Chapter 32: Freezing Rain

“GET UP! GET UP! WE HAVE TO GO!”

I sprung out of bed unsure if this was yet another vivid dream, or if Fiori really had just barged into my tent screaming his lungs out in the middle of the night.

He grabbed my hoodie from a chair and threw it at me as I stumbled, first on one foot and then the other while putting on my pants and shoes. I could hear other people screaming and could see their shadows on the walls of my tent.

What time is it? Impossible to know. It’s pitch dark as always.

My socks! I can’t find my socks! Shit! Too late...

I ran behind Fiori trying to keep up.

As always, he was much faster than me.

Is he really just human?

We made our way to the river. There, a canoe was waiting for us. Meyer, Eli and Yuki were already on board. September had arrived and with it, milder weather. Hovering around the freezing mark, the river had awakened from its frozen slumber and was raging with an elevated volume. I looked around and couldn’t see Evian anywhere. Under Fiori’s command, I jumped in. The canoe rocked and nearly threw me in the water, but Yuki was quick to react and caught me by the collar. I took my seat, out of breath and shivering from fear.

Off in the distance, gunshots started ringing out of the darkness. People were running everywhere. Some, like us, scattered away from the assailants, while others began gathering and getting outfitted with military grade weapons. All of this, as fighter jets made a pass right over our heads. I quickly pulled my hood up. The others did the same. If our red clothing allowed us to blend in with the rest of the population here, it would certainly make for poor camouflage in the forest.

The thought didn’t have time to linger with me. Just as we were about to leave, I remembered the picturebook still in my tent!

Lianna’s picturebook.

Although Hana had kept her distance, Lianna had overtime, become someone I cared about deeply. Lianna was important to me. I had spent so many nights with her, listening to her play the piano, sharing her grief and sorrow.

And now she was gone….

The book was all I had left.

And perhaps more importantly, the records Hana had entrusted to me were in that book.

“Wait! Don’t go yet!” I screamed. “I have to go back, I forgot something.”

All four of them turned their heads toward me with a horrific stare. Before they could stop me, I leaped out of the canoe and dashed back toward the gunshots. Yuki and Eli followed me. Up a head, tents were being lit on fire; I had to hurry, or the book would be destroyed.

I ran as fast as I could. The wind picked up and freezing rain had begun pouring from the sky. I had almost reached my tent, when Yuki pulled me to the ground just as a barrage of bullets rang out over our heads.

“You stay down!” they said.

I could hear the annoyance in their voice.

“What is it you forgot? You stay here and I will go get it! We can’t afford to lose you.”

Eli crawled up next to me. We were now all three of us laying on the cold ground in the sleet, waiting for an opening. My tent was in plain sight. I could make it there and back in just a few seconds. I knew exactly where the book was.

“No! You stay here,” I said. “I’ll be quick.”

I looked left and right; all was quiet. The sound of the falling ice and wind made it almost impossible to know where the gunshots were coming from, but there was no point in waiting. We had to get out of here. I carefully got up and launched myself forward, struggling to keep my balance on the frozen ground.

My tent was now on fire.

With great difficulty, I reached the door and got in.

The book and the reports were under the mattress where I had left them. I grabbed them just as Yuki and Eli arrived. The fire was spreading fast. Yuki ran out first, making sure the way was clear. I followed with Eli behind me.

The rain had gotten suddenly stronger, we could barely see anything. The wind relentlessly whipping, slamming ice pellets against our faces; the ground slick, making it treacherous to run. I lost my footing and tripped over something.

That something was a dead body.

I cringed.

In my fall, the book slipped out of my hand and landed a few feet away from me. Eli helped me back up as Yuki checked the body for a pulse. I recovered the book now soaked. All three of us were standing right in the open. I had lost all sense of direction. All around us tents were on fire. In the distance, the main hall too was engulfed in flames. There was no way to know where the assailants would spring from next.

