BLUE IRIS

Iris

"WHY THE fuck did you just run away without telling me? How many times did I tell you to stay with me all the time? But you couldn't just do it, could you? You're hard-headed and stubborn, and you have to defy me!" Colt's voice roared like thunder.

I stayed still, guilty, and unable to say a word because I forgot everything the moment I saw James. He was one of the people with me at the West Colony.

"Jesus, Blue! What the hell are you doing here?" He dragged me inside the textile stall and pushed me against the used clothes. The place smelled mothballs, dust, and old.

I pulled him to a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

"We don't have much time for this, Blue. Have you not seen the wanted posters?" He fidgeted and looked pale. He lost weight, sure, and his eyes were sunken, but it was good to know someone was still alive after what they did to us out there. "What poster?"

"You are wanted for stealing their property. That was bullshit and I didn't believe. But you know how powerful they are. You need to get out of here now and never come back. This place is a fucking death trap for you." He was gripping my arms with wide eyes, forcing me to believe that he was telling the truth.

"I did not steal anything," I protested.

"Do you think I don't know that? But you need to leave now."

"I can't. I am with friends."

"I saw them." He grabbed some clothes and threw them to me. "Just get out of here and find a dark blue sedan. You don't wanna end up in that fucking place again, Blue. The second time might not be good for you. You might not be able to survive once they catch you again."

I shivered. "You're scaring me."

"You should. Hide there until your friend will come to you. Don't look back. I will give Alonzo a plastic bag to give to your friend. My boyfriend-he's one of the securities on duty, and the reason why I am still alive until now, but I still have to donate my blood every month as payment of my stay."

I was already wearing the ridiculous white dress that looked like from Cuba. "Stay alive, James. Thank you for this. And please, look for my friend and tell them I'm okay."

He threw the straw hut to me. "I think I saw them at the meat stall. Leave now." He hugged me one last time. "Take care." "Iris!"

I yelped in my seat. "What?"

He hit the steering wheel out of anger and cursed about a hundred times, and that made me feel guilty for just running away, afraid I might lose James in the crowd.

Colt briefed me every now and then, and for a split second, I threw it out of the window. I could have put their lives in danger, and if that happened, I could not forgive myself for the rest of my life.

We used the blue sedan James owned. Colt was wearing the uniform Martinez had offered and said that we might encounter checkpoint or patrol within two miles radius, so Colt had to pretend like he was one of them.

"Just calm down, Colt. We found what's we've been looking for in the Greenebach and why Iris is wanted. They wanted her alive, and that's a good thing."

Colt huffed. "They want her back, and that's a good thing?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"I didn't steal anything. They already killed my brother. What else they want from me?" I yelled in anger. I'd been thinking many times since we left Greenebach an hour ago on why they wanted me badly. But I still couldn't find the answer. They were willing to offer a reward and gave what Colt had asked from them, and that idea alone was driving me insane.

"What about their secret facility or top-secret dossiers something like that. What do you know about it?" Gael asked.

"I don't know. And I already told you everything I know. I haven't seen papers or files since they had us. James said he's still donating his blood every month as his payment of stay, and the reason he's still alive because of Alonzo Martinez." "I'm glad you're okay." Colt calm down a little bit, but the scowl on his face was still deep.

"We need to go back to the camp. I'm afraid they're all in danger."

"That's where we're heading. We don't have time to spend a night to rest," said Gael, biting the protein bar. He threw a bar for me, but Colt refused to take his.

"I can't believe my life is worth five guns and grenades." I rolled my eyes, still furious when I found out my worth.

Colt met my gaze through the rearview. "I wanted to kill him ten times the moment he." He paused, breathing through his nose. "He said if I saw the woman on the flyer. I swear to God I don't like to have blood on my hands, but I wanted to give him a slow death."

After his descriptions, I realized who he was telling us.

