by E. R. Arroyo
Is that it?
“These premises are surrounded with armed soldiers who do not know you are here. If you leave the course we’ve made for you, they will most likely shoot you. So don’t get any wise ideas about avoiding the challenges we’ve set before you.” I can’t see him, but I’d swear Nathan is smiling. “Your captain and I will wait for you at the finish line--Oh, and don’t tamper with your blindfolds. They’re laced with poison that will activate if mixed with the chemicals on your hands. Trust me, blind for now is better than blind for life.” A pause. “Good luck.”
I hear footsteps on rock--gravel, probably--and then I assume the two of them climb onto the truck. I hear it pull away.
I’m trapped. I can’t breathe, I can’t use either of my hands. I can’t take off my blindfold. It’s brilliant of Nathan, really. He’s found a solitary exercise that confronts all of my biggest fears. Captivity. Personal contact. Helplessness.
I’m at the mercy of six boys, all of whom I’m pretty sure hate me. I can’t see them. They’re close enough to touch me, and I can’t get away from them. I can’t run or shoot my way out of this one. I’m abruptly aware that it’s not Sean that Nathan is trying to break. It’s me.
Billy’s the first to speak. “Who’s on the ends?” His voice is close. He’s the person on my right hand. Of course he is. I curse Nathan under my breath. At least it’s not Sean.
“I’m last,” Twig says on my left. A wave of relief spends a moment in my consciousness. I’m next to last in line.
“I’m first,” Sean groans.
Twig is last, Billy is in front of me, and Sean is first. The fate of this drill is in Sean’s hands. I dig my toes in the ground trying to tell whether or not it’s gravel like I think. I catch a rock with the tip of my boot and kick it. It clinks into more rocks ahead of me. It’s gravel. So it’s at least partially man-made terrain. That’s not to say it won’t change.
“What are we up against, Sean?” Billy asserts, his voice remarkably steady. I’m surprised Sean hasn’t taken control yet.
“Follow my lead,” is all he says.
I start to protest the lack of explanation but the line is already moving and pulling me into the dark unknown. I stumble forward and drag Twig behind me. If something happens to him, I can’t lift him.
“Twig, what do you see?” I ask. No way I’m asking Sean.
“A few more feet of gravel, then some kind of drop off. Can’t see what’s down there.” He says just loud enough for me to hear, and maybe Billy.
“Hold up,” Sean shouts, then I hear bumping and clashing ahead of me. I bump into Billy before I realize everybody has stopped. “We have to climb down. Everybody just try to find things to grab onto.”
“Let’s take it real slow, guys,” Billy adds. So far, so good. We sound like a team.
Sean tells Jayce when he’s at the ledge and directs him down. Then Jensen, then Matt. Now I know the order. Sean, Jayce, Jensen, Matt, Billy, me, then Twig. As we move closer to the ledge, it gets harder to hear Sean. Something below is causing a whirring sound that I didn’t even notice until I realized it was drowning out other sounds.
“I can’t see anymore, buddy,” Sean yells.
“Twig?” Billy asks. Still sounds calm. Impressive.
“Six inches forward,” he says, and I feel Billy inch forward pulling us to our knees. “Okay, you’re there. Step over the ledge till you feel something to plant your feet on.”
I feel a quick tug from Billy, but Twig grabs my wrist and steadies me. Billy must’ve lost his balance, but he’s regained it.
I feel of the edge with the hand attached to Billy. Twig says gently, “Same for you.” His sincerity catches me off guard. I reach my foot over the ledge while propped on my left hand and knee. I can’t find the rock the others have stepped on, so I stretch my leg a little farther but I find nothing.
“What’s the hold up, Cori?” Sean shouts.
Twig grabs my arm and leans over me, I think he’s looking over the ledge.
Twig whispers to me, “You can’t reach the stone. I’m going to lower you down.” Humiliating. I’m not short, but all the guys are at least a few inches taller than me. But why didn’t Twig just say it for everyone to hear?
