The Revolt

PART SIX

—PART SIX—

"Come on, we have to go. Amanda, we need to go." I can barely feel Chase's hands under my arms, pulling on them as if to help me up. His voice has a touch of panic and desperation to it, a tone that would normally scare me if I wasn't so numb with shock.

"Amanda, please, we can't stay here." He heaves harder, but I let my weight fall against him. My arms are still hanging around Allie, gripping her around the middle like she's my lifeline. Chase continues to pull, gasping and grunting. Eventually he throws me over his shoulder like a bag of flour and turns away from the body. Slowly, slowly, I pick my head up and catch sight of the collapsed figure. She looks so strange, beant and forced the wrong way.

My legs start to kick, my hands start to pound in fists on his back. I want him to put me down. I don't care who he just killed. I don't care who heard. I don't care how close we are to escaping. I can't leave Allie. I can't leave my best friend.

Chase keeps running across the sand, trying to strap my legs across his chest with his arms. Every time my fist connects with his back he lets out a gust of air, but he doesn't ask me to stop. Soon, I grow tired and my fists stop thumping. I collapse against him, allowing the bumping and the teetering to take over. My eyes drip closed, my head not able to support itself anymore. The ground beneath me turns blurry from tears and within moments, I'm asleep.

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All the hours of intensive training in Sector 6 must have paid off because Chase runs through the desert for half the night before he stops. He jostles me away and sets me down in the lip of a cave. We're against a backdrop of high-rolling hills, built with rocks and dirt stuck together like glue. There's bits of cactuses sticking out of the ground, looking like they were buried rather than growing. Besides the cliff face, the land around us is bare and rolls on without end. The air is chilling quickly, the affect of the sun dipping below the horizon.

I scoot away from the entrance, curling into a ball. My teeth are already chattering, but it's more the instability of my emotions than the cold.

"Here." Chase shrugs his jacket off and lays it over me, his fingers brushing the torn fabric on my shoulder. He sits on the other side of the cave, his knees by his chest with his arms curled around them. He stares at the cave floor in the center, probably wishing that they had a fire.

"Isn't there something dry you can burn?" I look around at the world outside our cave, making a point to let my eyes travel over the sagebrush and the tumbleweeds.

I hear Chase chuckling, and look over at him. He's shaking his head at the ground, his shoulders trembling from amused laughter.

"What?" I ask. I should probably be upset that he's making fun of me, but I'm so weak that I can't focus on how I'm feeling. I pull the jacket up closer, trying not to let the scent tickle my nose.

"It'd be a beacon to whoever's out looking for us," Chase tells me. "I can't take that chance. Besides, what would we light it with?"

I roll my eyes, wanting to turn the other way so I can't see him, but not having the strength. It's hard for me to think about anything other than the swelling in my chest. It doesn't burn, but it's crushing, and it's more than I can handle.

"Look, Amanda, I'm really sorry." I can't look up at Chase, but I know that his eyes are on me. "I didn't mean for it go that way."

"What do you care?"

"Well I know how much she meant to you. I was sorry to see her go."

My eyes squeeze out the only drops of liquid they can, reminding me of the dryness of my mouth. I clench my teeth, wanting everything to just disappear. Chase's voice sounds so fake but I'm wishing desperately that it's only my imagination. I want him to care. I want him to have sympathy for me. I want him to hold me and tell me it'll be alright.