The Dreamers

No matter what

Chance? Coincidence? A horrible fate? Arron goes over to Becca, he takes her hands. I stand up, we all take each others hands.
"Together, all of us." Arron whispers. Tears fill my eyes, I look down. The stream of tears fall on the carpet, Becca's do too.
"No matter what." Becca chokes out. Arron pulls us in tighter. My body won't let me speak. I try but I can't say anything. I have this awful feeling in my gut. It rages, flipping my stomach back and forth. My throat aches. More tears slip away from my eyes. Why did they do this to me? Why couldn't I have been chosen too? I'd rather die with them, than to see them die.

After we stop crying, Arron lets us go. His cold glare in his shining eyes.
"Fuck them! They tell us good luck,then they just slaughter us in our dreams like animals." His face red with anger, his knuckles seemingly popping out of his hands.
"What happens once we are asleep?" Becca nervously asks. I give her a sad frown.
"No one knows for sure. It's different for everyone." Arron says in a sad tone.
"Just survive." I say, both of them nod.
"We can do this! We have to fight! We can survive!" Becca shouts. We all put our hands in a pile.
"Lets do this!" Becca says confidently. All hands go up. One last tear rolls down my chin.

Noon comes and we're all pacing around the house. Not much is said. Arron looks at me with worried eyes, I clench my teeth, trying to hold back my tears. Becca is pacing around, and around the sofa. Arron grabs her wrist, she looks up, her eyes shaking. Her whole body trembling.
"We need to eat Becca." She nods and Arron begins to make sandwiches. I just stare at my friends, not knowing what to say. What should I say, should I say anything at all? I take a seat next to Becca. Her eyes fixed on mine. I can see the fear. I reach for her hand and tightly squeeze it. Her head rests on my shoulder.
"Zoe, we're going to make it. We are going to survive." She says softly. I close my eyes, and breathe out.
"The government is cruel." I say, leaving my eyes closed. Her head leaves my shoulder, I open my eyes to see her dark brown one's. They look so sad, so worn.
"I wish I was picked along with you guys." I whisper. A plate shatters on the floor. We both look at Arron, who has a shocked expression on his face. He stomps to the table and takes my shoulders in his cold hands.
"No! No, you don't! Don't ever say that! You were not picked, don't push that! Remember 2 years ago? I'm not letting them kill us!" I growl, and look away from his hazel eyes. He lets go of me, brings us ham sandwiches. We all eat in silence. The sunlight screaming through the windows. It's warm, even though its winter. I wonder what's going through the other kids minds right now.

It's almost 2 in the afternoon now, we have about 6 hours until the dream starts. Arron is meditating with Becca to try and relax. Me? I'm anything but relaxed. I keep fiddling my thumbs, pacing around the house, and worst of all, imaging dreams. I can just picture all of their fears coming to life. It's scarring me, and it makes me feel uneasy. I take a seat next to Arron, sitting like him with my legs in a crisscross. I exhale, closing my eyes. I don't do the hand thingy, but It's kinda calming me down. I could fall asleep here...... I shoot my eyes open. Sleep. 8 o'clock. The nightmares. I scamper to my feet. No matter what I do, I can't seem to calm down. I look up to the clock, 2:34pm. I start to pace around the kitchen. God, oh god, only about 5 hours left. It's not enough time! I can't just sit and watch! I look over at my friends, they're still meditating. Becca's black hair sits perfectly on her shoulders, her expression looks calm. Breathing normal, her body not shaking. Arron's technique is working. He looks peaceful just sitting there, his brown hair swept across his face, his hazel eyes closed. Once again, I take my seat and try to relax.
"Just breathe, Zoe." Arron whispers, half way opening his eyes. I inhale deeply, and close my eyes. It wasn't the meditation that calms me, it's his words. He probably said that to Becca. I'm still worried for my friends. How can they act so calm? I take another big breath. Just breathe, just breathe.

I open my eyes, Becca and Arron are already up. They are in the kitchen pouring some orange juice into glasses.
"How long have I been meditating?" There's a pause. I raise an eyebrow. Well?
"About 3 hours." Becca says quietly. My eyes widen. That means it's already like 5pm! It's too close, we don't have much time!!
"Oh, dinner's ready if you're hungry." Becca says, taking out some pizza slices. Oh. My. God. This can't be happening. My body shakes. I stumble over to the table, slowly sipping the orange juice.
"I forgot to tell you, we got the package from the government. It has our syringes, so we fall asleep." Arron says in a quiet voice. Becca frowns. I can't any more, I can't just watch them die. I can't just sit here.

A little more than 2 hours pass and it's already past 7pm. We're all shitting our pants now. My body won't stop trembling. We all set up sleeping bags on the floor in the living room. Time is running from us. Sweat pours down on our faces.
"Everyone just try to relax. We are going to make it." Arron says firmly. I get out a lot of pillows from the closet, and Becca gets blankets for everyone. We all look up at the clock. 7:51pm. Becca turns on the projector, the screen reads instructions on how to do the syringes, and when to do it. It says that they take effect after 5 minutes. So we planned to inject this clear liquid into Arron, and Becca's arm at exactly 7:55pm. We all get under our sheets, Becca and Arron have the needle already in their skin, all they need to do is press down. 60 seconds, that's all there is. 60 seconds and they begin to fall into their nightmare. The clock turns to 7:55 and they both press down. I grit my teeth as they both let out a bloody murder scream. I've made my choice.

Without hesitation, I snatch a syringe out of the box, and jab it into my arm. It hurts like hell, the liquid going through me like a rock. I let out a high pitched scream.
"No!!!! Zoe!!!!" Becca screams, crying. My head feels wobbly.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET INVOLVED!!!! I TOLD YOU! WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN!!!!" Arron screams, tears in his eyes.
"I had to!!!!I couldn't just watch you two die!!!!" I scream back, their faces look scared. I clench Becca's hand. She grabs Arron's. We all lean back into the pillows. Feeling the effects of the drugs.
"Remember? Together." I say, both of them look at me with worried eyes.
"No matter what." Arron and Becca say quietly in sync. I feel my weight getting heavier, like I'm being pushed down.
"Don't get killed." Arron says with a sleepy tone. We all close our eyes. Hands still locked together.
"See you all at 8 tomorrow." Becca says the final words, and my world goes black.