Eliot Strange and the Prince of the Apocalypse

51) For the Win

The explosion is so loud that it knocks all sound out of the air. There is silence now. My legs are shaky, but I run back up the hill to the concession stand in a zigzag pattern that is not completely intentional. Torin, joined by Clay and Marla, have been firing from there, and I pray I get to them before the tank turns its gun on them. I go in slow motion again with what I imagine is sucking mud under my feet. I cannot get to them. I am literally in an uphill quicksand race.

The next thing I see is fireworks exploding as the concession stand disintegrates into a million brilliant stars before my eyes.

The sound alone is enough to throw me in the air and start me rolling backwards down the hill. End over end, over end, until I finally stop at the bottom of the hill, landing just feet from the official football field. I sit up, dazed and dizzy. By some miracle, I have not broken anything, but I feel like I have been through a cycle in a clothes dryer. I throw up. I instantly feel much better.

I am looking for my gun when I see Steven run by me like he is losing a race, and he is sprinting to catch the leader. I turn to watch him in this race like we are back in high school. Steven runs down the track that surrounds the football field. I see a grenade in each hand, and he moves onto the field. He is going for the touchdown pass.

Steven always felt different - one of the boys who was really not one of the boys. He never felt like he fit in, though he tried so hard. The only place he said he ever felt normal enough for others was on a ball field. He was the star athlete of anything he tried.

Steven is running towards the tank, and I am back in high school screaming on the sidelines, "Run Steven, Go, go."

Steven gets some covering fire, and I look back over my shoulder to see Torin and Clay still alive. I am confused for some reason and think to myself that they were blown up. I guess not, because they are lying on their stomachs to steady their aim. I am thinking - my boyfriend, my boyfriend, my prince. This is all like a fairy tale. My prince? Seriously, am I dreaming again? Everything seems strangely calm. I feel brave.

More soldiers are coming out from behind the fieldhouse, and I now know the rumors are true. The One Nation Army is winning, and one reason they are winning is that they are prepared and way more equipped for the battle than us. Three soldiers are half carrying, half rolling out a machine gun on wheels. As I search frantically for my, what turns out to be, broken rifle, they set the machine gun down. Their synchronized actions and efficiency tell me that these three soldiers know what they are doing. Their gun has ended a battle before, probably more than one.

Steven is running, running. Sorenson is still alive. I know because he hits one of the soldiers who drops, but he is quickly replaced by another soldier. They are getting bolder now with the tank firing and the machine gun almost ready, and more soldiers are coming out from behind the field house. No matter how good Sorenson is at shooting, he can't get them all.

The machine gun is ready and soon it will fire at Steven who is running, running. I get up and start to run/stagger too because that is what you do when you are brave. You run to trouble.

I was never the athlete Steven was, but I always ran with him in the mornings before people were even up drinking their morning coffee. I am not fast, but I am steady. Steady, steady. I get my rhythm, and I am more running than falling now.

Steven darts back and forth across the field, but I see him stumble and fall. The machine gun is off him for a second while it turns to shoot to the left. I can see the hostages behind a tackling dummy and an old sideline bench. They fire a gun they must have captured. The machine gun sprays them with gunfire, forcing them to dive for cover.

I see that Sorenson, or it could be Clay or my prince, takes another one of the machine gun soldiers out. My prince, I like the sound of that. My prince. I chant it out loud as I run to the beat. My prince. My prince. By now I have reached Steven who is miraculously not dead.