The Ravaged World (Book 2 of the Exiles Series)

Fifteen: Magnus

The summer passes in a slow, monotonous stretch of days. Most are spent doing things I rather wouldn't do. I give speeches. I speak to the reporters, preferring press conferences over any closer, more confrontational methods. I squeeze by, giving answers when needed and plastering a content, proud smile onto my face whenever I'm seen.

When I'm not out, I prefer my room over anywhere else. I talk to Max, asking him about the rebellion. He doesn't come over, though--it's just too dangerous now, with the guards all over the place and the reporters looking for ways to invade my privacy. I don't even feel safe here, though I should. The people can see through my facade. And, slowly, their hopes of improvement diminish, and they become restless, angry even.

People rebel. And not just Max's rebels. Some citizens resort to a more solitary attack style: looting stores and other government centers, attacking government personnel on the streets, and other acts of violence. People are dying. And even though I'm not directly to blame, I know that I am the one who lets it keep happening.

. . .

My shiny new sneakers slap the belt of the treadmill as I work out in the basement gym. It's mid-October now, stuck in that hopeless, uneventful time of year where the weather just can't seem to decide on fall or winter, the time where it's cool and blustery and all the energy of summer has just about wound all the way down. I'm underground, in my private workout area, guards standing along the glass wall that offers a view of the hallway on one side. But I don't look at them, not really. I have one goal in mind for my short recess, and that is to run.

My eyes are forward, not straying from a particularly interesting white brick in the wall. My feet move on their own, never stopping.

I look down for just a second to change the speed, make it faster. The speed change kicks in immediately, and I struggle to stay ahead of the belt, even though I can feel something behind me, something chasing me. But no matter how fast I'll go, I'll never escape it. Even though I'm moving, practically tripping over my own feet, sweat coating every inch of my body, my lungs burning, at their max, I'm not going anywhere, not really. I'm just moving on a stationary object, running blindly towards a destination I fear I'll never see, but I keep going because I can't let the thing behind me catch up.

I increase the speed again. A buzzer sounds as my feet slap the treadmill, warning me that I'm at my maximum exertion and that I need to stop. But I don't, and I soon regret it, because mid-stride I trip, and the belt continues to move, launching me backwards onto the floor. I lay sprawled on my back, stunned, waiting for my brain to catch up as the belt progressively slows, and eventually stops moving altogether, having noticed me gone. My legs sting from where the belt licked me, and I close my eyes, finding bliss in the darkness for a few seconds while I catch my breath and eventually decide to crawl to my feet, my whole body feeling rubbery and strange. I curse under my breath, feeling warm liquid on my shins and realizing that I'm bleeding.

"Are you alright, sir?" one of guards asks through the sound system, his voice generic and crackling.

I nod, still breathing hard, and leave to go back to my tutor and my day. I can't help but feel a little bit defeated, and it's not just because I fell off the treadmill.

When I go back to the room I'm supposed to be in, I find that my tutor is gone, replaced by Avalon, looking grave. "What's going on?" I ask, thinking that another attack happened, that a bunch of innocent people died, something of the like. And that's partly what I get, but it's much more personal than that.

"President Wilcox, I have some very bad news," Avalon says, not even telling me to sit down. "Your sister, Ari, was...well, she's gone."

"What..." I sit down, buckling under the weight of what that might mean. "What do you mean, she's gone? Was she kidnapped? Is she coming back here or something? Did she run away?" I watch as Avalon shakes her head. No, she can't, that can't be what Avalon means...