In My Time of Dying

Chapter 6

                                                Chapter 6

                                     "Fire from the Heavens"

“Evangeline?”

My eyelids fluttered open at the sound of my name. I felt like I had been under water for an extended amount of time and had only begun to remember how to breathe.

“Killian?” I mumbled once and then again louder. Instead of his dark eyes staring back at me, two insanely blue ones were.

“Who’s Killian?” Lucca’s voice sounded relieved and yet alarmed. I had trouble not leaping out of bed.

“Oh, Lucca, it’s you!” I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his torso. He hugged me back, more than a little surprised.

“Is she awake?”

I looked up to see I was back in my new room and Kahlan was standing in my doorway. I let go of Lucca and extended my arms to Kay.

“Kay! How long was I out?”

Kahlan walked over and sat at the edge of my bed, engulfing me in one of her hugs.

“You… It’s been a while.”

I froze and waited for her to continue. Her breathing greeted me instead.

“How long is a while?” I let go of her and guarded my expression. She stared back with a mask of her own now on her features.

“26 hours.”

I stared at her. I quickly did the math in my head and came up with it being about four o’clock in the afternoon.

“So I missed our briefing? What’s our task? Tell me!” I was advancing on Lucca and he looked visibly nervous.

“I, well, it’s going to be something.” He said finally.

My breath caught in my throat. “What do you mean by that exactly?”

He let out a huge sigh and raked a hand through his hair. I rocked backwards so that I was sitting on my hunches.

“I was wrong actually.” Lucca let out a breathless laugh. “I didn’t think they would be smart enough to do it, but they are.”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting and not comprehending.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? They’re playing these games so that they can determine the ones who aren’t going to benefit this government and send them off to die. What would be the use of sending off the ‘up-and-coming’ citizens to their almost certain deaths?”

Sense caught up with his words after a moment. My head began to buzz and I felt dizzy. If anyone wasn’t going to benefit the government, that was me. And I was okay with that, only I couldn’t stand the thought of dragging Lucca down with me.

“So what do we have to do?” I managed finally and a look of unease passed over his face.

“Well, they’re starting out with a little taste of nature, or that’s how she put it anyway.” He was frowning as he said this, his eyebrows pulling together in evident distress.

My stomach dropped. I didn’t know anything about nature and from the look Lucca had on his face, neither did he.

“What…what does that mean.. exactly?”

He shrugged. “She said that we’re going to be taken out into the forest and further instructions would be given then. I think that we’re probably going to have to prove that we can make it out in the wilderness.”