Amber
Oh, my God! As glad as I was to see the ground, it was coming at us way too fast! This could not be normal.
Hit the ground running, they said. More like sprinting. Josh had to let go of my waist to reach up and grab the handles to guide us. I braced myself as we touched down, and tried to take spritely, fast steps to keep from tripping or twisting an ankle. I let Josh take the brunt of the weight, like he told me to.
“Nice!” he whispered.
And then I heard the gunshots.
Josh did exactly what the troopers in front of us had done. When we came to a stop, he released our cords and we sprinted low into the corn field. The next thing floating down wasn’t a person, but a trunk with weapons, ammo, and my med bag. When it was nearly at the ground, Josh and Tex, who had miraculously made a perfect landing, ran out and grabbed the handles, jogging awkwardly into the corn.
Screams and gunshots were getting louder. Somewhere amid that madness were Tater and Remy.
“We have to hurry!” I said. Tex grunted as he wrenched the stuck latch open and I grabbed my bag, flinging it across my chest, along with a gun. They both grabbed as many as they could carry, and we ran toward the sounds. Corn leaves smacked my face in the near darkness. The sky had taken on a spooky, smoky glow.
Behind us, paratroopers landed and ran our direction, but every second felt like time wasted. We had to get there faster! We sprinted past a large cart filled with hay, and I could see a break in the stalks ahead—a clearing. My heart hammered against my rib cage when I saw people sprinting past, more gunfire splitting the air.
A Baelese woman shouted, “Stop!” and the human male in sight of us came skidding to a shaky halt, his whole demeanor going from tense to slack. I was so thankful for my ear plugs. Josh put out his arm to stop me, and he poked his gun through the stalks, taking aim as the Baelese woman pointed her gun at the human who’d been running. Josh shot before she did, and the female soldier let out a gargled sound as she collapsed, writhing.
Tex ran to the human man, and gave him a hard shake. “Take this.” He pressed a gun into the man’s hands, and his eyes slowly cleared. He looked around, confused.
“We’re U.S. military. Either get yourself to safety or help us kill these bastards.”
The man’s mouth gaped for a second, and then he ran a hand over his face, nodding and standing taller, taking stock of his gun.
“Atta boy,” Tex said. He moved forward, motioning for me to stay behind him, and Josh took the rear.
In the clearing was chaos. U.S. soldiers came out of the stalks in a freaky wave. Most of the humans had scattered, chased by Baelese. But far head, by two hay bales, was a figure on its knees, grasping his head and rocking. I would recognize him anywhere.
“Tater!” I started to run to him, but Tex, grabbed my arm.
“Behind me!”
I forced myself to stay behind him as he moved forward, pointing his gun right, then left. I felt Josh right behind me. When we got to Tater, my heart was in my throat. What was wrong with him? Was he shot?
I started to bend down, but Tex grabbed him from under his arm.
“Not here in the open,” Tex said. “Let’s move him into one of these buildings.”
I got under the other arm, and we were able to drag him into the closest building. It had rows of bunk beds. Tex went through the room, looking for Baelese, and speaking to humans that he found hiding. Josh guarded the door while I fell to my knees next to my brother. He sat, leaning against the wall, his eyes shut. It was too dark in the room to make out details, but we didn’t want to turn on a light and alert the enemy.
“Are you shot? Hurt?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tater!” I patted his cheek. “Open your eyes!”
He did, blearily, but looked unfocused.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked.
“Amber Maria Tate,” he whispered. A disgusting sensation filled my belly. Why did he sound so formal?
“Actually, it’s Fite now,” I said. He didn’t react and the feeling inside me worsened. I’d met others who acted like this, and I didn’t want to believe it.
“We are under attack,” he whispered.
“Attack? Tater, it’sus. We’re taking back the base.”
