Page 128 of Rebel Rising: A Dystopian Romance

"Like trying not to get killed?" I guessed.

"Yeah." She looked relieved. "Like that."

Something twisted uncomfortably in my stomach but I resolutely pushed the feeling aside.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you. He liked you when you were training us and we were looking for you right before he got hit." I shifted in my seat. A shiver passed down my spine at the thought of how closely we’d escaped death that day.

"Were you? I wasn't sure if it was coincidence or if you'd really been trying to find me. I feel...responsible for what happened to him." Laurie twisted her hands in her lap uncomfortably.

"Don't be ridiculous," I said. "After Evan died, we thought it was going to be us next. We couldn't find our way out of the arena so we thought if we could just find you then maybe we'd be safe."

I shrugged, it had worked out after all, if not in the way we'd expected.

Coal and Alicia were still having their hissed conversation behind us and I thought I heard my name mentioned.

“I lost sight of you. I'm so sorry about Evan. I've never trained anyone before and I was worried that what happened to him was because I'd forgotten to teach you something important or-" Laurie looked almost like she was going to cry.

"You couldn't have done anything," I interrupted her.

"You weren't supposed to be targets," she said sadly, looking down at her boots.

“I know, please don't think about it. There was nothing anyone could have done to change it. But Taylor and me, we used everything you taught us and we survived - somehow."

“Because of Coal, not me."

"He saved us all, but that training saved us several times too." I reached over and held her hand.

“And how are you going to repay me?" Coal asked, breaking the tension and forcing his way in between us onto the sofa. He put an arm around both of us.

"If we're talking about life debts I think you're still in mine," Alicia said.

She jumped on top of us all, making Laurie scream and twist to get away as Alicia wriggled her toes under her nose. Coal grunted as her weight landed on him and she shifted so that she wasn't crushing his broken ribs.

“No, that Creeper King made us even," Coal protested.

“Yeah but I took out the rest of them so I think that gives me another point."

"We helped," I added.

“A bit," she conceded. Her gaze locked with mine and she smiled.

"I think that one was a team effort then," Coal suggested.

“Okay, okay," Alicia said. "Just remember who you can rely on when you're next in trouble." She smirked.

"You realise you're just setting yourself up for a fall? Next time you need saving, we might not bother," Laurie said.

Alicia jumped up, pulled off a sock and ran past Laurie, slapping her around the face with it.

“I'll kill you!" Laurie screamed as she jumped to her feet and chased Alicia round and round the sofa.

I tucked my feet out of their way and let them get on with it. Hunter laughed as he dished out steaming bowls of stew and handed some to Coal and me. My stomach rumbled appreciatively as I scoffed the lot and Hunter smiled as he gave me second helpings.

Taylor still wasn't awake when we arrived at the hospital but Baba promised us that it wouldn't be a long wait, though how she knew I couldn't guess.

I wondered vaguely whether he’d had any visitors whilst we were gone and hoped that he hadn't been aware if not.

"Taylor?" I asked, standing by his bedside and pushing his hair away from his eyes.