Tw // death, guns, and violence
~~~
Julie Molina
The drive to Caleb's bunker must've taken at least five hours. He sure did have it in the most off-the-grid place possible.. This makes me wonder how that Carrie girl even managed to get back to the house. Did she have a car? Or did she have to walk the entire way? Maybe I'll ask her at some point.
Alex had been looking anxious the whole trip. I don't blame him, I'm anxious too, but his sister was taken, and Alex cares more about Angelica than anything else in the world. I'm just glad Willie and I didn't get taken, that way he has some sort of comfort.
I want to know more about what is happening between Alex and Willie, but now is not the time to ask.
We pull up a safe distance away from the bunker before all getting out. Another car filled with another group of survivors pulled up next to us. We all took a moment to look up at the mountain that had Caleb's bunker on top. It is definitely something that we shouldn't be referring to as a bunker, it was practically just a building on a mountain.
"Are we all ready?" My mom asked and I nodded and began to make my way up the mountain. Alex walked next to me in silence.
"Hey, we'll get her back," I said reassuringly to Alex.
"If Caleb is anything like Malachi, then we're doomed," Alex mumbled and I frowned.
"Don't talk like that, we will. Perhaps he's nicer."
"Caleb Covington is not nice," a random survivor from behind us said.
"Not the time!" I snapped at them.
I opened my mouth to start speaking to Alex again, but he didn't seem like he wanted to talk, so I said nothing.
"Why do you think they didn't take all of us? They had the chance, but they didn't," I overheard Willie saying to my mom.
"Don't know. I'm just hoping it's not what I'm thinking."
The trail up the mountain took a while. I almost fell over from my legs starting to give out, but we came across the sewer entrance. Smack in the middle of the ground. What an odd place for a sewer entrance.
With Alex's help, we lifted the plate off the ground that revealed a shallow river with a ladder to climb down into it. The sewer didn't seem very small yet, but it probably will be after a bit of walking down there.
My mom handed me a backpack and I threw it down there while Willie and Alex were wishing each other goodbye and good luck. I climbed down the ladder and the water splashed when I jumped down into it.
"I don't even want to know what's in this water," Alex stated when he jumped down behind me.
"Great, now I'm thinking about it," I made a disgusted look as I think about what all could be in this water. I attempt to push those thoughts aside and just focus on the mission.
"You guys good down there?" Willie yelled from the entrance and Alex gave him a thumbs up.
We both began to walk down the sewer as I opened the backpack Mom gave me. I pull out the blueprints from inside and stop so I can read them. "Okay... To get to the entrance they're going to, we need to go left up here," I instructed and started following the trail on the blueprint.
"Is it too late to turn back now?" Alex commented.
"Yes," I stated. "We've been through scarier things than this," I referred back to the 'escaping the bunker' situation.
"Yeah.. Yeah, good point."
After a bit of walking, we made it to the entrance we were supposed to be at. It was a small hole in the wall, like how the vent looked. "It's not as small as I thought it would be," I point out.
"Do you want to go first? Or should I?"
"I can do it," I said and threw the backpack into the tunnel before climbing in it. "It's wide enough for us to crawl," I tell Alex before beginning to crawl. I could hear Alex get in and follow behind me.
The tunnel was narrow and reeked of mold and trash. I hope Flynn isn't too disgusted by the way I probably smell now when we find her.
"Do you know how far down this we're supposed to go?" Alex asked.
"It's supposed to lead to another entrance like the one we went in."
"Perhaps that one won't reek of.. Whatever this stuff is."
"I doubt any of these tunnels have a nice interior design," I mumble.
"What do you mean? I'm sure Kelly Wearstler works on these all the time," Alex jokes but I can hear the nerves behind his voice.
We both eventually reach the end of the tunnel, to reveal another ladder. I thought we might have gone in a circle at first, as this area looks almost the exact same as the one we just came from, but after checking the blueprints again, I was sure we didn't.
"This is it," I tell Alex. "This ladder should lead us right into the bunker."
