Naihabi Ridge

Chapter Eighteen - Rebound

Avi

I had to get out.

The stagnant air was choking me and I needed to move. The darkness that I'd been drowned in for the last few days was trying to make me nocturnal and I was not meant to be nocturnal.
    
I sat up on the stiff bed and looked at the sliver of sunlight that came through the crack in the door. Over the last restless night I had been mourning over Lindo, who's last expression was burned into my mind. I probably looked terrible, though I didn't exactly know why I even cared anymore. I just knew that I needed to get out or my thoughts along with the unnaturally dark atmosphere would drive me insane.

Like an answer to my unsaid prayers, I heard a rustling from outside before the door opened. I squinted at the light until my eyes adjusted enough for me to recognize Steph's short, dirty trashtalker of an apprentice. I almost grimaced before noticing the small tray of food he held in his arms.

He didn't bother looking at my eyes as he brought the tray down on the little bedside table. He seemed extremely uncomfortable for some reason. He hesitated a moment, just silently standing there, before he cleared his throat awkwardly and took a step back.

"I, uh..." he kind of slid into a stop, then his shoulders tensed and he whispered, "I wanted to say it was rude of me before to stare at your unusual appearance. I was wrong."

My eyebrows lifted as he looked intensely at the floorboards below his feet. Had he really just uttered an apology? Did that mean he had humility or that he was put up to it?

It didn't matter at this point. I would need someone to help in my escape and the way things were going, I probably wouldn't get another chance before it would be too late.

"Kit,"—he perked up noticeably—"come here a moment."

He did, then I brought up my left hand, grabbed his ear, and pulled it close to my mouth, then I whispered, "If you're truly sorry, then do me a favor..."

He yanked himself away and I saw that his eyes were wide, his jaw clenched. Clearly flustered, he stammered, "That is—is not what I came here for!"

But I wasn't done yet. I needed someone to back me up and he was my man. He would need to or nothing would work and I would never figure out what was happening.

So I took in a deep breath and exhaled as I moved the cover and stood up. Kit's eyes were now uncharacteristically wide, his nose flared with quickened breaths and he backed up several steps.

I shook my legs out casually, then looked straight into his panicked eyes and took a few steps toward him. "Are you good at buying time?"

+++

The light burned into my eyes as I peered around the corner of a building; it was almost as if the sun was setting in my line of sight just to spite me. My legs and my collarbone stung like the sand was being ground directly into my muscles, but I ignored them thanks to the help of Soha, which is what the voice finally introduced herself as. She said just to call her that because I couldn't pronounce her full name, but I had no idea why she didn't just say to call her that in the first place.

The field in front of me was empty save for one collector that was looking around on the far side, pacing slowly—almost creeping—around the front face of the border between the southern and eastern quarters. The security had been tightened greatly since I had been summoned and the only way I was allowed to be kept in the medical ward was because Master Romia had constructed a secret extra room during her stay in the southern quarter—and I was told that even that decision was well-contemplated and held a heavy risk.
    
I squinted, crouching to give my legs a break, and stared at the collector as he paced. It was suspicious. I had been watching him for the last twenty minutes straight and all he did was pace, slowly, almost mechanically. It was eery just to watch.
   
Then my gaze focused and I saw a flash of movement from the building behind the collector just before a strike of dark brown, then the collector was suddenly laying on the ground, unconscious. There was the attacker, standing over the body. The person was wearing a dark brown cape to conceal herself—or at least I assumed it was a she, since she had a narrow build and was quite a bit smaller than the brawny collector she had downed. I mentally ran through the profile of the few females I had seen at the Ridge, but the caped person didn't seem like any of them. Frowning, I tried to focus enough to make out the figure under the cloth, but then she took the collector from under the arms and began dragging him—with surprisingly little effort—backward to wherever she came from.
    
She didn't seem like an enemy, but I didn't move until she had gone behind the building just for safety's sake. My legs burned as I bolted forward, but it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, so I sprinted faster, letting myself breath the heat and feel the sun on my back. Before anyone had any time to notice, I was already across the borderline and into the eastern quarter. On the brink of panting, I huffed a short laugh and bolted behind the closest building. A building in the eastern quarter.
    
I took a second to calm down a bit, then inched over to the other side of the building and peeked around the edge to see exactly where I was.
    
It was familiar. I hadn't realized the path we often took during training was so close to the border. To the left was the roofless, rundown building they used for combat training and across the trail was the first-aid medical building, which was really only the size of a small closet. It pretty much only held supplies.
    
Which meant that if I went down this trail, it would let out to one of the larger training fields. The training fields were brutal, open desert plains, some stained with blood, others merely sweat, and all were soaked with bad memories. I shivered at the thought of it and started forward on the path anyway. It's not as if I had very many other options.