“Coming.” My voice comes out unsteady, and I’m trembling even more now. Twig grabs me under both arms and shoves me into the air. He lowers me and a split second later, my tiptoe brushes across rock. I fumble trying to find my footing, while making room for Twig.
He lands with a bit of a thud, and tells Sean to keep moving. Billy draws his hand to the rock wall, so I follow suit, as does Twig. We shimmy downward on a ledge of uneven rocks that’s only about five inches deep. More than once, my shoe slips, and Twig holds tight.
He’s helping me, and I’m growing angrier every time I feel his skin on mine. He’s saving me from a drop I can’t even see. And he’s saving the team from me pulling them down. All I can think is how I hate the feel of his sticky fingers on my hand, but I’m sure he’s not helping me, he’s just trying to survive.
“Stop,” Sean says, and the whole line of us halts. “The ledge is getting too narrow. We’re going to have to jump.”
“How far down?” someone asks.
“Maybe twenty feet, but it’s water below,” Sean explains. “Can anybody swim?”
“Where would we learn how to swim?” another voice calls.
Groans and sighs come all up and down the line before I speak up. “I can.”
“Right, the outsider,” Billy chimes in. “Care to give us some pointers?”
My heart pounds and my body trembles even more. I can’t believe how badly I’m trembling when I start to speak, though I haven’t even decided exactly how to respond.
“What is that?” Twig asks, sounding a little frantic. Then I realize it’s not me that’s trembling, it’s the earth we cling to. Twig is the first to lose his balance. He slips and drags me with him, then all of us plummet toward what I truly hope is water below. The churning becomes louder and louder, and then I can’t breathe. I’m submerged, being pulled deeper and deeper. I squeeze my eyes shut, and try not to let any of the water get in my mouth. The way the water tingles my skin makes me think it might still be toxic--even if just a little bit--but I’m not sure. We have to get out soon.
I try to get to the top, but I’m chained to six boys who can’t swim. They might as well be dead weight. We can’t speak to each other. We can’t see each other. I’m struggling to breathe, and I don’t know what to do. I thrash as my body begs for air, and I feel the back of my head hit something hard. I draw my hands above my head and my fingers lay around metal.
I guide Twig and Billy’s hands toward the metal, and quickly feel them latch on. The three of us use whatever it is to climb, but we’re running out of time. The water shifts and moves against us. Billy has four guys to drag so I can only hope they aren’t fighting him.
I exhale what’s left of the breath inside me, and have no idea if we’re near the surface. I fight harder, kicking my feet as much as I can when the pole vibrates. It jolts upward dragging us with it. Suddenly, I feel cold air on my cheeks and cough up water I didn’t realize I’d swallowed. I hear similar coughs all around, and it feels like we’re all above water. I rest for a moment trying to figure out if I’m dying from exposure. So far I’m fine. Just a little tingling in my throat, so it must not be that toxic, if at all.
“Sean?” Twig yells, but there’s no answer.
“Guys, where is he?” Billy struggles to say.
“I’ve got him. I think he’s unconscious,” Jayce says. Everyone thrashes to stay above water, and I don’t know how Jayce is holding Sean up, too.
“Backwards, guys. Looks like another pipe we can hold onto.”
“Kick your legs,” I encourage them. We move back until we bump into a pipe that runs across the surface. I latch on as best I can. “Don’t swallow the water,” I tell them. No one objects, and I’m surprised how easy it is to be in cont
rol when Sean’s unconscious. But that’s precisely our next problem. “Twig, can you get me over to Sean?”
Twig moves from the safety of the pipe and I follow, the two of us kicking furiously. “Where is he?” Twig guides my hands to Sean, the last person on what’s left of this humble planet that I ever thought I’d want to help. But I have to. “Hold him against the pipe,” I order them. I assume they grab him by the shoulders to pin him in place, since I can’t see. His chest is raised above the water. I realize quickly that I have nothing to leverage myself against, so I wrap my legs around his waist. Heavy breathing, body heat, and water surround me completely. I feel boxed in. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to help Sean or if I’m going to throw up on him.
