SPLICED

CHAPTER SIX

I'm not sure how long we sit there in silence, after that, but when I pull away, the fire has burned down to cinders and ash, and Gideon has fallen asleep. Ironically, I wish that I had those pills that the techs kept trying to shove down my throat, because in the stone-quiet house, I find I am the only one awake. Even David, the Owl, slumbers in the corner, curled up with Thea. The sight of their closeness makes me cold in so many ways, so I rise to add firewood to the fire, sinking down beside the hearth. Tomorrow will mark the day of change, the day which breaks us apart and sends up back into a world that's largely forgotten us. I know from his speech I will have Gideon by my side, but I still cannot shake the sense that through all of this, no matter if it's all of them or none of them, I will always feel alone without Alex.

Time winds on and the fire dies again, and finally I am able to drift, but only for an hour or two before I'm haunted by a dream, by the memory of Alex, falling over the railing. In my dream I see him, as he falls. He is reaching for me but I am too late and in my head I can hear his voice, asking 'Why... why did you go without me?'

I wake with a gasp, with a strangled cry and in the dusty light of morning I see the cabin has stirred, the others mulling, talking. David, Gideon and Thea are gone, hunting in the woods, I presume. When I stand, Margaux comes my way and reaches out a thin, bony hand.

"Are you okay? You're white as a sheet..."

I nod, but find the motion hurts my head, "I'm fine. Just... just a bad dream, is all. Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing, yet. I think everyone's a little afraid to get started. I'm still not sure it's the best idea... splitting us up. But it makes sense, I guess." A sigh escapes her, and she looks over at me, "I miss him. Blake. I just keep thinking, we were so close to getting out." She frowns, and I know what she's thinking, even before she says it, "...Alex, too."

"What happened to them... what Eden did... someday, Mags, I promise, we're gonna make it right. We're gonna make them pay. And not just for them, either. For us, too. For all of it."

I realize as I say it, how much I mean it. The pain is there, deeply rooted, but so is the determination. I miss Alex, and I will never stop missing him. But someday, I will pay Eden back for all they've done, and in doing so, at least a part of Alex will taste the freedom we have. It won't bring him back, and I don't know if I will ever be able to reconcile that, but it will make his death mean something, and really, that's all I can ask and hope for. That someday, everyone knows the sacrifices the seventeen we lost have made.

The door to the cabin opens and Thea, David and Gideon come inside, carting with them a brace of rabbits each, It's then, even uncleaned, uncooked, that I realize how desperately hungry I am. The silence that fills the cabin as the rabbits are prepared is a pretty clear indicator we're all half starving.

Finally, when the rabbits are ready, cooked over the fire, we eat and afterwards, Harrison pulls out a bundle of straw, and we all know what he's thinking. We've wasted enough time and we have decisions to make.

"There's long, medium and short straws," Harrison begins, holding them in his fists, "I figure there's eleven of us, three groups ought to be enough of a split for now, and we can always break it up even more later, if we have to."

"Let's just get this over with..." Daniel huffs, and he reaches for a straw, pulling it from the bunch. Without hesitation, I pull next and Margaux follows. In the end, into two groups of four and one of three. There are trades, and no one complains. In the end, I am with Gideon and Margaux, then there is Thea, David, Harrison and Sarah, and finally Katie, Daniel, Layla and Jasper.