Chapter 6

It’s been only two hours since we escaped and already I miss the comfort of my bed. The smell of the sheets after they’ve come back from cleaning, the sound of my instructor’s machine whirring as she explains each detail of space and the holograms she used to project the imagines so the whole classroom was filled with stars. I miss the smell of bread baking to perfection in the kitchen, sitting with Gertrude and talking about old memories. 

But mostly, I miss my shoes. 

My once clean and soft feet are now covered in a thick layer of mud and blood. There are sores growing on my heels where the cement of the tunnel has rubbed against my skin. The tunnel is covered in thick walls that the group seems to stay close to using it as a guide out. We continue to walk through the heavy darkness that makes my anxiety feel heavier with every step we take.

 It seems to stretch on with no light to guide us except for the small ray coming from the electronic is Henry’s hand. Axel and Chase stay close behind us.  Although I can’t see them, I feel the presence of Axel’s guns on the back of my neck like a cold stare. The two girls are in front of us carry heavy bags over their shoulders. I don’t know what’s in them, but it looks like it is has weight to it. 

“I still can’t believe he agreed to take them along.” Gwen says in front of us, loud enough for the whole tunnel to hear. “The others will be pissed when we being this unwelcome surprise through the door.”

“If they even make it through the door.” Taryn adds.

“I’m not too worried about it.” Axel says behind me. “I mean look at her. She’s practically nothing.”

Chase scoffs. “Don’t let that fool you. She packs a mean punch.” 

I keep my head down and keep walking. I can feel him fidget with the ropes still binding us together. 

“Are you okay?” Peter asks quietly from beside me. 

I imagine I look terrible, considering the way that I feel. My face is tight from the dried blood and I can no longer breathe out of my nose. My left eyes has swollen slightly making it difficult to see. The pain has gravitated towards my forehead and seems to be keeping a steady pulse there. 

It’s finally stopped bleeding now. 

That’s good, I think. 

Peter bumps his shoulder against mine still waiting for my reply. I still can’t bring myself to face him. He doesn’t need to see me like this. If there is anyway that I can stop and clean myself up, it would probably result in me getting shot. 

I nod my head once and continue to stare at my bare feet.

I’ve been looking down for so long that I don’t see Taryn stop in front of me and slam into the middle of her back. I step backwards setting off Peter’s balance. He stumbles, walking too far forward to catch himself thus tightening the rope around my hands and knocks me forward onto my knees and then flat onto my chest.

Peter turns around to catch me. This caused the rope to tighten more and pulls against my skin dragging my body against the gritty floor. 

“Peter, stop moving!” I shout. I try to pick myself up but the rope is taut. I can’t move. “Step backwards to loosen the rope.”

I hear snickering behind me. It takes a lot out of me to push the humiliation back down my throat but not before it has a chance to put color in my cheeks.

Peter takes a few steps backwards which gives me enough room to pull myself up off the ground and back onto my knees. I look at the reason Taryn stopped in the middle of the tunnel. Henry’s gun points at a ladder clinging to the wall of the tunnel and disappears up to the top where the end is unclear.

 The first ring to the ladder is almost ten feet off the ground. 

I get to my feet and look all the way up the stream of pale light that falls from the circle in to the top of the tube. The moon touches my cool wet cheeks. My eyes hold onto it. I’ve never seen the moon full like this before, a perfect circle. The only light in the black space. It’s beautiful and terrifying.

Axel shoves me forward; with his hand, with the gun, I’m not sure. “Keep moving.” 

Peter checks with me first before we both move forwards in unison. It reminds me of a trust game they demonstrated in class one time when a teacher gave permission for two students to bind one of each of their feet together. The students had to work together to reach the other side of the room where a prize was waiting for them. It was funny at first, the way one would move while the other was behind and they’d both fall forward onto the ground. But then, they started working together, one foot and then the next foot. When they reached the end of the room, they received the two pieces of sweet candy. It was a victory for all of us though. It was supposed to demonstrate how the world is made up of so many people and when one moves before the other can, everyone will fall. We all must work together, in unison, to reach a common goal. Peace. 

Peter’s shoulder rubs against mine when I’d move one leg, he’d move one leg, I’d move the other and he moved the other. But it didn’t feel like a victory when we reached the other side of the tunnel. All I felt was terrified. 

