Static by Tessa Kaput (digital book reader .txt) 📕

knew he was talking about me, they were looking for traitors like me. Then he continued, “He was then ‘recruited’ to The Academy. He fought back, knowing what you went through and what his sister went through. He fought back. One of them shot him in the side,” he said. I am stunned, they must still be here. I hear the roar of an engine, and I know they hadn’t left. I bolt from the tent, Erik’s father yelled at me to wait. I brake through the crowd of people who hover over him. I cradle his head. He smiles at me and places his hand on my cheek. Above him, a man held a pistol, ready to shoot. “NO!” I scream. These are the first words I spoke in two years. And as fast as it all happened, I had my hunting knife out, swinging madly. My mind snaps back to my training. He is well equipped, and we both struck at each other. I won’t let him hurt Erik. I twist his arm around his back, then hit it on the elbow with such force that I know it is broken. The knife falls from his hand, and then I stuck my knife deep into him. I look into his eyes as he died, and there is nothing, not even a hint of remorse or sense true life in him. He collapses and he is dead, just another sacrificed for the network connection, another sacrifice to The Academy.
I carry Erik to his tent and lay him on his pile of sheets he calls a bed. His father and I press bandages on his wound, while repeating to myself over and over again, “I won’t let you die. I won’t let you die. I won’t let you die.” I’m not going to let what happened to the little girl happen to him. And soon he is breathing normally and the bleeding stops. When he is awake, I talk to him. I told him everything is going to be alright. But inside I know I can’t stay. I am endangering everyone by staying, and with Erik’s condition, they won’t be able to move for weeks. I know they’ll send more soldiers to kill us all.
I can finally speak out loud again, I remember who I am. Erik and I spoke for the first time. Little did I know, it will be the last time I’d see him.
It is near midnight, and I sit next to Erik like he did when he took care of me. He lay awake, and all we did was watch each other, then he spoke, “so, you can speak now?” I nod, which he returns with a laugh. “Well then, if you can speak, why don’t you?” I can see that he is tired and weak, but he manages to smile. “So what’s your name?”
“My name is Keeta Grey,” I said.
“Well Keeta, it is a pleasure to finally know the name to a beautiful face,” he said.
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” I laughed. He raises his hand to my face and cups my cheek. His eyes are happy but something seemed a little lost. Then his expression changed.
“Keeta, I have a question. When we found you in the woods, you were covered in blood. What happened?” I swallow the hard knot in my throat.
“It was my first mission, I was ordered to kill this little girl, but I couldn’t. But obviously someone else could. My partner shot her in the side. I think I killed him, but I don’t know. I ran with her while she was still bleeding out. There was just so much blood. I tried to save her; I couldn’t even talk to her. She gave me the butterfly and asked me to keep it safe. I couldn’t save her, and she died. But at least now she’s free, free from this world and its pain. She’s free, her death set her free,” I finished. There is a long silence. He said he is sorry, Saving him is like giving that little girl a chance. When he drifts off to sleep, I wish I had talked with him more, but he needs rest, and I need to think. But now with my new voice, it is bringing out the pain Erik had nearly expelled from me. I gather my things up, my bag, some clothes, my bow and arrow, and two of my hunting knives. I stop before tucking the butterfly in my pocket; I stare at it for a few long moments. I walk back to Erik’s tent. He looks peaceful, just like the little girl. I lean in and kiss him on the cheek and set the butterfly down on the floor next to him. I brush his hair to the side like he did to my hair so long ago. I kiss his cheek one last time and turn to leave when I hear a voice. I isn’t Erik, but his father. “You’re leaving aren’t you?” He asks. I turn to face him, “you’re going to break his heart Keeta, and you know that right?” I look down to the ground; I know I will break his heart because it is breaking mine.
“I have to go. I’m not going to endanger all of you for my sake. It’s not worth it. I’m not worth it,” I said. He looks at me hard.
“That’s not the reason you’re leaving. You know that and I know that. So what is it? Huh? What is so damn important that you are going to leave the person you love? And what is so damn important that you’re going to break him into a million pieces?” He said.
