Rising From The Ashes

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

I was free. Free of the rules. Free of the segregation. Free of the lies. It was what I had wanted for so long and yet my freedom came at a high price. I was free, but everyone I loved was possibly dead or in danger of being so. What was the point of being free if you had no one to share it with? I asked myself this every day.

It'd been six days since I was rescued. And still no one had heard from Cameron. The rebels here, the ones that knew him, went looking every day, but even they had begun to lose hope. They wouldn't let me go with no matter how much I begged and pleaded. They told me I was still too weak, which was probably true since I could hardly stand for more than a few minutes at a time, but I needed to do something.

So far I hadn't even been able to look around the place I'd been taken to. Here I was in this supposedly safe rebel compound and yet I hadn't seen a thing other than the small and average room in which I stayed. I didn't get to meet many people either. The majority of my interactions were with a mousy haired girl named Minnie who took care of me. I often wondered if her name was one she was born with or given because of her slight stature.

Minnie checked in on me multiple times a day to bring me food and water, to change my bandages, to help me to the bathroom. I was desperate for conversation whether it be news of Cameron or just a distraction, but Minnie was not one for talking. I could usually squeeze a few one word answers out of her if I was lucky. Needless to say I was going insane on my own. I hated feeling weak and helpless, staring at blank walls day after day. Eventually, I simply decided not to any more.

Early one morning I rose shakily from the bed in which I'd hardly left the past few days. It hurt to move too quickly, but if I moved slow then I could manage. This was how I made my way out into a dimly lit hallway and then out through the door at the end. I'd never been this far from my room and didn't know where it led, but I ended up directly in the kitchen.

The second I stepped into the room six sets of eyes swiveled towards me. There was Minnie sitting at a table with a bowl of what I presumed to be breakfast in hand. Then there was Sky with eyes the color of her namesake. She was one of the ones who had come to rescue me from the woods. There were a few others I recognized from that day, a mix of both men and women, but none I could put a name to now. Through their lingering gazes I could see that I was a surprising if not slightly unwelcome sight.

"You're up," Sky stated simply.

I just stared at her, knowing I must look completely wild all the way from my unkempt hair and to my intense and unfocused gaze. Standing there before all these strange people I felt as if I were both a startled fawn and a lion ready to pounce at the first sign of danger. I had been in a state of isolation for so long and surrounded by so many untrustworthy people as of late that I could hardly find it within me to see the people surrounding me as individuals instead of just as a threat.

"You might as well eat breakfast since you're up," Sky continued and pointed to a pot resting on the stove with a ladle handle sticking out of it.

Without a word I walked to the pot, gritting my teeth in an attempt not to show the pain I felt with every step. I was sure they noticed the slight limp I tried to hide, but no one offered me help and in a way I was grateful for this.

I ladled myself a bowl full of what looked like oatmeal and then turned to look for a place to sit. There was one empty chair at the table and keeping my eyes downcast I ambled over to it and sat. It was obvious they all watched me, but I ignored them and slowly the conversation built around me.

I had questions, so many questions, but now that I was within reach of gaining them I could not say a word. My fragile heart couldn't take much more. Perhaps I was better off with no answers at all.