Jason Morrow - Anywhere but Here

No.

Lucas was more than a ring to me. Though it symbolized the love we shared, he is gone and it’s time to let him go.

I have seen the future, and I don’t like it.

Change it.

“Drop the ring for all I care,” I say. I can barely believe the words coming out of my mouth.

Scarecrow lifts and eyebrow. “Have it your way.” His fingers release the chain and ring into the crowd of greyskins.

My heart sinks as it falls into the swarm below, but I see that Scarecrow has turned his head to watch it fall. This is my chance. I charge forward, rearing back with the crowbar. Just before I hit him square in the chest, he turns to look at me and the shock on his face shows he isn’t ready. The next blow is to his jaw and it drops him to the floor. I hit him again and again, screaming out as each swing presses deeper into his flesh.

“Waverly!” comes a voice from behind me. It’s Ethan. “Finish it!”

Scarecrow looks up at me, teeth missing, an eye swollen shut. I hit him with the crowbar in the shoulder and he rolls flat on his belly. With a heave, I shove him over the side with my leg, into the crowd of famished greyskins below.

My mind reels as I run with Ethan through the door and down the stairs. I can hear the screams of the raiders behind us, the greyskins overwhelming them. I hear the greyskins all around. It’s awful.

“What did you do?” I ask through labored breaths.

“There was a herd,” Ethan said. “We just let them in. Come on, this way.” He leads me down hall after hall. By the time we reach the others, I’m out of breath. The thunder outside booms loudly with a flash of bright lightening. When I see Gabe and Gilbert waiting for us, I want to cry. This is the moment I have dreaded for days.

“We might have messed ourselves up,” Gabe says as we approach.

“Why?” Ethan demands.

“There’s more than we thought,” Gabe says, gripping the strap to his rifle a bit tighter. “They are blocking every exit. We’re trapped in here.”

Ethan swears.

I feel a draft of wind blow around me and I start to shiver.

“We might be able to get out,” Gabe says. “But…”

“But what?” Ethan asks.

There needs to be a distraction, I think to myself. A tear passes down my cheek. I know how to change this. Gilbert is willing to sacrifice himself for the rest of us; shouldn’t I feel the same way?

“There needs to be a distraction,” Gabe continues, “or we’re all going to die.”

There is a long pause. The rain and thunder is almost as loud as the greyskins that are pounding on the doors and walls, but not quite. The lightening flashes are almost constant.

More tears streak down as I reach out and clutch Ethan’s shirt. I don’t know why, but it comforts me.

“Are you okay?” he asks me.

“I’m okay.”

His hand reaches for mine and our fingers interlock. My heart jolts because I don’t expect the white light to flash in front of me again.

I see Ethan walking through a street, holding a rifle in his hands. He is alone, possibly scouting the area ahead. He seems determined, walking with a purpose with the sun on his back. A loud boom echoes through the air and a bullet passes through his chest. A look of shock spreads across his face as he falls to his knees, blood drooling from his wound. There is no one around him when he falls onto his back and closes his eyes. I can’t see the shooter. I don’t recognize the area…

When the flash of light brings me back to the present, I have a new future for my life. I look at Gilbert and I see him wipe a tear from his eye. I wish I could help him. I clutch Ethan tightly as my vision of Gilbert’s future comes true before my very eyes.

I hate this feeling.

“Give me the gun,” Ethan tells Gabe. “I’ll distract them. You all run.”

Gabe hands him the rifle.

“No,” I say.

Gilbert steps forward and snatches the rifle from Ethan. “I can’t let you do that. Last time, I didn’t make this choice, now I have to. I’m already dead. That’s why I’m so cold and bitter.” A tear falls down his face. “I loved her so much. Now, I can be with her.”

“Who?” Ethan asks.

“No time,” Gilbert says. He pulls the cylinder from his pocket and tosses it to Ethan. “Use this to your advantage somehow.”

I look away from Gilbert, unable to face the fact that he is going to die. But he knows. He knows what this moment is, and he knows that I have already seen it. He looks at me and lowers his head until I’m forced to meet his gaze.

“This is what you saw, isn’t it? When you stopped the SUV?”

I swallow hard and nod.

“I don’t know if you can change what you see,” he says, “but I don’t want you to regardless.”

I want to tell him that I can change it… but Ethan. I have to save Ethan now.

“Sorry I’ve been such a jerk to you all,” Gilbert says. “It’s not who I really am.” He takes a deep breath. “ This is who I really am.”

He takes a step back and starts running toward the other side of the warehouse. His screams echo off the walls and the gun blasts are deafening. The groans of the greyskins sound like a thousand wolves growling and howling at the same time.

Gabe runs to a nearby window and looks out. “Wait for them to clear at the south entrance.”

I feel numb as Gilbert’s screams change from a simple distraction to cries of pain. Then…silence.

Gabe leads us through the exit and toward the SUV. Some greyskins give chase, but they never make it to us before we tear out of the warehouse parking lot. As we ride down the road, we are silent. No doubt, Gabe and Ethan are thinking about Gilbert. Though I had seen it happen days ago, I would have never expected it of him.

I don’t know where we’re going. I don’t know the plan ahead. I’m just glad that Scarecrow is gone. I feel for the chain and ring at my chest, and I quickly remember that it is gone forever.

Just as well, I think, though I feel empty. It’s like saying goodbye all over again. I will miss Lucas forever, but I cannot hold on to him. I lean my head against Ethan’s shoulder as we ride in the back of the SUV. Silent tears crawl down my cheek and neck. I have seen how Ethan is supposed to die, but now I know that I can change it. Yet it’s a puzzle that will not be easily solved. I didn’t see a shooter. I didn’t even see where he was. But I will figure it out. I must figure it out.

“Where are we going?” I ask Gabe.

“I think we need to find the girl that was banished from Crestwood before you were,” he says. “This Shadowface person seems to be a bigger deal than I originally thought.”

“What’s the girl’s name?” Ethan asks.

“Remi,” Gabe says. He looks at me through the rearview mirror. “She’s from Oakridge like you.”

I sit up straight as my heart pounds faster at the sound of her name.

“What is it?” Ethan asks.

I look at him with tears in my eyes, the feeling of happiness returning to my heart like an arrow.

“Remi… She’s my sister.”

Jason D. Morrow is the author of The Starborn Uprising series, The Starborn Ascension series, and The Marenon Chronicles. He enjoys playing guitar, making fun videos, and spending time with his lovely wife, Emily, and their dog, Winnie.

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