"That's Otis Wise. He leads the army or maybe he hired mercenaries, but he doesn't lead the West. He just follows orders from the top. I don't know who's behind this though. There's this geek guy he treats as his brother, I think his name is Zephyr or probably just a code name. I don't know. If someone touches Zephyr, Otis will not think twice to kill. That's the only thing Nuke told me."

"We'll talk about this shit later. Take a nap, Iris. I need you to drive once you wake up. I have a lot in my mind right now, but I need to focus on driving."

"Let me drive. You've been up for almost two days. You need to sleep, Colton," I insisted.

"No. We need to get out at least a few miles away."

"Of course, you just boss around." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His face turned red.

"Nothing. Go ahead and drive." I shrugged.

"Do you think I can sleep or rest when my brain is running a mile and my rage still pumping in my blood?" he roared with anger.

I could sense the anger coursing through his veins, and I didn't have to provoke him, so I reached out to grip his shoulder. "I didn't mean to run just like that. I almost put you and Gael in danger, and I am truly sorry." He nodded.

"Just do what he says, Iris. He needs to calm down," Gael agreed.

I leaned my head against the window and watched the green scenery passed by in a blur. My lids fluttered closed.

A hard impact plowed straight from my right side, sending the car flying in slow motion. A loud noise erupted like an immense explosion, but we were not on fire. And I could still feel my body, reminding me that I was alive. The collision flipped the car up and tossed us right into the air.

My breathing held.

My heart was pounding.

My body ached everywhere. My head. Oh, my god! It felt like it split in half or cracked into tiny pieces, and my brain was crashing and bled out. Warm liquid rolled down my eyebrow into my eye, blurring my sight. Then the car descended with a loud splash. Into the water.

I watched the car submerge deep, and I couldn't move. I didn't know how to swim. I watched bubbles blew out from my nose and rose above while my body was slowly sinking down.

Oh, my God! I'm gonna die. I'm drowning.

The gunfire erupted around me, echoing in my ears. I wanted to run, to escape, but I couldn't move my legs-they weighed tons and painful.

Swearing followed.

The gunfire stopped, but the horrendous noise still remained in the air.

I felt like floating. I felt weightless. It was so peaceful around here. No plague. No corpse. No smell of decaying human body. It was free of terror. I looked at the distance-it was endless.

Everything seemed perfect. So unreal.

I could feel the water blurring my eyes, entering my nose and my mouth. I gurgled and coughed. And coughed.

My body and bones were aching as if I'd been in a train wreck. My head throbbed like it cracked open. My chest. Why did it hurt so bad? Like someone was intentionally crushing my heart and squeezing my lungs. My breathing stopped. "Damn it! Wake up!" A familiar voice seemed worried than angry. I wasn't sure if it was a dream or real, but I definitely recognized that voice.

"Please, Iris, wake up!" I heard that voice again. This time it was hoarse, shaky, and seemed in pain.

Then something heavy and solid pressed against my aching forehead. A liquid dropped into my eyes, down my face and warm breathing against my lips. Warm soft lips pressed against my own. I wanted to move and kissed back, but I felt like I was paralyzed.

"Twig, please, open those damn blue eyes for me or I swear to God! Come on, please?" he said that over and over again. His voice was cracking. "Goddamnit! Please, don't give up on me now."

Another pressure hit my ribcage, and I wanted to whine in pain.

"Fuuuck!"

I cough. I coughed out, struggling to throw the water inside my mouth. My throat ached as if it was swollen.

"Jesus." I felt the soft lips pressed against my forehead. "Iris. Thank, God. I thought I lost you. Damn it. You scare me. Can you sit?"

"World's spinning." I swallowed. "Everything aches."

When I opened my eyes, the flickering light of the sun blinded my vision, then the face of the man who tried to revive me appeared right in front of my eyes. I was wrong to think that there was no humanity left in this world anymore. Here was the living proof in front of me.

Have I been dead?

"Colton?"

