Page 73 of Anarchy Chained: Alpha Thomas

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - SULLIVAN

Help me. I say it over and over, hoping she’ll hear me.

But it’s been weeks. Weeks since they locked me in this prison cell. I am unable to do anything but waste away on the floor, wishing for my final end that will never come.

Thomas is gone for good. I can feel it. He’s never coming back. I’ll be left here to rot. No one is even here in this place with me. No sound at all. Nothing. I’m deep underground. No one will find me. I will—

Footsteps outside the door.

Help. Help me.

The grinding sound of a bolt being slid. Then the creak of a heavy door.

“Thomas?”

Thank God, it’s her. Sadie. I’m too weak to talk, so I do my best to project this to her. Sullivan. I concentrate on my name, trying to let her know I’m still here. That Thomas is gone and it’s still me. The one she likes. I’m the one she likes. Me.

Lights flick on. It blinds me—even though my eyes are shut, it’s too bright.

“What did you do to him?” Sadie asks.

“We needed to disarm him,” a man says.

“We cannot afford to have sympathy for this animal,” a woman snarls. “He is everything we’ve been fighting against.”

“Feed him,” Sadie snaps. “Now. And bring him water.”

“He won’t be able to eat,” the man says. “He’s too weak.”

“Then I’ll feed him, Uzi.”

Silence after that little declaration. For several seconds. Then, “I hope you know what you’re doing,” from the woman.

Footsteps. Two sets.

Sadie kneels down next to me. “Thomas?” she asks in a soft whisper. We’re connected. Linked. That’s what she called it back in the tunnel. So I can feel her even when she’s not here. But it’s so much better when she’s near.

“They’re bringing you food. I’m sorry. I was unconscious. I don’t know how long you’ve been like this but…” Her words fall away.

I have no more fight left in me. She’s here. It feels like a victory. It feels like the right time to fade away and let someone else take over.

But Thomas is still gone.

Where did you go?

The only response I get is darkness.

“Thomas?” It’s Sadie again. I feel a lot different. A lot better. And I’m not filthy, cold, or lying on a concrete floor. “Can you open your eyes?” I’m on a bed. A very soft bed.

God. When was the last time I had the pleasure of experiencing a bed? I don’t even remember. It was always Thomas who got to enjoy beds. Women. Drinking. Eating. I had none of that while I was locked up inside my own head.

I’m glad he’s gone. Fucking ecstatic.

Something pushes against my lips. Plastic. A straw.

“I know you’re waking up, Thomas. Drink from the straw. You need more water.”

I try to open my eyes, but only a thin sliver of reality peeks through before I give up and close them again.