Slowly, the tumble of bodies cleared.
The light of dawn blared into my eyes in an array of dazzling purple and orange. Was it morning already? The tops of the trees were mesmerising as I lay gazing up at them in wonder. I can't remember the last time I saw something so pretty.
Perhaps it was a time before the war? A time when my mother existed and my father sat beside us, his hazel eyes smiling as the edges of them creased? He was beginning to go blind; I remember. That day had been peaceful, the songbirds chirping around us. He knew the rebellion had taken his eyesight, but he'd be damned if it took his family as well.
I laid my eyes on my mother as she spun around in a red flowery dress, her long ginger hair swirling behind her and her brown eyes sparkling with happiness. She bent, perfect in her own aurora.
A memory I didn't know existed was playing in my mind, clear as day. I frowned. She was never present, yet here she was, presenting herself like she'd been there all along. She placed her hands on my cheeks, cupping my face and smiling, and opened her mouth to speak a message I could not hear.
All too quickly, I was dragged up onto my feet, the daydream snapping away. I scouted the ground in a desperate rage, spotting Matthew laying facedown, motionless. His gun was half-covered in amongst the leaves barely a foot away, still warm from being used. Bryce's forehead was oozing with blood and he tried to ignore it as it flowed into his eye. He cried out, his shirt torn and his right arm caressing his left.
They tried to cuff him but gave up when he lashed out at them. He pulled away from them, his chest heaving as he eyes darted around. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and made a beeline for it, bolting towards the trees.
The bounty hunter with a changed heart. What a pity. He'd helped the enemy of the regime and still thought he could be free. His contract was well and truly broken, and his plight didn't last long. A needle, flung from the belly of a Drone, was jabbed fiercely into his neck. Blue liquid leaked from the syringe into his bloodstream, forcing his eyes to droop. His head rolled back, and he flopped helplessly to the ground.
In the commotion, an Officer managed to wrap my hands complacently behind my back and cuff them. I was too bewildered to resist, watching on as Bryce lay stationary in the dirt. At least it wasn't Maurice who was touching me.
I observed on as the Officer's fussed over a limp Matthew, revealing a tracker on his neck which was promptly scanned. After nodding to each other, two Officers cuffed him and slapped him hard across the face. He groaned, his eyelids fluttering reluctantly open. His eyes wandered around the scene before they landed on me and he scowled.
I gulped, feeling my gut clench in on itself. I was the one who didn't run fast enough. Who couldn't run fast enough. My bewildered self was turning out to be no match for this new regime. I was the one who had stopped. The one who couldn't save myself even if I knew how.
"Good work, A14," a voice rang out into the dawn.
I glanced up, shielding my eyes against the angel-like beam of light. Almost as if on cue, a plate began to descend into the stream of white luminosity like God himself was controlling the scene. The lower it got, the more the silhouette became creepy, instead revealing a man that could only be described as the Devil himself.
"A14?" I murmured. Who was A14? I glanced at Bryce hoping he might know, but he still lay motionless on the forest floor, his hands cuffed in front of him and his left elbow sticking out at weird angle.
Gradually, the silhouette from the hovercraft was lowered to the ground, my eyes drawing to a parting in the circle of Officers. They stood assertively, like they knew they'd done their job properly and were waiting for a pay rise. I cringed. I didn't like how this was going. I wished I had of run when I had the chance, but it was too late for wishing now. Fate had trapped me in its grasp and pulled me into a direction I never wanted to meet in the first place, and as the shadowed man stepped out of the limelight, I almost fainted with fear.
Low and behold, Sergeant Hill's face calmly walked into the centre of the circle and strolled over to me, a vicious grin dancing on his lips.
"I knew he would find you," he began, the smile never leaving his lips. "Valuable pieces in my collection don't just run away!"
Collection? My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of being a collectible item. People weren't collectible items. I gulped, suddenly on edge. What on earth did he plan on doing with me?
