The soldiers are marching again, with the heavy sound of drums quick to follow.
Everyone in the town who knows what is coming stays silent and tries to hide, praying that they won't stop here, in Woodson.
And it's every week now that they pick a new...
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Feeling a heavy weight on my chest, I try to get up but I can't.
My eyes are glued shut, my limbs feel like weights, and I sit in the dark.
I must be sleeping, but I can hear voices around me that are muffled - as if they were speaking in another room entirely.
"Sorry to bother..."
"...No, we're glad -"
"... Had a concussion, and..."
Confused at the words, I force myself to open my eyes, feeling alone and scared with my isolated thoughts.
First, I get one of my hands to twitch, and then, an eye.
Two eyes.
I wake up in an infirmary, strangely familiar yet unfamiliar.
The smell of alcohol reminds me of the Woodson training camp, towels and needles to be prepared for the next day.
My head pounds, and someone is now squeezing my hand.
"Adel," the voice of my brother says, and I turn to my left.
There, in a hospital chair, sits Andres safe and sound, his hand in mine for support.
He's okay.
"Andres," I wonder, reaching out to touch him.
Almost as if I can't believe he's here.
He has a cut with a bruise above his right eyebrow, but other than that he is unharmed. He's wearing a shirt I've never seen before, and next to him is Kade in the same odd white t-shirt and jeans.
"Where am I?"
I'm wearing a thin white hospital gown, a plastic tag on my wrist indicating a patient number.
Am I hurt?
By the bags under my brother's eyes, I can see he is terribly tired.
"You're in a makeshift Nation infirmary. They had to make a new one after the old one got bombed down."
I look down at myself, partly confused at the gauze wrapped around my arms and knees.
"What... what happened?"
I feel a little gross - like I haven't taken a shower in weeks - so I brush a hand through my long hair in an attempt to tame it.
Kade looks at me funny before he explains. "Well, you, um, delivered the note, Adeline. Don't you remember?"
I rub my temples, and close my eyes so that some of the cloudiness I felt before clears.
"I..."
I remember getting lost, taking the note out of my pocket, and reaching the nurse's station.
Only to be pushed off balance while handing the note to Kade.