"Guess it's too late to turn back then, huh?" Alex comments, but not as a joke at all.
I look up and take a deep breath before starting to climb the ladder. I pushed off the sewer lid when we got to the top and pulled myself out. For whatever reason, that entrance was smack in the center of the bunker. Maybe that was built there for a reason..
Alex climbs out as well and I help him up before he puts the lid back over the sewer. We both take a second to look around, feeling satisfied that that actually worked.
But it was easy, almost too easy. And that too-easy feeling scares me.
This bunker is almost an exact replica of the bunker we spent a year in, but cleaner. Makes sense, I suppose.
"Do you also have a feeling that something grand is about to happen?" Alex asks and puts his hands on his hips.
"Yeah but.. I don't want to wait to find out. Come on, we have to help the others in."
Alex and I begin walking. We need to get the others in, but we need the keycard first. I'm hoping that someone finds us for that.
Alex just continues to talk even though we should stay quiet. This is something he does when he's nervous. Even when we would take trips to the dentist together, he would chat the entire time because he hated other people touching his teeth.
"Don't you think it's a little weird? That some of us weren't taken?"
I hadn't thought about that until he said it. "Actually.. Yeah. It's weird-" I started to hear footsteps. "Someone's coming," I whisper and pull Alex up against the wall. It probably won't even hide us from the person, but oh well.
The person walks up beside us, and I knock them upside the head.
"Julie!" Alex snaps at me. "We could've just asked nicely."
I laughed. "That's funny," I tell him and snatch the keycard from the person's belt.
"Got the card, let's go."
Alex and I ran to the entrance that was circled in silver marker on the blueprints. It was close to where we were.
But I can't help but feel a few negative feelings about how too well the plan is working.
I ignore those feelings as I always did and I swipe the keycard on the pad against the door. The door opened and outside of it was my mom, Willie, and everyone else who came.
"You did it!" Willie cheered at Alex and kissed his cheek.
Alex turned bright red. "It was a team effort."
"Oh no, Alex. Feel free to take all the credit," I grin at him before turning toward my mom. "What's the plan now?"
"To find our people," Mom says simply. "I've checked the blueprints," She explains while shutting the door, "And Willie suggested they might be in the containment hallway."
"We don't have any other guesses right now. It doesn't hurt to look," Willie points out.
"It hurts if we get caught," Mom argues and rubs the bridge of her nose. "But you're right. We have nowhere else to check."
"Should we split up?" A random survivor asks.
"No," My mom said without hesitation. "If we split up, we're doing it when we get there."
After following the blueprints yet again (Honestly, we have so much trust in these things), we found the containment hall. It surprised all of us how there weren't any guards around. Willie looked frustrated at that, I could tell he wanted a fight.
I start to get suspicious as I walk down the hallway. I make sure to look in every room for survivors, but there weren't any on my side.
"Carrie! Mia!" Willie yelled and opened a door. The inside of that room, revealed Carrie, Mia, and Nick.
"What are you guys doing here?" Carrie asked, her face looking terrified.
"Rescuing you, obviously."
"No, you all need to go!" My doppelgänger Mia warned as she stood up.
Though, their worries about us being here meant nothing to me after I saw Flynn wasn't in this room.
"Where the hell is Flynn?" I ask, rather rudely.
"They took her," Nick says.
"Where?"
Carrie looked at me annoyedly. "We don't know."
I sigh and rub my eyes. "Okay fine. I'll find her myself."
"Julie no-" Alex reached out to grab me, but I was already running down the hallway. I need to find Flynn.
I searched and scanned every room she could possibly be in. Why can't I find her?
My heart was beating in my chest a way that it only has once. When we couldn't find my mom. I don't want to feel this again, I can't lose someone else. I have to find Flynn.
I get to the end of the hallway and turn the corner. I peer through the window of one of the doors, seeing Flynn on a chair. I felt the biggest relief and my stomach that I had left at the end of the hallway came back to me.
I fiddled with the doorknob, which grabbed Flynn's attention as she turned and looked at me, mouth agape. She pulled the IV out of her arm and sped over to the door, opening it because I couldn't.
