Read -Worlds Apart- Ruination Online
Authors: Amanda Thome
Tags: #Novel, #dystopian, #series, #trilogy, #Fiction, #Young Adult, #Suspense, #Action, #amanda thome, #thriller
The explosions sound simultaneously. The ground shakes as fire and smoke barrel down the corridor racing toward the door. I throw the weight of my body against the solid metal sealing it shut just as the cloud of destruction reaches us. My body thrusts forward from the atomic power of the fiery wall but I resist. The ground underneath Ty turns crimson as blood and life pour out of him.
I reach into my jacket pulling out the beacon signal and press down on the buttons for five seconds, just like we’d been shown. I pray Jake can get here fast enough. I stumble to Ty and tear off my sleeve, tying it above his thigh. His breath is ragged and shallow, his skin’s pale and white. I follow the warm blood to his back driving my hand into the pulsing wound.
I need Jake to get here now; he doesn’t have much time. Ty’s eyes flutter open and closed as his breathing begins to slow. With his slowing breath my heart frees itself and becomes his. I know that he is mine and I am his. So unfair and so wrong that my heart is just now ready to be given away. Ready to be taken by a man that might die in my arms. I press my head to his, “Don’t leave me. I need you, I
love
you.”
The corners of his mouth pull into a weak smile. I feel the pressure of air driving down on us. I look up to the massive belly of the craft. Jake lowers the basket and I drag Ty into it. I lay on top of him and imagine him doing the same for me back in the woods. We lift into the craft as the ramp seals shut.
“Nessa! Are you okay?”
“Kara, help! He’s been shot.” I crawl off Ty as we transfer him onto the gurney.
“I’ll need your help,” Kara demands. “Keep pressure,” she guides my hands placing them over his gushing wounds. Kara begins administering fluids through his collapsing veins. “We need to get him to a hospital now!” She shouts to Jake. “I need to start a transfusion.” She hangs a bag of fresh blood. The craft rockets forward as Jake tests his skills.
“ETA is thirty minutes Kara.” Jake screams from the front. Kara gives no reply.
“Will he make it?” I ask.
“No telling, we’re doing the best we can.”
My hands are warm, more than warm, they’re hot from his blood. Kara moves my hands around alternating from his gushing leg to his bleeding back. I can’t help but feel like I’m in the way. Even if I am, I can’t let go. I won’t stop trying to staunch the bleeding.
Suddenly Ty’s body arches, hanging in midair like he’s being bent in two. I hold my breath, panicked. He crashes back to the table. The sound startles me, shaking me to my core. Kara’s yelling orders and I do the best I can, but he looks so pale and now he’s shaking. His whole body trembles as Kara tries hanging another bag of fresh blood. I hold pressure to his wounds but all I can think about are his eyes. Eyes that are rolling toward the back of his head.
Suddenly I get what I asked for as the bleeding stops. What if the bleeding stopped because he’s gone? Maybe it meant he was still with me before and now he’s not. His eyes roll one last time before they fall shut. He’s still, this can’t be right.
Jake veers the hovercraft to the side as he dodges our resistance fighters that are taking down the walls. The gurney slides across the craft as one of the bombs explodes close to us. Jake throttles forward. Without warning he careens the craft to the left, throwing it on its side. We aren’t in a safe zone yet. The life line connecting to Ty’s hand gets torn as the gurney slides across the floor of the craft.
“Jake you have to get control!” Kara shouts.
“Sorry but this isn’t easy!” Jake yells from the cockpit.
Another explosion goes off, sending chills around my body.
“Brace yourselves!” Jake screams.
Debris from the exploding wall fly through the air, slamming into the side of the craft. Everything shakes and I watch in sickening horror as Kara tries to thread the IV back into Ty’s hand. I keep my hands pressed to Ty’s wounds, even though they aren’t bleeding anymore.
“We’ve got to get there fast Jake, we’re losing him!” Kara shouts as she threads the IV back into his vein.
Jake levels the craft and pushes forward, leaving the exploding walls of my former nation behind us. Finally we cross into safety but I know it might be too late. The craft slows and maintains its hover. Kara and I are at the ramp with Ty before Jake has the chance to release the latch.
“They’re waiting for you!” Jake yells.
I can’t tell if Ty’s breathing. I want to collapse, my legs are trembling. Could I have lost him already? Was there a moment when he went from breathing and alive to suddenly gone, right under my touch? How didn’t I feel the life leave him? I should have felt his spirit go. Right?
We’re met by a team of doctors. They grab the gurney wheeling him through the doors. I collapse to my knees staring at my blood-covered hands in disbelief. The man I love could die tonight and it’s all my fault. I shake as I wipe the blood from my fingers.
Jake’s hands feel foreign on my shoulders and do nothing to comfort me, “Nessa, I’m sorry. He’s in the right place now. They’ll take care of him.”
In the distance the sound of exploding bombs ring out over the wall. We completed our mission. My people can finally be free but was it worth it? Was Ty’s life worth it? I can’t answer that question, I don’t even want to think about it.
“I need to be with him,” I say looking at Jake.
Kara lifts me to my feet. “I’ll go with you.” She wraps me in her arms, leading me to the empty waiting room. I stare across the room at the yellow walls and wait as the hours pass. My mind’s numbed to everything around me.
A doctor, probably in his early thirties startles me, “Miss. Hollins?” I shoot to my feet with Kara by my side. “He’s out of surgery.” He pauses and I want to kill him for making me wait. “He’s going to make it.”