The sand itched my ankles as I neared the end of the path. I heard the field before I saw it—harsh orders being bellowed at whoever was unfortunate enough to be near, the hoarse responses from the refugees who had undoubtedly been there for hours, and the sheer sound of raw effort. It was like poison to my ears.

I clenched my jaw as a ran, then I slipped behind a building as the sounds became so close I was almost certain they would see me. I pressed myself up against the wall and stared for a moment up at the wall of the next building for no reason other than to keep my feet firmly on the ground. For the next part, I would need to be fully down to earth—ready for anything—and so as my breathing slowly became even and I closed my eyes, I only listened to everything around me. There was never any wildlife near the Ridge since it was in the middle of an arid desert, so the only sounds were of the people. The voice of the officer in charge was still drilled into my head from the last four months when I was a part of the group now on the receiving end of the sharp, strict orders being thrown every which way. I thought I recognized the routine and a few of the voices of refugees from different cabins, but... that wasn't what I was supposed to be focusing on, so I relaxed my shoulders—or one of them, since the other simply refused to stop hurting—and focused on my inner instinct.
    
If Soha had been willing to lend me more strength, I might have been able to simply dart behind the buildings faster than anyone would notice, but she said that my body couldn't physically handle any more exertion. It really irritated me to hear her say it, but I knew she was right. My collarbone would never heal if I was constantly taking away its chances by overexerting it. I would need my collar to heal to survive here.

I opened my eyes and peered past the side of the building to the field. My cabin-mates weren't in this group. The sun was setting and my cabin-mates were probably on their last stretch of strength. They would return to the bunkhouse soon.

I wonder who will make it first.

Tired of the toxic atmosphere around the field, I turned around, balled my hands into fists at my sides, and started down the stretch of the building. I was still hidden in between the two buildings until I reached the back end of the building, away from the main path. I stopped for a moment, looking around the smaller path and how it connected to a further part of the training field before I braced my right arm in its sling against my chest and broke out in a sprint past the corner of my hiding place. It didn't take longer than a second for me to get behind the next building and I kept going past three more, slowly making a circle around the field. Then, just before I crossed the building closest to the main path, I skidded to a stop and clung to the wall of the building. I inched near the edge of the wall where I could safely see the path and peered around the corner.
    
It was almost exactly like the other side of the field. The shouts could still be heard and the building surrounding the path looked very similar. But they weren't the same.
    
It was only from the four months I had spent trapped here that I was able to recognize the exact purpose of each of the buildings I had run past. Each of them had a traumatic memory and each of them held a skill that I now possessed. Ironically, I felt the least bit thankful.
    
I snuck a look down the trail to the further buildings, then I went back behind the wall. The bunkhouses were directly down this path. I only had to get that far.
    
I took a deep breath, running through the plan again, then I darted out into the path and ran without looking back. I sprinted so fast that it felt like I was flying and for a moment I never wanted to stop. I could just keep running and no one would catch me.
    
My breaths got heavier and I started leaning more toward the right edge of the path, then I skidded into a turn, through a door, and I slammed it shut behind me. I leaned my back on the door, panting, and slid down to a sitting position in front of the door. Had anyone followed me? I couldn't tell.
    
For the sake of my lungs and my healing collarbone, I dedicated the moment wholly to catching my breath, then I stood, taking a look around the empty bunkhouse. I had made it first, it appeared. And I was somewhat glad because though I had spent most of my lonesome time in the medical ward thinking this through, I wasn't sure whether I was prepared to have my cabin-mates see me like this. I felt somewhat pressured—though we had seen each other through our worst times—to go back to the way I was. To the Avi they knew. This Avi—the corrupted, white-haired one... I wasn't sure whether they would even recognize me.
    
Then a thought struck me—one that had already appeared and I dismissed. How many of my allies wouldn't come back? How many faces would I never see again because of the summonings?
    
These thoughts only made me more anxious, and I shook my head like a dog. I had always done this to clear my mind, ever since I was small, and being corrupted and defiled wouldn't break this habit. I chuckled, thinking of the way Hannah and Lilli would tease me about it, and this time, the slight smile stayed on my face.
    
I wouldn't shed any more tears for the ones who would have wanted me to be strong.
    
Suddenly, I heard people coming from behind the door and the panic was back. Instinctively, I got up and ran to the back of the room and as I heard the creak of the door, I slid behind the back bunk, shielding myself from their sight.
    
Then I noticed that no one was talking. I sat behind the bunk and listened to the rustling of their footsteps and the bustling of the bunks as their owners returned, but not a single word was spoken. Normally my bunk-mates were loud and rowdy—usually when I was trying to sleep—but the unwelcome quiet dragged on.
    
Then, in a hoarse and quiet voice, someone broke the silence:
    
"What do you think all this means?"
    
