To Be A Rebel

Chapter 32: Staying Alive

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I roar.

"Runner Five!" Sam yells, sobbing. He's hyperventilating. "Callista!"

I stand, looking ahead. I see trees, and fences, and...

I'm still in the training grounds.

Why am I still here? I'm dead.

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Who's heartbeat is that?

A hand strokes my face. It's almost transparent. The owner of the hand looks at me with confusion. How do I know what confusion looks like?

"I'm... alive? Why am I alive, even though I'm dead?" Moonchild tips her head to the side, and I just stare at her blankly. "You got bit by a zombie, Five. You're in the testing grounds, and the Minister's watching, and you... you got bitten, and you started coughing, and now... I'm dead, Five. So are you. Is this what dead feels like?"

I can hear screaming, and I look up to see two children being dragged off the platform by men in uniforms. Those are my children. They're crying.

Are they crying for me? Because I'm dead?

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"The test has failed, Minister," Veronica says. "I can only apologize."

"Ah, well. At least Runner Five met a painful end," Sigrid says. "And you'll have some data for your research."

"What happens to me now, Five? Is this what it's like to be dead?"

I don't answer. I'm not even sure if I can.

"We should collect the Five Zombie now and bring it to my laboratory," Veronica says.

"Don't worry about that now," Sigrid says. "Come and have tea with me, Veronica. We can talk through our next steps. Guards, take these two screaming children back to their cells. Put them in the same one for all I care. They can cry about their dead mother together."

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"I can still feel your thoughts, Five." Moonchild leans closer to me, looking into my eyes, but seeing past them. She can still do that, apparently. "I can still see your neurons firing. Look. Look what I can do."

She reaches forward, her hand disappearing as if she's actually reaching into my head, and suddenly she's not Moonchild. Or at least, she doesn't look like Moonchild.

"That's my Five," Sarah says with a grin.

I try to speak, but all that comes out is a snarl.

Oh, that's right. I'm dead.

It feels like a lot like being alive actually... but why am I still here? Is it because I'm undead, my soul is trapped here? Is that how this works?

"And me, Minister?" Ian asks hopefully. "Shall I come for tea?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," She replies, her voice clipped.

"Veronica, what are-are you going?" Nadia chokes out, and looking up on the platform, I see Veronica shrug.

"There's nothing to be done, Nadia. We'll collect the zombie after tea."

"Am I still alive?" Moonchild grins at me. "What would happen, Five, if I told you to run?"

I take a step forward.