My Name's Rainbow

Chapter Six

I was absolutely done with counting.

With no idea how long I had stayed bound in that small room, I knew only that I had gotten to one hundred quintillion at least twenty times.

I was tired of counting. But besides the occasional armored officer strutting by with the same filmed, black, helmet, nothing happened.

Even after two hundred sextillion, I was still stuck in the dim, black, room.

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"Breach!" Someone howled. Warbling from a staticky walkie talkie passed quickly by my cell. I heard pounding of boots against tile and more yells for backup. I even spotted a few officers dart past my window.

What was happening?

Bam!

The door crumbled inward.

Then my holds were released with a groan of metal on metal. For the first time in who knows how long, I stood up.

And promptly collapsed.

Get up Nicky, get up. Whatever this is, it might be your only chance at escape, I thought as I pulled myself to my feet. Then I sneaked my head through the door. To my left was a boy that looked almost nineteen, with his arms outstretched to his sides.

In the rest of the long hallway were kids peeking out of their cells, each dressed in bright orange jumpsuits identical to my own.

All the way at the end of the hallway, to my right, was a clumped group of soilders with large, semi-automatic guns. They, like everyone else in this hallway, stood frozen, afraid to move an inch in fear of what would happen.

But then a child ran out of its cell, screaming.

The soilders were suddenly unstuck, realizing that their prisoners were escaping.

Run! Leave! Go, Nicky! I thought.

But my feet stayed rooted to the floor. The soilders were shooting, the Unearthlys were trampling each other, and some were using their abilities.

If I left, I was likely to be killed.

But if I stayed, I would be locked up again.

And with that thought, I started running. I ducked and darted and finally made it to a set of doors that I shoved open. It led to a large grey room that branched out into different directions.

Among all the captives, I couldn't spot Ryan's pale brown hair or his unmistakable face.

Soon, everyone had pooled into this room. Many were dropping dead.

Realizing this, I knew I had to stop running and plan something out.

And so I twisted my legs and collapsed, coloring my chest red. I let the color seep outward and stared unblinkingly at the wall.

I tried hard to calm my breathing as I watched everyone dropped dead. I ended up holding my breath to silence my sobs.

Stop crying Nicole.

I wished I could've helped the kids.

I wanted to save them, but there were too many prisoners, too many soilders, I wasn't enough.

I wasn't enough.

So I waited for the soilders to leave in search of the kids that had escaped them.

When the last echo of their boots sounded out, I promptly stood and started to look for an exit.

After spotting a branching corridor that I believed would lead me out, I looked around for Ryan's face. I still couldn't see him. That meant he was alive . . . right?

I forced myself to turn around and push through the doors. Every turn I made I found myself hoping to find Ryan in the next hallway.

He was never there.

I kept calling him, and the absence of his unmistakable voice made every step hurt.

But I knew that if I turned back I would be caught again, maybe killed.

And if Ryan never escaped, I couldn't help him if I was dead or chained to a chair.

If he had escaped, I would eventually find him.

I would . . . right?

Please just walk, said the small voice in my head, the one that was selfish and terrified of dying.

I started to run down the grey-tiled hallway.

Must be close now . . .

I turned a corner and collided with a wall. Actually, scratch that because I opened my eyes and saw a group of prisoners in front of me.

A few were holding small children, and apparently I had run into the solid chest of a boy with pepper colored hair.

"Come on, get up child," he said as he helped me scramble to my feet.

The group huddled around a girl, maybe a year older than me, with a grey pixie haircut.

"Hold on," she warned.

So I reached out and got a fistful if her blood-stained shirt.

Why are we doing this?

My head snapped to the side as I heard someone come barreling down the hallway.

Ryan.

"Ryan! Ryan over here!"

He was sprinting at me, brown hair flying.

I reached out to him with my left hand, watching him run to us.

Ten feet, five, three, two, Ryan's outstretched fingers brushed mine.

Bam!

My breath was knocked out of me and I felt like I was spinning. To my sides I could still see the kids flying, twisting, and banging into each other, all hanging for dear life on the girl.

I felt my head bang on something metal and I almost lost my grip. I swung up my left arm to get a securer hold.

I felt something catch at my clothing and rip the bottom of my pants, but I just ignored the stinging in my ankle and the throbbing of my head.

Then something slammed into my hip, and I lost my grip on the girl.

With the sound of air being released, my feet landed on solid ground again.

I felt wood under my fingers and bare feet as I laid in a crumpled heap, trying to catch my breath.

Then I stood up and looked around. It was dark around me, and chilly too.

As I was getting the bearings of my surroundings, I felt the ground sway under me and saw that under me were the wooden boards of a floating dock.

The murky water slapped the sides and sprayed my bare feet.

I had let go.

And now I was alone.

And I had left Ryan behind.

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Ahh I'm so sorry. I love Ryan too why did I even do this.

Thanks for all the reads though, I'm so freaking giddy! (Yes I'm such a nerd, blah blah blah)

I'm gonna try to post chapter seven by tomorrow but I might post Saturday.

Mkay, till next time,

-Art3mis