As he straightened, he looked down into my face, his eyes oddly serious. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”
I smiled up at him, touching his cheek gently. I could still barely believe he was there with me. “Come on,” I said after a moment, dropping my hand into his. “It’s going to be fine.”
“I hope so,” he responded, allowing me to pull him toward the others, who were busily de-leafing our only means of escape.
“You get her clear,” Pilar instructed as we approached and she climbed into the cockpit. “I have to make sure she’ll still fly.”
Dropping my hand, Gideon went right to work helping the others. I watched him for a second, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips. He had been beaten, bruised, and nearly murdered, yet he still cared what happened to Liminis. To his colony. His broad back showed through his thin shirt as his muscles worked, and the ember in my chest shot a spark into my stomach. For once, I didn’t try and keep myself from grinning.
Gideon was alive. The world was out there. We were going to escape.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The aircraft’s engine roared to life.
“Yes!” Pilar yelled, punching the air. “Come on! Get inside!”
Without having to be told twice, Mata jumped into the seat next to Pilar, leaving Gideon, Meghan, Victor, and me to cram into the back with all of Pilar’s supplies. It was clearly not a plane designed to carry six passengers—the only place to sit was on the ground—but it hardly mattered. As long as it could get us to where we needed to go, we could be jam-packed for a couple of hours.
“Where is the closest port?” Victor shouted, but Pilar couldn’t hear him over the rumble of the plane’s engine. At least, she didn’t respond.
I shrugged at him as he settled back next to Meghan, whose back was pressed up against a couple of wooden crates. Gideon and I sat across from them, our backs to the two front seats.
Gideon took my hand. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” he shouted in my ear, but despite his proximity and volume, I could barely hear him.
Instead of responding, I simply nodded. No use wearing out our voices before we had even left the ground.
He nodded back and turned to gaze out the window, but I wasn’t sure he believed it. I squeezed his fingers and he squeezed back without looking at me. He didn’t have to tell me that he felt responsible for the chaos that had erupted behind us, or that it was hard for him to leave without fixing it. I could read it in the hard line of his jaw and the stiffness of his shoulders.
Before I could think of anything to say, however, my stomach started to twist as the plane picked up speed and then finally lost contact with the earth, leaving my intestines, liver, pancreas, and spleen behind with it.
I had never flown before, and the shock of terror as the plane seemed to lose altitude for a moment was nearly too much for my heart, effectively erasing all other worries from my mind as we dipped up and down into the sky.
Gideon clutched my hand, but when I looked at him, his eyes were squeezed shut in fear. Somewhat surprised, I dropped my cheek onto his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me, dropping his head over mine and holding me tight on the floor of the Death Vehicle.
At least he wasn’t worrying about Liminis anymore.
It was a strange sensation, being so utterly terrified with nowhere to run or no one to fight. All I could do was sit there and pray that I would live to put my feet on the ground again, and that made my anxiety even worse. How had I lived like this at Wissen Schule? Before Cece’s letter, I had been just as trapped as I was now. Unable to fight or flee from the thing that made me so miserable and afraid.
To make matters worse, before my stomach even had the chance to settle again, Pilar’s voice (so loud that it didn’t have any discernible emotion behind it) broke through the din of the thundering aircraft, causing me to flinch.
“We’ve got company,” she said.
Since my back had been to them, I had to spin around to see out the front window, and then the fear in my body, if possible, doubled in intensity.
Coming toward us, what had first appeared to be a large flock of birds materialized into an unwelcomely familiar sight:
A helicopter flew in our direction, but it was maneuvering in an odd zig-zag pattern, and there were several other gray dots zooming through the air behind it.
“Look!” Gideon pointed toward the other dots. “Planes. I told you the noise I heard didn’t sound like a helicopter.”
“They’re heading for Liminis!” he shouted now.
The Doctors were making good on their threat, and I watched defenselessly once again as they barreled forward to destroy a place I had once called home.
“Hold on!” Pilar shouted, and I slammed into Gideon as she turned her plane sharply.
“Wait, where are you going?” he yelled, scrambling on his knees into the hole between Mata and Pilar. “We can’t just leave them!”
“What do you propose we do?” Pilar shouted back.
Meghan and Victor were busy trying to find something secure to grasp on to, but I blundered toward the front, grabbing Gideon’s shoulder for balance.
“It’s too late!” I shouted. “They’ve already seen us! They’re going to shoot us first, and then—”
Another sharp turn meant that Gideon and I spilled to the side in a heap of tangled limbs.
“What about the hostages?” he pushed himself up again as though nothing had happened, wedging himself once more between the front seats.
“All we can do is hope that the other Doctors, or whoever, got the message.”
“And that they care enough not to destroy Liminis with their own trapped inside of it,” Mata added.
Gideon looked over his shoulder desperately at me, but I had only just managed to get back to my knees. “There’s nothing we can do,” I told him, blood hammering in my ears and sweat covering my palms.
