Savage Run (15 page)

“
A sniper,” Arthor says,
his eyes glued on the young man.

I look around, trying to see if I can locate
the shooter, but he’s too well hidden. They must be all over the
place ready to shoot anyone who doesn’t follow the rules.

“
They weren’t kidding when
they said
severe
,” he says through his teeth.

A hovercraft flies over the dead body and
sends out a cone-shaped ray, disintegrating the young man’s remains
faster than my frazzled brain can register. This all happens so
hastily; there’s still five seconds left on the clock. The marathon
is continuing on as if nothing happened, as if some young man
wasn’t just shot down—murdered.

“
Tread lightly,” Arthor
says to me, and with that, the piercing sound of the start pistol
being fired rings through the valley.

Chapter 12

The sound of the start pistol brings me
right back to that moment when Gemma was shot. And suddenly all I
can see is her lifeless body lying there, slaughtered like an
animal.

“
Joseph!” I hear Arthor
yell. “We have to go!” He pulls me by the elbow and I shuffle
unwillingly after him. What am I doing here? I don’t belong here.
It was a huge mistake to come here and now I’m suffering the
consequences of my actions. There’s no way I can survive these
obstacles and I was stupid to think that I have a chance. In the
end, my father was right: I’ll bring shame to our family’s
name.

“
Joseph! Snap out of it! We
have to go!”

Suddenly, my cheek stings and I’m back at
the start line with Arthor. I don’t know how long I’ve been away,
but every last contender has left.

“
Get your act together,
Joseph!”

“
You slapped
me?”

“
And I’ll do it again if it
makes your feet move!” he says, shaking me.

I snap my arm away from his grasp and dash
down the wide, rocky pathway—not so much to start the marathon, but
more to get away from him—both because he slapped me and I don’t
want to run next to him. Soon he catches up to me, though we don’t
speak. I’m running so fast that we’re panting. My legs are strong
from having biked up the steep mountains in Culmination all these
years and the anger from Arthor’s slap, combined with all that has
happened over the past twenty-four hours feeds my speed. My heart
rate finds a steady rhythm, and as I continue to move ahead,
inching closer to the last contender in front of me, I feel warmth
spread through my body and beads of sweat gathering on my forehead.
Why am I doing this? When I planned this, it was to gain my
freedom, yes, but it was even more to help Gemma escape. At least
that’s what I’ve been telling myself all along. However, if I’m
completely honest, she never asked for me to get her out of there.
I just assumed it was for her best interest. I knew best. But I
didn’t. I didn’t know anything at all. So why am I doing this? I
pump my arms and move my legs faster, passing a few of the other
participants. Nicholas’s question pops into my mind. What is the
first thing I want to do? If I survive, I will have to answer that
question. And more. What are all of the other things I want to do?
I realize Nicholas’s question was exceptionally well placed. He
must have known how down I was—how much I was struggling—and that I
needed that question to move myself forward.

Arthor is the first one to break the
silence. “Sorry I…slapped you. I didn’t know…how else to get…your
attention.” He’s sucking wind.

I know he did it to get me going, but I’m
still upset. Besides, I really wish he would just figure out that
running alone is the best and safest option. Do I have to spell it
out for him? Maybe if I try the opposite and run a little slower,
letting all the others pass, Arthor will get tired of waiting for
me and move ahead with the others. I slow my pace, but he keeps on
me like a pesky mosquito. I speed up, but again, he’s right there
with me. Finally, I run as close as I can to the barbed wires
lining the edges of the pathway, thinking, surely, he won’t follow
me there—or at least he’ll say something. But no.

Doesn’t he get that if one of us sets off a
landmine, we’ll both be blown to bits? Doesn’t he see that
absolutely no one else is running together? They all seem smarter
than this.

I hold my tongue a while longer, and instead
of continuing to mull over how upset I am at Arthor, I scrutinize
the ground, searching for clues as to where the landmines are
hidden. Then, I remember that there are shortcuts. But what
shortcuts could there be in a marathon? Maybe there’s a safe zone,
a part of the path containing no landmines. I decide to look for
the safe zone—maybe then I could keep running with Arthor.

