The Purge
Chapter 45: Halley

“Look to your left. Look to your right. These are not your friends. They are competition.”

Ender’s Game Movie

Our displays were gone. Another gate was closed. Another comrade has fallen.

I held my breath as I waited for any emotion to come pouring out of me. The image of Sigourney, the sadness on her face before we lost her, it kept me preoccupied. It was the same image of her in our Trance. I felt her fear and her anxiety as if we were still in the Inception. If only I could wake up from this terrible nightmare.

“This is all your fault.” I looked up to see Athren glaring at me like I’m he’s enemy.

I could only bit back the hurt and blink away the tears that welled up inside of me. If I open my mouth to extend my apology, I might shatter into several pieces. I always knew that I was the weak link of our team. Direful deaths happen because of me but I didn’t want any of this to happen.

“You can feel them!” he said as he clenched his fists. “So why didn’t you?” He staved off his tears with his arm. “Why didn’t you?”

I felt my whole body tremble as I opened my mouth to speak. “I was scared.”

“You are always scared.” Hate was visible in Athren’s eyes and it tore me apart as he walked away.

Uncontrolled tears find their way down my cheeks like rainfall as I shouted after him. “Athren, I’m sorry!”

“Tell that to Rafa. Tell that to Bri. Tell that to Sigourney. Tell that to those who died because of you!” he prompted and I froze to where I stood.

“I didn’t want to die.”

“So you let others die for you.” He sneered at me. “Wait for Conleth and have him killed too.”

He turned his back on me and he started to take long strides ahead of me but I followed. When he heard me, he turned to me and a gush of air lifted me to the air and pushed me back to ground. I think I deserved that one.

“If this is a game, I will keep on playing. But not with you, Halley.” He raised his hands up in surrender. “You’re on your own.”

“Athren,” I took a step forward and he outstretched his hand towards me as a sign of warning. I took a few steps back.

The walls groaned again and they started to move. We both stood in place, finding our balance. The earth shook and dust started to mix with the air. Athren opened his hands and weaved the air off to clear the surroundings. By the time the walls stopped moving a figure appeared at the end of the pass. His uniform was black outlined with moss green with the Manticore insignia embroidered on his lapel.

At that moment I felt relieved to find one of my kind alive and unharmed. But then, the air changed. There’s something off about him. Athren must have felt it too for his jaw tensed and he resolved into a fighting stance.

The Addonexus moved closer and retracted his or her helmet.

The hairs at the back of my neck stood and before I could even make peace or negotiate, Chivas Cantemir started attacking us.

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