by K. Weikel
“Who said I would go and save you?” Rose asks, sniffling, but keeping a hard face, trying to seem angry. “Being an Elite has made you real big-headed, you know.” A soft smile breaks on her face, easing some of the tension.
Daniel gives a small smile, feeling a knot well up in his throat as he readies himself for coming as close to death as one could ever be.
“Because if you don’t, they will make an example of me and I’ll die. And everything you came to love about the Unnamed’s ideology will die with me,” Daniel says. “And, because, I’d like to think...” he bites his cheek, looking back down at the jacket. “I’d like to think that you see me as a friend.”
Daniel extends his arm, holding the jacket out for her to take back to Lous.
“I hope to see you soon, Rose,” Daniel says solemnly and sincerely, breathing shakily as he turns and walks away. He counts his steps to distract him from what waits for him outside the city, inside his city. He counts five. Ten. Fifteen.
Fast footsteps behind him.
Rose runs up from behind him and to the front of him, blocking his path. In an instant, her arms are around his neck and she’s squeezing tightly, breathing heavily. He embraces her, trying to hold back everything that’s close to bursting. His hands cling to her for dear life as tears of his own appear upon his lower lashes. They’d been through so much together, constantly being next to each other or showing up in each other’s lives for one reason or another. Suddenly being apart felt like too much to bare.
But he has to. Who knows what the new Unnamed could do to the people inside the Planet, the Base, and the World if he doesn’t go and surrender himself to them?
“I’ll see you again,” Rose whispers, her voice wrapping around his heart. “I promise I’ll come for you.”
Daniel gives her one last squeeze and lets go, taking a step back. He gives her a nod and utters one last phrase before jogging off to the city’s door and demand them to be opened. Before making his way to his home city, and before the water seems to evaporate directly from his veins. One phrase that sends a tear trickling down Rose’s face before she turned to watch him disappear.
“I am Unnamed. My title is dead.”
15: Intervention
The underground tunnels are infested with the “New Unnamed”, the passageways dark with night. The open area where the Unnamed used to live was now filled to the brim with grunge and weapons, the exact opposite as it used to be when Daniel had first been introduced to the rebellious group. The Unnamed is no longer what it used to be a year ago; it’s fallen too far to change back.
Daniel’s arms begin to lose circulation as two imposters carried him through the tunnelways and to the new Unnamed Leader, the woman he had met when he spent that dreadful night at Blaise’s. How she got to her position, he had no idea. Frankly, he didn’t care. Everything just needed to stop, even if his death is the beginning of the end.
A cloth was ripped to the side as a piercing light struck through is cornea and blinded him for a moment. But when they adjusted, he saw the woman’s face as it contorted, a Cheshire grin expanding over its width. And, suddenly, he could not find a future in his heart as he saw what she held in her right hand, a sword reddened with blood as she slipped it into its sheath at her hip.
“Hello, Elite Runner Daniel,” she said, the words like ice from her lips as she stood her ground and lifted her chin a fraction of an inch higher. “Finally given up?”
The Runner doesn’t reply. He only grits his teeth and breathes in, giving in to the have to’s. He has to do this. There isn’t another way.
And as the woman commands for the boys on either side of him to take him away, his heart shudders in his chest.
This calm before the storm will be forgotten soon enough, time there only to mock him as he wears away.
The Runner was no more.
+ + +
Months passed before Rose nearly gave up. The tunnels were filled with threats and guards, and none of them were neutral parties. Those neutrals dissipated as the months passed, disappearing “mysteriously”, as one would like to believe. But Rose knew better, and warned Lous as the Runners hid her from those that were rebelling against the Elites. They were silent, and few knew about their presence. The people believed they had all been taken care of, but they had also believed The Unnamed were scarce. No one understood that they’d been collecting those abandoned by their government. The all-powerful, terrible government.
As the next year’s Competitions rolled around, questions about the disappearing Elite Runner floating around. Some were excited because they have a chance at winning and becoming an elite themselves.