Henry squats beside Taryn and cups her foot in his hands before hoisting her up to reach the first ladder ring. She grabs a hold of it and pulls herself up with just the strength of her arms. Gwen is next. Henry keeps a hold of her though until all four limbs are on the ladder. Henry then takes a running leap and kicks himself off the wall of the tunnel until he has enough height to grab the ladder ring. 

Chase walks around so that he’s standing behind me. He unties the rope from my wrists. My shoulders sigh in relief as they fall forward out of their locked position. Chase gets down on one knee and holds his hands like Henry did before. “Just put your foot in my hand and I’ll hoist you up.”

I give him an incredulous look. “What’s up there?”

He grins. “You’ll see.”

I hesitate before I put my foot into his cupped hands and my hands on his shoulders. My eyes look up at Henry climbing the ladder in quick even movements. If I do this then I’ll officially be out of the city. There will be no going back. The anxiety makes my chest hurt as Chase slowly lifts me into the air, helping me keep my balance by keeping me close to the wall. I grab a hold of the first bar. 

The weak muscles in my arms shake as I lift myself up onto the second ring. By then, Chase has to let go of my legs and I’m hanging there by nothing but my hands. 

“Put your feet against the wall,” Chase instructs, “Then push yourself up.”

My breathing quickens as my nimble hands start to burn. I’m afraid to move but if I don’t do something I’m going to clatter back down to the ground and I know I won’t be able to get back up after that. Oddly, falling wouldn’t be the worst part of it. It’s that this group would see my weakness and they won’t hesitate to use it. 

The balls of my bare feet find the wall and I use what strength I still have and push off to reach the next ring. I use some of the momentum to grab a hold of the second ring and then the third.  When I reach the fourth bar, I hook my toes around the first bar and yell out as I push myself up for enough to grab ahold of the next bar. My voice carries down and up the tunnel. It sounds like pain. It rings like strength. 

My shoulder ache from hanging for so long but I don’t give up.

Not now.

My fingers sweat from the warm moist air making it difficult to keep my grip. It takes concentration then the other group members make it look. When I can finally get both my feet onto the first bar, a relieved laugh escapes by throat and I cling to the bars.

“Keep going.” Chase shouts. 

I give myself and Henry enough space, afraid that he’ll randomly kick me in the face and send me back down to the bottom of the tunnel. The climb up somehow feels a lot easier than the climb down did. Peter follows behind me. There is the slight sting of jealousy that he was able to get himself on the ladder quicker then I was able to but I remind myself that the we both made it up and that’s all that matters.  

When we reach the top there is a warmth I’ve never felt before in the dank halls of Dystal. The moon glares down at us like a watchful eye following us in every direction. My feet fall onto soft warm dirt that sticks to the bottom. 

My eyes look up and I look at the lie I’ve been told dissolve all around me.

‘There is nothing outside of those walls. Nothing but death and ruin. Dystal is safe and secure, away from the burning world. Away from the desolation. The world is no more.’

Trees, taller than the buildings I’ve lived in climb through those words. Mountains stand on top of those lies and devour them and as I turn around slowly the stars blinking in the night scare the words away from their unearthly stares. 

I’m here. I’m really here. I’m standing on it. The Earth. The warm, everlasting, untamable Earth and my feet are touching it. 

Suddenly, the anxiety drips away and no one else exists and it’s not so scary. It’s perfect actually. I’ve lived my whole life with millions of other people in smalls halls and even smaller rooms and I’ve looked out windows of gray to see more gray and now, I stand alone and it’s beautiful. 

“Ghost!” The girl Taryn claps her hands in my face. “What? You never see the sky before? Well take it all in Ghosty, because you’ll probably be dead by morning.”

Dead by morning? I can’t be dead by morning. There is still so much more I want to see. 

The two girls pull brown hoods over there heads and let their sleeves fall down over their arms. Henry pulls on a green tinted hat low over his eyes. I didn’t look behind me but I am fairly sure Axel and Chase do the same as the others. 

Taryn turns around and eyes me up and down. “They’re going to draw too much attention to us if they stay in those white clothes.”

Peter looked down at our white uniforms and then back up at the girl. “What do you want us to do? Walk naked?”

Taryn grins a malicious smile. “It really would be sweet justice wouldn’t it?”

Gwen, the dark skinned girl, pulls a piece of cloth out of her bag and throws it at Peter. It hits his face and falls to the ground. He looks down at it and then shrugs. “Not really my color.”