"Julie!" Flynn said and before I could even reply, she kissed me.
I kissed her back with no hesitation, putting my hands on her hips. She cupped my face and I couldn't hold back my smile. The kiss caused butterflies to flutter in my stomach and caused the world around us to go silent. I forgot where we were and why we were here.
I felt her smile into the kiss too as she pulled back. "I should've given a-"
I cut her off. "I didn't need one. I wanted to do that, too."
Flynn smiles brightly before turning it into a serious look. "Okay. How did you get in here?"
"That's a long story.. I can explain later."
Flynn nodded, and we were about to head back to the others, but as we turned around, there were guards standing right in front of us.
My gut feeling had been correct. This was a trap.
Luke Patterson
I had woken up from the sleep dart as we approached a bunker that I had never seen before. It didn't take long for me to figure out who it belonged to once we got inside. It's Caleb Covington's.
Reggie and I had been thrown into a room with a certain blonde girl. Angelica. I panicked at first, thinking that everyone had been caught by Malachi's guards and got thrown in here, but Angelica explained to me how they met Julie's mother and went to a safe house, only the house wasn't so safe as the government showed up and captured them.
Now, Reggie is still out with his head on my shoulder, and Angelica was grinning at us.
I looked over at her with my eyebrows slightly raised. "What?"
"I knew it," She said excitedly as if she had just won a grammy. "I knew you two were together!"
I was shocked, to say the least. I thought we had been good at hiding it.
"But- How?"
"You're not as good at hiding it as you think you are. I've known for a while."
Reggie woke up suddenly, his head whipping its way off my shoulder. "Who knows what?"
Angelica crossed her arms, keeping the satisfying gaze on her face. "You and Luke. I know," she states dramatically.
"Oh," Reggie seemed disappointed. "I thought unicorns might have been discovered. Unicorns are so cool..."
Reggie rubbed his temples and I wrapped my arm around him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. My head just hurts."
I kiss his head a couple of times. "I hope that makes it feel better."
I make eye contact with Angelica, and my first thought was that she would gag at us (as she did a lot when Alex and I were together) but she just smiled softly. "Does Alex know?"
"No.. Well, neither of us have told him at least."
"So I found out before Alex? I don't know whether to feel shocked or amazed."
Reggie rubbed his head once more and stood up. "I think we should be asking better questions.. Where are we?" He stares down at Angelica, expecting an answer from her.
"We're in Caleb's bunker, Reg," I answer, his attention turning down on me. He, as if a switch on his emotions had been flipped, had started taking deep breaths.
"Holy shit," He said in a breath and started leaning against the wall. "Do you think that fire at our bunker was a..." He took another breath. "A stage to get us here?"
Angelica's jaw dropped. "The bunker caught on fire?!"
I get up and move towards Reggie. "Yeah uh, that's a story for another time," I tell Angelica. "Okay, hey, Reg? Look at me," I whisper softly and place my hand under Reggie's chin. I didn't force him to look at me, he did it as if it's a reflex as if it's something he does on a daily basis and his muscles have gotten used to it. I suppose they have, I look at him every day, it's muscle memory for me too.
"We're okay. Angelica and I are with you," I reassure him and he nodded. Angelica got up and joined our space as she started to rub Reggie's back.
Angelica looked as if she was about to speak, but neither Reggie nor I will ever know what she was going to say as the door to our room swung open, revealing some girl with blonde hair standing there.
She cocked her eyebrow at us. "Well? Are you going to thank me?"
"No," Angelica said flatly. "You got us in here, to begin with."
The blonde girl looked offended. "Perhaps just turn the other cheek and give me a nice 'thank you.' Do you need me to spell it out for you?"
Angelica walked over to the girl. "Can you even spell it?"
"Is that supposed to be a comeback? Wow."
I watch them keep going, it's like watching two cats fight over who gets to play with the dangling feather toy.
