Crying: A Dystopian Novel

Crying: Chapter 5

It has been a week since I heard the plot for me and tonight is the dreaded night. I still have nightmares every night, but it isn't so bad that it wakes the girls. Michael is always there, following in his brother's footsteps. He calms me down, and helps me go back to sleep.

It's almost 7, and the neighborhood has been told to meet in the radio room, which I am not looking forward to. I haven't been there since I found out about tonight; the thought itself makes me sick to my stomach. I stand in the corner next to the door by myself, but Michael and John soon come over to stand next to me. John knows; we don't talk about it, but he knows.

"Thank you all for coming." Dad says. "As you all know, the pack has decided to raid us tonight. Necessary preparations have been made, and you are here to review procedure." He talks on about procedure for a while, and then we all leave to get ready. It's 8 by now, and we are supposed to be in the bunker by 8:30. I make sure Eleise and Laelynn have everything they need, and we go. We all fall to sleep slowly, but we eventually get there.

I have another nightmare, this one about the final part of the pack's plan. I am kneeling in front of the shelves with the grapes on them, my whole family being forced to watch. The man shoves so many grapes in my mouth I almost choke. He tells me to say hello to 'my friend' for him, and shoots me. I fall to the ground, the grapes falling out of my mouth, and the last thing I see is Laelynn running up to me. After that, everything goes black for a moment before I shoot straight up.

"Anna, you're okay." Laelynn whispers, crawling over to me. She lies next to me, holds my hand. "Michael told us about what Dad said, they're not gonna let that happen." We lay down, and I fall asleep with her in my arms. I awake to the sound of screaming, and hear shouts as I stand.

"Get up! Where is she? Where's that stupid girl?" The man is swinging a gun around near the entrance, but he can't see me because I am in the back corner.

"Anna, get down. Stay here." Michael squeezes my hand and pulls me down as he runs off through the crowd. I lie against the back wall and close my eyes, rocking as the pack push their way through.

"Hey! Over here!" I hear someone shout from far away, but I can't tell who until I open my eyes. It's Michael.

"Mi-" I start to scream and stand up, but someone puts their hand over my mouth and pulls me back to the ground. I'm so afraid that it's the man that I start to shake.

"Shh..." John hisses and turns me around to face him.

"That's my brother!" I hiss back, trying to keep my voice low so no one notices us.

"Yes, but you can't just give yourself up to the pack." I turn to see if anyone is watching, but there is no one. All of the pack members are chasing Michael through the crowd.

"Where are Eleise and Laelynn?" I ask.

"I already took them to a safer spot in the bunker. They're okay."

"Take him outside, and someone get a torch! There's plenty of wood around here." The man cackles as I look up to see him dragging Michael out the entrance to the bunker. I run after them through all the confused, scared people, but John catches me before the pack sees us.

"Are you crazy?" He says, grabbing my arm.

"No. I'm his older sister that promised to take care of him! Now, let go of me." A sea of dazed teens runs out of the bunker and John loses me in the crowd.

"Where is she? Tell me or you will burn." I have to keep myself from falling over when I see him. They've tied him ten feet up in a tree and the man is holding a torch at its base.

"Then burn me. I won't help you find her." He's 50 feet away, but somehow, he sees me, and I almost lose it.

"No... you will. You will, young man. Not only will you do that, you'll watch her die like your brother." I cringe as the man lifts the torch close enough to Michael to set the tree ablaze, and several people around me gasp and cover their eyes. Then he pulls it down and has the pack get him down and drag him away.

I scream, tears running down my face. John jumps into action from somewhere nearby and drags me toward the bunker. Michael left to distract them from me. He had given me his word, brother's honor.

I'm so upset, I don't even remember going back to sleep in the bunker that night, or going home. All I remember is climbing up to my bunk a minute ago and sitting. I stare at the wall, sometimes hitting my head against it. He's gone. Bang. The pack has him. Bang. I didn't even see it coming. Bang. I failed Drew. Bang.

"What happened?"

"Eleise came and got me. Said Anna was lying on her bed rolled up against the wall. She climbed up there and saw that nasty knot on Anna's forehead and ran out for me."

"I should have done more!"

I am lying down on Laelynn's bed. Grandma Elle is talking to Dad. Apparently I had knocked myself out hitting my head against the wall. My head hurts, aches. But it was nothing compared to what they are more than likely doing to Michael.

"There was nothing more you could have done."

"There were thousands of things I could have done. They were after Anna. Now I've got Michael captured. I could have stopped this."

"And if you had done anything more, it could have made things worse." Mom says as she walks in. She comes over and smoothes out my hair.

"Yes, but he's our son! Surely we could have stopped this."

"But you had to do what was best for the community."

"How can you say that? He's our SON!"

Dad is pacing by now; he leaves at his next pass of the door. Grandma Elle goes out as well, leaving Mom in the room with me.

"Anna? You're awake, aren't you?"

"He's gone, Mom. It's my fault. They wanted me."

"It's not your fault. How's your head?"

"It doesn't matter. It's nothing compared to what they're doing to him. I failed Drew. I couldn't even keep them safe for a year."

"Did you ever stop to think that that's what Michael was trying to do? Be a good brother? That's the last thing Drew told him, you know that." Mom comes and hugs me, and I just sob into her shoulder.