Apex

33 | equilibrium

AUGUST 7 - 15

DAKOTA

Everything unfolded in a strobe-like montage of blurred faces and sporadic movements. As I slipped in and out of consciousness, the scent of blood, pine, and salt seemed to get caught in my lungs. I couldn't figure out how I moved from the lighthouse to the ambulance, but somewhere between those two locations, I heard Allix's voice. My eyelids were heavy and I struggled to keep my eyes open for longer than a second, but even with blurry vision, her eyes were two sapphires I couldn't miss.

In the ambulance, the incessant beeping of machines was like a catchy pop song I couldn't get out of my head. Paramedics loomed over me, their voices calm yet forceful, but I still failed to understand them.

At some point, I thought about Zachary Healy. He never made it this far.

Dawn was breaking when I woke up in the hospital, every centimeter of my body in pain. It wasn't in the same severe way as when the bullet was inside me, but I felt like one big purple bruise.

My parents informed me that it was touch-and-go for the first day, but that my surgery was successful. They also assured me that the arrival of the FBI from Seattle ensured that Sheriff Wakeman and Mike Bennett were in custody as well as transported off of the island. Processing that information made my brain and heart throb, but at least both were functioning properly. After they each pressed a kiss to my clammy forehead, they allowed me to sleep more. Thanks to the morphine, I didn't dream.

Strangely enough, Brenna Quinn was the first of my friends to drop by my room. I opened my eyes to find her sitting in a chair on the other side of the tiny room, brown strands of hair falling into her face as she focused on the book in her lap. I immediately recognized it as Allix's first edition copy of The Great Gatsby.

As I shifted noisily to be upright, her eyes snapped up. The tiny flecks of mascara sprinkled beneath her eyes reminded me of confetti.

"Hey," I croaked out, almost hearing a question-mark in my voice. She wasn't the first person I'd expected to see.

"Hey," Brenna echoed, closing the book with a soft thud. "You did the damn thing. You nearly got yourself killed in the process, but you did it. It's over."

Even though my parents had caught me up to speed on what was seemingly public knowledge, I still wanted to hear someone else answer my question."Is there evidence that Wakeman was the one responsible for everything?"

Everything was a loaded word.

"I'm sure you've noticed, but I'm not a detective." Brenna paused, expelling a weary sigh. "Based on the leads we provided to the FBI, they did actual investigating, and located the patrol boat that Wakeman used to dump Zachary and Maud into the water on July 10th."

"Anything else?"

She nodded. "Apparently, Wakeman managed to forge the ballistic report for Zachary's case, and it was her gun that fired the bullet. When the FBI found that, it pretty much sealed the deal. Anyway, both the evil human and the unhinged human are in custody now."

"Great," I nodded, tugging in a tight breath. "That's great."

I attributed my lack of vocabulary to the unparalleled relief that was surging through my veins. It was finally over.

"It is great." Brenna flashed me a frail smile. "The details are still being released to the public, but from what we learned at the station, Wakeman was the one who blackmailed Albert, paid Zachary to obtain the screenplay from a power-hungry producer...and eventually murdered Zachary to eliminate any loose ends. The GPS on her car also indicated that she was following you and Syd that day, so that's why she was at the lighthouse."