Page 113 of Malachi
“Fuck the proper channels,” I spat out angrily. “These men are out here murdering us!”
“What did you just say?” the woman asked with barely a whispered voice of surprise.
“I said GET ME FUCKING AGENT DRISCOLL!” The sound of my screamed words echoed around the metal room I was in. My body shook, adrenaline still coursing through me and masking the pain I knew my body was feeling. But it worked. I got through.
It could have been hours later; it could have been minutes. I didn’t know. Time was irrelevant. I’d gotten through, finally, to agent Driscoll. I told him about getting the call from Zeke, telling us to run. About getting caught by the Reverend, our father-in-law, and the other Elders. I told him about the Reverend telling us we were widows, and demanding that we kneel. My voice breaking with emotion, I told him about how I had seen him fire at Ruth. I told him how I had run, fought off the Reverend, and managed to get to the bunker. Basically, I told him everything, barely pausing for breath as the story tumbled out. And I begged him to please send help. It was all I could do. The agent reassured me they were on it. They were coming to our rescue. Or — to my rescue. I was pretty sure I was the only one left now, although he had encouraged me not to give up hope.
Tears filled my eyes, spilling over until I was sure I would die of dehydration alone as I remembered the absolute massacre that I had run from. I didn’t even see what had happened.
But something inside of me told me the ugly, heart wrenching truth.
I was the only one to survive. The thought of my husband, my new brothers, my new sisters — all gone… it was too much for one person to bear. Instead, I pushed it down, burying it deep inside of myself.
Later. Some day in the very far future, when all of this was nothing more than a dreadful nightmare of a memory — that’s when I would pull these feelings back out and deal with them. But today, right now, I just couldn’t. If I let myself feel the pain and utter anguish, I wouldn’t survive it. I wasn’t sure I would survive this at all, even without the emotional trauma.
“Eden…” The Reverend’s voice sounded through the thick metal door. The sound of it brought me back to reality, effectively closing the door on the swell of emotions inside of me and pushing them back down where they belonged, for now.
“Open the door.” His voice carried through the door with weight, but I could hear the way it wavered. He was hurt, and I had caused it. That minor fact gave me more pleasure and pride than I could express. Not that I had anyone to express it to. My legs shook, threatening to collapse underneath me as the adrenaline began to fade, tiny bit by teeny-tiny bit.
“Open the fucking door! Fuck!” he cursed as he kicked or hit the metal door, only further injuring himself.
I scoffed quietly, not making a sound at all.
“Open the door and perhaps your sisters won’t need to die..”
My lungs seemed to clench inside my body, incapable of drawing in breath. It couldn’t be.
They had lived?! Hope sparked inside of me, followed quickly by the return of that crippling fear. I needed to get to them. But leaving the bunker was possibly the worst thing I could do at that moment.
What would Malachi want me to do? He’d bark at me, commanding me to stay put, to stay safe.
Keep your head down, little bird. Wait for the authorities. Don’t put yourself in any more danger.
But they were my family. And I couldn’t abandon them.I’m sorry, my Beast. This time I have to make my own choice. And I choose to keep fighting.
CHAPTER27
MALACHI
I had never felt such anxiety, fear, or panic in all my thirty-two years of life. They had left us here to pursue our wives. To kill them. They had made that much crystal fucking clear.
“How can you do this?” Levi asked Elder Shepherd, his words forced through clenched teeth.
“Shut up, Leviticus,” Elder Shepherd groaned. I kept a close eye on him, noting the fact that, while the man had his gun trained on Levi, he couldn’t seem to look him in the eye. That could very bode well for us, if we played our cards right. It seemed like he wasn’t fully on board.
“I’m serious. She’s your fucking daughter,” Levi spat at the man. His voice was thick with emotion, as though tears were threatening to fall at any moment.
The man simply ignored him.
“Hey!” Levi shouted. “I’m talking to you!”
“Be quiet,” Ruth’s father hissed.
“They’re going to kill her. Do you get that, you fucking coward? They literally left this place to go find our wives and kill them. Just like they killed Elder Taylor. And what are you doing about it, huh? Nothing. Fucking Christ, man, you’re just letting it happen!” Levi’s screamed words echoed in the room, the sound bouncing off the walls and ringing in my ears like a struck gong.
“And what would you have me do, huh? Go up against a man like Reverend Jacob? It would just get me killed. And then who would my wife and children rely on? You just don’t get it, Leviticus,” Elder Shepherd argued.
“Oh, I get it just fine. You’re a goddamn coward. Standing here doing nothing while those men, those fucking evil men, go out in search of your daughter, your baby girl, and kill her. They are going to point the gun at her head and pull the fucking trigger,” my brother all but sobbed. “You want to know what you can do? You can let us go. Let us go, and fight with us. We can take the Reverend down together. He’s one man. But you’ve got to let us go, Mr. Shepherd. Come on!”
