Chapter 2 — Where Am I?
ELENA
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Two months ago
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Rain. Cold. Unrelenting rain. The icy water struck my face hard enough to sting as consciousness slowly returned. Every breath felt heavier than the last, my lungs struggling against the damp air that surrounded me. I forced my eyes open.
Everything was blurred. The world was nothing more than grey skies, sheets of rain, and shadows moving between towering trees. Where... Where am I?
I blinked several times, trying to steady my vision. Mud stretched in every direction, soaked by the storm until it resembled a swamp more than solid ground. Violent winds bent the trees overhead, their branches groaning against one another.
I tried to move. Pain immediately shot through my shoulders. My wrists were tied tightly behind the trunk of a tree. Rope.
I was tied to a tree. My pulse quickened.
No... No, no... I struggled against the restraints, but the soaked rope only dug deeper into my skin. Then... Footsteps.
Slow. Approaching. My heart stopped. A figure emerged through the curtain of rain.
Commander Joseph. The moment I saw him, every memory came crashing back.
Ian. Hog. Emma. Caine. The shelter.
The mission. The Marie Central Building.
Then... Nowella. My little sister. The thought alone stole the air from my lungs. No...
Please... Please tell me she's alive... Commander Joseph stopped directly in front of me before crouching until we were eye level. His lips curled into the same smile that had haunted my nightmares for years. I stared back with nothing but hatred. If looks could kill... He'd already be dead. He reached forward and grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to meet his eyes.
The touch alone made my stomach turn.
Without thinking I spat directly into his face. The rain washed part of it away almost immediately. Silence. He blinked once. Then Crack. His hand slammed across my face. The force sent my head snapping sideways. A sharp pain exploded through my cheek. "I don't understand," he said calmly, wiping his face with the back of his glove, "why you'd come back after running away like the bitch you are." I glared at him. I refused to look away.
He slowly lowered his hand. My entire body tensed. His fingers brushed against my chest. I flinched violently. Every nerve beneath my skin screamed. He chuckled.
Then leaned closer. "Maybe..." he murmured, "you missed getting fucked by me, huh?" His grin widened. "Filthy whore."
The words felt dirtier than the rain covering my body. Then he spat directly into my face. His grip tightened painfully around my jaw until I cried out. My skin crawled beneath his touch. Every instinct begged me to fight back. To claw his eyes out.
To make him bleed. But I couldn't. Not tied like this. Not yet. I don't know where everyone is... Did they escape? Did Ian make it out? Did my plan work? Or...
Were they all caught because of me?
My thoughts spiraled. Nowella. Where was she? Had they killed her? Or... Has Ian found her? Had the soldiers rescued the children? I couldn't tell. Not knowing was torture all by itself. Commander Joseph studied me for another moment. "Although..." he said thoughtfully, "...I still don't understand why you'd be in the Central Building alone." My heartbeat slowed. Alone? He thinks I was alone...
Relief flickered inside me. They didn't know.
They didn't know the others had been there. I swallowed hard. Say nothing.
No matter what happens... Say nothing.
My silence seemed to annoy him, but before he could continue, one of the guards shouted his name from somewhere behind us. Commander Joseph clicked his tongue. "We'll continue this later." He stood and walked away without another glance.
I watched him disappear through the storm. Only then did I finally let myself breathe. I slowly looked around. The place was unfamiliar. Completely unfamiliar. I'd spent years trapped inside the Reestablishment. I have memorized countless buildings. Countless roads. Countless checkpoints. But this... I'd never seen this place before. No one had ever spoken about it. Not once. Where am I?
The storm swallowed every possible answer. I shook the thought away.
One problem at a time. First... Get free.
I scanned the muddy ground around me.
There. A sharp edged rock. Just within reach. Hope flickered inside me. I stretched my foot toward it. Almost... Just a little more... The tip of my boot brushed against it. The rock rolled farther away. "No..."
I tried again. The mud made everything slippery. Every attempt only pushed the rock farther beyond my reach. Damn it... The rain wasn't helping. Neither was the wind. Every movement felt twice as difficult. Then something occurred to me.
The silence. There were no voices. No guards talking. No footsteps. Nothing.
Only the storm. Had they... Left me here?
My chest tightened. For one impossible moment... I almost felt relieved. Anything...
Anything was better than living under the Reestablishment again. Even death. My thoughts drifted back to the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
Ian. He'd been trying to pull me with him.
Trying to save me. Even when everything was falling apart... He'd come back for me.
A small, bittersweet smile found its way onto my face. He's so unbelievably selfless...Always thinking about everyone except himself. The smile disappeared almost instantly. Thud. My body froze.
Another one. Thud. Thud. The ground trembled beneath me. My breathing became shallow. The sound came from somewhere beyond the trees. Branches snapped violently. Something enormous was approaching. I leaned forward, trying to see through the rain. Then...It stepped into view. Every drop of blood drained from my face. No...
No... That can't be... The creature towered nearly fifteen feet into the air. Its body was grotesquely swollen. Misshapen. Twisted.
Its flesh pulsed unnaturally beneath layers of torn muscle. And embedded throughout its body... Were faces. Human faces. The decaying heads of infected protruded from its flesh, as though it had consumed its own kind until they had become part of it.
I remembered what Ian and the others had described after the Coastal Area mission.
The giant infected. But this... This was far worse. Far larger. Far more horrifying. The creature reached me within seconds.
Its enormous hand wrapped around my body and effortlessly tore me away from the tree. I screamed. The sound escaped before I could stop it. It lifted me into its massive palm. Its grip tightened as I struggled. I kicked. Twisted. I tried to force myself free. The harder I fought... The tighter its fingers became. Pain shot through my ribs. The creature stared directly into my eyes.It wasn't mindless.
It was watching me. Studying me. It could see my fear. And somehow... It looked as though it was enjoying it. I stopped struggling. There was no escaping this.
This... This is how I die. Then.... Voices Distant shouting echoed through the storm. My heart leapt. The soldiers?
Hope ignited inside me. I looked down desperately. But instead of familiar faces...
I saw Commander Joseph. And dozens of armed guards. The giant froze. Completely motionless. Like a statue. Yet I could tell...
I was still aware. Still alive well not exactly but definitely conscious. Commander Joseph lifted what looked like a military radio. His voice echoed through the clearing. "Leave her." The giant didn't move. Its fingers twitched. Almost unwillingly. It looked as though every instinct inside it wanted to keep me.
But... It couldn't. Slowly... Reluctantly...
Its massive hand opened. I fell. The air rushed past me. Then.. Impact.Soft. Confused, I looked beneath me. Several guards were holding a large rescue tarp, catching my fall before I hit the ground.
One of them looked toward Commander Joseph. "Why save her, sir?" He frowned.
"She'll just try to escape again." He hesitated. "And this time... she might tell someone about this place." Commander Joseph smiled. Cold. Calculating. "No."
His eyes settled on me. "She won't."
A pause. "I have plans for this one." Fear settled deep inside my chest. Before I could react .. Something sharp pierced my neck. A syringe. I gasped. The liquid burned as it entered my bloodstream.
My vision blurred almost instantly. No...
Not again... The storm faded.The voices became distant. Darkness swallowed everything..And the world disappeared.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17LjAN2xME
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