"Yeah. I'm here." He was still devastatingly handsome despite the blood running down from his hairline. His eyes were red and tired, but he managed to give me a smile. "You make me so fucking worried." His thumb caressed my cheek. "What happened? Gael. Where's Gael?" I croaked in question.

"Right here." I heard his voice.

I tried to sit down, but the smell of mud and a peaty smell of algae hanging thickly in the air made me want to throw up.

"You okay, Gael?"

"I'll live. How about you?"

"I can't remember what happened, and I feel pretty beaten up here." I grimaced.

"We're on a car crash," Colt answered, carrying me bridal style to Gael.

"A pick-up truck threw us off the bridge, then they followed by shooting us. I got out first since the window was broken. I managed to swim to lure them out toward me. I was able to fire back and down three men. Colt dragged you out of the car, and I covered his ass as he was trying to revive you. Their aim was to me and Colt alone." Gael had small cuts on his face and on his arms, probably from the broken glass, but I bet he looked better than me.

A good amount of guilt twisted inside my stomach while Gael explained what happened earlier. It just hit me how much they wanted to protect me. I couldn't say that anyone besides my brother had ever shown me so much care through their actions, and it was killing that I couldn't even pay them back.

"I'm sorry. It was all my fault why you two are in danger."

Gael tasked, "You are part of our group now, Iris. And our group is our family. We protect our family. We protect each other."

I felt better knowing that Gael did not blame me for what happened, and they were not severely wounded in the car crash and from the shooting. But how long could we run? How long our luck would last?

"We should go before reinforcement arrive. Let me carry you." Colt took my soak backpack from the ground aligned with his.

I patted my neck to find my necklace still with me. Thankfully, it didn't fall into the lake. "I think I can walk."

"Are you sure?" he asked, wearing a worry in his eyes.

I didn't want him to worry about me. If I survived in the hands of those people, I tried my best to survive again for Colt and everyone's sake.

"Yeah. Let me check your head first."

"I'm okay, twig. It's just a scratch. I had worse than this. Head wound is pretty bloody," he joked.

He managed to make me smile despite the circumstances. And I wanted to hug him tight, thank him, and make him feel how grateful I was for saving my life today.

"You're lucky you don't have broken bone." Gael started placing the guns back inside to the duffel bag and slung it around his shoulder.

"Do they still work?"

"Yeah. Depending on how long it's underwater."

"Where's my gun?" I asked Colt.

"Here," Gael offered. "I used it, but you still have a few bullets left."

"Thank you." I looked at him and smiled.

"No need to thank me, Iris. This is why you have me and Colt."

"Our map is gone. We don't have a guide anymore, but we can't stroll beside the river. They can follow our trail easily. We need to get access to the road, and it's the easiest way to get back to the camp once we find a car," Colt said.

***

SO FAR the forest seemed quiet. After an hour of hiking, we couldn't find any kind of transportation. No house, no cattle, no horse, no bikes, or anything that my eyes could catch, and I felt my strength was wearing off. "How long did I pass out?"

Colt glanced down at me. "I think you passed out before the crash."

"I remember closing my eyes, then a loud crash followed. I felt like I was thrown up then we sunk into the water," I told him what I remembered and what seemed vague.

"I can't believe you can't swim." He laughed softly.

"I almost drowned when I was eight, and I was afraid of the sea or pool since then. I can sit on the beach, but I won't dare go deep. Why do you think I didn't wanna join Darick fishing?"

"So, you never tried skinny-dipping?" A broad smile of understanding broke out from his face. His eyes were bright as the clear sky.

My heartbeat spiked up than it had in a long time. I'm already falling for him.

"Nah."

We reached the road, and I felt beyond exhausted. Gael sat down, breathing heavily, and our clothes started to dry on our skin.

He peeled his bag open and grabbed a can of soda. "To my diabetes!"

Colt shook his head, amused. "And that's how we're going home!"