But they didn’t really know him like Rose did.
She stood on the track, the heat pounding down on the polyurethane and heating her body from the feet up. She watched in her mind as last year’s Competitions played out. They both beat Blaise by the skin of their teeth, and it was Daniel who took the fall for it. And then he was pressured into giving away The Unnamed... If only he’d have done what was planned.
But maybe all things happen for a reason, she tells herself as the weight on her sternum increases. She tells herself she was going to go for one more look before completely giving up on the boy who’s gone through so much...
She shakes her head and wipes her eyes. “Who am I kidding?” Her lips tremble as she sucks in a hot and sticky breath of air. “He’s probably already dead.”
However she’d save her world... the plans she’s conjured from the depths of her brain... it feels wrong that Daniel wouldn’t be at her side.
But what can one do when the other caves in?
Lous has been helping her come up with a spectacular idea, but she knows he has knowledge of something she doesn’t. Only he won’t tell her. And he wouldn’t tell her for another few weeks while the Competitions come to a close.
+ + +
“Daniel the Elite Runner has been absent this entire Competition. Could it be he backed out at the last second, or could it be her run from his responsibility of running the city? It was said he was tied to the Unnamed outbreaks that started to peak two years ago, but on no one can say for sure.” The Announcer’s voice rang out over the track and, the new addition this year, the tall and wide stage as the Runners lined up in their spots, ready to run. Rose could see their cockiness through the shadows she hid herself in, spotting some of the people she recruited to help her with the big bang.
She believes she can fix everything.
“The competition is heavy on the track as the Runners take their place for the Final Race. The sixth spot is open in case the Elite Runner decides to show, otherwise he forfeits and the Title goes to the next winner.”
The runners ready themselves. Breathe. Take one last stretch before lunging. The gun is raised into the air, and Rose feels her muscles tighten. It has begun. The beginning of the end.
The crowd that had gathered around the track and on the sidelines suddenly falls into an eerie hush as the trigger is pulled. The runners yank themselves forward and run, and rose counts down from ten, anxiety nipping at her heels as the crowd begins to cheer.
This is for you, Runner.
She reaches five. Four. Three.
A hand on her shoulder. She jumps and spins around, her heart leaping out of her chest. She’s ready to fight until she recognizes the face.
“Lous,” she says, half a question, half a breath of relief.
“Come with me,” he says, beginning to pull her behind him.
“But the plan,” she retorts quietly, her eyes darting about, hoping no one is paying attention to them.
“It’ll have to wait. We have a little bit, anyway.”
“But they’ve already started to run—”
“I found Daniel.”
Rose feels everything inside her halt. Just moments before, she’d convinced herself that he died.
“Alive?” She croaks, Lous tugging at her wrist again. She moves.
“Half.”
&
nbsp; She begins to jog, and then sprint after Lous. He’s an Elite for a reason, and that reason is running—but he’s not as quick as Rose is. Perhaps the Runner is, in fact, the fastest Runner in the world. Not the World, but on the planet. And she was possibly the second.
A twinge of pride would have found its way inside her if it wasn’t for the matter at hand.
Daniel is in deep trouble.
They sprint past the people and into the city. The colored buildings pass by in almost a blur to Rose; the only thing she pays attention to is her racing heart. She barely hears Lous when he says, “He’s in here.”
They burst through the Cook’s Building, no one in sight. There should be people watching the competition right now. There isn’t even a television on.
“Eerie, isn’t it?” Lous hisses under his breath. Rose had never seen him so disheveled before—she hasn’t even seen a glint of anger in him. But now, his body almost shakes with it. “Down here.”
She follows him down the stairs and to a door.
“Is he...? Where does that lead?”
“You know where,” he whispers, and turns the knob.
16: the New One
Lous pills open the door, and it leads to a narrow hallway, dimly lit with flickering lights. Rose takes the first step through the threshold, her flesh turning to chicken-skin. Does Daniel lay at the end of this path? And could he be... dead?
