Page 57 of Resistant

I can’t help it, a laugh bursts from my mouth and I’m momentarily distracted. I would love to listen to Declan’s inner monologue.

He chuckles and continues. “His wife is the bank. I bet she’s a joy in the day to day. I think Paxon is going to be useful with our escape plans. I need to find out what he already knows. I’ll plan a visit by myself to his place.”

“And Riesa?”

“Riesa is a survivor. She could thrive anywhere because she’s resourceful, she knows how to stay under the radar and how to make herself valuable to the people around her.”

“She has great hair.”

Declan snorts,

“Yeah, I guess she has great hair.”

I feel Declan shaking me awake. It’s still dark outside. It feels like it’s barely morning.

“Ugh. No!”

“C’mon Angel. Time for our run.”

I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. I don’t want to run, but I reflect on how my life has changed over the last few weeks and I realize that even though I’m trapped here, I’m much better off than I was.

I’m not hungry, I can talk to Declan, touch him, and be touched. I also feel like I made a friend yesterday.

I can run, I can run as far as I want to, and where I want to within the boundaries of the camp, and no one will have anything to say about it.

It’s a freedom I didn’t have stuck in the cell by myself. I roll out of bed without protest and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and pee. I dress in a pair of shorts and throw a long sleeve fleece over my tank. I pull my hair up in a messy ponytail and grab some water. Declan stares at me.

“What?”

“Who are you?”

“Not grumpy ass Brynn.”

“Finally.”

“Don’t push it.”

Declan scans up and down the street as we slowly make our way down the drive. The fog swirls around us as we walk through it.

“What time is it anyway?”

“A little after 4:00.”

“Gross.”

Declan chuckles and guides me next to him with his palm on my back. We run.

I try and keep up with him as best I can, I slow and walk a few times. For the most part, I keep the same pace.

My breath is whooshing in and out of my mouth, and I can feel the sweat gathering in my hair. I’m full on miserable but I’m doing my best to shut down grumpy Brynn.

I’ve come so far in these last weeks.Will I be out of the compound soon, on my way to my children? I pick up my pace a little bit. I need to get stronger if I expect to make it outside on my own. I need to be in the best shape that I can be.

I’ve had the wrong attitude, been complacent. Without realizing it, I resigned myself to the fact that I’m stuck in here with no real opportunity to get out.

Now I see that I was wrong, I must find a way out. I can do this.We can do this. A weight drops off my shoulders as all of this becomes clear to me. I’ve been carrying all this weight around and it’s been distracting me from possibilities.

We turn a corner and come to a street that looks worse than all the rest and is covered in more fog than we saw on our street.

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