Transform Me (A "Shatter Me" Trilogy Fanfiction)

FORTY-NINE: LEGACY

49: Legacy

Once upon a time, the world wasn't as messed up as it is now. Sure it was still pretty bleak growing up, but I always had this swell of hope within me that things would get better. Oka-san and oto-san promised me and Jun that it would, and we never doubted them.

Then they died, and my hope with them.

But meeting Farhan resurrected that hope into an ember steadily glowing in a hearth. He believed, like my parents did, that it was definitely possible to fix our broken world. He told us that once The Reestablishment would be taken down, he'd take me and Jun back to his home sector and buy a farmland. He said he'd work first on trying to restore farming, that he'd read books on agriculture and botany, and maybe he could figure out how to eliminate the toxicity from the soil so plants could grow once again.

Jun and I loved imagining that kind of life: planting food and harvesting them, then giving them to everyone who was hungry. At that age, anything seemed possible to us.

Then we had our fateful encounter with Souseiki Dousa, and the glimmer of hope within me turned into an all-consuming fire. I dared to hope, more than ever, for a better future. I believed that we could do more than just farm and feed people—we could actually give them back their lives.

I believed all these things for many years because hope was the only thing that drove me forward. Hope was the only thing that kept me sane. Hope was a life raft that had room for everybody. Hope kept us afloat...kept us alive.

And now, that hope feels subdued until it's nothing but a faint spark. But it's still there, and there was no way I was losing my last shred of blind hope.

I felt cornered and I racked my mind for some kind of compromise to save everyone on this floating contraption without having anyone die.

"You do have another option." Declan's calm, lilting voice breaks me out of my reverie, as if he could read my mind. "You can join The Reestablishment. Trust me when I say it's the best option you have. You want to help the world become a better place, right? You want to help the people that you love live better lives. The Reestablishment can help you make that happen. You can help us help everyone."

"I would rather die." I spit out.

As soon as I say these words, I realize what I have to do now.

Things were going to get better and I will die trying.

Declan looked genuinely disappointed with my response. "Hiroko, I've always known you to be a smart person. But right now, you're being a complete eejit. You know if you just—"

I didn't care what Declan thought of me. I wasn't even listening anymore. While he was caught up in his own impassioned soliloquy, I morphed into the strongest person I knew.

"—and The Reestablishment really does want only what's best for the people which is why..." Declan pauses mid-speech and blinks at me, confused.

I don't give him time to put two and two together.

With white hot rage pulsing through my veins, I yank my fist backward and smash it through the main power source. Pain immediately shoots through my body, and I arch backward and screech. Immediately, I feel my Energy depleting, like it's being siphoned gradually from my body, and I feel myself grow limp.

"What are you doing?" Declan cries out, hands clutching at his hair. "You're going to get us all killed!"

I vaguely hear footsteps thundering into the room. Through the haze, I see Kenji, Juliette, Caitlan, and everyone they'd rescued. Juliette rushes over to Warner then whips her head around to glare at Declan. She thrusts her hand forward, and in an instant, Declan is thrown across the room and pinned against the wall. Declan makes a gagging noise and claws at his neck.