I jog ahead, keeping at the tail end of the
group with Arthor. Minutes pass, and I feel strong—like I could run
forever. I thought for sure, by now, I would have heard or seen an
explosion, but all I hear are the footsteps of the participants and
an occasional shouted greeting between friends. After running for a
good hour without seeing or hearing a single explosion, I relax a
little. They never did mention how many landmines they had buried.
Maybe there aren’t as many as I had imagined.

“
How far do you think we’ve
run?” I ask, having almost forgotten that I was upset at Arthor in
the first place.

“
I’d say we’re closing in
on eight miles. You’re doing really great, Heidi.”

I give him a mean look. “Don’t call me that
here.”

“
Sorry. It just slipped
out.”

As we continue to run, Arthor’s face becomes
increasingly redder. It seems like I’m not really perspiring since
the Savage Run uniform absorbs the moisture right away. But I know
from the wetness in the nape of my neck, and from the drops rolling
down my forehead and sting my eyes that I’m sweating like a pig.
Once I become dehydrated, my performance will suffer—all of ours
will—and the bad news is I don’t think they will be providing any
water or refreshments along the way.

We continue on for a couple
more miles in silence and my mouth slowly takes on the consistency
of rawhide.
The muscles in my lower body
start to cramp; I’m used to biking, not running.
I
t doesn’t help that the clouds have
evaporated and that the sun is scorching the skin on my
face.

When I hear the first blast, my chest feels
like it will implode on itself. The blast is far ahead, but I still
see the smoke rise and hear the clamors. Now I can no longer fool
myself into thinking that the road is safe and continue to run
alongside Arthor.

Closing in on the place where the blast went
off, I veer away as far as I can and keep my eyes glued forward.
Still, my curiosity compels me to look and I slow down, falling
behind Arthor.

There’s a crater in the road, about the size
of my trailer back home—though nothing else. No body. No blood. No
smell other than the scent of smoke. But the strange thing is that
I didn’t see or hear a hovercraft pass by. Was the landmine so
powerful that it disintegrated the victim’s entire body, blood and
all, not leaving a single trace of the poor guy’s existence? When
the rogue Unifers usurped our land, it is said they used bombs that
completely evaporated anything they came in touch with. Are these
similar to the ones they used back then?

I continue onward, trying to think of other
things, forcing my mind to move beyond the shock. I see Arthor
running in the distance and intentionally run very slowly so I
don’t catch up with him. This blast makes me even more certain I
absolutely should not be running with him. It will get me killed.
But then the guilt sets in. He stood up for me when I needed,
vouching I was a friend of his from school, telling me he’d help me
if I needed it during the Savage Run. Slapping me…plus, he’s here
running with me now when he could be solely worrying about himself.
I think of how I betrayed Gemma and how much I regret not running
to save her. But this is different—isn’t it? Out here we’re on our
own. Back there, I was in charge of her.

When a deafening blast goes off much closer
to me, I cower at first, but then reflexively look toward the
sound. A body flies through the air and lands with a bounce. I
avert my eyes, but not before I recognize the boy as one of the
participants from Culmination. I don’t know his name. His body lies
lifeless—dismembered—on the rocks and dirt. Then there’s the
god-awful smell of roasting flesh. My stomach revolts, and I bend
over when I feel the warm and acidic fluid rise up my throat.

“
You okay?” Arthor rubs my
back as I hurl.

I wipe the sides of my lips with the back of
my hand, wishing I had some water to rinse the vomit from my mouth.
“I’m fine.”

“
Just try not to look or
think about it,” he says.

“
Yeah.” I glance back at
the boy, but there’s no use in going over to him to see if he’ll
make it. His body is beyond repair—shredded—and the expression on
his face is vacant—dead. A hovercraft zooms down from the sky and
beams a ray on his leftovers, causing them to disintegrate. All the
guys dying in the obstacles, is this the burial they’ll receive?
What will their families say when they find out?