The panic that had been building up in my stomach suddenly turned into dread. I hated when people talked like that—like they'd given up all hope; stopped seeing all sight of better days. I'd heard it sewn in his voice like thread dipped in poison, and my jaw clenched. I stared at the packed sand floor as my fingertips dug into it on either side of me. Was I just going to stay hidden? Would I really just let this go? This wasn't the reason I came.
    
I had gone through all the trouble to get here and I didn't come to hide. I took a deep breath and slowly breathed out as I heard someone reply.
    
"Whatever it means, it can't possibly be good. I mean, with all that's happened—"
    
Then I leaped up from behind the bunk and went where everyone could see me.
    
Chaos erupted immediately. Everyone in the room jumped back several feet and quite a few of the people there yelped or cursed in surprise. Instinctively, I began counting who was left. Tom, Eilo, Kathim, Oden...
    
A shout escaped my throat as I dropped to the ground, a fist-sized rock whizzing past my head and hitting the back wall with a loud thwack. My head shot up. Was that thrown by reflex?
    
"Wait!" The small group parted as Torin ran in front of them and looked straight at me, wide-eyed. "Avi?"
    
There was a moment of stunned silence from everyone, then the group inched a little closer and a few people murmured to each other. Now I understood why I was so hesitant.
    
They didn't recognize me.
    
Though I was partially expecting this, it hurt to know they didn't know me as well as I thought they did. I knew we weren't that close, but an alliance had to stand for something.
    
Soon, it dawned upon everyone that I had returned and they rushed forward to help me up. I got to my feet and was immediately hit with an aggressive wave of questions. My head hurt and suddenly I was very confused. I needed space.
    
"Guys," someone scolded loudly. "Give him some air."
    
They hesitantly backed off and I finally let my breath out. Then Torin came forward, grabbed my uninjured arm, and made me sit on one of the bunks. His gaze lingered on me for a second, then he backed up again and prompted me with a swish of his hand. "What happened?"
    
Realizing that I was still as stiff as a board, I leaned back a little and took a deep breath. Everyone was now staring at me eagerly, waiting for my explanation with curious expressions and bright, glistening eyes.
    
When was I summoned?" I planted my hands into the bunk.
    
They obviously weren't expecting a question, so it took them a second to respond. Someone said, "I think it was about four days ago."
    
I nodded. "And how many people have been summoned since then?"
    
The room, though it was already quiet, went quieter. "Four people were summoned the morning after you were. It's only been more since then and we've counted twelve people, three from our bunkhouse."
    
My head spun. So many things were swirling around in my mind, clouding my train of thought. I had been gone four days, and I'd been unconscious a good portion of it. What were they expecting to hear from me? Reassurance? Or perhaps a deep explanation of the torture I was put through?
    
I sighed, falling back on the hard mattress. "Who was summoned from this bunkhouse?"
    
Did I even want to know?
    
There was a long pause. "Likke, Gregory, and Harris."
    
I recognized them all. I continued to stare at the bunk above me and my chest went tight. They were all so innocent, so much for them. Their alliances made them friends to me. Would they be able to survive the summonings? Probably not, but...
    
"Avi?"
    
I looked at the small group, remembering what they wanted me to do, so I pulled myself up, let out another breath, and stood. The group dispersed quickly enough and I walked through to the middle of the room again.
    
"You want to know what happened after I was summoned, correct?" Their answer remained unspoken, but certain enough. "I..."
    
I have a plan. I have to stick to my plan.
    
"I can't tell you." Everyone groaned, becoming agitated, and I turned to them. "Look, you don't want to know. I was unconscious most of the time, anyway. The only thing I remember is the sheer terror that still haunts me because of... what they did. And you don't want to know—you don't need to know, because if you knew, you would get yourselves killed trying to escape them."
    
They were dead silent. Every single face stared back at me laced in horror, and I struggled to fight my own horror back.
    
Stick to the plan.
    
"At least that's what would happen if you went alone..." I was rigid as I said it—nervous down to my bones and deathly afraid of failure. I couldn't let it show through to my voice. "Which is why I want you to come with me."
    
The quiet was stunned and confused. How could I blame them? They were hesitant and not sure what to think, but then they began to murmur among each other, rarely taking their eyes off me. I would be nervous, too, were I in their place. But I'm not in their place and I need to go through any means necessary to meet my goal.
    
The plan must succeed.
    
"Come with me and escape Naihabi Ridge, everyone, or stay here and die."

————— • —————

Hello, Emilia here with your picture link. But before the link, geez, this took forever to write!
I actually had two drafts of Chapter Eighteen while I was writing it and the first draft was way different than this one. I can't help but wonder where the story would have gone if I had kept that version.
Oh well! (*⁰▿⁰*)

By the way, if you liked this chapter, vote on it! If you have a question or some advice or simply feel like saying hi, then say so! Votes, questions, and comments are always welcomed.

Now the picture link:
http://img.viralnova.com/000/481/633/desktop-1476326721.png