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The crowd’s whispered confusion grew heavy and worried.
“May your Collective’s Challengers embody the strengths of your people, and may the Reclamation begin.”
The video cut off, freezing on Archon Veritas’ smiling face. But that smile never quite reached her eyes, and it left a sour feeling in my stomach.
The crowd rippled with tension, shouts of discontent bubbling up like steam ready to burst. Nova’s voice crackled through the speakers, sharp and commanding. “Attention!” she called. The crowd dipped into a low murmur, though the anger still simmered beneath the surface.
“I know we’re all absolutely thrilled about this exciting new development!” she chirped, her voice too sweet. “So, let me answer a few questions I’m sure you all have. One, yes, every member of the Collective has their name in the drawing. If you can vote, you can Reclaim!”
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. My grip on Jax tightened instinctively. His name was in that lottery somewhere… if he was chosen…
I shook my head, shoving the thought away before it could root itself too deeply. But the fear now had a prominent place in my chest.
“Two!” Nova shouted, raising her voice over the growing rumble of panic. “There will be no substitutions for any reason whatsoever. The chosen winner is our second Challenger. Simple as that.”
The outrage exploded this time. Parents shouting about the fairness of sending young children or the elderly, and kids wailing as the reality began to sink in.
I met Ava’s eyes and I could see how terrified she was. She knew exactly what this experience does to a person, and I don’t think she’d survive if she had to follow her brother’s ghostly footsteps.
For a few chaotic moments, it was a storm of voices and panic. Then Praxis guards in gaudy silver armor began slipping through the crowd, calming or silencing… depending on who you asked.
“So much excitement!” Nova beamed into the camera, her cheerful tone as fake as the smile on her lips. I had no doubt they’d scrub the outrage from the final broadcast. By the time it aired, we’d all look like eager participants in this game of chance.
I wondered if the other Collectives reacted similarly to the news. I guess I’d never know.
Nova pulled out two envelopes. Both held closed by the seal of Praxis. My heart raged against my ribcage as I watched her break the first seal and slide the card out into her hand.
“Canyon Collective!” she cried out into the microphone. “Your fairly elected Challenger is….Ezra Wynstone.”
Damnit.
Disappointment curled in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t know Ezra, but I did know everyone in Canyon who could read at a higher level, or had basic understanding of science and arithmetic… and he wasn’t one of them. We could all but kiss the medical trial goodbye. Ezra stepped forward, a look of quiet resignation on his face. He held his hands clasped behind his back, which only accentuated his broad shoulders. On the bright side, maybe we did have a chance at some of those physical trials this year. It would be nice to get more livestock.
I leaned my chin on Jax’s arms which were hanging around my shoulders and sighed deeply. Livestock was well and good, but it wouldn’t help him.
Ava leaned into me, a quiet gesture of comfort. She knew exactly who I’d voted for and why, and she knew, just like I did, that this Challenger wasn’t the one who was going to save Jax.
“Maybe next year, hon,” she offered gently.
“Yeah… maybe next year,” I whispered back, the words bitter on my tongue.
But I wasn’t sure Jax had another year. With the way his illness was progressing, even six months felt like a stretch. I couldn’t imagine a world without him, without his infectious smile, his endless curiosity. Even on his worst days, when the pain had to be unbearable, he was still the sweetest kid I knew. Sharp as a tack, always ready with a joke or a question that made you think.
His frail arms tightened around my shoulders, and I placed my hand over his, feeling the slight tremor in his grip.
I blinked hard against the sting in my eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. Not here. Not now .
Ava gasped softly beside me. When I turned to her, she had one hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide and glistening. Panic jolted through me.
“What?” I asked, heart pounding.
She didn’t answer. More sets of eyes were landing on me now, confusion rippling through the crowd. My pulse hammered in my ears.
And then I saw it… my face, projected on the massive screen behind Nova. My confused, dumbfounded expression staring back at me.
“Come on down!” Nova’s voice rang out, cheerful and bright, but all I heard was the roaring in my head.
It all snapped into brutal clarity.
It was me.
I was the second Challenger.
