The Force (Fighting Freedom Book 1)

by Paige Clendenin

  “You should probably try to get some more rest,” he says. “Are you in much pain?”

  “No,” I say, but I am lying.

  He puts one of his arms behind my neck, and the other one on my shoulder, guiding me back down in the bed.

  I try to manage the shooting pain, but my face can tell it all. With every inch he moves me, I cower and cry through gritted teeth.

  A tear falls down my cheek.

  “You are hurting.” He looks at me, not with sympathy, but with concern. “I’ll get you some more medicine.”

  “No,” I say. “I’m okay.”

  “No, you’re not, Liz. It’s alright for you to be in pain, you don’t have to be strong for me.”

  Then he runs his fingers down my cheek, wiping the tear away, and then turns and walks out the door.

  A few minutes later, he walks in with a man I have never seen before. He is an older man, mostly bald, with patches of hair on either side of his head.

  “This is Paul, he takes the night shift for Magi.” Jake says.

  “Hi Liz,” Paul says, sounding sincere. “I’m going to give you some more medicine, ok?”

  I nod, and he goes through the same routine that Magi did, only he puts the shot into my other arm, to keep it from getting so sore.

  “Bye Liz, get some rest,” Paul says, and then he walks out of the room.

  Jake sits on my cot next to me.

  “You had me worried today.”

  “Sorry,” I say. “You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be just fine.”

  “You say that, but you can’t guarantee that nothing bad will happen,” he says.

  “None of us can,” I whisper.

  Through the haze of the medicine, I think I hear Jake tell me that he cares for me, but I can’t be sure.

  “Did you carry me?” I whisper, through the strong arms of sleep.

  “Yes,” he says, and then I’m gone.

  This time I wake up to the beeping of Jake’s watch, it must be 6:30a.m.

  I look over to the cot next to me, and he is standing up, folding his blankets.

  “Hi,” I say.

  “Hey… Good morning.” He smiles. He looks refreshed, I wish I felt that way. I try to sit up, and I do, with a little more ease than last night.

  “Hey, you don’t have to get up right now,” he says, as he turns towards me. “You’re obviously excused from boot camp today.”

  I don’t say anything, I just sit there. I know I should let myself be weak, but I don’t want Levi to think he got the best of me.

  “Oh, I almost forgot… this is for you,” he says, as he pulls a piece of cloth out of his pocket.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “It’s your new phase ranking,” he says.

  All of a sudden I am petrified that I have lost a phase for getting hurt. He leans over me and unpins the band from my upper arm and pins the new one on.

  The band reads F4, I have gone up, but how?

  “How did I get an F4?” I ask.

  “Because, phase 4 is, to persevere when times seem tough, and… you finishing the laps yesterday, definitely counts as persevering,” he says, with a smile.

  “Oh,” I say. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He looks at his watch. “I’ve got to go, I will see you soon.”

  Then, he puts his hand against my jaw, and runs it down my neck, letting it fall to his side, before leaving the room.

  As soon as he walks out, I carefully throw my legs over my bed, wincing with every movement. I take a sip of my water and stand up slowly.

  My boots are sitting on the floor next to my bed, and I groan with every bend of my waist. I find it is easier to bend my knees. Finally, I get my boots picked up and sit on my cot. I don’t dare try to put them on yet.

  I pace around the room, slow at first, but with every round I make, the movement becomes easier. I try a jog, but it is difficult at the moment.

  My watch and wristband are laying on a tray at the end of my cot, along with a protein bar and some milk. I slip the watch and band onto opposite wrists.

  It’s 6:50a.m.

  I eat my breakfast, standing. This helps me build my strength. Then, I slip my boots under my arm and walk out the door.

  I walk down the hall and out the door behind the curtain.

  From here, I know it will be more difficult. I don’t know if the guard will allow me to leave, but it’s worth a try.

  I pull the curtain back and start down the aisle between cots.

  “What are you doing?” Magi says, from behind me.

  “I’m leaving,” I say

  “Leaving.” Magi squeals. “I can’t let you do that, you’re not well enough.”

  “As you may remember from my first stay here,” I say. “I am persistent, and as I recall, the stipulations last time were that I had to eat, which I have done, and be able to walk under my own power… which I am doing.”

  She laughs for a second.

  “You are stubborn, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I am.” I say, proudly.

  “Alright, but don’t tell anyone I let you leave,” she says.

  “Deal,” I say, and then she leads me to the door, and I walk out of it, leaving the medical compound behind me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I walk the halls freely. Everyone is in boot camp at the moment, and no one expects me to show up.

  I walk to the dorm and get the change of clothes that is laying on my cot. These must be the clothes I dropped in the bathroom yesterday, but that seems like months ago.

  Mar must have put them here for me.

  I grab the clothes and then get some soap, my hairbrush, and a towel from my trunk along with my necklace, then I walk down the hall to the bathroom.

  I know that no one would be in here, but I look behind the curtain, just in case.

  It’s just me being paranoid, I know. Every noise leaves me questioning where it came from though, and I hate being like this.

  The hot water runs over my sore body, and I stay there for as long as I can bare it.

