Wiped | The Trapped Trilogy

Ten

TEN
TARI
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I feel a cry escape my throat as Brynlea drops to the ground, her body making a loud thud on the dirt. The men in white around us grab us by our arms and drag us out of the trees. Their leader holds Brynlea like a baby.

The hatch is swung wide open, and the men herd the children like animals, pushing them through the small hole, growing impatient.

The woman that I had snapped at earlier stands before us. She's smirking and staring me down with a look of 'I knew it'. I set my jaw and glare at her.

The man Brynlea had called Tanner stops just before her, his jaw clenched.

"State your names," She says, still smiling.

"Tari Oprie, Ken Barkly, and Brynlea Cern. The children are unknown." I say the words emotionlessly. I don't need any other blows to my pride by her. Not right now.

She nods and types something on her tablet.

"Seventeen, seventeen, and, oh, lookie here, Tari Oprie. You're thirty-four. Come with me-"

"We can just lock her up. There's no need for this, Rachel," The guy with the black shirt says.

She smiles and looks back at me. "She's over thirty. That isn't allowed in the Domes."

"Why not just take her back outside?" He asks, growing impatient. "This isn't necessary."

"The President wouldn't like that," She says, and motions for the men holding my arms to follow her.

Do I see a flash of anger in his face? A glance of something more? A sorry expression? Does he feel bad for me?

Whatever it is, I don't get long to ponder over it.

I'm taken to a Doctor's Office deep inside the compound underground. She sits me down in a chair and straps me in. The straps around my head and ankles seem a little too tight.

"You thought you won, girl," Rachel hisses and laughs cruelly. "You thought you all won. Well, you're wrong. You're all wrong. Free will," She laughs. "We don't let you have it, and you don't deserve it. You should know better."

She presses a button, and I can feel my brain slowing down. My memories begin to slur together and fall apart all at once. I see two lives flash before my eyes. Both of my own and of another. The one I've dreamed about the past three days. The other life that won't rest until I acknowledge her. One that knows so much about the Domes. One that knows so much about the monsters like the one I saw inside of the compound. Like the one standing before me now as my vision slowly escapes me.

The woman. Rachel.

She was someone who was willing to destroy anything in her path to get to what she wants. Someone who lived inside of my brain for years, had control over my brain for years. Someone who was me, programmed to stay in the Dome. Someone made to believe in the Domes and what was happening with them. Someone who was never to leave, but did, because she was miserable inside of here. However cruel she was on the outside, she wasn't as cruel on the inside. She hated many people, but she loved many more. She knew what she deserved. She knew what she wanted. And she wanted freedom. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere unless she was in charge.

She was Rebecca Burg.

And now she and I are drifting away like dust in the wind. Like orange and red leaves that fall to the ground in autumn. We're drifting away with every heartbeat. With each shallow breath.

A tear falls down our cheek as I realize what is happening.

"Eenie..." She whispers, remembering the name of the girl. "I'm sorry..."

The world around us goes dark, splotches of white fading out as we close our eyes. Tari Oprie, myself, only fifteen when I touched the wall. I remember the pain and the tears, and the offer that was made to me by Fiot... And Rebecca, the other part of me, who had died and been revived through me. I lived out her life for her, creating the perfect plan for escaping the Domes, and with one clumsy step, we came closer to something we never imagined.

Eenralla Land, the girl who touched the wall and lived. Brynlea.

White swirls around me, and the soft beating of wings fill my ears as I drift off into sleep. Into the quiet death that I can't refuse. Into something beyond anyone's knowledge, beyond anyone's comprehension.

To die... will be an awfully big adventure.