“This is breaking me in more ways than you know. In ways you’ll never be able to imagine. But I owe this to Erik, to my brothers, the little girl, and all of those I put in harms way. You want to know why I have to leave, because he,” I point to Erik, “gave me my voice back. I owe to him to let it be heard.” And then Erik’s father comes toward me, and hugs me for a few moments. He is like the father I never really knew, and I am saying goodbye again. “Please take care of him,” I whisper, holding back my tears.
“I will, I promise I will,” he makes no effort to fight any tears. I have been in his family for over a year. “Stay safe,” he whispers back. And with that, I left, gone like a butterfly to wind.
I travel for days, sleeping only a few hours at night and leaving again. I don’t know where I am going, or what I am going to do, but one thing I do know is that I have too take a stand. But how? I am lost again, like I had been so many times before. And now the static that I managed to keep far from me returned, only stronger and more taunting. I retrain from reopening the wounds that took so long to heal, but it takes more than my will power to do so. I have no real plan, only that I want to fight Arona and The Academy. But I realize I’ve been fighting a secret war, a war I knew nothing about. My defiance set me apart, and my refusal to return would create repercussions that I had to stop from happening. I wonder if I am the only one who is fighting this war, but it doesn’t really matter. I have to protect the ones I love before my fight became theirs. So I head further north, back into the land of my birth.
I rest in a small town only miles from my home and The Academy. The area is swarming with soldiers so I wear my collar up to hide my chip and the scars. It won’t be long before I am discovered.
Academy soldiers rally all of the people into the town square. It is unclear at first as to what they have planned, but it soon became obvious. My face, along with other wanted traitors, is on a poster that is being passed around. A reward is placed on my head. The reward would be enough to buy grain for a few weeks. It is meager compared to the bounty on some of the other’s heads. I would have been quick to be sold out if they hadn’t spotted my weapons first, which is illegal to have in a public area. Soldiers shout and begin to push through the crowd. I make it to the edge of the group and soldiers shout to me to halt. I make it to a higher point than the rest by climbing a small ladder that is leaning against the town’s wall. With my hunting bow, I shoot arrow after arrow after arrow at the soldiers. Each fell and soon their attention is on me. Several shot graze past me and hit the brick wall. I jump from the ladder, falling with enough force that it threw out my left leg. I keep shooting as I limp away from the mass of soldiers that march my way. I know I won’t get out of this. I am finally pushed back until I have nowhere to go. The chaos around me made my head spin and the shrieking, shrill noise of static makes my skin crawl. “Freeze! Halt or die where you stand!” a soldier called out. I drop my bow and quiver of arrows; I put my arms in the air and then I was cuffed. They inject the side of my neck with a sedative, and my world goes black.
When I wake up, I am in a quiet cell that makes me itch. Days of stale bread and dirty water fill my time between thoughts. I thought of everything from hunting in the spring to the little girl, to Erik and my little brother. Aaron would be twelve now, he’d soon be eligible to join The Academy. And knowing The Academy, I’m sure they’ll send him here. At times I want to cry, but I have to be strong. I know what I was getting myself into when I left Erik and fired on the soldiers. I knew this would be my end when I tried in vain to save the little girl. I will soon join her. I have to remember who I am and what I have done, what I will have to do when I am finally faced. My days of sitting in a cell are soon ended.
I am brought to room were a man stood at the door and waited for me to enter. I have no idea what I am getting into. He sits down in a chair and motions for me to do the same. I sit and stare directly at him. He is familiar in some way. Then it hits me, he recruited me only two years ago, and now he is my interrogator. He sits across from me; the only thing separating us is a metal table, a tablet of paper, and a black ink pen. He stares at me like he was still trying to figure me out. We stare at eachother for a long time. I found it more amusing than he probably did, and after all I only have a few more opportunities to be amused.
Then he began to write things down on the pad of paper.
Then he spoke, “G-72697 -“
“-Keeta, you mean. My name is Keeta Grey,” I said.
“Your I.D. is G-72697,” he replied.
“That may be my I.D., but my name is Keeta Grey, and I refuse to be called by anything else,” I said sternly. I figure if I’m going to be executed anyway,