“Bex…” Ava’s voice cracked, trembling with shock. I barely heard her. Everything around me felt distant, the crowd, the shouts, the gasps, all of it was muffled, like I was hearing it through thick glass. My limbs felt like they weren’t mine, shaking uncontrollably as the weight of what just happened slammed into me.
Slowly, with agonizing reluctance, and trembling hands, I slid Jax from my back. He clung tighter, his small arms wrapping desperately around my shoulders with as much strength as his muscles could muster. He didn’t fully understand what the Reclamation meant, but he knew I was leaving him.
“Bex, no,” he whined, his voice high and panicked. “Don’t go.”
I knelt down, my heart breaking as I gently cupped his face. “You need to stay with Ava for a little while, okay, Jax?” I tried to sound calm, but my voice was rough, strangled.
He shook his head, tears welling in those wide blue eyes. “I don’t want you to go,” he cried, voice cracking on the words .
“I know, sprout… I know.” My voice dropped to a whisper. I pressed my forehead to his, closing my eyes against the hot sting of tears. “I love you. I love you so much… and I’m going to get you a doctor. Okay? I promise. I’m gonna take care of you.”
He nodded through his tears, but his grip on me only tightened as much as his little limbs would allow. He buried his face in my neck, shaking in my arms. I held him, squeezing him like I could imprint the memory of this moment into my skin, his warmth, the sound of his breaths, the way his hair tickled my cheek. I felt my chest crack open as I forced myself to move.
I stood slowly, holding him against me for just a second longer before meeting Ava’s gaze. Her eyes were rimmed red, her cheeks blotchy with tears. I could see how much she was trying to hold it together, for Jax, for me.
“I need you to look out for him,” I pleaded, my voice barely holding steady.
“I will,” she promised through broken sobs. “You know I will.”
I squeezed her hand.
“May the stars shine on you, Bex,” Ava whispered with a serious sort of reverence.
I nodded, thankful for the support embedded in the words, even if I didn’t recognize the phrase. “Thank you.”
“Come on, sprout,” I whispered, trying to peel him off me. He fought it, clinging to me with all the strength he had left.
“Please don’t go,” he sobbed. “Please, Bex.”
“I have to,” I whispered back, my voice breaking. “But I’m going to come back. I swear.”
It took everything in me to pass him into Ava’s arms. He cried out, thrashing, his little hands reaching for me even as she tried to soothe him. The sound of his sobs cut through me, carving me hollow. I took a shaky step back, then another.
“Come back to us,” Ava whispered, clutching Jax tightly against her chest. “And come back in one piece. Don’t let them write the end of your story.”
I nodded because I couldn’t speak. If I opened my mouth, I’d fall apart.
“Time to come on down!” Nova’s voice rang out over the speakers again, dripping with false cheer. The impatience in her tone turned my stomach.
I tore my gaze away from my best friend and my brother, my whole world, and forced my feet to move. The crowd parted around me in heavy, reverent silence. No one spoke. No one whispered. It was an eerie, suffocating kind of quiet. It had been years since someone who wasn’t a charged criminal was chosen as a Challenger in the Reclamation Run.
But now, it was me.
I climbed the steps onto the stage, the heat of the setting desert sun pressing down on me, sinking into my skin. It felt hotter up here. Maybe it was the lights, or the glare of the cameras, or maybe it was the thousands of eyes watching me from the safety of the ground.
Nova met me at the top of the stairs, her smile too wide, too practiced. She looped her arm through mine without missing a beat and dragged me across the stage. My feet barely kept up as she steered me into place beside the other Challenger.
Ezra Wynstone didn’t even glance my way when I took my spot next to him. He kept his eyes forward, shoulders squared, calm as stone. I was grateful for it. I had enough people staring at me, I didn’t need his gaze adding to the weight.
“Join me in congratulating your Challengers!” Nova’s voice boomed, bouncing off the buildings and carrying through the tense, heavy air. “Your elected, Ezra Wynstone and your chosen, Brexlyn Hollis!”
Side by side. One facing the death penalty. One handed a death sentence.
I stood there, blinking against the lights, my breath catching in my chest as I looked out over the endless sea of people. So many strangers. So many faces. I wondered if anyone out there was memorizing mine.