I’m running.

The bright lights of the carnival blur together as I run through the empty place I once found so beautiful.

I keep running.

I see people lying on the ground everywhere, but I just keep moving right by them.

I see the gate my family and I walked through just a few hours ago, and the doors are wide open.

On the other side of the gate, the sun rises above the horizon, creating beautiful designs in the sky. The orange, yellow, and hint of pink make me wish the earth could look like this all day.

I run through the open gate, leaving the carnival behind me.

I let my feet take me to where I’m going. There is no thought behind my movements. I just run, run, and run some more.

I don't run out of breath—I am not even sure I am still breathing—and I can't feel my feet hitting the ground below me. I can't feel anything.

I run, and I can’t stop running.

All I can do is watch as I move past the houses I see every day. I run past the old mill where we used to take field trips as kids. I run past the flower store where my mother works. And then I run past the trees that Devin and I grew up climbing.

Before I know it, my feet are no longer running on solid, hard ground but a softer and bumper, familiar surface. I find myself running down a road I know very well, and I have a feeling that I know where my feet are taking me.

Is she there?

Is she alive?

Did they leave her unharmed?

Did she escape them?

I come to a halt right in front of my house. I look over at the empty chair on my front porch, and panic builds up inside of me. My mother was sitting in that chair just a few hours ago, but her and the blanket she was working on are no longer in sight. She could be inside, I think to myself.

I walk up to the front door, and I stare at the familiar carvings on the door for a second before opening the door slowly. I look around the living room, and when I don’t see her, I start running into every room, yelling her name.

“Mom! Mom! Mom? Where are you? Mom! Mom! Are you here?”

I find myself running full speed again throughout the house, and when I am confident she is not here, I run out the back door.

My feet immediately stop in their tracks. There, lying on the ground in my backyard is my mother, next to her is my father, and next to him is my brother. Their eyes are open but lifelessly staring at me.

The air gets hard to breathe, and I feel tears filling up my eyes until I can no longer see properly.

“No… no… this isn’t real… this isn’t real.”

I start yelling no more and more while I pinch my arm as hard as I can.

I hear my name being called in the distance, but I don’t try to figure out where it’s coming from.

“Sam!” The voice is louder now, and there is some sort of pressure on my shoulder.

I continue pinching myself while begging my body to wake up from this nightmare.

“Sam… Sam!”

I wake up with a jolt. “Sam!” Aiden is leaning over me with one hand on my shoulder and the other on the side of my face. The slight pain I feel on my upper cheek tells me that’s where I got hit by the guard. I slowly sit up, and my head starts throbbing a little bit. I take a look around the room and see that it looks the same as before, aside from the two guards who are now lying on the floor in the corner.

As if reading my mind, Aiden says, “They’re not dead, just unconscious. I tied their arms behind their backs and then to the table. I used a towel I found in one of the drawers to gag them so that if they wake up, they can’t tell anyone anything until someone finds them and lets them go.”

Aiden then looks at the side of my face, “He hit your head pretty hard. Are you okay?”

I give him a nod. “My head hurts a little, but I’ll manage to survive.”

“Good. If you were killed, then I don’t think I would be able to go back out there. I would be getting hunted by shooters and your brother.”

I smile a little at that statement.

“Cute. Now that the two of you have matching bruises, can we go now?”

I turn to glare at Ethen, I honestly forgot he was even here.

“We are going to go soon. I just wanted to make sure she was alright before we left.” Aiden looks away from him with annoyance and then stands up. I stand too and look back at Aiden. He has a bruise along with a small cut on the side of his face, I assume from fighting the guard on the ground, and I wonder if he has any other injuries.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, knowing very well that he would probably lie to me if he wasn’t since guys don’t like to admit when they’re in pain, or at least no guy I have ever met has.

“I’m fine. Just a few bruises.”

Aiden gives me a small smile and then looks over to the two unconscious guards on the floor. He looks at them with a blank expression, but I know what he’s probably thinking. He is probably torn between keeping them alive or killing them. Like me, he probably knows that the guards most likely had a hand in killing innocent people tonight. Or maybe he has seen them do it firsthand back in his town, I am not sure I want to know exactly what happened in his town. Unlike in Treegrass, no one was coming to warn Tundris or get them out.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for him, for all of them. Not knowing what to do, where to go, and who to trust. It must have been awful.

I’m glad he didn’t kill them, but I’m still upset. These two guards were probably going to kill us or interrogate us to find out where the others went, so why should we spare them? I know why, but I’m not happy about it.

It’s because we’re human. We have morals, and while the shooters might not care about killing people, we do. We care, or at least I do. I assume Aiden does as well since they’re not dead.

I think I would have shot the guard in the second room if he tried to shoot me, and I think I would have shot the guard who knocked me out in this room if he tried to kill me or Aiden. I just don't know what I would have done afterward if I had to do it. Killing them would make me become just like them, a killer.

Aiden looks at Ethen and then at me. “Okay, here is what we’re going to do.” Aiden goes over to the table where it looks like he has piled the guns. He hands Ethen and me one of the smaller guns. I get the same one I had before, the one that I took out of my waistband to use on the guard before he hit it out of my hands. “Keep these with you for your protection. Just in case.” Aiden then grabs the bigger gun off the table and puts the strap around his shoulder. Aiden opens his mouth to say more, but Ethen cuts him off.

“Why do you get the big gun?” Ethen asks.

“Have you ever shot a gun before?” Aiden asks him back.

The question throws off Ethen, and he looks a little offended. “No. How hard can it be? What’s the difference between starting with a big gun or a small one? They do the same thing, don’t they? It’s just that the bigger one does more damage.”

The look Aiden gives him makes me think he is regretting ever meeting this guy and agreeing to get him out. Aiden sighs, looks down, and then back up at Ethen. “I get the big gun. You get the small one. Don’t complain about it, and please stop talking.”

I have to work hard to suppress my laughter. Aiden looks so done with this dude, and Ethen has no clue.

“No. I’m going to keep talking. I happen to like talking. I’ll let the gun issue go, but I also want to know why we don’t turn the flashlight on. Why are we discussing this in the dark when there is a perfectly fine flashlight right there?” Ethen asks. I honestly wonder if his mother dropped him on his head as a baby and then proceeded to continuously drop him on his head every day after.

Aiden takes the flashlight off the table and puts it in his pocket. “We’re going to bring the flashlight with us, but we’re not going to use it, no matter how dark it gets. Why? Because I said so, and also because the guards will see it. If they see the light, then they will see us, and I don’t think you want that to happen now, do you?”

Ethen looks down like a little kid getting scolded, and he shakes his head in response. “I just want to get out of here.”

“We’re going to, but if we are going to get out of here alive, then we need to be smart about it.” Aiden walks over to the door. “Now we are going to stick together, alright? Don’t go wandering off or running away at the first sight of danger. We will be fine as long as we stay calm and rational. Now stay quiet, stay in the shadows, and follow us.” Aiden says to Ethen.

Aiden opens the door and walks out into the all familiar pathway. This is now the second time I am walking down this path tonight. If you count going to the kitchen the first and second time, then it’s the fourth time I have seen this place within the last few hours.

Aiden leads us down the path. I’m behind him, and Ethen is behind me. I take periodic glances behind me to make sure Ethen isn’t going to panic and bolt, giving away our location. When we arrive at the end of the pathway, I watch Ethen’s face as he realizes that we have to cross the open space that guards are frequently walking by.

Chapter 22

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