  When I finally turn the water off, and step out of the shower, steam rolls off of me like steam off the pavement on a hot summer’s day.

  Standing in front of the mirror, I notice all the bruises on me. My face looks like Shawn’s did, the day I saw him in the room of fighters for the first time. My ribcage is covered in variations of purples and blues, and it hurts every time I touch it.

  It takes me a long while to get my clothes on, and even longer to run the brush through my hair and get my boots on. I slip my watch on and take one last look in the mirror.

  Other than my face being so bad, I look relatively un-harmed. I pin my new phase band on my upper arm. I am proud to have gone up, but on the other hand, it scares me.

  The last thing I do is manage to slip the feather necklace over my head and let the pendant rest inside my shirt. I almost feel stronger with it resting there, more myself.

  I leave the bathroom and go back to the dorm, where I leave my soap and brush in my trunk and put my clothes and towel in the laundry chute.

  Its 7:42, boot camp has been going on for a while now, but I know that being late will be better than not showing up at all.

  I jog down the halls to the training center, trying to get used to the running motion. It is hard to do, but not impossible, and after a minute, I can do it without holding my breath.

  I stop, just short of the double doors, taking some deep breaths to calm myself down. I can’t seem so shaken or this will all be for no reason.

  The door is cracked a little, and I peek through it, looking inside to see what is going on. Everyone seems to be running again today.

  I hesitate going in because I see Malachi and Levi running with the pack. I want to throw up instead of force myself to open the door, but I do it anyways.

  When I open the door and step inside, over half the group stops running and stands there staring at me. Instead of letting
myself seem stunned, I start to take off down the track.

  When I reach the part of the track that Jake, Samantha, Eli, Shawn, and Mar are standing at, I stop.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Eli demands.

  “I think I’m running,” I say, slyly.

  Mar and Samantha are just gazing at me in disbelief, or shock.

  Jake walks up, and stares at me, face to face for a few seconds. “You are one crazy girl, you know that?” he whispers.

  “Maybe… maybe not,” I say, and then I take off jogging again. I can hear my name being called behind me, mostly from Eli and Shawn. They want me to stop, but I can’t. I refuse to be any weaker than I have to be. After a second, they decide to give up and follow suit. I hurt with every foot step, but I try not to let it show.

  Samantha, Jake, Eli, and Shawn pass me up after less than a lap, and I know I will never be able to keep up with them, nor should I try.

  Malachi, Levi, and Sampson also pass me, but they don’t act like they even know I’m there.

  I think it is because my protectors are just ten yards ahead, but I don’t mind.

  I slow my pace even more until Mar catches up with me.

  “I’m going to run with you. Is that ok?” I ask, sounding like I am doing it for her benefit, so she won‘t have to run alone, but I’m really doing it for me.

  “Sure,” Mar says with a small smile.

  She looks concerned, but if she is, she doesn’t say anything. Our friendship has always been this way. We neither one patronize each other for our downfalls, we just accept one another for who we are.

  Even when my dad died, she just sat there with me. She didn’t ask if I was ok, or if I needed anything. She just knew that I needed her to sit there, quietly, until I was ready to talk.

  We have been friends since the very first day at the lecture compound. We were ten, and even then, it was like we just understood each other.

  She got teased a lot for being of Spanish decent. There weren’t many in our area of the Corridor. Kids would say that she was not from our country and she needed to go back to where she came from. I even got teased for being friends with the brown skinned girl.

  I got into a fist fight with this one girl who wouldn’t leave us alone… We were fifteen at the time. That was the first time that I bloodied someone’s nose, and it felt good.

  I never once acted like our skin difference meant anything to me… And it still doesn’t. She’s my best friend.

  I run side by side with her for three laps, when Jake and Samantha pass us again, followed by Shawn and my brother.

  They all look at me as they pass but say nothing.

  I know that Malachi and his goons will be shortly behind them, so I brace myself for whatever might happen.

  For the longest time, they don’t pass us. They are either staying just behind us or have fallen back to allow more space between them and everyone else.

  Mar looks over her shoulder as we are jogging.

  “They’re right behind us,” she whispers, through short breaths.

  I nod, thankful that she let me know, but I don’t know what I am going to do about it, and I don’t know what they have in mind.

  Finally, they catch up to us, and I know that we are slow because Sampson passes me on my left side and starts jogging backwards in front of me, just staring at me.

  He is looking at my arm, and I begin to panic.

  Still running backwards, he looks up over my shoulder, and holds up four fingers. He is letting Levi and Malachi know what phase I am in.

  This sends fear shooting down my spine. He looks evil when he smiles at me, and just before he turns back around, he whispers…

  “You better watch you back… phase four.” And then he takes off jogging the other way, towards the LAP line.

  I know the other two are still hot on our heels, and Sampson is not getting that far ahead of us.

  It’s like they are trying to box us in.

  Just as that thought comes to my mind, Levi runs up between Mar and me.

  Scratch that, they are trying to box me in, to separate me entirely from the people who care about me.

  Levi turns and grabs Mar’s arm, keeping pace with her. His hands squeezes tight around her, and she tries to get away, but I know if he lets go of her, even at this pace, she will fall and get hurt.

