flawed

t w e l f t h

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District_41
year 02 post great shock
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Chelsie POV

I was at the very end of my endurance, I knew that it would only be a few more hours of walking until I collapsed.
And wouldn't be able to muster the strength to get back up... keep going... power through.
But I had to.
I just had to.

Finn was fast asleep, pouting slightly in my arms; undoubtedly because of how hungry my little boy must be.
I kissed his forehead, brushing one of his dark curls from his face, before turning my attention back to the path.
If it even could be called a path.

I think it was once a trail through the woods that moms would take their littles on, or people would walk their dogs along. Now it was overgrown, and in some places it even seemed to dissipate into nothing.
But it was better than nothing.

My stomach rumbled, aching worse than ever. I had tried to numb my hunger through water over the last few day but that only worked for so long.
I suspected I was slowly starting to become slightly delirious from exhaustion.
Actually, the moment I realized was when I began kissing a tree because it looked like it had a smiley face in the wood.
I just really needed to see someone smiling at me right now.

The hours of endless traveling had given me time to think, and time for all the memories to come back. I had never felt like a more gullible, stupid, horrible person than when I finally saw how badly I had been blind sighted.
Good play, Yulia. Good play.

At first I was in denial.
I hadn't really every belied Amara was against me, hadn't ever really been sure she would hurt my baby... but no. I had been tricked. I had betrayed my best friend and allowed the enemy to practically keep me captive.
I wouldn't say I was in denial any longer, but the acceptance was harder.
How can you accept such a mistake?

My head was spinning and legs seemed to grow heavier with each trudging step, and as the smell of smoke reached my nostrils I realized I had run out of forest.
For up ahead the ruins of a city lay, crumbled stone and concrete walls, dangerously pitted asphalt, remaining bits of shattered glass and pieces of wood that hadn't yet been used as kindling.

All of this seemed intimidating, sure, but what really sent shivers down my spine were the yells and screams coming from the ruins.
As I tentatively stumbled out of the cover of the forest, my child's head brought protectively to my chest, the sounds of clashing metal reached my ears.

Great, just great. There was a fight going on nearby.

I blew out a breath of air, tripping (and nearly falling) over a rock, just barely catching myself before both my baby and I crashed to the ground.

I tried to stick as close as I could to the shadows, hoping nobody would notice the tired girl with the curly hair and her blue-eyed baby clutched tightly in her arms.
So far, so good.

If I could just make it through this city without being noticed...
The sounds of the fighting seemed nearer, and just a couple minutes of walking later I found myself on the edge of what had become a battlefield.

I gasped softly, body tensing and heart pounding.
Someone was thrown against the wall not far from myself, a woman, her hair cropped short, and blood coming from a gash on her forehead.
She let out a guttural growl, pulling a knife from her belt and running into the fray of weapon-clad fighters.

I had to find a way around this battle.

A sharp scream tore through the air, a death cry if you will. I tried to ignore it, block it out, and I would say I succeeded.
But Finn had begun to stir, whining softly.
No.
Sleep, baby. Sleep.

I pressed myself against the wall even more, searching for a way out of this space, an escape.
I had to get out of here before Finn started his wailing.
But there was nothing. The fighting had spread out, and my way in was now blocked, unable to be a way out.
I was trapped.

I dared to look at the fighting once again, cringing away from the gore. In the center of the makeshift courtyard two people were sparring furiously, both seeming formidable.

One had dark hair, and his features would have left a younger version of myself breathless, but no. He moved quickly, having discarded his weapons somewhere along the way of the course of the battle.

His opponent: a bald man with incredible height, but not the quickness that would benefit him against the dark haired man, was clearly beginning to tire.

I silently started rooting for the dark haired guy, even though I didn't know why. I just wanted him to win, and not because he happened to be dashing, but because there was something about him different than the other man, even if I couldn't quite pinpoint it.

I began bouncing Finn gently on my hip, attempting to quiet his murmurings as his eyes fluttered open, humming softly (oh so softly) in an attempt to lure him back to sleep.

My attempts were in vain, though. For just as the dark haired man brought his enemy to the ground Finn decided to make his presence known.

It started with little whimpering cries, soon becoming full blown sobs, than screeching.

I pressed my eyes tightly closed, bringing my hand gently over my son's mouth. Maybe they couldn't hear us over the battle... maybe... but no.

For some reason the fighting had stopped, less than half of the fighters running into the distance, and the others gathering together around the dark haired man with an air of victory.

It was only a few seconds before one of the fighters picked up on Finn's wailing.
They tilted their head in my direction, seemed to say something, than started walking towards me.

My eyes widened and I took the chance to run the way I had come, adrenaline giving me the strength to run.
But only for so long.

It wasn't more than a bit before my burning limps seemed to give out, my lungs screaming for air, Finn's ear-splitting cries not helping at all.
I rolled my body so the force of the ground hit my back, and not my baby.

The pain brought stars to my vision, so much so that all I could do was gasp, body hurting so much...

Finn pushed himself off of me, sitting by my side and crying as loud as he possibly could, only making my head hurt worse.

I would have cried if I could, but my tired eyes couldn't even form tears. I was just so exhausted... maybe I should get some sleep... yes... sleep...

My eyes had just started to close when the light that had been flooding my eyes was obstructed by a human form.
The dark haired man.

He looked down at me, his face just as handsome up close, eyebrows raised.

Mama bear instincts kicked in. I reached for the nearest weapon I could find— a rather sharp-looking stick— and held it towards him in the most threatening manner I could muster.
"You touch my baby, you die."

He blinked. "I don't think you can kill someone with a—"
I cut him off.
"Shh. I don't want to hear it. You're gonna die if you touch him."

The man before me looked amused.
"You look half-dead yourself. When's the last time you ate, lovely?"

I bristled at the name, glaring. "Not too long."
Lies.
I hadn't eaten in days, the few berries I had found having gone to Finn.

"Well we cant have that, can we?"

I opened my mouth to reply but was quickly silenced.
The man clapped his hands sharply, twice.
"Rattlers! Looks like we've found ourselves some new members!"

•••

I did it! I updated!
I'm so proud of myself lol.

But seriously, sorry for taking awhile. Between school, homework, other activities, work, and sleep I've just been so busy.

I hope this chapter wasn't total crap, I was experiencing a bit of writers block.

I'll try to update "To Pop A Bubble" soon, but no promises.
Also, you can (maybe) except weekly updates for this book. I'll try.