He spun back around without saying anything and kept his balance the next time Pilar maneuvered. I, however, fell backward this time, practically falling into Meghan’s lap as a bunch of other boxes slid toward the plane’s tail.
Her eyes were wide as they focused on my face, and for a split second, everything else disappeared. We were just a couple of girls, hiding in fear from Grins. If he found us, we’d both see the Pillory, not to mention the lashings . . .
I reached for her hand, she pulled me closer, and suddenly the three of us—Meghan, me, and Victor, too—were wrapped in a sitting, three-way hug.
I’m sorry.
I forgive you.
I’m sorry.
I forgive you.
I’m sorry.
I forgive you.
Though no one spoke, that was the silent, recognized conversation among a family that had been estranged for far too long.
“Look!” Mata screamed, and we broke apart as the immediate peril came crashing down on us again. “They’re flying away!”
I spun quickly back to Gideon and saw what Mata meant: they had not deviated from their course; they were still headed straight for Liminis. It seemed that a lone plane wasn’t important enough for them to worry about.
Grabbing Gideon’s arm, I tried to smile in relief at him, but his expression hadn’t changed.
“There’s nothing we can do,” I told him again.
He opened his mouth to reply, but Meghan’s screech interrupted him.
“There’s one coming our way!”
I flipped around to stare out the window, and sure enough, one of the Doctors’ planes had broken away from formation and was making its way back to us.
“Mierda,” Pilar said, glancing over her shoulder at the incoming aircraft. “Okay, everyone hold on. This is about to get messy.”
Without warning, Pilar seemed to drop the plane several hundred feet lower, and I felt all of the blood drain out of my face as an unsecured crate slid across the ground, knocking me against the wall.
“Jade!” Gideon tried to
grab my arm, but he fell over, too, his skin as white as mine probably was.
“I told you to hold on!”
Huddling against the back of Pilar’s seat, I made myself as small as possible as I searched for something to hold on to. Gideon scooted close to me and held my hand tightly while securing himself with the other. My stomach turned violently. I closed my eyes in order to protect at least one of my senses from the situation, but that only made me sicker, and I held Gideon’s hand so hard that my fingers went numb.
With an alarming jerk, an explosion filled the air; they were shooting at us.
“Ah, hell no,” Pilar said, and we tumbled to the left again.
“What are you doing?” Mata screamed.
“Nobody shoots at my plane.”
Apparently now facing our assailant head-on, the aircraft continued to jolt with every new impact of enemy ammunition, as well as with Pilar’s return-fire. I opened my eyes and stared at Gideon. He stared back. We were completely powerless. He wrapped his arm around me and roughly pulled my head to his chest, holding me tight. His heart beat rapidly under my cheek, and I squeezed my eyes shut again, wondering if I’d ever need them again in this world.
The next 60 seconds passed in a blur of crashes and horror—I don’t know what happened, only that horrifying sounds pushed up against my eardrums like an army trying to break in with a battering ram.
Then with a particularly alarming rotation of the planes’ body, something went terribly wrong. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but suddenly it felt as though we were no longer under the influence of gravity. Gideon’s body jerked away from mine, and I screamed, reaching frantically for his hand. There was a strange whistling sound, but I found his fingers and held on tightly.
He was my only anchor. His hot, clammy skin slipped slowly through my grasp as my palms tingled and my eyes flew open. Nothing made sense. There was another bone-rattling bang, and my head jerked backward as the air jolted out of my lungs.
Everything hurt, so nothing did.
Something hard fell on top of me.
And then my vision went blank.
---
My ears rang as I felt myself float in and out of consciousness. My cheeks felt hot. My head stung. Were those my legs? Someone’s fingers were warm in my grasp . . .
“Hello, my baby.”
I blinked, trying to force the world into focus. A new figure appeared. Though blurry at first, her outline slowly sharpened, and I could see that she was completely gorgeous. Like a fairy or a princess or a movie star.
“It’s time to sleep.”
The figure began to sing softly to me as she smiled and gently brushed my hair out of my eyes. Her voice was gentle, like a river washing over a rough boulder, slowly making it smooth.
An overwhelming smell filled my nostrils—maybe lilac, maybe lavender—and her soft blue eyes never left my face, not once, as she sang. I wanted to keep looking at her, but it was so peaceful and warm, I couldn’t stay awake.
“Shh, it’s okay.” She kissed me on the forehead right as my eyes finally closed with slumber. “I’m so proud of you.”
---
Hissss.
Clunk.
Whoosh.
My eyes fluttered open, but only for a moment. I blearily saw a twisted, smoking metal frame above my head before everything went dark again.
Hissss.
Whoosh.
Laughter.
Every part of my body ached. Especially my head.
Laughter.
Whoosh.
Laughter.
As though I had been dropped into a cloud of warm water, I drifted gently through a haze of golden light, which pressed softly against my eyelids as the pain in my head slowly started to dissolve.
“Glad you could make it.”
The voice was pleasant, jolly, and welcoming.
I felt content.
Not too long ago, there had been darkness. Fear. Falling. But I could hardly remember why.
