Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
The River
With the leap comes the sweet release of the city’s hold, while air whistles past my ears.
Gravity grips my chest, stuttering my heart as it yanks me towards the swirling torrent—and like a thunder-clap, I am beneath the surface.
The river’s cold bite sends my body frigid while I continue to sink below the window of the world, coming to a weightless slowing with the jolt of Leon redirecting us to the surface.
Amongst the darkened depths, a pinhole of light expands within the raven ceiling, fixing my sights towards it as I rise, gasping at the revelation of the moon.
My lungs beg for air as the weight of my drenched hair sweeps it from my face.
The current clamours over my shoulders, while the floats in the hoodie help keep my chin above the water.
The river has always been loud, but now it roars, rumbling with its rapidity as we race past the high bricked banks.
I struggle to see Leon above the slapping peaks.
I bend my arm to pull myself closer, and he’s looking up at the walls while holding me.
His steady focus follows the landmarks with a contagious calmness as we surge down the river, drawing us beneath the shadow of a bridge above.
He bellows as water splashes against his face, “One more bridge before … before we approach the watch… watchtowers of the wall!”
I have no sense of distance or direction as I look up, knowing only the stretch between my apartment and the bar. The river walls narrow before the next bridge, causing an uptick in speed, and I grab Leon’s other extended arm as my legs pull forward with the undercurrent.
His gaze is unbroken from the city above as he pulls me in, gripping my arm. “It’s okay! We’re okay!”
We pass below the last bridge, and the concrete perimeter wall straddles the river. It grows before me, and the rangers posted atop the wall prowl like panthers, pacing between two watchtowers with floodlights illuminating the river below.
Leon turns me to face him, pulling his own hood up before mine, which sits heavy on my head while he tucks the length of my hair out of sight.
My hair colour might as well be a red flag if they spot us in the water.
He readjusts his hold on me, and I grab his forearms in return.
Bound by our clutch, he tries to talk as the water slaps against his face.
“This is it! Big breath! Two minutes under … and we’re in … the clear!”
I gulp as I prepare myself. This is it. If we get caught now… It doesn’t bear thinking about. The lights stretch across the full width of the river, leaving no margin for error. Two minutes. Just two minutes. It’s not even the length of a song.
“You’ve got this, Everlee!”
I focus on his face, readying myself for the dive.
“Ready? Three, two … one!”
My mouth fills with air, swallowing it down into my chest as I pull myself beneath the surface, sinking into the shadows.
The current thrums over my ears as columns of light pierce through the water.
I clamp onto Leon’s arms as we hover in the darkness, fighting the force of the hoodie’s buoyancy, pulling me within inches of the surface.
The terror of being spotted irritates the air in my lungs, and I wonder if I’ll run out before the right time.
I force myself into a bubble, playing a song in my mind to track the time.
With the water pressure surrounding my ears—as if Joey’s headphones sit snugly atop them—Elvis serenades my soul.
A wave of calm conceals my panic, letting our song lyrics trickle into the darkness to paint a picture.
Like a sepia photo, the moment projects into the murky depths like an out-of-body experience.
Watching him mime to me, smile at me, hold me…
The reminiscing brings comfort, lasting until the second verse before my lungs simmer.
The heat disturbs my memory, rippling the projection of Joey and me together.
My burning breath triggers my eyes to widen, desperately searching for an indication of safety.
The wall’s lights still glow within the water, and I look downstream to see it darkening again.
We must be close. My throat grows sore trying to swallow the pain.
I shake my head, trying to distract myself as the energy drains, resisting the surface’s pull.
My chest feels like it is expanding, blazing with every passing second.
I blow out the air in my lungs in a desperate move to find relief.
Light dwindles while a shadow cloaks me—another bridge—but I’m ready to give in as I feel a tug.
We welcome the break of the surface with an uncontrollable gasp of air and pass from the bridge’s shadow into the moonlit night. Leon asks if I’m okay, but I don’t respond. The tall concrete walls diminish into the distance as they’re left behind.
“We did it?!”
“Yeah. We’re out of reach now.”
We pull down our hoods, and his smile returns as he shakes my arms, seemingly as surprised as I am.
The darkness spreads as we move away from the shrinking fortified city, and my cheeks lift when a true smile sneaks onto my face for the first time since Joey.
The current slows with the widening of the river, and the muddy riverbanks confirm our return to the Wilds with the aromatic scent of sodden silt.
The water subsides to a gentle flow, and with it, we relax our clutch, lying back.
Stars, which were once concealed by the city lights, are now revealed in the night sky like glitter on tar, while the colours of the Wilds evolve under the milky glow of the half moon, welcoming me with a long-missed palette.
