Page 45 of Lucky 14

“What’s your name, Fourteen?”

I glance at him, realizing he doesn’t know. The question makes me feel oddly warm. “Holli.”

He smiles slightly. Then his look glazes over, and he gets lost again, physically present, but not mentally.

I grab a twig and force it to snap between my fingers. I have to stay awake. I start to plan. The supply drop will be a bloodbath, literally. I’m assuming that’s the point. But I also know we won’t survive long without water. And that’s the game, isn’t it? To play with our lives?

Rage fills my chest. I feel like I’ve felt the whole spectrum of emotions in the last…however long it’s been. And when I look at Elijah, I can’t help but feel…understanding. He’s here against his will, too. He put his own life at risk to help me. Despite the fact that it may have meant he’d never see his sister again. It makes the weight lift just the slightest bit off my chest.

Then, I remember something that makes me want to lie down and not get back up. The last time someone helped me in a shitty situation, they died. Connor fucking died. And now I’m feeling any level of humanity toward someone who has an even higher likelihood of actually dying in front of me?

No. This can’t be happening again. I won’t let it.

Elijah fell asleep, but I haven’t been able to. After conserving energy for about an hour, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of movement on the beach.

My chest seizes up, and I scramble to a crouch, hissing, “Elijah.”

He doesn’t move.

Scanning, I try to catch the movement again. What was it? A person? Animal? It was a few hundred feet down the beach. I shift again, looking. I don’t see it? My heart thumps in my chest so hard it almost hurts. What if it was just a bird?

Suddenly, it appears again. Much closer this time. It’s the flash of a shirt. A man with a Bear mask. Walking right toward us.

“Elijah.” I grab his leg and shake. My heart hammers.

He starts awake, eyes blurry. I’m on my feet, crouched. “Get up,” I hiss

Elijah scrambles to his feet, spinning in a circle.

The man on the beach looks our way, then starts sprinting toward us.

Fuck. I take off running into the woods, adrenaline pumping in my veins. I glance back to see that Elijah is following, but so is the man. He’s big and fast, gaining on us with crashing steps. All I hear is heavy steps, then a grunt and a thud.

Turning, I see the man on top of Elijah. A scream gets trapped in my throat, terror building in all of my limbs. He has Elijah.

The men grapple, grunting and throwing hits where they can. In a flash of white, I see the number seven stitched onto the man’s shirt.

I watch them as they move in slow motion. It feels like the whole world has stilled, and all I can see is that Elijah is under the man with the bear mask. It’s like I’m locked in a horrendous nightmare all over again. He’s going to get killed, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Blindly, I stumble toward them. One step, then another. I think someone is screaming. Clenching my fists, I focus on keeping my thumb outside of my fingers.

Connor’s smiling face flashes in my vision. ‘Don’t break your thumb.’

I swing at the man in the bear mask. I throw my entire body weight into the punch, and as I’m swinging, I notice the man is raising something above his head. A rock.

The screaming continues. It’s earsplitting. I want it to stop.

My fist slams into the man. I don’t feel anything. It’s like I didn’t hit him. Rearing back, I hit him again.

Until something hot splashes against my legs.

Looking down, I see blood. Bright red blood splattered against my pants. Slowly, I look to where it’s coming from.

Elijah’s head. There’s a crater in it, and something is wrong with his eye. Where did it go?

My ears are ringing with the screaming. And something else. A voice that sounds like it’s telling me to run.

But still, I keep punching.