I fall back into my chair on the verge of crying, “Can I see him?”
“Not yet, he’s still in recovery but you’ll see him soon enough.” The doctor turns to leave.
Kara rubs my shoulders, “You saved his life, you know that right?”
I nod, “I’m staying here tonight, alright?”
“I’ll stay with you then.”
Chapter 48
I wake startled by the blood covering my ripped uniform. Kara and I slept in the waiting room chairs. My neck aches in protest. “Kara wake up,” I nudge her.
“Morning,” she yawns shaking her head. “Let me go talk to the doctors, see if you can visit him yet.”
She gets up and leaves. I watch her make her way to the nurse’s station. My heart drums wildly as the anticipation builds. She turns with a smile, good news I’m hoping.
“We can see him now,” she says.
I jump to my feet following her to his room. I hesitate outside his door, I’m nervous about what I’ll see. Kara pulls the door open. There are alarms and machines hooked up everywhere but there he is, alive and awake.
“Nessa.” His voice is weak.
“Ty! I thought I’d lost you.” I reach for his hand squeezing it between mine.
“I didn’t come this far makin’ you fall for me just to die.” He smiles, his eyes fighting to stay awake.
The nurse steps into the room, “He needs his rest. You can see him tomorrow.”
Ty smiles, “She can stay.”
My fingers trace along his hands, it’s amazing how much better he looks already. I lose myself in his eyes, green ones that draw me into them. There’s a gentle knock as Kara steps back in. I didn’t even notice her leave.
“Nessa, we have your family. They’re here to see you.” I’d almost forgot about that. A pit hits my stomach. Kara clears her throat, “They’re in the lounge.”
“Go see them. I’ll wait for ya.” Ty smiles. “I was thinkin’ of going for a swim but I guess I can wait a blink.” He grins.
“I’ll be right back.” My stomach twists and turns in excitement.
It’s been a year since I’ve seen Papa or Emma. I hope they recognize me. What if they’re mad? Maybe they didn’t want to be rescued. Maybe they would rather have stayed where they were. I shake my head, knowing they wouldn’t have wanted to live a lie. I take the turn around the nurse’s station and see them. My heart skips in my chest, throwing itself wildly as I get closer. Their backs are to me as they watch the news of last night’s attacks stream across the TV.
“Papa…Emma?” I say. They turn, Papa freezes and Emma runs.
“Nessa!” She clings to my waist as my heart races. She’s grown so much in a year.
“Emma thank god you’re safe!” Papa makes his way to me. His eyes are twisted with pain and confusion. “Papa, I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you but I couldn’t. They would have taken Emma, they would have—” He cuts me off, pulling me into his arms.
His touch feels stronger than ever before, more comforting and honest than I remember. It feels so good to have them back.
“What happened to you? You look awful.” Emma says.
“I’ve been through hell and back about three times. I’ll tell you everything in time. All that matters is you’re here. You’re free and safe.” I look at Kara and Jake. “These are good people. They’ll help us.” Emma’s eyes give away her trepidation.
“What about the people we left behind?”
Jake chimes in from the corner, “We’re not going to rest until we’ve freed everyone.”
Emma looks back to me, “Did Garrett find you?”
“Garrett?” A pit settles deep in my stomach. “No Emma, they took him to Central after the banquet last year. He’s probably still there.”
Jake turns up the broadcast streaming from the massive television in the lobby. Images of the crafts bombing the walls flash and I see hundreds of refugees making their way through the rubble.
Emma takes a deep breath, “He escaped months ago.”
It’s like the air’s kicked out of me. “What?” I ask.
Papas rests his hand on Emma’s shoulder, “A month ago he came to our house looking for you.” The pit twists like a knife in my stomach. “He’d broken out of Central to find you. We told him what had happened, or at least what Central had told us.” Papa speaks up, “He didn’t believe the story. He knew you didn’t accept any scout position, he knew it didn’t exist. He left to find you.”
My stomach hollows as I try catching my breath. The television blasts an emergency alarm and the screen flashes to static. Jake curses.
“Damn thing’s broken.”
The static stops as coverage begins again but it’s different now. No more walls crumbling and refugees being rescued. Now it’s a sterile white room with a single chair positioned dead center. There’s a man tied to the seat. His body’s limp as blood drips from the white bag covering his head.
Jake stares at the TV. “What the hell?” He looks back to Kara and me. I try focusing on the news. We all turn to the television as Jake dials up the volume.
The singsong voice begins, “Ladies and gentleman this is a message from behind the walls of Central. I’m here to inform you that one of the leaders of last night’s rebellion has been captured.” We all look to each other utterly confused. “He
will
be executed in one week from today unless his co-conspirator surrenders.” Kara and I lock eyes. “Her name is Vanessa Hollins.” A picture of my face flashes across the screen. “We’re asking anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to contact us. We’re prepared to initiate biological warfare on your people unless she’s surrendered within one week’s time.”
The voice sounds so familiar and then it hits me, Natalie. Just then her long dark hair sashays as she walks in front of the camera towards the chair. My blood boils and I’ve never wanted to kill her more than I do now.
“One week Miss Hollins.” She looks directly at the camera like she’s staring into my soul. She pulls off the bag and I immediately drop to the floor. My knees hit as I feel myself in ruination. She lifts Garrett’s chin, his swollen acorn-brown eyes look straight at the camera, straight at me.
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