Involuntary Victim - Book 3 in Jessie's Story

Chapter 5: What's Real Anymore?

The train was in no driving condition, while the guards unloaded the train cars and loaded the Berg instead, a few guards handed water to the captive kids. My mask was unclasped and I gasped wildly for fresh air. The water bottle was thrust into my hands.

It was slightly warm but I didn't care. It hurt my sore raw throat, but it eased the pounding in my head slightly. A few of the kids three up, heat stroke taking hold of them finally. The sun had set and the stars were out. It seemed like midnight by the time the guards started dragging us up the Berg ramp. We were all shoved into one of the Bergs extra rooms and the door was locked with guards stationed around the inside of the room.

We were all huddled. Lost in our own thoughts. All of probably thinking the same thing...we were left behind. Why were we left behind?

With difficulty I crawled to the corner of the room. A guard watched me, the launcher in their hands had charged up. I lay my sore body down on the floor. The cool floor felt good on my sore head. I closed my eyes, pulling my arms tight into my body and I let the hum of the Berg engine put me to sleep.

•×•

My eyes snapped open. The first thing I saw was light blue sky and white fluffy clouds. The sun was shining on my face. I would feel the cool dewy grass under my fingers.
I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I was and what was going on. I couldn't hear anything. It was silent. I strained my ears to hear anything before I moved. I could hear the wind in trees. That was it. I finally turned my head.

I was back in the Glade. Or the Meadow. I couldn't tell. It all looked the same. With a stab of confusion it made my stomach twist. Sitting up slowly I looked around. The barn or bloodhound was empty. No animals, no slicers or ranchers. The gardens were abandoned, shoves and rackes lay abandoned, crates and buckets of fresh picked fruit and veggies. There wasn't even the sound of hammers, meaning no builders.

I slowly got to my feet. Something was very wrong. Was this the beginning again? Alone for a month... It's the same. A sob was stuck in my chest.

"You deserve this." A voice boomed. It echoed off the stone walls.

It made me flinch and throw my hands up over my head. His voice had been telling me this constantly.

"Why would you ever get a break?" "You know I never loved you. Who could ever love a killer?" "Your hideous with those scares." "You're mean and vulgar and violent." "You're a killer. A Monster. A murder."

His voice screamed horrible things at me, and then everyone's screams of pain. They would scream and sob, calling for help, begging for the pain to stop. I would pound on the maze doors until my fists were bruised and bloody, and my mind was broken. The doors would finally open.

"Run Jessie." He would then whisper, his voice was malicious and yet ammused. "Run Jessie. Run."

I had no choice. The Grievers would come crawling out of everywhere. The Deadheads, the barn, every other door would open in the stone walls revealing more Grievers. But theses Grievers didn't just have animal screams or black beady eyes. They had the eyes of every person I was responsible for killing.

Starting with Sadie. And then Chuck's, Ben, Alby, Zart, Gally, Clint, Adam, Dug, Peter, Winston, all the doctors I shot in the way station, Auntie Em, Uncle Marcus, The Handler. It didn't matter if they were good or Bad, if they had names or not, I knew their eyes. And their voices.