Rose steadies her breathing as Lous quietly shuts the door behind her. The temperature drops a few degrees. This isn’t the Unnamed Rose once knew, and that fuels her fire, but it doesn’t help her nerves. It makes them worse.
The Unnamed, when she knew them, they were calculating and careful. They were secretive and merciful to an extent. But this time... when the new One rose to power... everything fell to pieces. And Rose knew the rebels were getting restless. Too much secrecy. They were bored of hiding. Their fears of the Elite were shrinking. And then... the Cook that Rose and Daniel had met in Blaise’s mansion... Daniel’s mansion... she killed her way to the top. Skilled with a knife. Knew how to use a gun at least a little, somehow, some way. And she forced One to step down. Murdered Two and turned right around to slaughter One. The two people Rose looked up to, the two people she was growing closer and closer to. The Unnamed tried to fight back, but she had followers, just as she does now. And there were too many of them. There is power in numbers, and she uses that to the full extent. She is thorough. She is nearly impossible to beat with her blind minions.
All they want is freedom. Rose continues down the hall as she thinks to herself. But this new Unnamed doesn’t understand the thing that is most important: freedom always comes with a price.
They come to an opening. Left is one hallway. Right is another. Rose begins to hear her heart in her chest, pushing out thoughts of the Runner as emotions begin to swell in her throat.
She doesn’t understand this. The Runner had betrayed her, betrayed everyone, and, yet... he seems to be her closest friend. Even after what she put him through with his Master. She knows he loved him like a father. She saw it in his eyes. And she shouldn’t feel terrible, because of what he did, but she does.
“This way,” Lous instructs, turning right. They walk for only a moment before reaching a room. A normal room. Normal walls, normal doors, normal wooden floors, and a normal light hanging from the ceiling. It casts a dim glow on the room, flickering annoyingly.
But the one thing that Rose couldn’t keep her eyes off, the one thing that shattered her heart and made her chest ache, was the Runner, tied with a rope, back to the wall. His hands were up at a ninety-degree angle, holes drilled in the wall to hold him there. And the way he’s positioned... his knees are bent at a ninety-degree angle as well, and if he relaxes, his wrists hold his weight. Rose can see from where the blood was dripping, the rope having had rubbed him raw. His body is shaking, aching, tired. Daniel’s head lolls forward and his torso is nothing but lash welts and bloody, purulent scars and cuts, unable to heal because the stress his body is undergoing. He doesn’t look up.
“Daniel!” Rose nearly shouts. The scratch of her voice saves her from being too loud as she stumbles over to him and begins tugging at the ropes.
“Rose?” He whispers, barely audible. Tears nearly trip over her lashes, but they’re held back by the rage inside. Daniel cries out as she yanks too hard and he falls. She puts her knee beneath his butt and holds him there, up, for just a moment. He nearly passes out.
“It’s okay, Daniel,” she says to him, cursing herself for not having a knife. “I’ll get you out. Lous, come help?”
“Lou...” the Runner breathes, his head swaying on his neck as he nearly falls over once again. They catch him, Rose still struggling with the rope.
“What are you trying to do, pull it out of the wall?” Lous asks her, shaking his head. “I have my knife.”
He reaches down and into his pocket, when voices slither into the room over the grunting the three create. Lous jumps up.
“Sorry, Danny, we have to hide. Let’s go, Rose,” he whispers, coming around and pulling at her hoodie.
“We can’t leave him,” she whispers viscously, reaching for the folded knife Lous holds in his hands. “We have to get him free.”
“We can’t. They’re around the corner.”
“We can take them!” She
Rose whispers under her breath.
“It’ll be okay, Daniel. We’ll get you out of this.”
“Come on,” Lous demands, pulling at her again.
“We’ll get you out.”
Rose lets him down, and he holds in a cry as he picks himself back up. How long had he been there...?
