Earth: Criminal Rehab

Chapter Sixteen

Brendon

It was a rough morning. I hadn't slept much at all in the past few days. In the few hours I'd somehow managed to fall asleep, I would wake up in a cold sweat, screaming Skylar's name.

The hacking and pounding didn't seem to help our sleeping habits much either. Ryan's plan to build was being put into action. Together, we were crafting a shelter - of course no help from Ryan. We were working tirelessly, day and night. The sun beat down on our backs and burnt our skin. It was a feeling we'd never felt before. We sweat enough to fill buckets. People were passing out and falling ill. We were dropping like flies, but there was Ryan, napping in a hammock in the shade like royalty.

I had taken a break from gathering materials and sat down on the ground with a canteen of water. Before prison, on the Legacy, I would never choose to drink water. Oh how I longed for a beer or even a simple coffee. I closed my eyes and gulped down the river water, trying to imagine it tasted better.

I wiped my lips on my arm and sighed.

"Good morning sunshine," Ryan said to me before sitting down next to me on the ground. He clapped me on the shoulder and smiled smugly. The sight of him repulsed me. I'd never be able to look at him the same after all he'd done to me. But in my mind, I knew I was going to be forever tied to him.

He must've noticed the disgust on my face that I'd tried to hide. He chortled and shook me, "Ah come on, B. We're still friends aren't we?"

I shot him a glare. I'd had enough of letting him push me around. It's all he'd been doing since his competition (Pete and his team) had left. He felt bigger and more dominant than ever.

I pushed his arms off of me and stood up to him, "We are not friends."

Ryan raised his eyebrows and blew his fringe out of his face, "Wow. I'm sorry I guess I had the wrong idea."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I laughed and shouted at him, which caught the attention of a few people around us, "Why on Earth would I be friends with you after the shit you've done to me?"

Ryan looked around and walked closer to me, "Brendon, stop."

I took a step forward, "No! I'm sick of you trying to control my life! You don't get to tell me to stop!"

His hands clenched into tight fists at his side and he pressed his lips together. 'No' was something Ryan didn't hear too often, at least not around here. People worshipped him around here, and god knows why.

"You think we can just be pals after you fucked my fiancé?" I threw my hands in the air and questioned him. I knew it was riling him up. Part of me enjoyed it, but that was besides the point. The prison punished him for impregnating an unmarried woman, but I wanted him to feel what I felt. I wanted him to know what it felt like to have your best friend betray you and ruin your life.

He stood, staring me down with a face red hot with anger.

"What gives you the right to even step in my presence after that? What would you have done if she lived, hmm? I mean..." I laughed to myself and folded my arms, "I don't think you're quite the committal type. Forgive me, but I don't see you being a Daddy," I shrugged into my shoulders.

The people around us were listening in. I was ruining his reputation. The anger subsided in Ryan's face. He watched me with a pouty face and puppy dog eyes.

For a minute, I felt terrible. The look on his pathetic face made me realize what I was actually doing. This was all Ryan ever dreamed of. He wanted people to listen to him, to idolize him. He had exactly what he wanted, here on Earth. I was stomping on his dreams.

But then I saw a glimpse into my past. I watched the bullet fly through Skylar's forehead and the color drain from her skin. I watched Ryan as he turned his finger to me, blaming me for what he'd done. I watched him turn my friends against me and ruin everything I cared about.

And suddenly, there was no remorse.

"Get out," Ryan growled.

I pretended not to hear him, "I'm sorry little buddy, I didn't quite catch that."

Some people started to laugh.

"I said get out!" he said, louder with ever word. "Get out! Go away! You're not welcome here anymore!"

"Dude..." one of Ryan's new friends came up behind him and spoke in a hushed tone, "He's not gonna survive out there on his own."

"Yeah," another one said, "We've already lost four people in the woods. We can't keep losing people, Ry."

He thought for a minute and scanned me. I stood tall and ready for the next thing he was going to throw at me.

"Go find them. Go out into the woods and look for the others. Go somewhere where I can't see you. Just get out of my face," Ryan spat instructions at me.

"And what makes you think I'm going to blindly do what you say?" I raised a brow.

He glanced over my shoulder and then back into my eyes. I'd never seen such an evil look on his face. Before I could turn around, I heard a soft buzzing sound. It came closer until it pressed against my neck. An current of electricity washed through my body. I opened my mouth to scream, but I could hardly make a sound. After the shock stick was pulled off of me, my knees buckled and I fell to the ground. My arms fell at my sides and I was momentarily paralyzed.

I could still see Ryan's stupid smirk, "Because that was only power level 5 out of 10."

The people around us quickly got back to work, worried that they would end up like me.

Ryan came closer, "I tried to be friends, Brendon. Really. We could've been friends. But it seems you haven't changed since the Legacy. So. You're going to do what I tell you to do or we'll see what the other levels feel like."

He stepped on my head, pressing my cheek against the dirt, "Go find Gerard and Frank and the others and bring them back before the week ends. And don't even think about running away."

He picked up his foot and used it to kick me in the stomach. I groaned and took the blow. I didn't have much of a choice anyway.

I watched Ryan walk away with the shock stick now in his hands. I couldn't imagine how he'd gotten his hands on it, but I was scared shitless to disobey him now.

Somehow, I dragged myself off of the ground and walked out into the forest...alone.