"Ladies, ladies," I eventually say and step next to them. "As entertaining as this is to watch, I don't think it's the best idea to stand here and argue over a thank you," I turn towards the blonde girl. "Thank you," I say and give Angelica a 'See? it wasn't so hard' look before strutting out of the room.
Reggie followed behind me, and I could almost hear Angelica's eye roll as she walked behind me.
"Now was that so hard?" The other girl muttered.
The four of us walked around aimlessly before someone finally asked the question that we all wanted to know the answer to.
"Does anyone know where the heck we're going?" asked Reggie.
"No, absolutely not," I comment.
Suddenly, the blonde girl started talking nervously. "I think we should run."
I turn around while speaking. "Why- Oh shit!" I express it when I see guards with guns. I grabbed Reggie's hand and started running as the sound of shooting started echoing around the room.
"Not again!" Angelica screamed.
We ran until we couldn't. There was a door that stopped us, and the door was locked. My heart was pounding through my chest, and my ears rang. I wasn't worried about myself, I just needed everyone else to be okay.
I back up against the door. "Maybe if we put all of our weight we can push it open," I suggest quickly before the four of us back against the door.
"This is not working!" Angelica panicked as the guards and their guns came closer.
The blonde girl started running down the hallway to our left. "Follow me!"
I run after her as I hear Reggie say "Don't have to tell me twice!"
My legs were on fire. I don't think I can run for much longer. I can hear the sound of Angelica and Reggie's shoes following behind me.
But then there were two shots that sounded close to me. I stop abruptly and turn around, hoping to see if Reggie and Angelica were okay.
But what I saw was horrific.
Angelica was laying there, dead, and Reggie was beside her, clutching his stomach.
I had no time to grieve. I had to make a quick decision. Continue running and save me, or risk getting shot too to save Reggie.
I chose the ladder. If he dies, I'm dying too. If I live, he's living too.
I started running back towards him, making an attempt to dodge the bullets. That didn't work out in my favor when one of them grazed my arm.
I yelped in pain but I made it to Reggie. I hooked my arm around him and used my body as a shield against his. In my best efforts, I was able to get him up and moving.
"Leave me!" Reggie protested but I shook my head.
"Do you want Alex to have to mourn you too?"
Reggie zipped his mouth shut.
Getting Reggie and myself out of the situation wasn't pretty. His blood was covered all over my hands and that blonde girl left us, and I left Angelica. I felt horrible about it, horrible for what happened to her. If anyone was supposed to make it out of here alive, it was Angelica, but there wasn't anything I could do.
"In here!" A voice I know all too well shouted.
I ran into the room that Alex was holding the door from. Once we get inside, he closes it and locks it.
The room looked as if it was a cafeteria, and the people who were eating in here were looking at us in horror.
"Uh, don't mind us!" I call out and a woman along with a few other people run up to us.
The woman let out a small gasp at the sight of Reggie. "Oh, dear. Give him to me," She stated and held her arms out.
I hold onto Reggie protectively.
"That's Julie's mom," Alex whispers to me. "She'll help him."
My body relaxes at that and I carefully hand Reggie to Julie's mom. "Help him, please," I beg.
"I will," She said and takes him from me. Another guy came and helped her lift Reggie up and they rushed towards all the tables. "Everyone move! We need a doctor!"
I turn to Alex. I need to get to Reggie's side but I would feel guilty if I didn't tell him about Angelica right now.
I opened my mouth to say 'Angelica's dead,' but instead, I asked, "Where's Julie?"
"No clue. Where's Angelica? Carrie said she was with you."
My face paled. A moment ago, I thought it would be easier to tell him, but now that he asked, I forgot all ways of pronouncing those words.
I could see panic wash over Alex's face. "Luke, where is she?"
I bite my lip. "She got shot."
Alex takes a step back from me, his face suddenly filled with anguish.
"She's gone, Alex."
Alex Mercer
My world completely flipped at that moment.
No.. Not Angelica.. She can't be gone.. She can't be.
I didn't even know what movements I was making. All I knew was that I stumbled back onto a table.