I can’t feel a pulse, and he’s not breathing. I push against his chest as hard as I can and count, but I’m not sure how many I’m supposed to do. I’ve only seen this done once. When my arms get tired, I squeeze Sean’s nose and force my breath into his mouth a few times.
I let out a cry of frustration, and Twig pats my hand. “It’s okay. Keep trying,” he whispers, again so tender it makes my stomach churn. These guys all hate me, but here they are holding me up, heeding the orders I’m barking out.
I complete another set of chest compressions, and a second set of breaths. My fingers feel weak and sore when I lace them to start compressions again, then Sean coughs up water. He makes a wheezing sound like there’s still fluid in his airways, but he’s alive. Relief floods me with waves more violent than the rushing water around me. I let go of Sean and fall away from him, feeling exhausted. I kick my legs to stay above water while Twig makes sure he’s okay.
“Where are we?” I ask Twig.
“Some kind of...reservoir. Processing plant, maybe? There are machines and pumps all around.”
“What’s it for?” Matt asks.
I tilt my chin up so water won’t get in while I speak. “Probably the colony’s water supply. Twig, do you see how to get out?”
He takes a deep breath, and I feel him turning around, looking in every direction. “If we follow this pipe to the left, it should get us close to the wall. I think there’s some sort of ladder. But we’ll have to swim, probably a couple yards, to get to it.”
“Twig, take the lead,” I say, hoping Sean won’t protest. For now, at least, he’s too weak.
I give the group a few more pointers on swimming for when we get to the wall. Though we cling to the pipe as far as it’ll take us, the boys take turns letting go to practice treading water. I’m tired, and from the way the others are huffing and puffing, I can tell they are, too.
“How far?” I ask Twig, quietly.
“Almost there. I’m almost to the end of the pipe,” he says loud enough for everyone to hear, but he comes to a stop.
“Go ahead,” I encourage him. “Let’s do it.”
He takes a deep breath and lets go of the metal holding us above water. I follow his lead, and the guys keep up. We slowly make our way through the churning water. Billy tugs against the cuffs connecting us a few times, but that’s it.
“Got it,” Twig chimes, then drags me to the ladder with brute strength. It takes quite a bit of maneuvering to figure out how to climb a ladder with six guys attached at the wrist, but we make it up a few rungs when the churning water begins to grow violent.
The water whooshes all around us and the waves crash higher and higher. “It’s spinning, like a drain,” Twig yells. As soon as I process it I feel Billy get yanked from the ladder, pulling me down with him.
Twig holds tight on the ladder, but the metal cuffs are cutting into my wrists. He slips his fingers around my hand and pulls me once again toward the ladder. I’m not sure if the rest of the guys or even my own right hand will make it with me. I try to find Billy’s wrist the way Twig holds mine, but I can’t get ahold of it, and the metal is slicing into my flesh from the pressure of five teenagers. I scream in agony when the cuff touches bone in my wrist.
Twig manages to wrap my fingers around the ladder rung, and reaches over me to grab Billy and reel him in behind me. He climbs faster this time, and somehow we make it up the ladder and out of the water’s reach.
At the top of the ladder, we spill onto a concrete landing, though I can’t see anything to know what else there is. We lie flat on our backs, catching our breaths when Sean moans, “Is he trying to kill us?”
The other boys force a hollow laugh, though I doubt they find it funny. Nathan actually might be trying to kill us. I wouldn’t put it past him. But what would be the point of all this trouble, then?
Matt breaks the silence. “That wasn’t clean. No way that’s our water supply.”
Twig replies, “I think they’re treating it. I think that’s what those machines are. Maybe they can filter out the toxins.”
“I doubt it’s that simple,” Sean replies. Sounds like he’s regaining his strength.
“What’s next?” I ask, not sure if I really want to know.
“I can’t tell where--” Twig starts, but Sean cuts him off.
“That way,” he says. I assume he’s pointing somewhere I can’t see. “Let’s move.” We scramble to our feet, and I realize my reign was short-lived. Sean is back from his lapse in consciousness.
I feel something warm on my hand where the handcuff grinds on the bone, and it takes everything I have not to fall to my knees and cry. Dylan’s words dance somewhere on the edge of my thoughts, but I can’t make them out.
