Surviving Patorum

Chapter 22

I awake to the feeling of warmth radiating through my chest. Before I can open my eyes, my hands cradle my pounding head.

I must be dead. There's no way I'd be able to survive a bullet to the chest again.

My eyes flutter open, and I see Paige cuddling next to me, her hips pressing against mine, her back against my chest. Instantly, I scoot my pelvis away, not wanting anything to press against her. I roll over, my eyes adjusting to the brightness coming into the room.

Where am I?

I eye Paige's arm and notice the tunicate is still on, and the blood dripping down it has crusted over and dried. Her golden hair lies in knots under her head, tickling my face as I move my head away from it.

"You're finally awake." A whisper fills the silence, and I almost jump to my feet. "Thought you were a goner." I see a guard sitting on the ground about three feet away from me. He's still wearing his uniform, but it's splattered with blood, and his gun is clutched in his hands.

I sit up, my head throbbing harder than it did before. I rub a knuckle into my eye. "What happened?" I ask my voice deep from sleep.

"Those damn crickets attacked us." The guard says, moving the sweaty hair clinging to his forehead under his hat. "We had to come back in here. Block the door."

I realize I'm in the compound, sleeping in the tunnel right inside Gate 5's door. The door isn't closed, but something is blocking us from the outside. I see the faint glow of morning seeping through the gap at the top of the gate. Then, I realize what's piled in the doorway and stopping anything from coming inside. Bodies.

"You did this?" I ask.

"Not just me," He motions to the few people lying next to us and further down the tunnel. "They helped. More people were helping us, but the crickets got to them. The name's Wellings, by the way, Thomas Wellings." He holds out his arm for a handshake, and I hurry over beside him and wrap my hand around his, giving him a weak shake.

"Ethan Cooper."

"Oh, I know who you are." He gives a slight chuckle. "Saw you standing next to the Founder before it went to shit."

"Ah," I nod my head. "Let me guess. You were one of the guards that found me in the Control Room?"

"Nah, I was on the Hub floor when the riot broke loose. Tried to help people get out and to the gates. Wouldn't have done that if I knew what was out there."

"How many people are dead?"

"Too many," Wellings says, setting his gun on the floor beside him. "Don't know about the other gates, but we were the only ones that made it back inside before we blocked the door."

I do a quick count of the room. Eight. Only eight of what seemed like a hundred people escaping through this gate returned to the compound. What happened was a massacre.

What about Dally? Or my mother? Did they get eaten by the crickets?

I let some air out of my mouth. "How was I one of them?" I say, more to myself than to Wellings.

"The Founder's daughter pulled you through right when we started." He bumps me with his shoulder. "Right after Jacobs shot you in the chest. He points to another guard sleeping on the other side of the tunnel, and my eyes make their way to my jacket, and I see a small bullet hole just a few inches above my heart, right through my breast muscle. The cloth surrounding the hole is coated with blood, which is still wet and sticky. "It's a miracle what happened to you, by the way. I wonder if you're like Superman." He adds.