I wanted to scream 'Why couldn't it be me?!' but my voice was gone. I had no voice to scream with.
I clutched the edges of the table as my vision started to blur. I'll never get to hug Angelica again, I'll never hear her get annoyed with me, or her laugh. I'll never get to see her write on a fucking sheet of paper.
I'll never see her again.
I try to focus on my surroundings to stop my breathing from becoming uneven. "Give him a second before comforting him," I heard Luke say, I'm assuming to Willie.
I look over at the two of them, only to see Luke running to the table where Reggie was. I wanted to go over there, too. But I was frozen.
And if I went over there, I would only be able to picture Angelica lying there, bleeding wherever her body is.
I then realized that I needed to go find her.
I couldn't control how my legs had started to guide me towards the door, but then I was pulled back by someone.
"No, hotdog," Willie whispered and held onto me tightly.
I look up at him as I feel the tears starting to fall down my face. "I can't just leave her there, Willie."
"I can't let you have the same fate as her."
I don't care at this point, I realized. At least I would be with her if that happened.
I tried to move again, but Willie's grip was so strong that I ended up just collapsing in his arms, letting the sobs escape my throat.
Willie plays with my hair. "Let's get you to a table, yeah?"
I didn't make any sort of response as Willie guided me to an empty chair at one of the tables. It was then that I realized who everyone at the tables was..
They were people from the bunker.
My jaw drops a little as I make an attempt to process everything that is happening.
That would explain why Luke and Reggie were here.. What happened at the bunker that caused everyone to move?
Too much was happening at once, and my head was starting to hurt. I need to find her, is what kept repeating over and over in my head, but I knew Willie wasn't going to let me leave so easily.
My whirlwind of emotions became even worse when a group of people walked in, and not just any group of people.. Guards.
And the one and only, Malachi Covington. It didn't take long for me to notice that there were two people standing behind him. Only I would recognize that shade of blonde anywhere. It was my parents.
I don't know what came over me at that moment, but I started storming over to them. Maybe it was my grief blinding me, or for the fact that they're with their daughter's murders. Or that they were with Malachi Covington.
Willie had to hold me back again. It didn't take me long to realize why. Guards were pointing their guns at us. Good, let them take another Mercer kid then.
But Willie is behind me, and I actually have a chance of making sure he makes it out of here alive. I won't lose him too.
"You killed her!" I yelled at them all. "You killed my sister!"
I looked at my parents, who showed more of a reaction than I was expecting. My dad's face fell and my mother let out a horrified yelp. "Is this true, Malachi?"
"They shot this poor kid on this table too!" I turned around to see who shouted, which led to the reveal of almost everyone standing up from their tables. They looked like they were all ready to charge Malachi. What did he do?
Everyone started shouting and screaming. It was too much. I pushed Willie away and curled up into a ball on the ground, starting to cry. Everything was too overwhelming.
"Alex, Alex," Willie was kneeling beside me now. "Look at me, Alex," He was saying softly, but I didn't want to lift my head.
He ended up having to be the one who did it. "Alex.."
I opened my mouth to speak, but that's when all chaos broke loose.
"You're the reason my wife and I lost our business, we just wanted to help people!"
"We almost lost all of our money! We couldn't feed our kids!"
Maybe if I wasn't about to have a panic attack, I could make the connection.
More chaos ensued when people started to charge Malachi and his posse.
"Okay, Alex, we need to go, now."
I had no time to protest because Willie yanked me up and started pulling me towards the door. Luke was helping someone carry Reggie towards us, and Rose had a look of dread on her face.
Then I remembered that Julie wasn't here.
"I'm going to find my daughter. You all get out of here and get to safety. Mia, you know what to do to help that boy, yeah?"
That brunette girl Carrie Wilson attacked nodded.
"Good. It's decided then. Everyone get the hell out of here now!"
Willie clenched his fist. "I am not leaving without Flynn!"
Rose looked sympathetically at him. "I'll find her too. She's just as much my daughter as Julie is."
So we made our escape, without Julie or Flynn, and without Angelica's body.
