The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (portable ebook reader .txt) 📕

We moved quicker from then on, and I heard commotion from behind us. Was it Sierra and Ronald leaving? Had Leslie backed down? Were they still fighting? I had no idea what was happening, but I couldn’t look back. I held on tightly to Smith and kept trucking forward. Until his weight came crashing down on top of me with the gunshot that rang out.

Chapter Ten

I looked up in shock only to see Smith’s arm in my way. His groans and mumbles were muffled through his tangled body lying on the hard ground. I shot a glance over to the other side of Smith as I struggled out from under his arm only to see Garrett lying there, lifeless. The gunshot wound went right through his back on the left side, directly through the left side of his chest. His eyes were set wide open. His once vibrant brown eyes that had captivated me before, were empty.

“No!” I screamed, clambering over Smith. “No! Please no. I can’t lose you. Garrett? Garrett!” My own screams gave me chills, but then I heard their footsteps behind us. I thought for a moment that it might be Leslie’s men coming to get me. I thought maybe I needed to run, then decided I didn’t care. I had already lost. I loved Garrett and they’d taken him from me before we’d had a chance. I had to do something. I clambered up to his chest and yelled his name. He had to wake up. “Garrett!” I screamed as loudly as I could. I began chest compressions. I was trying as hard as I could, but nothing was working. Nothing was changing. Panic was taking over me and there was nothing I could do. Tears streamed down my face as I repeated his name over and over.

I felt hands grab at my arms and lift me up.

“No!” I screamed back towards Garrett’s limp body. “Please!” I begged. The hands still carried me away, and I saw Smith lifted from the ground at Ronald’s hands. I looked beside me to see Sierra dragging me along. Gunshots came through the trees towards Leslie and his gang, making it impossible for them to chase us. I gathered myself as much as I could and ran. My gaze was fixed behind me, towards the blood flowing into the earth.

When we reached the tree line, we had immediate assistance from our team. They had obviously been waiting, and we were whisked away without question. They had been watching for a while, waiting. I didn’t remember how we lost Leslie’s crew, but we did. I didn’t remember the trip through the woods; it was all a blur, but I remembered lying next to a fire, alone.

No one said a word to me that night. There was nothing they could say. Nothing that would take the pain away. I assumed Sierra knew that best of all of them, but even she didn’t offer condolences or sympathy. Nothing. Hours passed and my body ached. Not only from running, fighting and falling, but from sobbing. My ribs prickled every time I breathed a raspy breath in through the sniffles and clenching of my abdomen until I couldn’t take it any longer. It was my fault he had been out there. All mine...and it was Smith’s fault he couldn’t run, I thought.

I stared into the blazing fire with a mix of emotions; loneliness came in at the top. What followed after though, was a fight. A fight between what was wrong and what was right. How I felt, and how I didn’t feel. Did I love him? Did he love me? Was I angry with him? Was I upset with myself? Was I making this more than it was? Was this Smith’s fault, or worse, was it mine? Or was it neither? Did I have a right to be angry with myself? Did I have a right to be angry at Smith? Whether I had a right or not, I felt hatred for us both.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as someone hobbled by my campfire and sat down across from me with quite a bit of trouble. I didn’t look up to see who it was. I knew exactly who it was. I listened for their words that would undoubtedly be useless.

“Aella, I’m sorry.” Smith spoke quietly and easy. “For what it’s worth, you and him both saved my life, and I’m forever grateful. I know I’ll never be able to repay him, or you for that matter, but I’m going to do my damn best to try.” He said the words, struggled to stand, and limped away. He didn’t ask for an apology and didn’t offer sympathy. For that, unbeknownst to him, I would be forever grateful. I couldn’t speak, and he knew why. Once he was out of earshot from me, I bawled.

Letting go was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Letting go of my emotions, to feel. Letting go of the control to allow myself to grieve. Letting go of Garrett, was tough. That night I let it all out. I wept until my cheeks were raw from the tears and my lungs couldn’t take it anymore. In the morning, I was a different person.

HARDENED FROM THE GRIEF and loss, I took up arms with the refugees from Leslie’s camp. They looked up at me as I strode in under the ledge of the cliff where we were keeping them. They rolled their eyes, looking disinterested until I demanded, “Get up! Now!” The faint growl in my voice shot them up to their feet quickly. Their eyes were wide open and shocked, like they had just woken up.

“Leslie has taken everything. Everything. You may be here because he’s taken everything from you. You may be here because you feel like he’s wrong. You may be here because you want to be on the winning