  “Let her go.” I demand, as I take Levi by his other arm, pulling him my direction.

  “Make me… little girl,” he yells.

  Then Sampson falls back, and Malachi catches up, and all we can do is stop running. Me and Mar against these three nearly grown men, I don’t know how this is going to work. We are standing in the middle of the track, and Levi is still holding onto Mar.

  She reaches up and punches Levi in the ear. It’s not a hard punch, but it gets him to let go of her. Then he grabs her again, slamming her against the twenty-foot-tall brick wall to the inside of the track.

  I know I shouldn’t, but I react.

  I go leaping towards Levi, jumping on his back. I wrap my arms around his neck, and now he is focused on trying to get me off of him, rather than hurting Mar.

  I am ok with that.

  Mar starts to run for help, but Malachi and Sampson grab her by either arm, and hold her there. She is forced to watch me and Levi fight.

  It all goes by so quick.

  Levi flips me over his head and off of his back. I hit the ground hard, and pain shoots through my ribs. He is coming in for his next move.

  “Hey.” I hear a deep voice shout from somewhere behind me.

  Levi puts his hand to my throat.

  “They won’t always be around to protect you,” he whispers.

  Then he lets go and takes off running down the track. Sampson and Malachi throw Mar down on top of me and follow him.

  Jake, Eli, and Shawn get to us just seconds afterwards.

  Mar gets up off of me, dusting herself off on the way up. Her arms are bright red where they had been squeezed, but other than that, she looks alright.

  Eli and Shawn crouch down on either side of me, not touching me at first.

  “Are you ok?” Eli asks.

  “Yeah… I would be a lot better if Levi wouldn’t have flipped me over his head, and slammed me on the hard ground, but… What can I say?”

  I laugh, and it seems to make them ease up a bit. They help me to my feet, and Eli goes over to Mar, touching her arms where they are red.

  “You ok?” he asks her.

  She nods her head.

  “Good,” he says, with a half-smile. Then he puts his hand behind her neck and pulls her to him.

  She lets her arms go around him and then puts her head on his shoulder, sobbing. She looks relieved to have his embrace.

  “How’s your side?” Jake asks as he gently rests his hand on my ribcage.

  “It’s fine,” I say quietly.

  A group of people are running the track just ahead of us. Jake lets his hand fall and turns towards them.

  “Hey, Sam…” he shouts in the direction of the group.

  She breaks away from the group and starts to walk our direction, scowling at Jake as she comes closer.

  “I mean Samantha… Sorry... What was I thinking?” He smiles. “Will you keep an eye on the group for me? I’m gonna take these guys somewhere for a little while… Just until lunch.”

  “Sure,” she says.

  “Keep a special eye on those three,” he says, as he points in the direction of Levi, Sampson, and Malachi, who are still running the track on the other side of the room.

  “Will do,” Samantha says, then she starts to run again.

  “Hey… Thanks…” Jake yells as she runs the other direction.

  Samantha rolls her eyes at him, and lifts a hand as if saying… No problem.

  As we walk out of the room, I see Samantha run at top speed, catching up to Malachi, Levi, and Sampson. When she runs past them, I can hear her yell…

  “Come on sissies… What
cha’ can’t out run a girl? Are ya to slow or something? Get to it, boys.”

  Then she takes off, leaving them in her dust.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The five of us walk down the hall to Jake’s office. Inside, Shawn sits on one end of the couch, and Eli and Mar sit at the other.

  Mar is sitting close to Eli, resting her head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around her and pulls her close.

  Her arms are still red.

  I sit down on top of Jake’s desk, which he cleared of its papers, and he sits in the office chair right next to me.

  For the longest time, we all sit, looking at each other, waiting for someone to speak.

  Mar and Eli are whispering back and forth, I can’t hear what their saying. Shawn is sitting with his head in his hand, his elbow resting on the arm of the couch.

  Jake sits with one leg propped in his seat, slowly swiveling the chair back and forth. I think the effects of what is happening, weigh heavily on all of us.

  Jake finally turns the chair and faces me, resting his hands on the desk on either side of my hips.

  “This has to quit happening,” he whispers, just for me to hear, but I‘m sure everyone heard him, by the look that Eli has on his face.

  Jake’s eyes look thoughtful like he means it, but his voice would suggest otherwise. He sounds angry.

  “I agree.” Eli says, in a rough tone from behind Jake. “But what are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m not sure…” Jake says, as he spins the chair around, facing Eli. “I think I have an idea, but I will have to go over it with the Captain first... I will go see him on my lunch hour.”

  “You think?” Eli says, pulling his arm away from Mar, scooting forward on the couch. “Hey this does have to stop with my sister… Alright. She can’t keep getting hurt over and over again, and I can‘t put stock in you thinking.”

  Eli sounds like his anger over the situation has been fueled, and he is almost demanding the words as he hurls them at Jake, like it‘s his fault.

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Jake says, just as demanding as Eli.

  My brother stands up, and so does Jake. They stand there face to face, fists clamped, muscles bulging. It’s almost like they are sizing each other up to see who the biggest and the best is. They neither one look intimidated or threatened.