Fragments

11

The hours drag on, every second marked by the heavy silence between Kellan and me. He paces near the window, his eyes flickering to the trees outside, always alert.

"If we're going to fight back, we need the rest of the Recall," he says suddenly.

I can't picture any of them. In my mind, I just see masked villains running through the streets. I have never seen the Recall in person, as far as I knew, but that was the way the Ministry framed them. Villans. Evil. A threat to be dismantled and dealt with.

"How do we contact them?" I ask, a flicker of hope sparking in my chest despite the fear. "How do we reach out to the others?"

Kellan takes a deep breath, his eyes darkening with the gravity of what he's about to say. "There's a signal we can send from here," he explains. "It's encrypted, something the Recall will recognize. But it's risky. The Ministry has been known to intercept these signals, to trace them back."

"So they could find us?" I say, my voice wavering. The thought of the Ministry closing in, of being dragged back to a life of compliance and erasure, makes my blood run cold.

"Yes," he admits. "But it's a risk we have to take. If we're going to have any chance of fighting them, we need allies. The Recall has resources, and people who know how to work around the Ministry's surveillance. We can't do this alone."

I swallow hard, my heart pounding in my chest. This is it. The decision that could change everything. I look at Kellan, his expression determined, his eyes reflecting the belief that this is our only option. He's asking me to take a leap into the unknown, to trust in a group I can't remember, to risk everything for a chance at freedom.

"Okay," I say, my voice trembling slightly. "Send the signal."

Kellan hesitates for a moment, searching my face for any sign of doubt. But when he finds none, he nods, a flicker of approval in his eyes. He stands, moving to the corner of the room where a loose floorboard hides a small, concealed compartment. From within, he pulls out a device-rough, makeshift, unlike anything the Ministry would use. He kneels, adjusting dials and wires with a practiced ease.

"This will send the signal on a frequency they monitor," he explains, his voice steady. "The Recall will recognize it. If they're close enough, they'll respond."

I watch as he flips a switch, the machine humming to life with a faint green glow. Kellan's fingers move deftly over the controls. I wonder how many times before he has done this. I wonder if I ever have. I hold my breath, the air around us thick with the weight of what we're about to do. When he presses the final button, the hum grows louder, sending our call into the void.

We wait. Each second feels like an eternity. My mind races with the possibilities of what might happen next. Will the Recall hear us? Will the Ministry intercept the signal and descend upon us? The uncertainty gnaws at me, and I clutch the edge of the table, trying to steady my nerves.

Kellan watches the device, his expression unreadable. His body is tense, every muscle coiled as if ready for whatever comes next. The silence stretches on, filled only with the hum of the machine. Then, a soft beep breaks through, a flashing light on the device catching Kellan's attention.

He leans forward, his eyes fixed on the screen. I inch closer, my heart in my throat. "What is it?" I whisper, my voice barely audible. "Do we need to run?"

Kellan's eyes narrow, his fingers dancing over the buttons. "We've got a response," he says, his voice taut. "It's them, the Recall. They're on their way."

A mix of relief and fear rushes through me. The Recall is out there, they heard us. But now, it means there's no turning back. We're committed to this fight, to a rebellion. I watch Kellan's face as he deciphers the incoming message, his eyes flickering with emotions I can't quite place.

"They're sending coordinates," he murmurs. "There's another safe house, not far from here. We're to meet them there tonight."

"Tonight?" My pulse quickens. It's happening so fast. I thought we'd have more time, a moment to breathe and prepare. Time for me to learn more about the group and the things I had done with them.

"It's okay," he soothed, standing up and facing me. "We just need to move quickly. If we stay here too long, the Ministry could track the signal. We have to stay ahead of them."

I nod, my mind reeling with the urgency of it all. The Recall. The safe house. The fight we're about to plunge into headfirst. It feels like a dream, something unreal, yet the weight of it grounds me in a reality that's sharper than anything the Ministry ever let me feel.

Kellan moves around the room, gathering supplies-a small pack of food, water, and other essentials. He hands me a jacket, worn but warm, and I slip it on, the fabric heavy on my shoulders. His movements are quick and efficient, the actions of someone who has done this many times before. It hits me then, how much he's lived through, how much he's risked to bring me here.

I move toward the window, peering out into the forest. The trees sway gently, the world outside deceptively calm. But the knowledge of what's out there, of what we're up against, churns inside me like a storm.

Kellan stops beside me, his presence a steady force in the chaos of my thoughts. "You don't have to do this," he says quietly, his voice softer now. "If you want to stay here, if you're not ready, I'll understand. I can wait with you."

I turn to look at him, his face shadowed with concern. But behind that concern is trust, a trust I didn't think I could earn in such a short time. "No," I say, my voice firmer than I feel. "We need to go. We need to do this."

He studies me, his eyes searching mine, and then he nods. "Alright," he says. "Then let's go."

We step out into the night, the chill wrapping around us like a shroud. Kellan leads the way through the woods, his movements silent and sure. I follow, every step taking us further away from the life the Ministry had crafted for me. Every step brings us closer to the truth, to the rebellion that might just be the key to reclaiming the pieces of myself they tried to destroy.

As we move through the darkness, I catch a glimpse of Kellan's face, illuminated briefly by the moonlight filtering through the trees. There's a fire in his eyes, a resolve that makes my heart clench. This is the man who was everything to me, the man who fought for us when the world tried to tear us apart.

I find myself reaching for his hand, intertwining my fingers with his, and feeling that familiar glow inside of me again. I recognized his touch, even if I didn't know why. Kellan looks down in surprise, his eyes wide before a smile begins to tug at his lips.

In the tunnels, we'd held hands out of necessity for not getting separated in the dark. Here, under the glow of the moon, I did so out of want. I wanted Kellan, and though the Ministry tried to erase that part of me, they'd failed.

His hand squeezed mine in reassurance as we walked through the forest towards the Recall. For the first time in my remembered life, everything ahead of me was a huge question mark. There was no order to the Recall, no assurance that I'd have a bed to sleep in or food to eat. But I didn't care. With Kellan beside me, I knew I'd be okay.