The Collision (Sequel to The Division)

Chapter 18 (Nichole)

I feel my ice melting around me, which is definitely a strange feeling seeing as I was supposed to be dead. In mere seconds, the ice that encased me in the cocoon had vanished, and I lay there unable to move.

I am aware that someone is moving around me, but I'm also aware that I'm still not breathing, so none of this makes any sense at the moment.

I feel two separate pricks on my arm, one in the spot where my blood was drawn earlier, and another at the base of my hand. Suddenly, a rush of some sort of liquid rushes through my veins in a rather quick pace. It is disorienting feeling it rush through me at such a fast rate, and soon enough the liquid passes through my heart. Slowly but surely, it begins to beat, making me realize that blood is being returned to my bloodstream. I feel my chest begin to rise and fall as the blood flows through more parts of my body, but my eyes refuse to open. A hand lands directly on my arm and the coldness of it makes me flinch slightly. A female voice speaks,

"Queen Nichole. I am here to rescue you."

When my eyes finally decide to open, they land on a girl my age with dark brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. A small smile rests on her face as she stares at me expectantly. She wears a black tank top and dark jeans to match them. A gun rests in the holster on her waist, but the things that catch my attention are not hard to miss. For one, she has deep amber eyes that seem to lock you in a trance. The second trait is the prosthetic limb put in place of her right arm.  She speaks again, an urgency taking the place of the original tone,

"Queen Nichole. We must leave immediately. I need to get you and the other two out safely. Please, come with me."

My body finally agrees with her and I swing my legs off of the bed and place them on the ground, while straightening the end of my hospital gown. That was my first mistake. My vision staggers and I grip the edge of the bed to keep my balance. Nausea rolls through me, forcing me to stand still. Way too much movement after having all the blood taken out of me. The girl places her real arm around me and guides me towards the door. The hallways are empty at first, but soon enough shouts begin echoing not too far away from us. The girl curses under her breath then drags me down another empty hallway. I am beginning to gain my strength, so I pull her arm out from under me, managing to finally keep my balance on my own, then ask,

"Where are we going?"

"To go save a few more people."

I nod in silence and keep moving with her until we stop at another room, similar to the one I was located in. I look through the window and find it covered in branches and vines. My mind immediately pieces together who's in there. The girl stops me before I can rush through the door and turns her attention to the hallway, who's walls are beginning to echo with shouts once again.

"Do you think you have enough energy to block off the hallways?"

I hold out the palm of my hand and an icicle stretches from it almost instantly. My powers seem to work just as well as they did before. I nod and turn towards the end of the hallway, creating a thick barrier of ice that would definitely take a long time to break through. The girl points to the other end of the hallway and I repeat the same action on that one. She instructs me to leave the one opposite the room open and rushes inside. I follow her but stop dead in my tracks when I see the body lying on the floor surrounded by the branches.

Lucas.

As much as I despise him now, there is still a small part of me that is sad that he's dead. Not having much time to process it entirely, my attention is drawn to the girl who has a small pint of blood in one hand and a syringe in the other. She stands above Autumn, who I assume had the same fate that I did. The girl injects her in the same two places as me, causing the branches to begin shrinking slowly around us. Leaves brush across my skin as the forest around us returns to its source.