Illusion ➵ Zach Mitchell

24 ➵ solution

What we've all been waiting for, me the most. Enjoy the final chapter of Book I: Illusion!!

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ILLUSION

[chapter twenty four]

DEEP breaths Marella, deep breaths. Think. Think this through. You can do this. You will do this because it has to be done. I have to get out of here. I will get out of here alive.

Or at least that's what I kept repeating to myself.

It's funny: how we humans think telling ourselves something over and over will make it come true. There might be psychological evidence to support this, but who believes therapists these days? At this point, with the blood rushing to my head, my neck cramping up, my vison blurry from tears, I'd believe anything.

I could hear whimpering and it took a while for me to realize that they were coming from me. I could barely think with my head pounding. My ears started to ring. Ok, Mari. Think for real, this time. List. Check lists. I always make them when I need to organize. Nerdy habit.

Step one: get in a safer position. Exhaling, I placed both of my hands, palms up, on the truck roof, in handstand positon. I pushed forward and fell, my feet hitting the dashboard. Hell yeah. I was upright. I reached up and unraveled the seatbelt from around Zach's waist, letting him fall as well, upright. I reached over and did the same to Gray, then Victoria. Owen had figured it out himself, safely getting Claire sitting up, too.

"Step two," I mumbled aloud, "figure a way out of this car."

"What," Zach breathed, rubbing his head.

'Nothing. Just help me, ok?" I leaned over to the window, pushing and running my hands along the edges. Bulletproof, of course, but not completely secure. Manufactures cut corners. I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking. What's strong enough located in a car to crack glass? Nothing detachable. Owen? Owen's a handy man, right?

"Owen. Do you have anything hard on you? Steal even?"

He paused for a moment. "My shoes."

"What," Zach asked.

"Steal toed boots. Genius. Hand 'em over." I stretched my hand out to him, gripping the boot firmly. I ran the fingers down the seam, knocking the hard steal.

"Should I be worried way my girlfriend wants steal...."

"Not at all." I brought my arm back and slammed the boot against the window. A small crack ran down the tinted glass. I hit it again, making a bigger crack. And again, shattering the window. I gasped, then quickly scrambled to get the front window. "Step two: check."

Using my hand, cautiously, I swept away tray glass. I started to pull myself out, but it hit. The truck slide fast. It was nearing the edge of the bridge. And on the other side wasn't the forest. Where do you think they build bridges? Over cannons. Shit, I mentally cursed. We had to get out of here quickly. We had a better chance at survival outside of the truck, even if it meant with the suddenly murderous T-rex, rather than plummeting to our death inside the truck.

I pushed myself up, crawling out and cutting my hands over glass. I turned back, reaching for Gray to climb out next. Zach helped lift him up over the scattered glass. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Owen hauling Claire's limp body. Victoria rushed out, screeching when the T-rex pounded the truck again. We were being driven closer and closer to the edge.

Trusting that Zach could get out on his own, I pushed Victoria and Gray out from behind the truck. I could see Owen's head bobbing over the other side. He got out just in time for the tyrannosaurus to give one last final shove. I went to walk forward, when I felt something clamp onto my ankle. The weight almost dragged me down.