Lous opens a door and they disappear inside. It’s a closet, but it isn’t used for coats or clothes. The walls are lined with homemade torture devices. Rose’s stomach leaps and she holds in a hurl as the voices reach into the room. Laughter.
“Poor, Elite Runner Daniel,” the voice says, and Rose recognizes her as the new One. Her blood boils. “You were so high, and yet you’ve fallen so far.”
Lous places a hand on Rose’s shoulder to keep her still. It eases her. Slightly.
“One day soon, every Elite will be in the same position as you. Dying. Would you like a break, young Elite?” She laughs. “Oh, all right. Cut him loose,” she orders, and Rose listens with a tainted ear. She hears his body hit the ground. Suddenly, she doesn’t care if she would die. She needs to save her friend.
Rose busts through the door, holding up the knife she had taken from Lous just a moment before, heading straight for the woman. One looks surprised, but quickly recovers as the blade touches her throat for a split second.
“You little—”
Rose is yanked away and tossed to the floor. She slides and her back hits the wall. She grunts, and watches as two men stand the Runner up, who can’t even use his legs.
“Daniel!” She cries out as she leaps back to her feet. A Guard comes rushing toward her and she swings her knife, connecting with his shoulder. The man’s fist collides with the side of her head and she crumples to the ground once more, everything blurry and loud—even the light above seems brighter than it should be.
“Don’t fight the Unnamed, Rose,” the woman says, kneeling before her. Rose can barely see her black shoes through the fog. Her body feels heavy and sleep is all she wants. “After all, you were one of us. Just as you were, Lous.”
“Lous...” Rose calls softly, as if her voice could save him too. But now he is unarmed, Rose is nearly unconscious, and Daniel can hardly move. Rose made a stupid mistake, and that thought is the only one that resonates in her head.
And then another.
I’m sorry...
For a moment, or what seems like a moment, everything is dark.
And then she wakes to screaming.
17: Held Back
A bang sets Rose’s nerves ablaze as her eyes open, forced to adjust to the brilliant light around her. More screams curdle her blood as she realizes w
hat’s occurring, and fear enters into her heart, where it roots itself and grows.
The Unnamed stand around the inside of the track, guns and weapons held in their horizontal hands as they herd the crowd of Runners inside them and around the stage she kneels upon. The people fight back, several of them losing their lives before they begin to settle down, their sobs escaping into the airways. The deep blue color of the floor beneath her absorbs the sunlight, and Rose can feel the heat steaming from it, her body close to sweating.
Two men hold her arms at her back, standing stiff as boards behind her as her poor shoulders begin to ache. Her head throbs and every sound is like a knife through her skull as she looks around, her eyes falling on the Runner beside her and Lous on the other side of him. Daniel looks worse than he did in that room, and Lous even seems worn, bruises lacing his cheeks. One stands behind Daniel, her fingers tangled and pulling on what’s left of his hair, Daniel’s body slouching as if he’s given up. And Rose sees it. He has.
“Silence!” One yells, lifting her hand. A microphone is placed into it by a boy saturated in blood, his face hard. The blood isn’t his.
Almost everyone obeys, and there’s a beat of nature’s silence before inhumanity begins to take the airways once more. The cameras turn to the woman, held by who-knows-what-side, zooming and unzooming on her face.
“We have waited so long for this moment. And now, it is finally upon us. The Elites will fall!”
A short sword slices Lous’ head from his shoulders, and Rose feels ready to puke as a wail escapes from her throat. Lous is dead.
And she can’t help but blame herself.
The Unnamed cheer from below. Sounds of shock, and awe, and desperation, and sickness hit the stage like a tidal wave, sending a sickeningly powerful mask onto One as she emanates a small, brooding smile. Those that followed Lous to the World from the Base, and survived the surprise attack, cry out and become aggressive again, calling out his name. Rose’s heart breaks, but she bites her cheek. She hears his body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
