Tyrant (Lazaretto Sequel)

four

March 24, 2094

CAMILA

I wasn't sure how I was still breathing, how I managed to get up every day knowing it was another day without Lauren. I wasn't sure how I kept my eyes open long enough to see the light of day, and I wasn't sure how it was possible to feel so irrevocably dead with a beating heart.

"Come on, Camila. It's time to get up," Normani coaxed through the metal bars. I audibly groaned and hugged myself tighter, completely ignoring her request. After a couple seconds of silence I figured she had left, but when I felt myself being lifted off of the ground and thrown onto the concrete below, I knew I had been wrong. A pain shot through my shoulder at the impact.

"What the hell?" I slowly sat up to see my cot on its side from where Normani had lifted it up, inevitably rolling me onto the floor.

"I've had enough of the sulking," she stated firmly. I began to soothe my shoulder by rubbing it, eventually looking up into her brown eyes to see her standing with her arms across her chest. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, wincing as another pain shot through my arm.

"I think you messed up my shoulder," I said as I rolled my eyes, dejecting her previous comment.

"Should've listened to me the first time," she shrugged. "We're running some errands today so you can pick up some aspirin while we're out."

"Where are we going?" I asked, rotating my shoulder.

"Whenever you decide to get up, you'll find out." She left without another word and turned down the hall, drowning me in loneliness once more. After a couple more minutes of working out my shoulder, I finally picked myself up off the ground. I slid the door open and walked down to the showering area, knocking on the door to find it empty. I took a quick shower before the memories had time to come forth. I dressed in casual clothes and fixed my hair into a loose braid, reminding myself to pick up another box of hair dye while we were out...wherever that may be.

I walked out of the showering area and into the cafeteria to see everyone sat around a large table, everyone except for the small brown eyed girl.

"Where's Ally?" I asked as I grabbed a banana and a cup full of cereal before plopping down next to Keith.

"She said she would be down in a few minutes," Troy said dejectedly. He put his head down and started mindlessly play with his fingers. I wanted to stand up and give him a hug, but something held me back. Instead, I watched him as he looked like he was going to collapse any second. I sighed and bite into the banana, trying not to think too much about the situation.

Derek informed us a couple of days ago that it would take a while for our freedom papers to come in. He said he knew someone on the inside, and that person would have our freedom papers drawn up for us. Until then, I was stuck in Massachusetts. But at this moment, I was stuck in a lot of places. More specifically, my own head.

I finished the banana and set the peel down on the table, diving into the cereal. I still wasn't eating much, but I was getting better every day. I told myself to take baby steps. There was no need to rush into anything I wasn't ready for. I still cried every night, but could you blame me? It wasn't just because of the people that I had lost. I was crying because somewhere during all of this I had lost myself, too.

A few moments later, Ally entered the cafeteria with a somber look on her face. Her hair was thrown up into a messy bun, and her eyes were somehow a shade darker. She was wearing the same massive sweatshirt she had been wearing the night of the fire, along with yoga pants. I casually looked over to Troy to see him still staring at his hands, completely unaware of his girlfriend's presence. Or maybe he knew, he just didn't want to acknowledge it. I looked back at Ally to see her staring at me. I furrowed my brows at her as if asking if she was alright. She shook her head and then proceeded to fix herself something to eat. I slouched in my seat as I finished the last of my cereal before I walked over to the trash bin and threw my trash away, looking over at Ally once more. I'm going to find out what's wrong with her, I thought. If it's the last thing I do.