Page 88 of Dissent

Was I reallythatfar from camp?Yeesh!I didn’t know how to respond to him, so I just shrugged again. “Hormones?” I was trying to be funny, but all it got me was a raised eyebrow and a look that told me he thought I was nuts.

“You know, being this far out isn’t wise. We rarely run scouting patrols out this way. You’re just lucky that I heard you wailing out here and checked it out before heading back to camp.”

Fabulous.So not only did I sound like an idiot, but apparently, I was awailingidiot. God, this sucked. “How do you feel about keeping that part between you and me?” I suggested when he suddenly inhaled sharply, his jaw dropping and his eyes flying wide open. “Oh my god! Are you okay?” I barely had the words out when he dropped to his knees, and behind him was a soldier…aTelviansoldier. “Oh shit.” I turned to run, but stopped dead when I realized it wasn’t just one Telvian soldier, but five.

I was surrounded.

Oh my god.This was bad. This was really fucking bad. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t run, I didn’t have a weapon, and there was no way I was going to fight off five guys. I was screwed. I put my hands up in the universal gesture of surrender.

“Look what we found here, boys? We found ourselves the President’s daughter.”

Oh my god this was so bad. I was royally and totally screwed. “I really don’t want any trouble, guys.” Lame! Totally lame! But what else was I going to say?

“No trouble. We’ll make sure of that.” I didn’t ask him what he meant. Because at that moment, he raised the rifle he was carrying and fired.

I fell backwards to the floor, my eyes seeing nothing but darkness and the forest canopy as a sting struck my neck. The sensation slowly traveled down my body until it hit my heart. And when my heart gave its next beat, the liquid fire spread out in all directions, enveloping me in a burn that told me everything I needed to know.

I was going to die.

None of my muscles worked. I couldn’t lift my legs or arms. I couldn’t even move my lips to form words. My eyes grew heavy as the warmth continued to spread into every inch of my body.

I guess it wasn’t so bad going out this way. And maybe it was for the best. I didn’t have anything or anyone, anyway. This…this kind of solved all my problems. Life was a bitch, though. She had tortured me pretty well. My whole life was a shitshow, but this…this part was nice. As my eyelids grew so heavy that I could no longer keep them open, I gave out one last breath because this…this was a nice way to die.

45: Paralyzed

God,myheadhurt.And not just my head, but myeverythinghurt. I felt like I got run over by a train, picked up, drop-kicked across a field, and then run over again by the same damn train. What the hell happened? I started mentally scanning my body—feet, legs, fingers, arms—it was all there. What did I remember? I remembered falling backward.

Falling.

Falling from what? I saw darkness and…trees. I had seen the forest canopy.

The forest.

I was running in the forest. Yes, that felt right. I had been running through the forest, running away. The memory skirted around the edges of my consciousness. I remembered Chelsea, all battered and bruised. She had come back.

I kept pushing myself, kept trying to remember.

Matias.Matias was with Chelsea.

A wave of jealousy and hurt flooded me. I remembered that. I remembered Matias choosing Chelsea over me. The anguish curled its icy grip around my heart and squeezed. I went to move my hand, to clutch my achy chest.Wait a minute…

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t move my hand.

Panic started up within me.Shit!This was bad. As the thought crossed my mind, déjà vu hit. I had thought those same words before I fell.Okay…stay calm. What happened next?I was tugging on the memory, pushing myself to remember more. But as I pushed myself, the pain hit my head. Damn it, that hurt!Instinctively, I went to draw my hand to my head, but it didn’t work.

Alarm bells went off inside me. I tried to move my hand again, but I had nothing.

Oh no!

I tried to move something else, my legs, fingers, toes. I even tried opening my eyes, but I couldn’t do any of it. Panic welled up within me. My breath quickened as the anxiety rose.

I tried to shift my weight. I could sense the pressure of my body against something. The ground. I was still on the ground.Okay, don’t panic.I tried to take in a deep breath to soothe my nerves, but it was hard.

It’s okay…I’m going to be okay.

I could sense heat. I felt it on one side of my face, but nowhere else, and I heard crackling and popping too. I took in another deep breath and attempted to open my eyes. They felt so heavy, like I needed a crowbar to pry them open. But I managed—one lid, then two—barely opened. But I couldn’t see anything. Everything was blurry, colors blending into one another.

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