Julie Molina
We couldn't escape the guards. Flynn and I tried, but they're all so strong, and for what? Now, we're locked up in some weird room, and we were commanded not to leave.
"You know we're not going to listen to them, right?" Flynn said to me as soon as the guards left the room.
I grin at her. "Obviously."
We began to scope at the room in hopes of an escape route. I thought we would be able to just crawl through the vents as we did in the bunker, but they're not wide enough.. Who knows where those lead anyway.
I continued to scan the room and spot a camera, and the light was flashing. If I had a penny for every time this happens, I would have two pennies.. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
"We're being watched again," I tell Flynn, and she huffs.
"For god's sake," She mumbled to herself and grabbed a chair that was in the room. The room wasn't empty, there were chairs lined up against the walls, and a weird bookcase against another wall. It didn't even match the color of the walls... Which means it stands out.. Maybe whoever put it there wanted it to stand out.
I didn't approach it or say anything about it until Flynn completely disabled the camera.
"There. They can't watch us now, but they're probably on their way."
"Did you scope out this bookshelf?" I ask and speed over towards it, investigating all the books that ran along the shelves. They were all.. fairy tales and fantasy books..
Seems like an awfully weird place to leave books, but okay. I saw a copy of Percy Jackson and pulled it off the shelf. I loved these books as a kid. I could remember when Alex and I would get into debates over if Harry Potter or Percy Jackson was better.. It always ended in us settling on Hunger Games being the best- wait.
I put the copy of Percy Jackson back on the shelf and scanned for any copy of The Hunger Games. I could feel Flynn eyeing me suspiciously, but I didn't dare look at her.
I eventually found a copy of Mocking Jay and pulled it off the shelf. Only.. It didn't have any pages. It was just the cover, that was Odd. I open up the covers of the book, only to find a bunch of coding written in it.
"Flynn, do you know morse code?" I asked her and handed the 'book' over to her.
Flynn nodded. "Yeah. I took a class." I could watch as her eyes scanned the words.
She said nothing as she dramatically shut the book and started feeling the tops of the bookshelf.
"What.. What exactly are you looking for?" I was confused.
Flynn made no sort of response until the bookshelf swung open, revealing a dark passage.
"A button."
I looked into the passageway to see where it led, but it was so dark that I could see nothing.
"Should we go down it?" I ask Flynn nervously.
She was conjuring up her response, but then we heard voices from outside the door to this room.
"Yeah, I don't think we have much of a choice." She sped through her words and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the dark passage.
We work as a team to pull the bookshelf back into its original place, leaving no light in this tunnel anymore. I could just barely make out Flynn.
"If they don't know this is here, they won't find it," Flynn whispered. "I still have the book."
I smiled at her, even though I knew she probably couldn't see it. "Brilliant. Let's see where this goes, shall we?"
Flynn tightens her grip on my hand as we venture more down the tunnel. This is another thing that happened twice. My luck is very odd.
We came to a halt when we reached the end of a tunnel. There was a door there. Flynn made an attempt to open it, but it was no use.
I examine it around, only to see there's a keycard slot.
I remember the keycard that I stole from that guard when Alex and I got in here. I removed it from my pocket and swiped it, hoping that it would work.
Then the door swung open.
Flynn and I made no hesitation to stay in that tunnel any longer and ran in the room, shutting the door behind us.
Only.. It wasn't an ordinary room. There were cages along the walls.. With people inside.
"Holy shit," I mumble to myself and run over to them.
A ton of them reached through their cages and tried to grab both Flynn and I. We both dodged until I found one who wasn't trying to grab me.
The person was a child, maybe ten or eleven. I frown. Why was she here?
"Are you here to rescue us?" The girl whispered.
I didn't even know you were here, I thought. But now that I know, there's no way in hell that i'll leave them.
"Yes, yes. How did you get here?" I ask the girl softly.
"I.. I don't know.. I just remember men in all white showing up and taking me away from my parents."
The guards. A rush of anger fills through me. What was President Covington's game? What did he need them for?
