Storm

Chapter Forty-Eight

"Drop the girl."

Asten seemed to clutch me even tighter at the man's words. I did not recognize him. What I did recognize was the general's uniform, marking him as higher in rank. He had a good number of pins on his lapel.

"Drop her. Or you both die." Despite his gun pointing at us, his expression was awfully calm. Empty of rage or indecision. It terrified me.

Asten got the memo this time. He slowly lowered me to the ground. Before he let go completely, I felt his hand brush my hair reassuringly.

I didn't know if we'd be getting out of this one alive. I'd had far too much luck already.

The man stepped into the closet, forcing Asten back a step, farther from me. Now, the man's feet were right by my back. I tried to scoot away, but as I did, the man clicked the gun's safety off.

I was stuck.

"It's nice to meet you both. I've heard a lot. We don't usually get escapees from here. Most people are quite happy where they are." He said every word in a dull monotone that made me wonder whether he was even alive. Maybe someone had taken out his chip and replaced it with machinery.

Neither Asten or I responded.

"Please turn around and face the wall. Hands behind your back," he ordered, pulling a pair of metal handcuffs off his belt.

Asten stared at him, but didn't move. He stood there defiantly. I realized then that he'd rather die than be taken back into the Equator.

Because they would kill us anyway.

"You have three seconds before I shoot. One...," he started, counting down.

Oh god, no. I didn't know what to do. I tried to move again, but my leg wasn't working at all. I couldn't get out of here. I could barely fight this man.

He didn't even get to two.

One of the bombs hit, rumbling the floor and sending plaster cascading from the ceiling. In that split second, Asten tackled the man and shoved him out of the closet.

In a second, he locked the door, keeping us safe inside. He picked up the gun that had fallen and tucked it in his belt.

Then, he carefully helped me into a sitting position as the man rattled the door knob. He didn't shout or kick the door like I would've. Then, it stopped altogether. He would wait for reinforcements. He knew we couldn't get out.

"That's not going to keep him out. We have seconds at most," I reasoned. But at least we'd been given that much time to think. "And he's going to call in reinforcements."

Asten just nodded, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, praying for some type of plan. The knob rattled again. I knew what would happen. Someone else would come by and help the man shoot off the lock. Or they'd straight up slam the door down. Either way, we were trapped.

We were hopeless.

"I have a plan," he said, distractedly. He eyed the door...and then the trash chute. He paused for a moment. "I'm going to...I'm going to put you down the trash chute. That's the way out, okay? We'll be safe."

He didn't look happy about it. I was a little terrified, too. I assumed the chutes would lead into the Equator...which meant...we still wouldn't be free. But at least we wouldn't be captured. We could find our way out of the walls once inside.

Suddenly, something hard slammed into the door. A dent spread from its center.

"We have to move," he said. Then, he picked me up again. The trash chute was just big enough for a human to fit in. It was also surprisingly clean. Thankfully. I guess nobody really used it often.

The door rattled again as another bomb exploded outside. This time, it was farther away.

They would run out of ammo soon.

I guess it didn't matter anymore.

I wondered if they'd found January, Kyan, and Elijah. If they had...everything would be fine. We would all be safe. And maybe...we could find some new normal. We could settle down somewhere and be happy.

I wouldn't mind staying at the school with Ava and the rest of them. If they'd have us.

I hoped they'd made it out.

As the door rattled again, Asten carefully lowered me onto the lip of the open trash chute. This  was going to hurt, no matter how I went down. The impact would not be fun. But this was the cost of escape.

I held onto his arm as I looked down into the abyss that would take me into the Equator. Not just the wall. Not their military compound. But the actual Equator.

There'd be citizens. People walking around in stolen bodies.

But Asten and I could handle it. They would send people after us...but we'd stay hidden. Then, we'd find the others.

One more rattle. I clutched onto Asten's hand tightly, knowing he'd be right behind me. He met my gaze. For some reason, a sense of foreboding clutched my heart. I had to say something. I...I...

He was about to let go when I stopped him, clutching his hand harder. "Wait...," I said, frozen on the cusp of falling only held up by his grip. "...I love you, too."

But rather than say it back again, he turned away. That's when it hit me that something was wrong.

The door fell open.

I tried to scream. I tried to hold on. I tried to beg him not to. I tried.

But Asten let go. I started to fall. I twisted, desperate to force him to come down after me.

Because he wasn't coming down after me. He was never planning on it.

The last thing I saw was him, guarding valiantly guarding the chute's entrance, shooting and shooting...and falling.

Right before I was sucked into the dark eternity of the Equator.