What Game Will You Play

Chapter 29

(Edited)

Authors note:

Here is another cover idea I might change the book to. Let me know what you think.

***End note***

I can't feel anything.

I know that Aiden gets me to my feet, but I can't feel it. My body is numb but moving with help from Aiden. He helps me walk along the tent back to where we came from. We pass the boarded-up part of the tent but stop a little before the spot where we crossed from the trees.

"Sam, are you okay?" I stare at Aiden, but all I see is the guards putting people in body bags and throwing them in a pile, where more guards pick them up and throw them in a truck.

I don't respond to his question. I'm not okay. None of this is okay. My Dad's body is probably in one of those body bags being tossed around as if he means nothing to anyone. He is everything to me. If he is indeed dead, then he deserves a proper funeral. Everyone does.

What they are doing isn't right. None of it is. How do they live with themselves knowing that they have taken away people's grandparents, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends? How do they expect people to listen to them after this? Everyone in the New World, including myself, will never be able to trust them ever again.

"Sam, can you hear me?" Aiden asks. I am practically leaning all my weight on him, but he doesn't let me fall. His hand is on my face, but I can barely feel it.

The sound of the bodies hitting the ground still rings in my ears, although we have put distance between ourselves and that spot. "They killed them," Is all I manage to say. It comes out quieter than a whisper, but I know he hears me. "They killed all of them."

Aiden holds me tighter, "I know."

"They just killed them. For what? I don't understand." If the New World is experiencing problems and there really is no good solution, then at least kick them out and put them in no man's land. At least give them a chance at living.

The more I think about it, the more I understand why the New World would never do that. If they kicked people out, then those people could fight to get back in, and we would be at war all over again. Considering people in the towns would probably help their family members and friends who were kicked out, the New World would never win, so they would never choose that option.

Instead, they decided to kill. They chose to kill innocent people who had no idea what was going to happen to them tonight.

I think about my Dad and how I would have done anything for him to be here with me right now. I can't help but wonder if he is with my Mom. Are they at least together in death? Are they even dead? Is there some way that my Mom could be alright? What if Devin and I are the only two members of our family left?

I don't want the last memory of my Dad to be of him tackling two guards down so that Devin and I could run away. I know that everyone is going to die one day. I was just hoping that when he did, it would be from old age and lying on a bed peacefully. I think about what he said before he ran at the guards. He said he loved us.

Another minute goes by before I can start to feel my body again. "He's dead. They killed him. I didn't even get to say goodbye." I can't help myself, tears start running down my face, and I don't stop them.

Aiden manages to wipe away my tears while still holding me. Fresh tears replace the ones he wipes away, but he does not stop. The two of us just stand there on the side of the tent. I'm trying to hold my mouth in order to muffle the sound of my crying while Aiden holds me and tries to calm me down.