I felt my heart skip a beat as he skipped towards me, his arms spread wide open in a feat of pride. There was a profound bound in his demeanour as he pranced somewhat joyously over to me. It was like he had found his missing kitten and was giddy at the prospect of taking it home again.
"Leave her alone!" Matthew screamed; his eyes wild as he growled at Sergeant Hill. He thrashed around in his cuffs, trying to loosen the grip of the two Officers holding him against the dirt.
But he ignored him, cackling slightly.
"Now, you can either come with me, or you," Sergeant Hill said as he waved his outstretched hands back and forth in front of us. "And your little friends can die."
"Don't do it," Matthew spat, wrestling with the Officers that held him at bay. "It's not worth it!"
I glanced at Matthew. Now was not the time for him to be protective. That was a chance he'd missed when he dragged me into this mess. I boldly turned back to Sergeant Hill with the determination that my small heart could get us out of here alive.
"What will you do if we come with you?" I shakily asked, ignoring Matthews attempts to persuade me against it. As far as I could see, we were the defeated party.
"Whatever your heart desires," he replied, a malicious grin reaching his ears that sickened me to the core. I wanted to spew all over the ground; drown in my own mind. I wanted to be gone and I so readily wished Bryce hadn't saved me. "Ellie," Hill said. "Come on. What's the hold up?"
I wanted to say that it was him. That is was his fault. That he scared me to death. But I knew we had no choice. It was live or die. And whilst we might not want to live in this version of the world, we had to at least try to adapt to it.
"Okay," I said.
"Okay what?" Hill echoed.
"Don't do it! Don't say yes!"
"Okay. We'll go with you," I said, ignoring Matthew's pleas. We were defeated, I knew that. But I wasn't ready to die like the countless others, and that was the truth. I knew I'd made the wrong choice by Matthew and Bryce. Bryce would rather die than loose his freedom, and I think Matthew would too. But deep down, I knew they would come to thank me for saving their lives and returning the favour.
I'm following rule number three, I thought. I won't let them down Papa. I can't let them down.
I tried to make eye contact with Matthew, but he just stared off into the distance, anger taking over him until all he managed to do was shake uncontrollably.
"Matthew, don't hate me!" I started as I was whisked away to the waiting aircraft. "You have to believe me! Please don't hate me."
But he just stared off into the distance and then violently thrashed around on the ground, screaming at the Officers. He lashed out and managed to strike one of them, but they held on firmly. Their grip was beginning to bruise his forearms as he screamed incoherently at anyone that dared to get close to him.
A Drone hovered nearby, and upon instruction lowered a needle from underneath it. It fell into the grip of an Officer as he picked it up and jabbed it into Matthew's neck. Slowly, the liquid emptied from the needle. He continued to clobber at the air until eventually, the serum worked, and his eyes rolled back, and his muscles relaxed.
"What did you do to him?" I screamed, suddenly outraged. What if Hill left me without them? How was I supposed to survive then? "What have you done with him?"
"We simply sedated him. It'll be easier for all of us that way," he simply said. Somehow, I didn't believe him though. None of what was happening made any sense, and I was still baffled at how they found us in the first place.
I wanted answers, and Hill possessed that knowledge. Rule three could not be broken.
"A14," I suddenly said, desperate for any type of knowledge I could cling onto.
"A14?" he echoed, now deep in thought.
"Who is, A14?" I asked.
He paused, clearly thinking about whether he should share it or not. He shrugged. "The boy we just sedated. Oh, and don't worry, your friends will be following us," he said as we entered the hovering aircraft.
The circular plate crashed into place, latching itself to the rest of the craft. I gazed around, blinded by the sheer brightness of the room. It was pale white, like a hospital room. Three plastic white chairs lined either side and more than half of them were already occupied with Officers.
I felt the grip on my forearms tighten as I was guided to a seat within the craft. The Officers stood attentively, saluting Sergeant Hill as he approached and nodded. They sat me down, fastening a harness to my chest.
I looked up at him, his icy eyes colder than ice itself. "What do you want with me?"
He laughed slightly, seating himself down opposite me. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said with a grin as the craft began to move.