Remember the Past

Chapter 41

 Its just after eleven when I knock on Savannah's door, blankets and pillow in hand. She doesn't ask anything, she just opens the door and pulls the trundle bed out from under her own.

We don't talk until the morning. I don't even try to get up before ten, but I have been awake well before that. I just can't stop replaying our fight over in my head.

Did I over react? I ask myself. No, he kept important information from me.

Should I have stormed off like that? Or should I have waited to clear things up? I mean he was just looking out for me...

All I know is that I can't face him. I need one day to cope on my own. But how well can I cope while I'm with his sister?

Savannah is kind enough to bring my breakfast to her room. I explained that I had a fight with Colin, leaving out some details, like I don't know, a kiss, what the fight over, that he confessed his love for me, you know the unusual, and I explained that I wasn't ready to face him yet. HSe said that she understood that I needed space.

After we finish our breakfast, we head out on an early morning bike ride through town. We make a loop around town. Savannah asks if I want to stop and I say no. I have had enough of this town and the people that live in it. I know that they're living in poverty and I come to town, the school's golden child, and I have clothes, a roof over my head and food to fill my belly- wow, the rebels have really treated me well.

It makes me feel guilty for being mad that they refused to tell me that I was being hunted. Yes, they didn't want me to worry. Yes, we were under lockdown because all of our safety was being threatened. And yes, I was the only one who didn't know that it was a lockdown because soldiers were sniffing around, but I had a right to know what was going on.

I speed up on my bike, leaving Savannah to far behind me to make conversation. All I crave is time alone with my thoughts. I am thankful to be on a bike, having something to do is aiding in keeping my thoughts clear, concise. Otherwise, they would just be a puddle of emotions and not rational thinking.

I enjoy the silence. Well, sort of, the constant tick of my bike, the chirping of the birds, and the bustle of the few people who are out this early are the only thing I hear, leaving me to the noise of my own thoughts with no external voice to interrupt them.

Savannah and I have reached the top of a hill, overlooking the campus. We're not very high, but elevated enough to see the roof at this angle.

I look at the scene long and hard. Something isn't right. I slam on my brakes. I hear Savannah do the same behind me.

Smoke. I see smoke rising from the facility.

That's when I hear it. I only now realize that there was an extra hum beside our bikes. Two helicopters are circling the base, our base. I search the campus grounds and sure enough. I spot foot soldiers. They are running, flooding into the facility.

I hear Savannah's voice squeak behind me. "What should we do?"

I shake my head and don't turn back when I answer. "I don't know."

Then the ground shakes. I brace my legs for the shock. I look up and see a wall of the university being blown to rubble, followed by the collapse of the north wing.

My throat tightens. My heart skips a beat. I can't say it out loud. Colin. That's where our dorms are. Savannah and I are up here, safe and sound. The only one unaccounted for, the only one that could have been caught in the blast was...