 She rolled her eyes. “I only have one. What are we going to do with her?”

I looked down at the white pants and soft white top that ran down just past my knees. It was what every girl Citizen wears to school. It’s plain and simply and if someone is looking, it’s practically a beacon. Whatever they planned to do to change that, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it.

“Get down on the ground.” Axel instructs.

“What?” I say, turning around slowly as to not tug any tighter on the rope that still binds my hands to Peter’s. “Why?”

“Stop asking me questions and do what I say.” He instructs and then hits me in the back of my knees with the butt of his gun. I go down hard onto my already bruised and bloody knees but this time I’m able to catch myself with my freed hands. Axel steps forward and pushes my shoulder down to that I’m parallel with the ground. The sand is hot and feels like tiny pieces of glass rubbing against my skin. 

He takes a hand full of it and rubs it on the back of my arms and my legs too. I try not to move, to better protect myself from the harsh dirt, but I can’t help it. It’s burning my skin. 

“Let me up.” I say, with more urgency than I intend. “Please, let me up! It hurts.”

“Oh, are you uncomfortable.” Taryn says from a few feet away from me. “How rude of us.” She bends down next to me, her long pale hair falling over her shoulder and brushes against my face. “Do you know how many times I’ve have to lay in the burning sand to keep from being spotted by you Ghosts? Too many times to count.” I flinch when her foot comes towards my face but all I get is a wave of sand that hit my arms and cheek like a sharp slap. 

Axel turns me slowly onto my back making sure that both sides of me are covered in the dark dirt before grabbing my arm and pulling me back to my feet.

When I stand back up, Peter is covered in a brown jacket, with the hood pulled up over his head. Axel stands in front of me and nods once. He lets his hood fall down and pulls the gray cap off his head and places it over mine. His hand lingers on the bill as he looks me in the eyes. He’s got a stern face, hard jaw, with just a shadow of hair along his neck. 

He moves the hat up and down so it fits well over my head. It’s a little big but I imagine it serves it’s purpose. “Have you ever been outside those walls before?” He asks.

I shake my head. 

A crooked smile, that makes me slightly nervous, spreads across his angled face. “I didn’t think so. You want to turn around and see what you’re walking away from?”

If this was a test, I couldn’t tell. If I turned around and saw what I’ve called home for seventeen years I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince them that I’m willing to separate myself from it. I wouldn’t be able to convince myself either. I keep my eyes locked on his and shake my head. And for all his cruelty and all his rage, he looks at me like I am a human being for the first time and possibly the last time. 

“You as tough as you seem?” He asks, tying the rope around my wrists once more.

I spit dirt from my mouth. “Oh, I am so much more than I seem.”

He smirks. “Those are the most dangerous kinds of people.”

He pulls his hood back over his short brown hair and turns around to walk behind me.  

They lead us to a black road that stretches on for miles and miles. It looks old and as if it hasn’t been used for years. Thick bushes grow between the cracks in the foundation. There are places where the ground splits completely apart and even a few heavy holes that need to be carefully avoided. I walk in the middle of the road, staring at the ground where I can see that there might have once been a faint yellow line dividing it. I wonder what it was for but imagine it doesn’t matter anymore.

 A fierce wind picks up and blows the harsh dirt up and around my bare arms and legs. I keep my head bent, watching my bare blistered feet sink into the sand and back up again. My shoulders ache and my mouth has turned dry and sore. I want to stop. I want to rest. I want to live.

Fear is not an emotion we experience often in Dystal. I feel fear now. It’s a blinding emotion that makes me feel small. I feel rage, but not for my captors. For my Community. I practiced honesty, grace, and kindness. I stole candy bars when I shouldn’t have but I’ve never harmed anyone. My punishment should have fit it- I should not have been questioned about my childhood and accused of treason. I shouldn’t have been threatened or thrown in front of a gun by one of my own people. I have never felt such rage.

“What are you thinking about?” Peter whispers. His shoulder are slumped like mine and his hood is flapping against the harsh winds.

“Water.” I lie.

“Really?” He shakes his head. “Not me. I’m thinking about how sorry I am I didn’t grab your bag from the Question room when I had the chance.”

“Why?”

