Frozen

Chapter 30

"GET UP DANIELLE!" 

My eyelids are heavy but something tells me that I need to move quick. I look up and see Hunter, my friend from Section A, looking down at me. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET UP!" 

He demands pulling me onto my feet. Everything around us is filled with fog and dust. Red lights are flashing in every corner. The sound of gun shot and screams fill the air. 

We are back in Section A. 

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" I yell over to Hunter. 

This has to be a dream. Hunter is dead. 

"THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL US ALL! WE NEED TO ESCAPE!" 

He hands me a loaded pistol and we stay low. We crawl out of the cafeteria and into the hall towards an exit. 

"SOMEONE MUST BE GUARDING THE EXITS!" I try warning Hunter. 

"GRAYSON IS AT ONE EXIT HELPING US ESCAPE!" He yells back. 

"GRAYSON?!" I yell back with confusion. 

"TRUST ME DANIELLE! HE IS HELPING US NOW COME ON!" He yells back. 

Every time a H.O.P.E leader walks towards us we shoot and kill them. There are teens everywhere trying to escape this blood bath. 

I can see Grayson at the end of the hall waiting at the exit door. He has his gun out ready to shoot us. Hunter quickly takes his gun out and shoots the security cameras surrounding us. Grayson watches as he does this and let's him do it. 

"HURRY!" Grayson yells trying to send us out of Section A. He still points his gun but I follow right behind Hunter running out the doors beside Grayson. 

I sprint as fast as I can beside Hunter leaving Section A behind us. Screams and shots can still be heard out here but we have to keep moving. There is no looking back. 

We run into the trees but Hunter keeps running. There are more teens following behind me, the ones who were lucky enough to survive. 

Hunter grabs a tree and pulls me with him. We are not looking out for any H.O.P.E members who have followed us. He is getting ready to shoot so I copy him and get myself prepared. 

"A group of us knew that this was going to happen," Hunter whispers to me. "Grayson gathered us based on our rankings in training."

I remain silent trying to concentrate on shooting while trying to listen to what Hunter is saying. 

"I wanted to tell you but he said it was for the best for you not to know," he continues. "He said you will find a way to help when the time comes and he wasn't wrong. He told me to make sure you stayed alive through all of this." 

"Why a mass killing?" I whisper. 

"Sonia didn't like how we were behaving, specifically the older group. This is why all the younger kids were moved to another section," he whispers back. 

"Grayson wanted to help us?" I ask.

"He is the one who gathered us so I trust him. I know you don't but-"

"I trust him," I whisper cutting him off. "He saved me before." 

We watch as a man run through the trees. We all aim our guns at him. 

"WAIT!" Hunter yells. I don't let myself drop this gun. 

It's Grayson. He walks towards all of us and I see all the survivors step out of the trees. 

"It is done," he says. "Sonia is dead." 

Cheers of happiness and success fill the forest air. I see people hugging and people smiling. I have never seen so much happiness in so long. Along with the happiness are people who lost loved ones in that killing. The ones who will be permanently damaged forever. 

Hunter pulls me into a tight hug and I hug him back. His tears crash onto my shoulder, tears of joy. 

"This is what would have happened if we were successful," he whispers into my ear. 

"What did you say?" I ask not believing what he said. 

"Danielle," he whispers in my ear. 

All of a sudden the cheers stop and we are surrounded with silence.

"We weren't successful," he whispers. 

He pulls away from me and looks me in my eyes. 

"Look around us Danielle," he says placing his arms out. 

I turn and look at all the dead bodies lying on the ground in the middle of this forest. Teens with their stomachs bleeding, limbs missing, and blood coming out of random places.

I turn back around and Hunter is no longer standing beside me. I look down and see him lying with his left eyes shot and blood coming out of his mouth and stomach. His right eye is wipe open looking up at the sky. 

Tears form in my eyes and my stomach turn at this sight. I drop to my knees and cry out for mercy. 

"Hunter," I whisper choking out his name. 

I place my shaky hands on his face and his blood pours onto them. I close his right eye slowly knowing that his is forever gone. My tears crash onto his dead body as his once did onto my shoulder. 

"It was a shock to all of them," a voice says behind me. 

I turn and look up to see Grayson. 

"They are all dead now," he whispers. 

I continue to cry beside my dead friend. I turn my head to face Hunter once again, but he isn't there. I'm not in the forest anymore. I am sitting on a tiled floor. 

I lift my hands and see no blood on them, but I am still shaking in shock. I turn back and I see a hospital bead right behind me. I take a deep breath and lift myself up to see who is in the bed. 

Grayson lays in it attached to random tubes and gadgets including a oxygen mask. He looks at me with heavy eyes and a wore out look. 

"... and I'm next," he whispers.