I let the girl continue talking, not wanting to ask questions. "They.. They started to hurt me, said they were turning me into a superhero."
Wait... Is this what Carrie meant about the government experimenting on them? Oh my god...
Flynn ran up to me. "I think these are the people who didn't make it out of the experiments.."
I turn towards Flynn. "When did your experiment happen?"
She shrugged. "I think it might be the surgery I had. They said it was for my lungs.. But that would have easily been a lie. Willie told me once that he had knee surgery before all this too.." She frowns.
So that's how they did it. They injected the cure during those surgeries.. But that doesn't explain why they have these people. Did their surgery go wrong?
I leave my thoughts and turn my attention back to Flynn, who looked like she was panicking now. "Julie.." She pointed at something behind me and started backing up. I turned around to see what she was pointing at.
Not something... Someone.
The man was dressed differently than the guards were. He was wearing all black, black dress pants and a black button up, with a dark purple cape to top it all off. It didn't take long to recognize this man... President Covington.
"You two are smarter than you look," He said simply. I wasn't going to thank him for the backhanded compliment.
Flynn grabbed onto my arm, for both protection for herself and protection for me.
"Or maybe you're just dumber than you think," said Flynn coldly and I got ready to protect her if I needed to.
But Caleb made no movement, just smirked. God his smirk is scary.
"Brave girl," He stated, and it was that moment I could tell just how much he was like Malachi.. Only scarier.
I worked up my courage to speak. "Why are you holding these people here?"
"They're helping us improve the cure," Caleb shrugged. "Make it more.. advanced. We wanted to test on everyone who got it but.." He glanced at Flynn. "Your group of survivors is very stubborn."
"Why'd your brother try to kill me and my friend then?" Flynn references when Malachi sentenced her and Willie to death.
"Oh please, did you actually think you would die?"
Flynn's jaw dropped. "Yes?!"
"We were going to include you two in our tests.. But like I said, your group is stubborn." He glared at both of us.
I decided to step in. "But the earth is survivable again, there's no need of a cure!"
Caleb just kept his smirk plastered on his face. "You're a smart one, Ms. Molina. There's a lot of things I've lied to my people about."
Flynn scoffed. "Like the sun and the bunkers? Why was lying about the sun necessary, exactly?"
I had no idea about any of this. Now was not the time to ask though.
Caleb, again, shrugged. "Some people just like to watch the world burn. The bunkers were just a lie I told Congress to get them off my backs about.. This." He gestured around the room.
"What's the whole point, then? What's the endgame? To have some sort of.. Sun army?" Flynn proceeded.
"Because I want to be king!" Caleb roared. "And all these people will thank me for saving their lives."
"No one is going to thank you for this, Mr. President," A guy from one of the cages said.
Caleb pulled out a gun, and shot him. Flynn and I both screamed and my anxiety arose more when he pointed the gun at the both of us.
"Now.. You two and your friends know too much. I hate to do this, but I have no choice."
Flynn gripped my arm tighter and I closed my eyes, awaiting for death..
But it never came. All I heard was wrestling.
I opened my eyes to see why there was noise.. Only to see Caleb spread out on the floor, and two figures standing behind him.
The two people were Mom and another woman I didn't recognize.
I smile brightly at my mom as she runs up and hugs me.
"Julie!" She sounded relieved. "Are you all right?"
I nod quickly. "I am now."
I watched as Flynn kicked Caleb's arm. "Is he dead?"
Mom and I pulled out of our hug, but she still kept her arm around me. "No, Abigail knocked him out with a sensitive. It should last enough time for us to get out of here."
"But how do we get out? There are guards outside the door." Flynn asks.
"There's a way out of here," The woman called Abigail walks over to the other end of the room, pushing on the wall. It was a hidden door. "But it's dangerous. The only way out is at the dam.. Meaning you would have to jump."
"Is the jump survivable?"
Abigail was hesitant but then nodded. "The dam isn't that high up."
"Good," Flynn said and started marching around the room. "I want all these people to leave with us."
