Love is Dangerous

15

The pain takes a while to register. I open my eyes and see my leg in a cast resting on a cloth dangling from the ceiling. I hear the door burst open and footsteps running towards me. My vision is slightly blurred but I see Marissa, panicking with tears running down her face. She leans over and whispers in my year, "Go, save yourself. I won't see you for a while. Maybe never again. But find Kai. He'll explain." The door bursts open and two muscular guys walked in. She leans closer to me. "You're more dangerous than you think." The men’s strong hands grab her arms and pull her backwards. And Marissa is gone.

I sit up quickly. How long was I unconscious? What just happened? What did she mean? Then the doors burst open again. I see Tyler coming towards me. He stops for a moment, and then unhooks my oxygen tank and takes my casted leg off of the cloth. He grabs a pair of foldable crutches and puts them into a backpack. He scoops me up in his arms and carries me out of the room. The door swings shut and hits me in the head, knocking me out.

Perhaps it was for the best. I missed all the running and chases. But, I did slow them down. When I wake up, I'm in the woods, my head resting on a log. A flashlight shines in my eyes and then it goes dark. I sit up and look around. There were two other logs that people were sitting on. One on each. One of the people runs over to me and kneels down. Then suddenly it’s all quiet.

I couldn’t tell what was different at first, but I knew something was different. Then I realized it. I search through my brain, trying to find a sign of the ticking. But there isn't any. He looks confused too. Then he looks at me and realizes the same thing.

He has a clock.

And it just stopped.

“Well, the government agents came to us, but they were the good guys. They told us to gather everyone who is different. They told us to form an army. Now, we obviously know that you’re different. You have a clock. And both yours and Kai’s just stopped,” Tyler explains.

"But why? Why do they want us gone?" They both shrug. "Just great, I have more questions than answers." It all goes quiet. We sit in silence for a few seconds until I see movement behind Tyler. I glance up and see them. Two agents sneaking up behind Tyler with guns aimed at all of us. Kai and I suck in a breath. Tyler can sense them and holds up two fingers. We both know what they mean. Run. Kai moves close to me and picks me up in his arms. We both have our bags and my crutches are in mine. Then he turns and runs. I look back and hear a single gunshot. Tyler had just stood up but the bullet knocked him down, soaking his back in blood. We turn a corner and duck behind a tree. The agents run past and Kai sets me down. I pull out my crutches and we both slowly walk back to Tyler. 

He lies on the ground with his face to the side. His darker skin looks pale. His hand that was twitching had stopped. Kai lets his tears fall silently. I stare at the ground. He had sacrificed his life for us to be free. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

But I know that I'll never see Tyler again.

Now we're on the run. Neither of us have any idea where we're going. The cousin that took me in when I had no one is gone, and I might never see her again. Kai's best friend is gone. This country known for its freedom has a war brewing. We will exact our revenge. Our fight for freedom has begun. Whether we knew it or not.