Survival Of The Fittest/By Taran

Chapter 16

Raphael walks down the steps of the stage with the machete and throws it to the other guard, who catches it effortlessly without a flinch. He climbs back up, standing by Xavier, and I finally let out a sigh of relief.

I could see the hatred the whole community had for me as they all looked over at me, on my knees, feeling uneasy. It's probably the injection or meds making me feel this way, I keep telling myself.

My gaze meets Xavier's once again who grins at me, viciously. My stomach started to turn, and before I could stop myself, I threw up. My head falls even closer to the ground, waiting for me to stop. I wipe the vomit away from my lips and chin, my eyes once again on the crowd, trying to lift myself back on my feet. My entire body ached, but my legs were in more pain than anything else.

"Millie," Finn says my name softly, exhausted and harmed from all the beating, he shakes his head. He mouths the word 'run' at me.

"Let him go, Xavier. Untie Finn" I puke again, wipe my mouth. The crowd gasps. "Oh, relax," I say under my breath. I know they were disgusted.

"Whatever you've done to me, fix it," I move closer to the stage, limping. A mess.

"Darling, why did you even try to run away in the first place? Could have saved all the trouble. You kids are such trouble makers, you know? Can't ever just obey," Xavier walks down the stage toward me, grabbing a hold on my hair aggressively. I let out a groan.

"Stop!" Finn screams at him, still tied up.

"Fix you? Nothing can fix you, Jones." He lets go of my hair, pushes me to the ground, as two guards grab me, picking me up onto my feet, bringing me up to the stage beside Finn. Both of us on our knees. I kept stumbling, my knees were too weak.

I get a glimpse of Finn and whisper, "It'll be okay."

"Now why shouldn't I just kill them both, hmm? These people we let in betrayed us, tried to escape to Red Rage. We let her and her friends into our lives and look at what they have done! They could have just behaved like every other outsider who we let in! Our own member betrayed us!" Xavier shouts to the crowd, to rile them up, which worked. They were angry. All of them.

"You were killing me!" My words are sharp. Xavier kneels beside me so no one could hear.

"You're the one hope, Millie. Don't you get it? Our people have been waiting for something or someone like you and finally you're here. I can tell them exactly what you are and make it difficult for you, but if you keep quiet, so will I" He gets back up, facing the crowd once again.

He points at Raphael who walks over for Xavier to whisper in his ear. Raphael heads toward the entrance, where I had just seen Isaac, last. Hopefully they don't find them and they make it out safely. I hope they aren't waiting for me because I'm sure Raphael and Xavier both know about the tunnels to Red Rage (the fourth division), of course. He owns this side. I shake my head to get out of it. Thinking sucks sometimes.

"I know you all want me to take their heads, but I shall let them go this time. A second chance is what we're all about. But we will have eyes on them at all times, let me tell you that. I promise to protect this community better and this was outrageous what I let these outsiders do. Let me assure you all that I will report the others to Red Rage, so they are found fast. This is a promise!" Xavier lifts his arm, placing his right hand over his heart as he bows, the crowd follows and cheers, loudly. The voices hurt my head.

He looks toward Finn and I, as he signals a guard to untie Finn, "As for you two, Finn will be downgraded to a Cook, since his duties as a guard got too tough for him, and Millie you'll stay as a Hunter. I think you have shown George and I that having you as a Hunter is valuable, however you both will eat whatever is left at the end after everyone else has eaten and if there's nothing left, well, you did this to yourselves."

The crowd laughs. Stupid people, I scoff.

Xavier fills up with anger once again, "I'm not that nice," He chuckles, "Whoever walks in front of those gates, whoever the outsider is, Millie will shoot. Everyone back to your usual," with that the crowd walks off, and so does Xavier and his team.

I let out a sigh of relief as I fall onto the concrete stage to lay down, "Fuck." Finn joins me, laying next to me, and grabs my hand, gently. We both look up at the sky, which starts to fill up with stormy clouds and darkness over the division.

"You were supposed to leave," He finally speaks to me, still looking up at the sky.

"And let them kill you? No, thanks Finn. I wasn't going to let someone else die because of me." I sigh, making Finn scoot closer, but we both weren't ready to face one another yet or look at each other in the eye.

"I could have saved Claire, Noah, Elena. I could have saved them all had I known. I mean, they're not fully sure if my blood would help but what if it did, and why didn't they try doing that to me with Claire?" Tears fill my eyes, but they don't leave.

"You can't save everybody, I hope you know that," Finn's voice softened.

"You can't either, Finn." We don't talk for a few minutes.

Watching the sky darken above us, felt like we were in a dome, but for some reason, it always works. Looking up at the cloudy, grim sky, sort of made it feel as if we weren't truly here on Earth anymore. We were floating. Nature does that, if you want it to. It becomes an escape, even for just a moment. I started to understand why and how Isaac finds peace in this, the way he gets indulged into it. An escape, something we all yearn for now.

I break the silence once again, " I just hope Isaac is on alert over there."

The rain suddenly starts pouring down on top of us. Finn gets up immediately, racing toward the house, thinking I'm right behind him.

"Finn!" I shout, he turns around, confused.

"I still need a little help here! My legs are still pretty fucked," I giggle (not the cute kind), laying there as the rain hits my face, not being able to move.

"Oh fuck! That's right, " Finn races back to me, putting me onto his back to carry me. We both laugh. Laughing when so much shit just happened? Sometimes it is exactly what's needed.

We head back to Finn's house.

The community was quiet and eerie. Nothing but the sound of rain hitting the rooftops and concrete.

Finally! Lol I hope this chapter is good, I know it's short but I'm working on the next one right this second. Please vote and pleeease comment to let me know what you think or anything tbh :) Thank youu