Tyrant (Lazaretto Sequel)

seventeen

May 7, 2094

LAUREN

I thought the old saying was "April showers bring May flowers", but that wasn't the case on this day. It was down-pouring. The rain drops were heavy, each drop against my skin stung slightly, and the leaves on the trees were drooping towards the muddy ground.

Turning around to see the girl trudging up the slippery hill grasping onto various trees for support, her dark brown hair was matted to her face and neck, her drenched clothes clung to her body. The wind blew, and she shivered. Leaves picked up off the ground and swirled around her, creating a whirlwind of color. I could hear the constant rain and the sloshing of our footsteps in the mud.

She suddenly looked up at me, and if it weren't for my lack of emotion I could've felt a pang of guilt where my heart should've been.

I had ignored her ever since the night she tried to escape from me. I let my guard down too far, and she took advantage of it. I showed her too much of my vulnerable side. And for that, I shut her out. I had to be more careful around her. She was dangerous when it came to my emotions. She made me want to feel again.

Her ochre colored eyes locked with mine, and for second I contemplated on holding my hand out for her to grab. Instead, I watched as the rain dripped down her face, blinking rapidly to keep the water out of her eyes. It was like were standing in our own hurricane, in the eye of the storm. It was calm for the moment, but as soon as we started moving again it would become chaos. It was moments like this where we would just look at each other and know exactly what the other was thinking or feeling. The twigs and leaves that flew by us went unnoticed. The water dripped off my nose and chin as our moment continued. It could have only been seconds, but it felt like minutes, hours even. As we stood in our perfect storm, it was then that I realized why hurricanes were named after people. They'll tear the roof off of your heart, exposing it for everyone to see. They'll tear down the concrete walls you've built so high in a matter of seconds. They'll make your insecurities disappear as they rip up the floorboards. It's mayhem. You lose control. You lose yourself in them, and I guess a lot of me was lost in her.

I turned back around and continued walking up the hill, leaving the girl to fend for herself. I heard her sigh as I made it to the top, and she joined me a few seconds later out of breath, her hands stained with mud and bark from the trees. I reached into the backpack and pulled out a bottle of water before handing it to her silently. She took it without asking any questions, screwing off the lid and gulping down almost half of it.

"Why is it so cold? It's May, it should be warm by now, and we're heading south." She took another quick sip of the water before handing it back to me. I shrugged my shoulders as I tucked it away, pointing ahead of me as a signal for us to keep moving, and she nodded her head.

As I was taking a step, my phone started ringing. I paused and pulled the device out of my pocket, seeing it was Val. I groaned as I answered, tilting my head away from the rain.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" She seemed anxious, worried. I swiveled around to look in all directions.

"I'm not sure."

"You have a damn compass tattooed on your forearm, and you're telling me you don't know where you are?" Silence. "You're just making this harder on yourself, Lauren." She sighed. "There's a snag in the plan."

Plugging my other ear with my finger to hear her better over the pouring rain, I looked back at the girl who was looking around at the damp forest as she held her arms, rubbing them to keep warm.

"Why, what happened?"

"The scientist that was supposed to be making the contacts for me backed out at the last minute. I'm having to find another one as we speak."