Chapter 52

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"Pick up the weapons," Zac suddenly yells, pointing past me to the cluster of people on the grass

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"Pick up the weapons," Zac suddenly yells, pointing past me to the cluster of people on the grass. "Get rid of all of it and head to the stable. Now!" he orders. Everyone suddenly jumps into action, yelling and calling for each other as they move in a panic.

"Zac!" Sam yells, slamming his hand against the truck.

"I know," Zac replies, striding towards us. "I'll move it."

"Where?"

"I don't have a fucking clue."

"Where should we..."

"Get yourselves over to the treeline," Zac instructs, pointing towards the road. "We need to know what their intentions are."

"You want us to watch them from the trees?" Sam repeats and Zac nods, reaching into the truck before handing Sam and I each a weapon.

"Yes," he snaps. "Fucking go."

"Zac-"

"We don't have time," Zac says to me before sliding into the truck. It roars to life only moments later as Lyla and Poppy rush past us, handfuls of ammo in their arms.

"Let's go," Sam exclaims, grabbing my hand and begin to drag me down the driveway.

"Wait up!" the familiar call comes from behind us. Kayla appears beside us within seconds, a rifle in her hands. We plunge into the thick undergrowth, weaving around the trees before crouching in the midst of the plants, desperately praying we aren't seen.

My heart is hammering against my ribcage as I lay in the grass, my gun extended in front of me, the roar of the engine only getting louder with every passing second. The farm behind us is silent, the façade of an abandoned building back in place. We've been so careless, gotten so comfortable where we are that we've forgotten to look out for the fucking danger.

I swallow the lump in my throat as the guarded truck gets closer, my heart beating so fast that I'm certain even the enemy will hear it. You're a fucking idiot, Emilia.

Imagine if they find us now... all of our hard work will have been for nothing. We'll never be able to go South, we'll never be able to stop the tyrannical reign in the North.

They will tear us apart and throw everyone in separate cells, no doubt without food or drink before they decide to kill us one by one.

The thought has my heart aching—pictures of Sam, Heidi, Kayla, Jordan, Kieran and Riley all being shot in front of me making me feel sick. When my head fills with an image of Zac, I begin to hyperventilate. Kayla instantly places a hand on my arm, trying to calm me. Her eyes are filled with curiosity as I look up at her, torn out of my wretched daydream and back to this hellish reality.

We're fucked. There's no way out of this, they've found us. We have nowhere to run, no place to hide and all because we weren't prepared. We should have had someone on lookout for the six days that we've been here. We've been foolish and now we'll pay the price.

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