Compassion (A Selection Story)

> 4 <

I wake up to my maids bustling around something I can't see. Turning around, Cassie notices I'm awake and quickly throws a cover over it. "Lady Fleur! You're up quite early," Haley says to me.

"Oh, well I slept a bit while I was in the saferoom yesterday. I guess I just wasn't tired."

"Oh, well don't try to look at our project. It's a special surprise for you."

I purse my lips in a mock pout. "Well, fine."

They all laugh at this, but quickly stop and curtsy, looking over my shoulder. I whip around to find Toby standing in the doorway, and instead of getting up and curtsying, I chuck a pillow at his head. "Go away, it's too early for you to be bothering me."

"Ah, but you forget our deal? I am ready for our game. It doesn't appear that you are."

I stare at him, confused, until I remember our exchange outside my door last night. "Wait, you were serious about doing that?" For the first time, I notice he is in more relaxed wear than usual, a t-shirt and shorts, to be exact. "Oh, so you get less fancy clothes, but I get to attempt to hide in a dress?"

"Yes, I was serious. And no, that's why I brought you this." He holds out a box tied up with a ribbon. I walk over to him and take it, balancing it on my hip to open it. Inside is a pair of jean shorts, a light brown t-shirt, and boots. "Toby..." I begin, but then I realize that this present reminds me of home, and the way I balanced the box is how I used to balance Kai. Even though I am happy here, and I love the gift, hot tears well in my eyes, and I blink to try and get rid of them.

"Lady Fleur? What's wrong? Do you not like the gift?" He asks, reaching out to place a hand on my arm.

"No- I mean yes- No, I mean-" I take a deep breath to stop the sobs from coming. "I love the gift, it just makes me think of home."

"Well, to let you know, you may request to leave, should you ever become scared or homesick, many girls already have because of the attack yesterday."

"No!" I say, horrified. Then, realizing I was probably too loud and forceful, I try again. "No, I would never wish to leave before you tell me to. I am a fighter, and I intend to stay as long as you will have me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get dressed." I spin away from him, and take the shirt and pants over to my closet, where I stand out of his view, and change. I sigh at the comfort, and then walk over to my bed, where I left the boots.

As I do, a sharp pain runs through my left foot. I insantly pull it back from the floor, with a not-so-lady-like word.

"Are you okay?" Toby's voice calls from behind me, and I hop to the bed before bringing my foot up to rest on my knee, where I can look at it.

In the middle of the arch is a sizeable blood stain with a small bump in the middle. "Dammit," I mutter, attempting to pull off my sock, which tries to cling to my foot.

Toby sits beside me now, and we both look at my foot. He sees the point of a glass shard before I do, and points it out. "Come on, you can lean on me, but we should get you to the hospital wing so they can fix that," he says.

I roll my eyes at him and say, "It's a little bit of glass, nothing I can't handle." Hopping over to the bathroom, I rummage through a drawer until I find a large pair of tweezers. I grip the glass with them, and then pull at the angle I can best judge that it went in. I bite my tongue to keep from screaming as the jagged edges pull at my skin. Clearly, when I stepped on it, I got lucky and all of the smooth edges were facing up. I regret not taking Toby's suggestion of the hospital wing. They could have numbed my foot, at least.

Taking a deep breath, I yank out the shard all the way, accidentally letting a little squeak of pain out. Toby walks over to me, and looks at me with concern. I wave my hand to tell him I'm fine, and then reach into another drawer and pull out a roll of gauze.

I wince as I clean the cut, realizing it was actually a bit wider than I'd thought, probably due to the jagged edges of the glass. I wrap the gauze around my foot a few times, and once around my ankle so it won't slip. Then, pulling on another pair of socks, I slide my feet into the boots, grateful that I'm not wearing heels.

I can still feel pain with each step, but it subsides by the time we reach the main hall. "This," says Toby, "Is where we begin our game. You may only hide on this floor, of course, otherwise our game would take far too long. You shall have until the count of forty." With that, he closed his eyes and began to count. Looking at him for a few seconds, I realize why we are playing so early: It would look rather odd to the other girls to see us in casual clothes, him standing there and counting.

I take off into the halls, turning once in a while and surveying the walls for nooks and crannies, or places I could climb. I assume my forty-count is over, but I know it should take him a while to find the right hall.

Turning a corner, I stop in my tracks. In front of me is a set of grand doors that are cracked open a bit, allowing golden light to shine from within. Just as I am about to sneak a peek inside, a sound blares from speakers I can't see, drowning out all other noise.

I whip my head back from the doors, and remember where I've heard the noise before- yesterday, when the rebels attacked. They are here, and I don't even know where I am. I turn back to the doors, for maybe I can hide in there, but hear voices arguing. 

"-told you we shouldn't have brought Michael, he messes up everything."

"So the alarm has sounded, maybe Ellis and Georgia were able to follow them to the saferoom."

Rebels. They are on the other side of these doors, and they are coming closer to me. I am halfway to a turn in the hall when the doors open, and someone shouts, "After her!"

I am about to participate in a very dangerous game of tag.

I take off. Running used to be a joy for me, if I ever had time off, but I've never been running for my life. Weaving my way from hall to hall, I begin to pull statues from their places on the wall-lining pedestals, hopefully putting obstacles in my persuers' path. Again, I am very glad to not be wearing heels.

I swing to my right, pulling down an ancient suit of armor standing on the other side of the corner. The shoulder of it clips my leg as it falls, and I curse my luck. Foot throbbing again, I let adrenaline run through my veins, numbing all pain. I hear a gunshot, but it sounds distant, and I scream as it hits the wall beside me. Another gunshot, and searing pain in my left side, just below my ribs, as I turn a corner. I stumble to a stop when there is nothing but a wall in front of me. I collapse to my hands and knees, panting and holding my hand over my side, covering it in blood.

A false turn. I can hear the rebels approaching, and I hear another gunshot. My senses dulling, I barely register a pain in my left shoulder before black edges my vision. My last thought is for Toby, hoping he made it to safety.

I welcome the darkness.