Abigail nodded. "I.. I had to be a part of the experiments. It's my biggest regret. Caleb lied about what he was doing and then- And then I couldn't leave. Trevor Wilson tried, and he ended up dead before the apocalypse even happened."
My mother walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Abigail. No one blames you. You can start by helping us rescue these people though."
Abigail gave my mom a heartfelt look before pulling a lever on a wall. The lever caused all of the cages to open, and everyone who was in them started to crawl and climb out.
My mom and I made it a team effort to let everyone exit through the passage first.. I just hope Abigail's word was true, but my mom has a good sense of character. If she believes her, then I do too.
Flynn, Mom, and I were the last to leave. Abigail had to stay so the guards wouldn't be suspicious of her. I hoped she wouldn't get into too much trouble.
Flynn disagreed with me. She believed she should be punished, and that's how she can make it up to everyone. I guess we're not going to agree on everything.
After a long walk, we made it to the edge of the dam. Flynn and I pushed ourselves through the big crowd of people so that we were the ones standing on the edge.
We both looked down, seeing the multiple waterfalls that the dam caused and how hard the water hit the surface of the lake.
Abigail was right though, it's not that high.
"We'll need a running start," My mom says and looks at me. "Neither of you are going first."
Flynn scoffed. "Better us than these people. We don't know what will happen when we hit the bottom."
"Exactly, that's why you-"
"Mom," I cut her off. "We'll be okay. It's just a few stories higher than that diving board Angelica and I would jump off of at Howard's pool," I said in an attempt to reassure her.
My mom still looked worried but nodded anyway. "Tuck yourself so you don't-"
"I know," I smile a little.
Flynn told everyone to clear a path. The group divided in half and we backed up as much as we could.
"Together?" Flynn asked and extended her hand.
I nod and intertwine our fingers. I may not have shown it to my mom, but I'm nervous as hell. Flynn and I started to run, and my mind ran with questions to distract myself from what we were doing.
We jumped off the edge, and now we were falling. Did Alex and everyone else make it out safely? Where are they? What is Caleb going to do when he wakes up?
I let go of Flynn's hand when we were about to hit the water. Even though I had to fight the wind, I tucked my arms in front of my chest and closed my legs together.
And then I hit the water, and it all went dark.
~~~
I woke up to myself coughing water out of my lungs.
"Julie?" I heard Alex's voice before opening my eyes.
I looked around and saw that we were in a forest, but the lake was only a few feet away from me.
"Thank god," I say before coughing.
"Don't try to talk yet. Your lungs inhaled a lot of water," Alex helped me up and pulled me into a hug.
I hug him back tightly, grateful that he's alive. That he made it out safely.
"Where are the others?" I said slowly and quietly.
"A few miles from here, come on." He wrapped his arm around me as we walked to the group.
They had a little camp set up. The people we rescued were scattered amongst the area. Some people I recognized were sitting on logs, and a few more were helping the injured.
"Where's Flynn?" I asked and continued to look for her.
"Helping the others with Reggie.. He uh.. Got shot."
I gasped. Reggie? Why was he here? "Is he okay?! Why isn't he at the bunker?"
Alex looked at everything but me. "The bunker burnt down so everyone had to leave.. And yeah, they managed to get him fixed up I think.. They'll want to see you too."
I studied Alex's face and noticed there was something off about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. My first thought was that he hadn't processed everything that happened yet, but it seemed deeper than that.
I grab his wrist. "What's wrong?"
Alex looked at me finally and I realized just from his eyes that he was about to break. "Angelicas dead."
My face fell instantly and I pulled Alex into my arms. He broke down immediately and I started to rub his back like I do every time he cries.
I started to tear up too. I've known Angelica as long as I have known Alex, but her death.. It was so sudden..
Why her? She was always the one with a survival instinct.. She should've been one of the ones to make it, not die.
I let my own tears fall, not caring if people were side-eyeing the two of us.
We did what it took to survive.
~~~
I'm sorry for killing Angelica, but It had to be done..
Thank you all so much for sticking with me and this fic! I appreciate you all!