Redemption

Chapter 11

There is an object straight ahead. I glance at Mac. His pace is even with mine. I point to the mysterious shadow.

"What do you think that is?" I mutter, breathless.

"That, is Darius," he mutters, "hopefully."

The object identified as Darius is several meters in front of us. I speed up, if we caught up to Darius, we must be close. As I near the object, I notice that it is Darius. He stands tall, he is muscular, and tan. He turns as he sees us approaching.

I catch up to him, breathless. Turning to look at the others, I see Mac come in right after me along with Adalene, Meghan, and finally Claire.

I feel a smile break through my exhausted face. We are all here, safe and unhurt.

"What are you doing here so soon?" Darius asks, "I was going to wait here until all of you arrived. I figured it would be an hour, and I haven't even stopped yet!"

"Avery wanted to run." Mac answers.

Darius turns to me, "You have got some spirit."

"Does anyone have water?" I ask, my throat feels scratched and blood-stricken. Darius takes his pack off of his shoulders.

"I have some," he says, "Conserve what you can."

I walk over to my sisters. They are still panting, grasping for breath.

"Here, I want you to drink." Meghan grabs the jug. Muttering a thank you, she drinks two huge gulps. She hands it to Claire, who does the same. Then, I hand it to Adalene. She takes the jug and questions me with her eyes, why are you being so kind to me, after what I said? I am still upset that she wanted to skip stopping in Sector B, but I understand why. I forgive her, she had her opinion. She drinks some water and hands it back to me. I look at it. There wasn't much to start with, but now the jug has barely any water in it. I walk over to Mac who is talking to Darius.

"Here Mac," I say, my voice cracks. He pauses his conversation.

"Did you drink any?" he asks. I am tempted to lie. There is enough water for one more drink, unless of course we split the water.

"How far away are we from Sector B?" I ask, stepping over his question.

"Not far, I'd say about three miles," Mac replies, "did you drink any Avery?"

"Yes, I'm fine." I lie.

I watch as he lifts the jug to his lips and drinks the remaining water. I catch Adalene staring at me. I walk over to her.

"What was that for?" she whispers.

"What?" I say.

"You just lied, straight to Mac's face."

"I'll live, I think I can make it to Sector B," I say, "I'll be fine."

"Avery," she whispers as I start to walk away. I turn to look at her.

"I knew from the start that you would be one of the most important candidates on this team, I never expected you to be so loyal, so courageous, kind, and most of all strong." she says. "I admire you, Avery."

I don't know how to respond to her. I nod, and walk to where Claire and Meghan are resting.

"Are you two all right?" I ask.

"I think so," Meghan says. "why didn't you drink the water?"

"I don't know Meg, I guess I like to put other people's needs before my own." I say.

"I wouldn't have drank so much if you said something." Claire says.

"I'm glad you did though," I smile, "I wouldn't want my sisters falling behind!"

They smile, "I promise Avery, first chance, I'll get you water." Claire says.

"Oh, right," Meghan says, "and food."

I laugh, "It sounds like I'm your pet!"

We all start walking again. Mac, this time in the lead. Every step I take, is filled with familiar features. Soon, I see the alleyway where we found Emery. The unique name matches with a face, also familiar. The startling blue eyes on a fair face, and dark brown waves cascading across his forhead. When we find my parents, we are sure to find him as well.

"Come on!" I say. I'm excited and my pace quickens. I reach the top of the road, and I look down upon Sector B.

I had the faintest fear that the sector would be terminated upon our arrival. I sigh a breath of relief. All of the houses are intact.

I lead the way down the road. I walk down the first road. "The fifth house on the right is ours" I remember telling Emery this as he hobbled off down the street.

I stop at our house. It looks the same. I walk up to the doorway and knock. Our doors are always locked.

I hear scurrying inside. I hold my breath as somebody cautiously opens the door. I feel the need to cry as I see my mother's face appear through the crack in the doorway.

"Avery?" she asks, unsure.

"Mom, it's me. Can we come in?" I say.

She opens the door and motions us to come in. Claire and Meghan come in next, followed by the rest of my companions.

As I walk in, I immediately rush to the kitchen. I don't bother to grab a glass, I tilt my head and drink right from the sink.

My throat suddenly feels quenched. I walk back through the kitchen and into the living room where everyone is seated.

My father and my mother are sitting together on the one seat we have, and Emery is sitting on the ground.

"Emery!" I exclaim. I rush over to him. His leg is bandaged and he looks healthier than he was the day of the fire.

The fire. All of those innocent lives, destroyed. My only hope is that most of them made it out. I believe that Mac isn't such a cold-hearted leader, so that leads me to the sliver of hope I have that he warned most of the people to get off the grounds as soon as the smoke began to appear.

I push the thought from my head. "Emery, are you all right?" I ask.

"I'm fine," he says. "No official has suspected anything."

"Good." I say.

I stand and walk over to my parents, I embrace them.

"Do you have any news?"

"Is this part of the Rebellion?" my father asks.

"Yes, how do you know?" I question.

"Well, your mother and I have known about it for some time, we are part of it."

I'm astonished. More and more secrets.

I decide to talk about that later, when we have the time.

"Back to my question, have you heard any news?" I push.

My mother looks at my father. They seem to be communicating through their eyes.

"What?" I ask.

My father takes a deep breath, everyone listens, "While I went to the Court House to recieve our rations, I over heard a group of officials talking."

I look at Mac. I'm suddenly very concerned.

"Go on." Adalene says.

My father continues. "They're planning on terminating Sector B."