The glow that surrounded me seemed to fill my entire body, somehow, and I felt myself floating to my feet. I couldn’t stay asleep. Not here. There was too much to do. Too much to see.
A beautiful world materialized as my eyes fluttered open. I looked down at myself, surprised to see that there wasn’t a scratch or a bruise anywhere on my body. The quality of light was gorgeous, like the light an hour before the sunset, but somehow richer. The grass under my feet was a lush, springy green, comfortably cool under my bare feet.
I turned around slowly, taking in the beauty of my surroundings. What had, at first, appeared to be an empty clearing was now filled with smiling, joyful people. A man nearby waved merrily at me, and I smiled back, genuinely pleased to see the stranger.
Walking forward, I felt a longing to discover more. Each face I met was filled with laughter, each person nodding his or her head or grinning at me before I moved on.
Searching for something.
But what?
I hadn’t walked more than a couple of minutes when I saw a threesome of people, situated apart from the rest. Two of them—a boy and a girl—stood with their backs to me. The third talked animatedly to the pair before finally meeting my eyes. A wide beam cracked across his cheeks. It was his welcoming voice I had heard early. Instinctively, I knew it.
You.
Without really knowing why, I felt drawn to the familiar, yet strange young man. His hair was long, and it swept cheekily across his face. His smile was warm and his teeth were dazzlingly white. The light in his eyes sparkled as though permanently enjoying a pleasant joke, and the way he stood told me he didn’t have a care in the world.
Pulling one of his hands out of his pocket, he motioned for me to come forward. At his gesture, the other two turned to look at me, both of their visages equally at peace. It hadn’t been long since I had seen either of these faces, and recognition slowly started to dawn on me.
“Jade!” the first young man called. “Hurry up!”
Before I knew what was happening, I ran toward the three of them, tears of joy streaking down my face. The distance was too far. It had been too long. Finally I tumbled into his arms, laughing as he squeezed me tightly. The two behind me laughed, too, and then threw themselves into the huddle.
Embracing them all as tightly as I could, I felt like my heart would burst with happiness so strong that I could barely breathe.
Only one person was missing.
But I could find him later.
Pulling away, I stared into the eyes of my family, grinning foolishly at each of them. We were together at last, and nothing could ever tear us apart again. This was my home. It always had been
Just the four of us.
Me. Victor. Meghan.
And our beloved Michael.
Epilogue
3 years later
I can’t believe I’m back. After all I’ve seen, after all the information I’ve collected and the people I’ve met, here I am: back in the center of Liminis.
It looks exactly the same as I remember. Dusty, dingy, covered in the aftermath of the End of All Things. But now I know it doesn’t have to be this way, and that makes the sight even more depressing.
“I’ll be back in three days. Try not to get murdered, will you?”
I look over my shoulder and nod at Pilar. Her dark hair is pulled back in a long braid—whipping in the air that is disturbed by the chopper—and my chest aches. I know she suspects how wonderful capture sounds to my tired brain, but she trusts my resolve; we have to finish what we started.
We have to take down the Firsts.
With a probably unconvincing smile, I raise my hand and wave her away. The helicopter lifts into the inky black sky as she and Mata leave me to my work.
Because they have work of their own to do. Every other colony is still ruled by the Council, and we are here to make sure the citizens of the Ten Colonies finally know the truth. That they don’t have to live like this anymore.
Sighing deeply, I
hoist my bag onto my shoulder and set off toward the Amicus home. No matter how hard I’ve tried to talk myself out of it, I know this is where I need to start. Hopefully, they won’t call the police the moment they see me.
I make my way across town until I reach the Third hovels. They are even smaller than I remember, but that’s hardly surprising, considering all that I’ve seen since I left.
Without any trouble, I find the home I’m looking for. All the windows are dark, but if I wait until morning, Meghan and Michael’s parents will only brush me aside as they hurry off for work. Not to mention the fact that there are fewer eavesdroppers at this time of night, and I need to plant a few seeds before the Firsts find out that I’m here. I reach out my hand and knock three times.
The wind makes me shiver as I wait for a response, guilt and hopelessness taking over as they always do whenever I have a moment alone with my thoughts. The information I have with me—the papers and tapes and photos in my backpack—is the only reason I’m still alive. It’s the reason I didn’t throw myself off the New Golden Gate Bridge, after we talked to the Americans about how they recrafted their government. It’s the reason I let Pilar pull me back onto her plane as Mount Fuji erupted, diligently creating new land for the recovering planet. It’s the reason I stopped myself, countless times, from giving into my selfish desires when my soul felt the gloomiest, because this is bigger than me. The Ten Colonies deserve better, and they always have. It’s up to me to finally bring about the change we’ve sought for years, and I can only do that if I’m alive.
A light clicks on inside the house and I hear footsteps.
Stepping back and straightening my shoulders, I feel my demons slink back into the shadows for the moment. I push my hair out of my eyes, clear my throat, and hook my thumbs around the straps of my backpack, waiting for the door to open.
A sliver of light cuts across my face.
Fallen Firsts Page 22
