The Unfortunates by Kim Liggett

Author:Kim Liggett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2018-07-10T08:38:49+00:00

18

EVERYTHING’S completely still.

There’s billowy pillows all around me.

A haze of tiny white particles dancing in the air.

I try to inhale, but my lungs won’t let me. In a panic, I push away the pillows, bashing my knuckles against something—a steering wheel.

I’m in my car. And these are the air bags.

Fumbling with my seat belt, I grab my phone and open the door. A freezing burst of wind hits my face.

As I look back at the carnage, the air comes back to me in one violent gasp.

“Hey.” Shy nudges me and I sit up like a shot, the heat bag crinkling all around me.

“Sorry, I must’ve fallen asleep. Here…” I start to get out of the bag. “Anyone need to warm up?” But no one seems to want it.

“Quickest way to warm up is to get moving,” Shy says as she hands me the packet of beef Stroganoff. “The rest is for you.”

I want to savor every cold, slimy bite, but everyone’s waiting on me. I down it. My stomach groans with how good it feels, but it still can’t fill the hole inside of me.

Darryl helps me to my feet. I’ve never felt an ache like this before. It’s like I’m covered in one giant bruise.

“How long was I asleep?” I try to stretch out, but it only seems to make it worse.

“No clue. But you were talking.”

“What?” I ask in alarm. “What did I say?”

“You kept saying, ‘I don’t remember anything.’ It was kind of creepy, dude.” Darryl helps me secure the pack on my shoulders. “You know that sound we heard before? We heard it again while you were out. If it’s just our imagination, how come we’re all hearing it, at the same time? Think about it,” he says as he takes his place in the line.

I don’t have an answer … for any of this.

I peer back into the darkness. If someone’s down here, wouldn’t they have spoken up by now? Made a move? Or maybe they haven’t had the opportunity yet. To get me alone.

“Where’s Grant?” Shy asks in annoyance.

“Coming,” I say, turning my back on the darkness.

As we plod forward I’m thinking about all the things I took for granted. Food, shelter, fresh air. Sunlight is the big one. Without it I feel so … lost. Rudderless. No wonder those places up north have such a high suicide rate. Without light, what is there? It seems so basic, but I wonder if that’s what happened to me these past few months. Maybe I just got so depressed I couldn’t see the light anymore.

With Kit leading the way, joking around with Darryl and Maria, Shy lags behind. She’s humming a tune I recognize, but I can’t place it. Maybe a nursery rhyme, but it’s prettier than that.

“What is that?” I ask. “The song.”

She glances back at me over her shoulder, like she’s embarrassed that I heard. “Mozart. Sonata in C Major.”

“You know classical music?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” She raises a brow. “You think only rich people listen to classical music?”

“No … that’s not what I meant.

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