“Ouch,” I wheeze as I slow down.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asks me concerned.
I lift my shirt to reveal my already bruising ribcage.
“It’s the same one Malachi broke at the complex.”
He puts a hand to my inflamed ribcage, pressing ever so slightly.
“Can you breathe?”
“I think so,” I say, taking a deep breath to test the theory.
“Is everyone else okay?” Eli asks.
Mar pulls a very tattered pant leg up to show a piece of unidentifiable shrapnel lodged in her calf.
“Oh Mar,” I say.
“It’s okay.” She winces, as she takes her knife out and cuts what’s left of her pant leg off, leaving her calf exposed. “Now, let’s go.”
We run a little slower this time the rest of the way to the trees that are our meeting point. Sure enough, Magi, Samantha, and Levi stand outside their side by side watching for us. You can tell by the look on their faces, that they didn’t expect us to be on foot.
“Oh my,” Magi says, “what happened?”
“Rocket blew us into a tree,” I say as I rip my shirt off a few inches above my belly button.
“The others?” Levi asks.
I shake my head, looking him straight in the eye. I think I am still trying to see if Levi is who he says he is.
“You have got to be kidding me!” he yells as he kicks a tire of his vehicle cursing under his breath.
“I’m sorry,” Mar says, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Levi says. “Rae will understand, but they were some of the best. It’s a part of war, though, don’t think I’m heartless because I say that, but even though The Division hasn’t officially begun, we have been fighting a war for years now.”
“We understand,” Jake says. “More than you know.”
“Shall we go back?” Levi asks as he jumps into the driver’s seat.
Jake gets in the passenger seat next to him as Magi and Samantha stand on the back, holding onto a bar across the top. Mar sits on Eli’s lap as I slowly sit down next to them, trying to not hurt Mar or myself.
As the seven of us head back to Wonder Shield with three less people, two less vehicles, and two of us injured, the sun sets in the sky. I guess Rae was right, The Elected is truly impossible to penetrate, but there is always another day.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
A little over an hour later, we pull our remaining vehicle up to the guard’s station. They look at the horizon as if waiting for the other two vehicles to show up.
“All-terrain ten and eleven lost to war,” Levi says as the guard writes a few things down on a pad of paper.
After checking in what I guess to be all-terrain vehicle twelve, we venture back into the city. The moon is bright in the night sky as the activities of the fenced in fortress are far less than they were hours earlier. It isn’t nearly as difficult to maneuver our way through the town, but both Mar and I seem to be a bit slower than the rest.
It is clear to see with my crop top that my ribcage is a sickly black color. Mar’s leg is still bleeding, but whatever is stuck in it appears to have slowed it down. She is limping a bit. I try to support her with my good side as she and I bring up the rear.
“Rae will get you two fixed up.” Levi smiles.
“I would be grateful,” Mar says.
“Would you have supplies that I could use?” Magi asks, “or do you have doctors?”
“We have doctors at our facility’s hospital, but you are more than welcome to assist them,” Levi says, “or them assist you,” he smiles. “I remember how good you are at what you do.”
“I didn’t always work as a nurse,” Magi reminisces.
“Oh, I remember.” Samantha smiles.
“What did you do?” I ask, my curiosity mounting.
“I was second in command of The Force for a long time.” She grins.
“No way,” Eli scoffs.
“True story,” Jake laughs. “She was second until she resigned. That’s when my dad stepped up.”
“Why did you resign?” Mar asks.
“I couldn’t stand E. J. Samuels,” she laughs. “He was needy and whiney, believe it or not.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Samantha laughs. “I’ve seen it first-hand.”
“Me too.” Jake smiles.
“So, I had previous experience as a nurse where I was from and asked to be transferred to the medical compound.” Magi says. “Best choice I ever made.”
We all fall silent for the remainder of our walk to the big building in the middle of the town.
We walk in the doors of the building. Oddly, Rae meets us as we walk into the lobby.
“We need to talk,” she says upon greeting us. “Where are the others?”
“Dead,” Levi says. “Their all-terrain destroyed.”
She throws her hand to her mouth as if she might break down but then lowers it with a stoic look on her face.
“Very well,” she says instead.
“I am so sorry,” Jake says. “There were rockets, and we tried to get out before any of us got hurt.
“It’s okay,” she says, calmly. “Have you reported the loss of the ATV?” She looks to Levi.
“Rae,” he says. “We lost two.”
She looks shocked at first, but then notices my ever-growing bruise and the bleeding gash on Mar’s leg.
“Let’s get you two fixed up,” she says. “Come with me. The rest of you go with Levi to get cleaned up and dressed.”
“What about what you had to talk to us about?” Samantha asks.
“It can wait,” Rae says. “Now, go get cleaned up.”
“Is this okay?” I ask Jake.
“Yes,” he kisses me.
