Project Castaway (Sequel to Project 14)

Chapter 3

The crunching blow to my side caused me to scream out in pain. I fell onto my side. Two shadows walked up to me. My breathing wasn’t normal. I felt one of my ribs crack inside of my body.

          “Oh, come on Joshy Boy. We got to finish this.” One of the men grabbed my hair and held up my head up.

          “I don’t know anything, I swear.” I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek.

          The main man dropped me and someone helped me up. Another blow was brought to my head. I collapsed onto the ground. My whole body was in pain. Blood filled in my mouth and I spat it out.

          “Where is Cassandra Roosevelt?” The man knelt down in front of me.

          My eyes began to close. “I really don’t know. I haven’t talked to her in years.”

          The man shook his head. “I’m sorry. That’s the wrong answer.”

          He left and came back with a metal weapon of some sort. I tried to move, but I screamed in pain.

          Before the man could lower the knife, a gunshot screamed into the air. One man was hit and the others all began to scatter. I draped my arm over my stomach and clutched onto my burning side. I rolled on to my good side and just laid there. That’s when I heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching.

          Tears fell down my face as I thought of Cassandra. What if she was dead? No. She couldn’t be. Cassie was a fighter. My eyes closed shut as darkness engulfed me in its presence.

“So,” Travis said. “Do you think your friend is okay?”

          I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Ever since I lost contact with him, I began getting panic attacks. Josh was more than just a friend. He was a brother.” I looked over at Travis. “Geez, I’m sorry. I’m probably boring you.”

          “You’re fine.”

          Travis and me haven’t seen or heard Ellery at all. Her men still have bringing us food, but not a lot of it. I was trying to forget about Josh. It was difficult. He was my boyfriend. I couldn’t help but deal with the fact that he might be injured, or worse.

          We stayed in silence. I grabbed on to my necklace and ran my finger over it. This was only one of the last things I had to remember Josh by. It was a necklace that had “Dream” in cursive on it. He knew I was such a big dreamer. It sounds cliché, I know.

          Sighing, I tucked it back under my shirt. Travis was sleeping again. I don’t know what else to do. Ellery hasn’t showed up for almost a day. My stomach growled in hunger. I just hope that I can survive in this place.

There was no noise. My eyes slowly began to open. I was in a room I didn’t recognize. Sitting up, I felt my head pounding. I groaned in pain.

          “I suggest you lie back down.” A girl’s voice said.

          I looked over and saw a girl. She was gorgeous. Her light brown hair cascaded down to her mid back and her green eyes were like emeralds. “Where am I?”

          “You’re safe, for now.”

          “And you were the person that shot one of the men?”

          The girl nodded. “Those men have names. I knew one of them before this world went to utter hell.”

          I rubbed my temple. “And what’s your name?”

          “Lillian. But you can call me Lily for short. What’s yours?”

          “Josh.”

          Lily came over and pulled up my sweatshirt sleeve. She saw the Convoy America seal in my wrist. “That’s good. You’re not one of them.” She muttered.

          “‘Them’? Who’s ‘them’?”

          Lily shrugged. “It’s a group, or a cult. A group of people started building something underground. They call themselves Shadows. The reason is that no one ever sees them. If you do see them, they’ll put you through so much pain that you wouldn’t want to see tomorrow.”

          I sighed and looked to the floor. “Do you know where this place is?”

          “Obviously,” she sat back down in her chair. “I managed to sneak in there a couple of times.”

          A little girl walked in to the room. Lily looked towards the girl. “Who’s that?” I asked, hoping I don’t sound rude.

          “That’s my sister, Brenda.” As if on cue, Brenda walked towards Lily. Lily pulled her into her lap and pulled Brenda’s bangs back. “She usually is just my watcher.” Lily looked back at me. “I better let you get some rest. Once you’re ready, I can show you around and you can clean yourself up.”

          I nod and Lily and her sister walked out of the room. I decided to try to fall back asleep. It was basically useless. Who knows how long I’ve been sleeping. A freezing cold wave washed over my body. I sighed and tried so hard to forget everything. Try to forget everything that has happened to me over the past couple of years. Will it even be that easy?

Lily came up to my room the next morning and told me breakfast was ready downstairs. I asked her were the nearest bathroom was and she told me two doors down to the right.

          I got up and walked to the bathroom. I turned on the lights and my reflection was horrifying. My face was red and covered in scratches and gashes and my hair was all over the place. I noticed my left eye was nearly blue and purple. Raising my shirt, I saw I was covered in bruises. My ribs were still burning from where I fell. Sighing, I did my business and headed downstairs.

          Lily was waiting for me when I got down there. Her sister was already eating breakfast.

          “So,” I said, breaking the silence. “Where am I now?”

          Lily looked up at me. “You’re on the border of Colonies 11 and 12. I know it’s pretty far, but I move around a lot. Once one home gets destroyed, move onto another one. It’s as easy as that.”

          I sat down and Lily handed me a plate of food. I took it nicely and said thank you. Lily and I conversated for a while until we finished eating.

          “Was there anybody before the war that you were with?” She asked as she washed the dishes.

          I shrugged. “It depends on what you mean.”

          “Like a relationship with someone.”

          “Yeah, I guess so.”

          “What was her name?”

          “Cassandra.”

          “That’s a pretty name. Hope she’s well.”

          I turned my back to her. “Yeah, I hope so, too.”

          With that, I headed up to my room and stayed there for the rest of the night.

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Picture of Lily above