to where he came from.
There's only five men in the food hall now, I smile and think about David trying to use the orbs and finding out what I've done!
Three Uprisers are nearby chatting in a circle, holding their guns as if they were an extra limb. Adam sits off to the side against the wall next to the pile of phones. The last Upriser is sitting on a dining chair swinging it on its back legs.
‘Didn't your teacher tell you that swinging on your chair is dangerous,’ I whisper into his ear.
His head jerks from side to side trying to find out where the voice came from. I squeeze his shoulder, he yelps, and disappears. The four other men turn towards the noise. Three of them are standing together, that should make things easy. I touch two of their shoulders, gone, gone.
‘What the…?’ The man with the bulging eyes somehow makes his eyes bulge even more. Should I be enjoying this? I thump my palm against his chest, gone.
‘What is this? Some kind of joke?’ The end of Kip’s shot gun touches my side; he feels the pressure and pulls it back but it gets caught in my jacket pocket.
‘Who's there?’ He asks as he cocks the back of the gun.
I panic and try to pull the gun out of my pocket. Kip's arms move in time with my motion. I see his finger squeeze the trigger. A shot is fired, and hits the back wall. I step backward, the bullet unlatched my jacket from the gun.
‘What are you doing? Where has everyone gone?’ Adam stands up.
Sweat drips down Kip’s face and spits off his mouth as he speaks. ‘There's something here man.’
He cocks his gun again and I stare down its barrel for the second time today, and even though this one is aiming blind, it doesn't feel any better. I didn't come this far to be shot. His finger hovers over the trigger and I duck down. A bullet blasts over my head as I lunge at his feet. My fingers barely scrape his shoe but it's enough. He's gone.
I sigh and make myself visible. No one is shocked to see me appear out of nowhere, I guess they are used to seeing people pop in and out. No one except Adam, that is.
‘Did you do that? How did you do that?’ He stammers, crouching beside me.
I stretch up on my knees and lean so close to Adam my breath fans his hair, I squint my eyes. ‘You know Xander?’
‘Yes! Yes! I'm Nichol’s son but I’m on your side.’
I move back, tilt my head and smile. ‘OK, do you want to get out of here?’
‘I… I can't. I have do go with my dad… and Viv…’
‘They’ve already gone!’
‘When? How long ago?’ The tan on Adam’s face turns white.
‘Five? Ten minutes?’
‘You need to go!’ Adam stands and jogs to look out the door. ‘Is the rest of the building empty?’
‘Miguel is still outside the containment room.’
Adam turns to look at me. ‘What do I do? What do I tell my dad?’
‘Tell him he's not the only one who can use a young innocent girl as a tool for disruption.’
Adam is gone then, his footsteps scamper down the hall.
I turn to the crowd. ‘Let's get you somewhere safe, everyone hold hands!’
I walk up to a lady in a long white lab coat at the end of the line and hold her hand. She reaches to hold the person’s hand beside her but a rumble shakes from above, the belly of the beast churns and our balance falters.
‘Hurry!’ I scream. ‘Everyone touch!’
Along the line, elbows link, hands dig into shoulders, fingers tug at whatever they can grab. The roof cracks and heat scorches through them, like the fingers of hell are breaking through to us. I make sure everyone connects, and as cement cracks and walls buckle and we feel like we might be buried amongst it all, I transport us all to The Fort.
Before me stands the white building, beside me the river, around me the trees. And people—some are smiling, some are confused, some are yelling out for answers. I suck air deep into my lungs.
‘It's hardly big enough to accommodate everyone but this place is protected around it's perimeter, you'll be safe here.’
Two warm hands place themselves on my shoulders and I turn around.
‘I'm so glad you're alright,’ I whisper and tuck my hands around Abner's ageing body.
‘You've done well girl!’ Abner croaks, ‘took to that orb like we knew you would!’
‘You know about the Plan?’
Abner laughs and gives a single nod.
‘What’s going on?’ ‘Who were those people?’ A sea of faces and bodies close in on me, they bark words, demand answers. ‘What happened to the Base?’ My knees begin to shake. ‘Where did you get that orb?’
I hold the orb close to my chest, like a bird covers her chicks with her wings. Someone grabs and pulls at my wrists to get a better look, I stumble under my tiring legs. Abner has to help me up.
He steps in front of me. ‘Calm down, calm down. She just saved your arses, give her some space.’ He turns to face me; ‘Go, I'll let everyone know what's going on!’
I push through the crowd towards the foyer. The doors open and as I’m about to take a step inside, Miles and Eli exit the building. If it wasn’t for the large drips of blood that fall like paint down his pants, Miles has never looked healthier. He looks up and spots me and without a second to think, he lunges forward. His bare chest thumps hard against my body as he wraps his arms around me. His hands spread out and glide up through my hair.
‘Are you okay?’ he whispers.
I open my mouth but I’m afraid I’ll squeak the words, so I just nod.
‘You brought all these people from the Base? Just then? Was there really a bomb?’ Eli reels off questions but they seem more like unassuming statements because he doesn’t stay for an answer, he walks into the crowd to greet Abner.
Miles finally lets go of me and steps back, he looks at me in the funniest way like he’s asking me a question of his own.
I smile and nod, ‘I did it!’
He tilts his head and his eyebrows lower, almost as if he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. I assumed his look was asking me if I succeeded with my orb.
Then, the penny drops and Miles’ lips break apart and stretch out into a smile. ‘I knew you
would figure it out!’
The foyer door keeps going to shut but opens again when it registers that we are standing in its way. I gently pull Miles inside. Even though I know he is healed, I can’t help but be careful. ‘I’m really tired and kind of claustrophobic, I think I might find somewhere to lie down. Do you mind?’
The foyer door slides open as Miles steps backwards, the skin at the sides of his eyes crinkles. ‘Of course not,’ he says with endearment, like how could I ask such a stupid thing. Then as an after-thought, he adds, ‘Xander should be back with Ross and Kate soon too.’
He looks at me with anticipation, like he is waiting for me to tell him something. The same look as before, when I gave him the answer to an unasked question. Now I realise what he was actually asking before. Have I chosen? Him or Xander. I want to scream at him, “I choose Team Alpha,” which just means I choose neither but both. My joy cannot come at the cost of another's. I don’t say anything though. I smile unaware and feel his eyes burn into the back of my head as I turn around.
FORTY-FOUR
Vivian
Ever since I met Seth, his parents welcomed me into their family like one of their own. David’s words have been a lighthouse to me. A constant point of focus, in calm seas and in turbulent storms, the righteous bellow of his cause has been my guiding beacon. It’s where I turn when I’m unsure, it’s where I rest when I’m weary. He encouraged my questions to those that opposed us—my pushing, persisting, and cracking their motives down one by one. I never stopped to turn the questions back onto him, never once dared to question the truth of his words. I’ve been so blinded by his light that I can’t even see the lighthouse anymore. I’ve been so misguided I haven’t noticed all the closed doors. Never once have I wondered what hides in the rooms and the stairwells—those ever-twisting stairwells. I just overlooked my friends for that light, like a moth to a flame, stepped right by them in their ignorant haze of desperate searching. They search for right, they search for truth, they search for justice—all the things that I once prided myself in—but they are looking in all the wrong places. I couldn’t save them, because I couldn’t save myself and now, as I follow my lighthouse like I always do, I wonder. I wonder what it is that I am fighting for.
