The Alliance (The Alliance #1)

Chapter 6

Water. Food. Warm clothes. Free hands.

Something I always took for granted has been taken away.

It's dark out, well past nine at least. As the moon appears, so does the chilly breeze. With only a T-shirt and shorts, my whole body shivers. My stomach growls violently, I haven't eaten since earlier today. I'm not used to not having a kitchen running twenty-four hours straight. But id rather have water. I need water. My tongue is dry like sandpaper, my throat burning at every breath I take. And worst yet, my arms are tied behind my back, keeping me from crossing them to keep me somewhat warm. We all tried taking each other's off, but it's useless.

"We can go to sleep here," Archer says, walking into tall grass. It blocks out the wind a little, thankfully. His voice is raspy, he hasn't had any food or water for at least a full day. I look at Tami, whose face is drained from color. She looks like she's about to throw up. I wonder how I look.

I plop to the ground and lay down, facing the night sky. I see Archer lift up his shirt, and I see the horrible rope burn he got from Max. It's purple and wraps across his whole stomach. The gash on his cheek has started to bleed again. He's in bad shape, but we can't loose Archer. I see him look at me.

"It's fine," he says. Of course he says that. He will never say that he's not fine. But I smile and nod. Tami lays down on her side, already in a deep sleep. Even Archer's breath has steadied. I lay there by myself, staring at the sky. We couldn't see the sky as well in the dome. I almost thought it was just fake. I never thought I would leave my home.

But then I realize something. I'm heading home, not leaving it. If I really do belong at the Alliance.

My eyelids lower each minute, and I find myself going unconscious to the world.

***

When I wake, I see Archer sitting upright.

"Man, you really don't sleep much, do you?" I ask, sitting up. He turns his head to me, and I never seen him in this bad of shape before. His lips are dry and cracking, his eyes wide. He needs water. His gash on his cheek has puss on it.

"Archer..." I try to speak, but he just smiles slightly and stands up. "Lets go, wake up Tami!"Archer shouts, and Tami's eyes open. She sees him and looks at me. All I do is shrug. I get up and Tami and I follow Archer.

My wrists are on fire, the rope digging into my skin. I keep myself distracted by looking around, and feeling the sun. It is hot, hotter than I thought it would be. Man, the dome really does trap us in our own little world.

As the day goes by, we all get quieter. Tami has to stop sometimes, to keep herself from throwing up. Archer doesn't look like himself, and I can't stop moaning from hunger and thirst.

I thought we would all make it anyway, until Archer stops and jumps up and down. "Finally! We made it!" He shouts, and I look to where he's looking.

"What? This is it?" Tami asks, looking around. We are in the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah! Look at all the people!" He says happily. Suddenly, he collapses, sitting down. His eyes are wide, but he blinks over and over. It's like he all of a sudden can't see anything.

Crap.

"He's hallucinating," I say, and Tami and I help him to his feet. He goes back to not talking again.

"This isn't good," Tami says, and I nod. But we have to keep going. Tami and I walk by Archer, making sure he doesn't collapse again.

We walk for hours more. Archer asks us every ten minutes, "did you hear that?!" We all grow weaker by the second. I almost fall over, but I catch my feet just in time. The sun is too bright, I feel like falling asleep.

He's losing it, and in a few minutes, I will too.

"Hey," Tami whispers, her voice raspy. I look up and see a large cluster of homes and buildings and life, surrounded by a huge fence. I shout for joy, and I somehow start running, dragging Tami and Archer.

"Hey!" I scream, trying to get somebody's attention. We get even closer. I yell again. Archer is moaning in pain, Tami's silent. We reach the entrance and I scream once more.

Finally, the fence opens and I see a few people looking at us. Archer doesn't even get to see them. He hits the ground face first, blacked out. I try to pick him up again, but another pair of arms grab me instead.

"Hey!" I yell, trying to get to him. My eyes are groggy, I can barely breath. I see Tami crying, of joy? I don't know. But I panic, trying to get them off me, but I'm so tired. So so tired. I feel the rope being untied from my wrists, and someone picking me up. I get comfortable in their arms, looking at the man holding me. I've never seen a grown man in person before. I look to my right and see a women holding Tami. Her eyes are closed, like she's sleeping. A male and female observe Archer, then the male picks him up. The man holding me runs, and I feel like I'll throw up at any minute. I glance around and see everyone staring at us.

I no longer feel the sun when I'm brought inside. I hear a bunch of voices, too many to keep track of.

"Tami?" I say, trying to look around, but I'm too tired.

"Mia." I hear her voice.

I feel myself going into another pair of arms. It's another male, in a doctors uniform.

"Dehydrated. Worn out. The boy needs stitches..." I hear words out of the commotion of mumbles. But I'm too tired. I dig my head into the mans arms and go unconscious.

Hey guys!! So I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! PLEASE comment and give feedback! I would really appreciate it! THANKS☺️💕

-Grace✍