“Shit. Shit. Shit!” muttered Yuki.

They had their gun in hand ready to shoot. We huddled behind them.

“Shit,” they said again in a drowned-out voice.

I had never seen Yuki like this. It shocked me to the core.

Yuki had always been unwavering. This was unsettling.

Slowly we started travelling through the encampment. Although time was not on our side, running was no longer an option.

If only the rain would let up for a few minutes. Just long enough to give us the time to orient ourselves.

More gunshots rang out.

We had nowhere to hide.

It came from the side, so quickly. One, two, three, maybe more. Yuki spun to our left and got down on one knee. They blindly started shooting at an invisible target. Eli grabbed my wrist and pulled me in the opposite direction. We ran frantically until we found cover. My lungs were burning, my legs too. We crouched behind a small boulder; just a few seconds to catch our collective breath.

Eli’s shoulder was tight against me. She started coughing. Something warm spilled out of her mouth. In the glow of a burning tent, I saw the blood. Her hand was pressed to her chest. Her eyes were wide open with fear.

I had never seen distress on her face.

She coughed again. She was struggling to breathe. I moved her hand slightly and saw the magnitude of the wound. Multiple entry points were visible. She had been shot. She started shaking.

“Hang on Eli! Hang on! It’s ok, it’s nothing your body can’t fix. Don’t move, everything will be alright,” I lied to her. I didn’t believe any of it.

She was losing an alarming amount of blood. Her face was now white, her lips blue. She couldn’t breathe. She was desperately gasping for air and all I could do was watch her struggle. I took her face between my hands. There was blood everywhere. My stomach was turning. Tears welled up. But the rain was so strong, no one would have noticed.

“It’s ok Eli. It’s ok,” I reassured her. I brushed the hair off her face. I was looking straight into her eyes. She was starting to go limp. Just a few more minutes I thought, and it will all be over. My chest tightened. I hugged her lifeless body and started to cry. I didn’t mean to cry. I didn’t want her to see me cry. I didn’t want her last moments to be this way. But that’s all I could do. Because just then and there, in that moment, this person I cared for, this person who was precious to me was about to die and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was useless. It was all my fault. If I just hadn’t gone back for the book…

I could feel her heartbeat. Slow. Peaceful.

Her eyes were closed; she looked so small.

I hugged her and felt the tension in her body slowly release.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

The freezing rain had slowed down to a drizzle.

With the corner of my sleeve, I cleaned the blood off her face.

I brushed her hair off to the side and rested my hand on her cheek.

I could still, ever so faintly feel her heartbeat. But it was fading, fading away into nothingness.

I could feel her last trickle of energy leaving her body.

If only I could stop it. Stop the energy from leaving her body. Just long enough for her to regenerate. If only I could give her my energy. Just enough to keep her alive until she can heal. If only, I thought… If only…

Then I remembered what Evian had said to me.

I can give life.

He had said: “You had it in you to save her. You have powers greater than you could ever imagine.”

My hand was still on her cheek. In the distance, gunshots still rang out, but they were getting more and more sporadic, less hectic. The screaming had stopped. Just like the rain, the chaos had come and gone. I pressed her cheek gently and closed my eyes. If I had it in me to save her, it would have to be now or never.

The time stood still. My heart was beating; hers too. It was warm. It was soft. It was comforting.

I can’t explain it. I didn’t do anything. It just happened. The last thing I remember, was the cold feel of the rain on my face as I collapsed to the ground. Next to me, Eli was asleep. She was breathing heavily but she was breathing, and still very much alive.

I closed my eyes exhausted. Everything went dark and I thought, this is not good; this is not good at all. We’re both unconscious, and they’ll be sweeping the area killing any survivors they find.

I tried opening my eyes again. I tried pushing myself up.

I couldn’t move.

I was able squint long enough to see a pair of boots stop next to my face.

We’re done for, I thought… just as I passed out.