I’m yanked forward by both arms, and we run side-by-side. When the footsteps slow, I keep my hands in front of me. My hands slam into metal and I lace my fingers around chain-link fencing.
“Climb,” Twig calls out, and I hear the fence rattle.
“Wait,” I yell. “If we climb up side-by-side, when we get to the top, we’ll fall over.”
“Guys,” Sean calls out. “One after the other, just like everything else. Follow me.” He’s just addressed my concern without actually acknowledging me. Maybe nobody heard me anyway. Maybe I didn’t even speak. My head is spinning, and my arms hurt, especially my wrists.
Sean leads us up and over the fence, which slices into my thighs on my way over the top. Once on the ground, we break into a sprint on what feels like wild terrain. Someone trips, and we wait till he gets to his feet before continuing. Sean barks orders along the way.
“On the ground,” he shouts, after a long sprint. We drop to our hands and knees. “Crawl,” he tells us. We keep ourselves low and shimmy forward. The ground below us slowly transitions into mud, and I’m not sure if we’re headed for water, but I don’t think I can take any more.
A piece of my hair tangles in something above us, but I can’t reach to untangle it, so I’m forced to move forward ripping a chunk of hair out.
I’m taking count of my injuries when I hear it--the caw of a bird. Proof of animal life. Everyone pauses, so I’m not the only one who heard it. In my years on the run with Dad, we never saw a bird. We barely saw any animals at all, and the ones we did see were strange. He said most animals died, but the ones that survived weren’t the same after the fallout.
“Move. Faster!” Sean yells as more caws spring up behind us.
“They’re coming out of the mud,” Twig shouts.
“Are they chasing us?” I struggle to match the pace of the guys.
“Yes,” Twig says, and I know it’s true because the cawing gets louder.
“Are they in the air?” I ask, not sure if any of them even know what birds are.
“No, just on the ground,” Twig says, his voice growing in exhaustion and desperation. Then the pain comes. Beaks tear the flesh on the backs of my legs as the boys cry out in pain.
“Get up, get up,” Sean calls out, and then we’re running again.
It doesn’t take long to leave the birds in our wake. Since they can’t fly, it seems they can’t keep up. More blood trickles down my legs, and I wonder how much I might have left. I’m sure I read how much blood there is in the human bo
dy somewhere, but I can’t remember.
We run. Run. Run more. How do they know where to go? What do they see? Nobody has spoken in forever. We’re barely jogging anymore. Wherever we’re going, I’m not sure I’ve got the strength for much more.
“Stop,” a voice calls, and it’s not anyone of my teammates. I hear the cuffs rattle, and my arms are thrust into the air along with Billy’s and Twig’s at my sides. “Don’t move,” he shouts again.
“We are Guard division pledges,” Sean calls out. “Nathan brought us out here for training. He’s supposed to pick us up at the finish.”
“And where is that?”
“We don’t know, sir,” Sean explains. Weapons click, and I realize whatever soldier has stopped us is not alone. “It was a drill.” I take it none of these soldiers experienced such a drill as pledges. As I suspected.
“Wait here.”
Nathan wasn’t pleased that the soldiers caught us, but I can’t tell if he’s pleased they didn’t shoot us on sight. I can’t imagine what we must have looked like, the seven of us handcuffed and blindfolded.
They brought us all the way back to the training room before taking off our cuffs and blindfolds. Captain wrapped up my wrist on the truck, and I’m not the only one bloodied and battered. We all look horrible.
“Teamwork,” Nathan says as he takes inventory of us. “How did it go?”
“Fine until we were apprehended, sir,” Sean speaks up, which is only fair since he was obviously our chosen leader. He was, after all, put in the front without a blindfold.
“And were there any incidents along the way? Say, someone losing consciousness?” Nathan asks, cryptically.
Sean hangs his head, and a light blush steals his cheeks. Billy speaks up instead. “Sean nearly drowned. He must’ve got caught under someone when we fell in the water.”
“And what happened next?” Nathan pries.
