Lost | Book 1 - The Quarantine Series (ON HOLD)

9

A/N

Oh my goodness! Hi! I'm finally back. It's honestly been so long and I've missed writing so damn much, so here's chapter 9.

Olivia Clarke

I do not recognize the woman standing in front of me. I can barely make out her features; my eyes are blurred, like something is preventing me from seeing. The woman's hair is a deep burgundy, flowing down the front of her body. She is wearing a grey blazer and a knee-length skirt. Her eyes - the color not visible due to my impaired vision - are fixed on me. Her gaze makes me feel uncomfortable, but I'm not entirely sure why. Something doesn't feel right. It feels wrong, somehow. I'm not sure if it's the syringe that she's holding tightly in her right hand, or the handcuffs I feel digging into my skin, that sends shivers down the back of my neck.

My eyes fly open as I feel the ground vibrating underneath me. Saige is shaking me awake, but my mind is fuzzy from the dream. I can't make sense of anything. I hear yelling, screaming, but my limbs are so weak that I do not have the energy to lift myself up and run from whatever dangers that I'm about to face.

"Jade!" someone screams. Lauren.

My fingers slide through the dirt under me, my whole body shaking from the vibrations. An earthquake? Somebody hoists me up and starts dragging me through the trees.

"Jade! Wake up!" I hear Saige scream.

Somebody slaps me across the face, and I fall to the ground in shock, my cheek stinging. This is enough to wake me up, though. My vision becomes clearer, and so do my surroundings. The shaking of the ground becomes more eminent as I stand up and start running, no longer needing help to stand.

"What's going on?" I yell.

"Earthquake!" Ryan yells from in front of me.

I see Quinn at the front, a spear gripped in her left hand. Ryan and Lauren are behind her, and Saige is beside me. She keeps looking behind her as she runs, as if something is following us. The ground is shaking so violently that I keep slamming into the trees, winding myself every time. I realize, though, that we are running deeper into the jungle, and I'm not sure if that's a good idea. If there's an earthquake, we need to be as far away from any trees as possible, minimizing the risk of being crushed to death if one falls over. But we also need to be far away from water; I don't feel like being killed by a tsunami today.

"We need to get out of the jungle!" I shout. "Find a clearing or something."

Saige's panting beside me suddenly becomes fainter and I realize she's fallen behind.

"Saige, we can't stop!" I scream, as she falls to the ground in exhaustion.

"I...I can't," she whimpers, her breaths jagged.

I look over at the others, but they are gone. They mustn't have heard me screaming for Saige. I grab Saige's arm, wrapped it around my shoulders and pulled her off the ground. I am exhausted, too, not only from dehydration and hunger, but mentally as well. My limbs scream in agony from Saige's body weight as she leans against me. There is no way that we are catching up with the others, especially since Saige cannot run. I try and keep my breathing steady as we stumble, the ground still vibrating. I hear loud cracks and bangs from behind me, and I realize there are trees falling over onto the ground. My heartbeat quickens. We have to get out of here before we are crushed to death. I notice that there is a parting of trees in the distance, so I head in that direction, hoping for a clearing where we will be safe, at least for a while.

"We're nearly there," I keep muttering to Saige, but also to myself. She doesn't reply.

The only thing that is keeping me going is pure adrenaline. I know as soon as I stop running, my muscles will fail and I'll collapse. So I don't stop. I see Ryan ahead, running towards us and I cry out with happiness as he helps me with Saige, lifting the weight off me slightly. The crashing behind me is becoming louder. As we pass through the parting, I feel relief as I see that it leads to a large clearing, free of both water and trees. I collapse to the ground, Ryan keeping hold of Saige. As I breathe out, the ground stops shaking abruptly. I reluctantly sit up and look around. Saige is lying on the floor, on her back, her chest rapidly rising and falling, while Ryan tries and calms her down. Quinn is standing the furthest away from us, pacing up and down, a frown etched on her face, while Lauren is sitting with her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth like a baby.

Nobody says anything to each other. We already know what each other is thinking. We have barely digested the fact that this island is home to monstrous looking creatures. What else does this island have in store for us? Earthquakes are probably not the worst of it. We're only experiencing the beginning of its horrors. How long before one of us is dead? The mere thought raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

I look at Lauren as she slowly stands up, just as an arrow buries into her heart.

(Image: Jade Dawson - Shailene Woodley)

© Olivia Clarke 2017

Lost {Book 1 - The Quarantine Series}