Arthor runs ahead, but I intentionally wait
until there’s ample distance between us before I continue to run.
He stops and waits for me. As I catch up to him, I speed up. But
instead of losing him, he’s right by my side. “What are you
doing?”

“
What do you
mean?”

I have to say something. “It’s way more
dangerous if we run together. Seriously, if one of us sets off a
landmine, the other one will die.”

“
Oh.” He thinks for a
moment. “But I’m looking out for you.”

I huff. Why can’t he just recognize it’s a
stupid thing to do?

“
If you think it’s…” he
starts.

“
Yes, I think so.” I sprint
ahead, leaving Arthor a good thirty feet behind me. Taking action
is the best way to handle this situation—I mean, does he expect us
to stand in the middle of the field and talk about emotions and how
we should have each other’s backs and all that stuff? Why do I have
to be the rational one? Still, I can’t help but glance back at
Arthor and when I do, I see he’s keeping his distance. I feel bad
for him, especially since I’m only acting out of self-preservation.
He’s acting out of pure selflessness.

The next few miles are uneventful as far as
blasts going off close to me. From time to time I hear one or two
in the distance, but once I reach the site of the explosions,
there’s nothing but a gaping hole in the ground or some blood.

I run on for a while—maybe five miles—and
when I hear another landmine go off, I don’t initially react.
However, when I hear a scream along with the blast, and continued
wailing, I race toward the sound. I can’t just let the guy lie
there and die alone so I run to his side and kneel down next to
him.

When I see him, I see that it’s Clark from
the capsule.

There’s blood everywhere—on his clothes, in
his hair and even between his teeth. He reaches a trembling hand up
toward me, as if asking me to help him. But there is nothing I can
do for him except watch him die.

“
You did well,” is all I’m
able to say before he closes his eyes and slips away. I exhale with
him and don’t remember to take a breath until Arthor shakes my
shoulder.

“
Come,” Arthor says. “You
have to keep moving.”

I hit his arm off my shoulder. “This isn’t
fair,” I say. Arthor grabs me by the arm and stands me up. He
nudges me forward, but my legs refuse to move on their own. Arthor
shoves me again and somehow I’m able to move my legs one step at a
time. He keeps on me, nudging me every time I slow down. But I
can’t keep going! I swivel around and lunge toward him. “Leave me
alone! Okay?” I take a swing at him, but he ducks.

Grabbing me by the waist and turning me
around, he says, “Keep moving!”

“
I don’t want to! Take your
hands off me!”

He wraps his arms around me and picks me up,
leaving me helpless to do anything but kick my legs and scream.
“You don’t have a choice, Heidi.”

“
Stop calling me
that!”

“
I’m going to set you down
now, so please calm yourself. I promise I’ll keep my distance as
long as you continue to run. Will you agree to that?”

“
Fine,” I bark.

He sets me down and takes three big steps
away from me, holding his hands up, his palms facing me. “I’m just
trying to help you. I don’t want to see you die out here, don’t you
see?”

“
I don’t want to
continue!”

“
You might be saying that
now, but…there’s so much to live for. I mean…if we make it, our
lives will never be the same again. Just hold that thought right
there…” He lifts up his hand. “Right in front of you—like a
beacon.”

“
I can’t.”

“
Yes, you can. I’ve seen
how you bike up those hills in Culmination. Don’t tell me you’re
not strong enough. And if you can work that hard for someone else,
I think then you can manage to do the same when your freedom is
involved.”

I can’t face him since he’s right. “You
don’t know what I’ve been through!” Turning around, tears spilling
out of my eyes, I sprint away from him. I don’t want his help; I
never asked for it. I just want to be left alone! But maybe I don’t
want his help since whenever I’ve received it in the past, so much
more is expected in return. Yet, I can’t deny that Arthor is
different and doesn’t seem to want anything in return.