A Collection of Ruins

Chapter 19 - The Beginning of the End (Elizabeth)

Elizabeth

My eyes fluttered closed, my eyelashes tickling my skin. The sun was bright and warm – warmer than it ever was in the Met – and painted the inside of my eyelids orange. Cicadas chirped nearby as I breathed in deeply – Sterilis always seemed so refreshing as opposed to the stale air of the Metropolis. I found a smile on my face as I exhaled, but that soon disappeared as I reopened my eyes to find Callie staring into space, looking forlorn.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "Did something happen at home?"

She shrugged. "Something's always happening at home. Whenever I tell dad I'm going out, he grills me about crossing the Miracle Mile. He grills me about associating with the Rebels and dragging you into it too. He grills me about how I shouldn't influence Jonathan to come with us because it could jeopardise his future in the police force." She shook her head. "Like the Met needs anyone else to control the people when he sits at the head of the Council."

I scoffed. "Jonathan doesn't get influenced into anything." I said. "He comes with us on his own discretion."

My best friend looked away. "Does he?"

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "He comes because you come. If he wanted to come and if he liked it here so much, why would he fight Chris and Adrian at every chance he gets?"

I picked at the grass beside me. "I can't be the person Jonathan wants me to be." I said softly. "I can't live my life out in the Met and pretend there's nothing like Sterilis out there. We all know that's what would happen if the wall gets built."

Callie shrugged. "The wall's been approved. It might as well be built already."

I shuffled closer to her, pulling her hair back and starting to braid it like I used to when we were younger. "Think positive for now." I told her. "You said Chris is letting you join the Fights, right? Aren't you excited?"

I felt her stiffen. "I... I'm not joining the Fights anymore, Liz." She said softly.

"What?" I exclaimed, my hands falling from their place, the braids falling from her hair. "Why not? I mean, sure, you're from the city but it's not like they've stopped people like us entering before. And you turned 20 months ago – they can't say no!" I huffed. "I'm gonna go give Chris a piece of my mind. You stay here."

But she grabbed my wrist as I pulled away. "Liz, no. It... It was my decision not to fight this year." She insisted.

My brow furrowed. She had been so determined only days before, and now... "Why?" I asked.

"Liz, I'm..." She paused, "I'm just not ready at the moment. Besides," she added, her tone lightening, "if I enter next year, I'll get to enter with you."

I wasn't sure if I believed her or not, but I let it drop; she would tell me her reasons when she was ready. "So long as you don't expect me to go easy on you because we're friends." I joked.

"I would never!" She promised.

Before I could respond, Chris appeared, slipping down the slight decline of the hill until he sat beside Callie. "Hey, you," he said, kissing her softly on the cheek.

"Bastard! You jumped the start!" Came another voice from further off.

I turned just in time to see Adrian running full speed towards us, but unlike Chris, he didn't notice the hill. He was sent tumbling down the decline until he landed on his stomach at the bottom.

Callie immediately guffawed, her earlier solemn mood forgotten. "How can a Rebel be so damn clumsy?" She asked.

"I'm not clumsy." Adrian grumbled as he got up. "I was aiming for him." He said, pointing at Chris. "I planned on tackling his cheating ass down the damn hill, but I remembered too late that you pair are always attached at the hip."

Callie scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'd gladly suffer the beating I'd get for tackling Chris down a hill, but I wouldn't like to experience the beating I'd get for tackling his girl down a hill." He explained.

I raised my eyebrows. "Looks like you do have a brain, after all."

"There are plenty of things you don't need a brain for." Adrian argued, raising a single eyebrow as he sat down beside me. "I could teach you sometime."

Chris scoffed at his friend's terrible attempt at flirting. "I don't think you need to teach anyone how to fall down a hill. I'm pretty sure that relies mainly on gravity, not skill."

"We'll see how well gravity works when I knock you on your ass in the Fights." Adrian muttered, his words a challenge.

Chris just shrugged. "Not if I knock you on your ass first." Then he looked from Callie to me. "What were you guys doing anyway?"

I made a show of lying back down and closing my eyes. "Photosynthesising." I said, sitting back up.

Callie laughed, but the boys both looked confused. "It's a science term." She told them simply.

Adrian rolled his eyes. "You city folk and your science." He said, only half joking. "Out here we don't need your fancy science knowledge to survive. We just need—"

"Brains?" I offered.

A smirk appeared on his face. "Precisely."

"It's a wonder you're still around, then." Callie pointed out.

He gave an over-exaggerated sigh. "What did I do to deserve all this?" He joked.

"Well," Chris said, "you did threaten to tackle me down a hill."

"Touché."

We fell into silence then. The four of us knew we needed to talk, but no one could fathom how.

It was Callie who finally found the courage to ask.

"What are we going to do?" She asked softly.

"We'll do what we always do." Chris said. "Survive."

I scoffed. "Do you really think they're just building this wall to keep the Rebels out?" I asked. "We won't be able to come here as often, if at all."

Adrian stiffened beside me. "We'll figure something out." He said. "They can't keep you all locked up in there."

"And who's going to stop them?" Callie asked. "I've seen the rough plans for this wall my dad and the Council want to build. It's not some small thing – it's a fortress. No amount of Rebels will be able to break it down."

"This wall won't be the end of us." Adrian insisted.

Oh, how he was wrong.