The forest greens, the shamrock grass, and the deep wooden trunks of the woodland close in on the river as the trees reach to meet us at the bank.
My adrenaline dissipates as we drift, and I am left with only the awkwardness of still holding Leon’s hand.
He’s focused again, squinting as he peers into the darkness, and his body lifts with a start.
“They’re here.” He readjusts his grip on my arm. “Get ready to grab the rope. The current is stronger than you think, so hold tight.”
My neck stretches above the water as I search for this rope, when a large figure steps from the shadows and into the moonlight.
He’s as tall as Joey, but I barely get a chance to see him before I draw my attention back to the water, where small branches gather as they catch against a rope resting taut below the surface.
It hurtles towards me, and I fling my arm over it, only for my bottom half to be pulled viciously beneath the surface.
Leon releases my hand, clasping the back of my hoodie as I hold on. “You got it?!”
We’re yanked horizontal, while pulling ourselves across the rope to the left bank of the river.
Between the swift current and the fatigue of my body, each movement burns as I drag myself, eventually feeling the relief of the soft ground beneath my feet.
Each step is laborious as my boots become vacuumed in the mud, my trudge slow, and when a palm reaches out before me, I am pulled free of the water onto stable ground.
I look towards who’s helping, and his sapphire eyes are startling against his bronzed skin and slicked-back charcoal hair.
He smiles as he guides me towards the trees.
“Hey, you okay?”
I nod before bending over, resting my weight on my thighs while catching my breath, to find cuts and grazes decorating my bare legs, so cold I had felt nothing catch on them.
I hadn’t realised how much flesh was on show, with my shorts no longer visible beneath the sodden weight of the hoodie.
My shoulders heighten as I realise how exposed I am, when I see another man standing sternly in the shadow of the trees.
He wears a dirty cut-off denim jacket similar to Leon’s.
He is colossal in height, with his T-shirt tight over muscular dark arms, while his afro hair turns into dreads at the ends, with a silver ring through his septum.
His harsh stare falters towards a panting Leon, stepping up behind me at the bank’s top.
“Not bad for time. Did you get any trouble?” the blue-eyed guy asks.
“No, none at all,” Leon says. “She was willing to come, and the doorman couldn’t make it to us because of the fire.”
“Fire?” the tall guy asks. “What fire?!”
Leon lets out a laugh and slaps the back of my wet hoodie. “Everlee’s plan, and a great one, at that.”
As I stand up straight, water drains from my clothes, trickling down my legs, and I clench my jaw to stop from shivering.
Leon points ahead. “Okay. Let’s get some dry clothes and get out of here.”
I nod, releasing my jaw to agree, only for my teeth to chatter.
The tall guy leads the way as we shuffle through the forest’s undergrowth, and it’s much darker within the concealment of the trees.
I chew my lip while rationalising my current situation.
I left the city with a stranger. Now, I’m in the Wilds with three men—alone!
The tiredness of my body only escalates the paranoia.
There’s no way I can defend myself against any of them in my current state.
They talk amongst themselves, while Leon details the city inside, confirming the patrol routines of rangers and the watchtowers of the city wall.
He had mentioned his involvement in the Mutiny War with these guys, which hints that they must have received combat training.
I scan their belts. The two new guys have large hunting knives peeking beneath their denim cut-off jackets and are likely to have other concealed weapons.
They stop to gather up the undergrowth, revealing motorbikes lying flat on the forest floor, hidden from view. Blue Eyes pulls a satchel from one bike, reaches in for a small pile of clothes, and offers them to me.
“That’s my old leather jacket. They’ll probably all be too big for you, but at least you’ll look like one of the guys.”
I take them from him, throwing my eyes wide. “You want me to change in front of you?!”
They flap at the suggestion, with Blue Eyes saying, “No, no! You can go into the trees! We won’t look. We’ll get the bikes ready!”
I edge away and watch them, letting the trees screen me.
The cold chills me to the bone, so I don’t hesitate to pull my clothes off, which drop to the ground with an almighty slap, but the men don’t turn around.
Leon lifts his top away, exposing his long torso and arms illustrated with an intricate network of tattoos.
I daren’t take my eyes from them while I wring out my hair before putting on dry clothes: a pair of dark jeans and a small men’s band T-shirt.
They’re far too big, and I knot the belt tight above my hips.
The warmth of the clothes offers a little more energy as I slip my soggy boots back on.
The men are huddled together, whispering, unnerving me.
You stupid girl, Everlee. Panic sets in as I realise how extremely helpless I am right now. I pull the blade from my boot, slip on the leather jacket they provided, and ease my boot knife into my belt as I watch them conspire. Carefully, I back away and turn into the thick of the woods.
I run.