Liberation

Chapter 7

JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW:

After a day's worth of walking many miles, night finally begins to set in, and I'm ready to collapse. All day we have walked and walked, nothing more and nothing less. Trudging through the forest for the last fifteen hours, not uttering a word to anyone.

But now, I'm glad to unwind. Adam brought two tents, one for Cassia and I to share and one for him and Peter to share. As I set down a pile of firewood and ignite it, I take in a deep breath, comforted by the warmth.

We all come and take a seat around the flames, almost unable to shake our state of exhaustion. "How many miles have we walked?" Cassia asks us.

"Twelve minutes to walk a mile, which makes five miles an hour, times the fifteen hours we've been walking, configuring into seventy-five miles," Adam sighs. Always the smart one.

I roll my eyes and groan. "Your field agents said it's 150 miles away. We're only halfway there," I say with agony. I look over and see Peter shuffling with annoyance. "I can't keep going like this; there has to be another way, a shortcut perhaps?" He asks, exhausted.

Adam sits up and addresses us all. "Look, I know you're tired. But you guys wanted to find Henley and this other society, so deal with it," he says in a bitter tone that I've never heard him use before.

"Walking sure makes you grumpy," Cassia mutters as she stands up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed," she adds.

As she heads to the tent, I decide to do the same. I bid Adam and Peter goodnight, and when I get to the tent Cassia and I share, I collapse onto my sleeping bag.

Cassia is already curled up inside hers, sleep beginning to take her away from the conscious world. But before I myself close my eyes, a thought hits me.

"Pssst, Cassia?" I whisper. "Hmm?" She asks grudgingly. "Did you happen to talk to Kyle and Susan before you left? Why didn't they want to come?" I ask.

Sighing to herself, Cassia props herself up on one elbow and looks at me as she explains. "Kyle didn't want to get involved in a fight if that's what this will come to, so I left him in charge of my healing school while I'm gone. Susan didn't want to leave him behind, so she's helping Adam's sisters manage the city. But she promised she'd come to our aid if we need her," Cassia explains.

I nod, and Cassia sets her head down again. Within a few minutes, her heavy breathing indicates that she's asleep. I close my eyes to do the same, but I can't help feeling a bit betrayed by Susan and Kyle. Susan didn't come because she didn't want to leave Kyle behind, all because he just doesn't want to get in a fight. There has to be something Kyle knows that we don't, for I never would have guessed that he'd bail out on us when we need him.

But I ignore it. I let the feeling of betrayal float away, dissipating from my thoughts as I clear my head. My body goes still, and I can feel myself slipping away. And I silently pray that I can have a peaceful sleep, without any dreams warning me of danger. I seem to get those a lot before something big happens.

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I awake to the sounds of screams and a muffled voice the next morning. Rising quickly out of my sleeping bag, I run outside to see the cause of the commotion. As soon as I leave the tent, I see a man who I don't recognize with one hand over Adam's mouth and choking Peter with the other. Cassia is unconscious a few feet away with a notable color of crimson seeping from her side.

Reacting quickly, I find the strength to control the man. I reach my hand out and clench my fingers slowly together, feeling the power that I rarely use following my command. I look up and see the man's body go rigid against his will, his hand letting go of Peter's throat and the other releasing Adam from silence. Peter falls to the ground gasping for air, and I move instinctively towards him to keep him safe.