“Okay well, my father brought all these people out in the woods to wait for me to come to them in seven years because he was a Future Holder and he predicted this would happen. So all these kids have been sitting in the woods waiting for me to come here and that,” I say and point to Cooper, “Is my brother.”
“Your what?” Zavy asks shocked.
“Like I said, it’s a long story.” Zavy doesn’t ask any more questions and I know it’s because we are both having trouble running and talking at the same time. I’m not sure how long Cooper expects us all to run, but I just tell myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I look down at my hands and panic when I see them encrusted in blood. It reminds me of how they looked after I stitched Alexander’s leg up. Caked in red thick blood. I blink my eyes hard and then my hands appear clean.
“Kill me,” I hear Codian’s voice echoing in my head. I keep blinking and seeing my hands bloody and then clean and then bloody. “Kill me. Kill me. Kill me.” Over and over and over again. I take in a deep breath of cool night air and force my mind to focus on running. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Breathe in. Breathe out. Right. Left. In. Out. Right. Left. In. Out. I fall into a steady pattern as the sounds of our feet smacking against the wet mud consumes me.
Chapter 16
I can see hints of daylight breaking through the trees when Cooper finally calls for us to take a break from running. I close my eyes and try to slow my heart rate. It pounds, shaking in my chest, waiting to burst. I watch as Cooper reaches to the side of his bag and unclips a water bottle. I look at my own bag and find my old water bottle still clipped there.
I unclip my water bottle and drink it slowly until it’s empty. I look around at the rest of the group and see many of them are filling their water bottles up at the river. I assume they would know what water is safe to drink so I go to the water's edge and dip the bottle into the water. The cool and clear water runs into the mouth of the bottle and over my dirty fingers washing away the dusty brown layer that has coated my skin.
I put the cap on my bottle and lay it and my bag down on the river’s edge. I pull my sword out and examine it. Dark dried blood cracks on the blade. My breath is caught in my throat. I instruct myself to clean the blade first. I rinse it in the river and the blood washes away, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.
I untie the worn white shoes and take off the thin socks I had found in the bunker, and walk knee-deep into the water. Even though there is no blood to wash off of my body from murdering Codian I still feel as though my skin is caked in it. I rinse my legs, arms, and face with the cool water and do my best to bring my heart and brain back to being steady. When I’ve calmed myself and feel numb instead of broken I walk out of the river, grab my things, and find a place to sit in the shade. I walk to the edge of the forest and sit next to a tree letting my legs relax from the hours of running they’ve just encountered.
“I can’t even feel my legs,” I hear Zavy say as she collapses to the ground next to me, acting overdramatic as usual. Quiet Toby follows and softly sits down next to her.
For the first time, I notice that my bag feels heavier than normal. For a second I pass it off as exhaustion messing with my head but I take it off and confirm its fuller than before. I unzip the backpack and unpack its contents. On top, I find the necklace and my mother’s journal that I shoved in before we started running. Under that, I find a neatly rolled blanket, a small pillow, a clean t-shirt, and a pair of shorts. Cooper must have added them to my bag after I had fallen asleep. Maybe while I was still in shock from killing Codian he found time to pack my bag. I vaguely remember him coming by me before we started running, but my mind was elsewhere at that moment. It’s a gesture that makes me feel safe but small. I’m glad my older brother is back to look out for me, but I can’t rely on that. I need to be able to take care of myself.
Across the clearing, I hear Cooper and Mio are arguing about the lack of weapons they grabbed last night. I notice there are only two swords, a couple of spears for fishing, and one bow with a set of arrows. Cooper gestures my way and I’m sure he’s blaming it on me. If I hadn’t snuck off last night we wouldn’t have been forced to leave in such a hurry. I watch as Cooper, Mio, and Cinder turn and start walking over to us so I repack my belongings and zip the bag closed.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Mio says as he, Cooper, and Cinder sit across from Zavy, Toby, and myself. “I’m Mio, and this is Cinder and Cooper. Apparently, Adaline thought it would be a good idea to go against my advisement of not bringing any other guests with us.”
“I wasn’t going to leave them,” I say as I take another sip of my water.
“Well, I hope you’re glad you went and