“It had chocolate in it. And a fresh loaf of bread.” He looks at the girls in front of us. “They look pretty malnourished. I bet we could have bargained our freedom with those.”

My legs feel so heavy. I don’t remember them being this heavy before. Peter scoots closer to me. He gives me enough slack on my rope to straighten my shoulders. This helps a bit, but not much. We break through the tall pine trees and merge into an orchard of orange trees that are stacked in thick green leaves. The ground changes as we walk, into a thin grass that is cool and soft against my feet. The air smells so heavily of fruit that my stomach rolls around with hunger.

“We should stop and rest soon.” Chase say from behind me. “She doesn’t look so good.”

“We’ll stop when we get to first point.” Axel responds, although even his voice wavers in the heat. “You know the rules.”

Chase makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds like a cough. 

“How far is first point?” Peter asks. I try to lift my head far enough to stop him but I can barely keep moving my legs, much less lift my own head. 

“None of your business, Ghost.” Axel replies with more amusement than aggression. “You just make sure your girl here can keep up. Or you’ll be the one carrying her.”

Peter is right beside me now. The rope is loose enough that I can feel it hit the lower part of my back now. I am grateful for him in that moment. I wish I could have offered him something back. 

“Keep moving,” He says, nudging me with his shoulder. “It can’t be that far.”

I know he is trying to make me feel better, but I knew the truth. If this was first point than there had to be a second point, and possibly a third. Who knows how far those are from each other. 

“What do you think they’re going to do to them?” Chase whispers. It wasn’t hard to distinguish his voice in the silence. I know Peter heard him too because his head lifts slightly. 

Axel makes a noise in the back of his throat. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe we can use them?” 

“Sure,” Axel says sharply. “They can help in the kitchen with Lupe or run laundry with Mary and Elise. Why don’t we just hand them guns and let them shoot some rounds off for target practice.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Chase says. I slow my pace, putting some distance between myself and the girl ahead of us. “I just meant that maybe we can get some information from them about the structures. I’m telling you Axel, the girl got me out of there in ten minutes flat. She knew exactly where to turn, when to stop, when to go. I tried to loose them, but she kept following me. It was like she trying to escape too.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Chase lies, his voice drops. He knows why. I’m grateful he hasn’t said anything more about shoot the Questioner. “But I’d like to find out. If she’s so willing to follow me outside of the comfort of her Nest, then imagine what kind of information she has on them.”

I’m not paying attention to where I’m walking and instead focused on the conversation between the two boys, so that when stops a few feet ahead of me I continue walking and run right into her back again. Her elbow swings back hard and hit me in the rib cage and her shoulder shoves me off balance and onto my knees again. Peter grunts and lands beside me.

“Watch it, Ghost!” Taryn yells, swinging her back over her shoulder.  

“Why are we stopping?” Axel says from ahead of the group.

Henry turns around and presses his index finger against his lips. He points at his ear and whispers, “Listen.”

Axel looks down at the ground and tilts his chin down the rows of trees. Chase tilts his face towards the sky like he’s smelling the air. The ground seems to vibrate underneath my bare feet like in the transports. A warm summer breeze rustling the leaves of the trees down the row we’re standing in carrying with it the potent smell of gasoline and exhaust fumes. Gertrude’s husband would come home and smell heavily of it from being a mechanic in the Delivery Garages.

Why would that smell be out here?

A bright light strobe through the rows of trees to my right. We all turn in that direction but the lights disappear as quickly as they came. 

“Did anyone else see that?” Chase whispers behind us. 

Taryn takes a step back into the trees, her body hunched over as if she’s trying to sink in on herself. Her hands begin to shake where she tightens the straps to her pack that is tied around her waist. 

“No one panic.” Henry says ahead of me but his hands are white knuckled around his gun. 

They all freeze in the same position. The trees around them move more than the statuesque form they’ve all taken. The ground vibrate under my feet again. It feels like something is trying to break it’s way out or up. Something big.

I turn around slowly and look in the direction that Axel and Chase are standing in. The rows of trees look like they’re closing in on each other about a half a mile down. It sounds like the wind when it rolls through them but there is a heavier rattle. 

Axel looks at me and then turns around to see what I’m looking at. His eyebrows knit together as he tries to make sense of what I’m seeing. The trees are falling in on themselves like they’re just being sucked into the ground. I register a moment later then Axel what’s actually happening. The trees aren’t falling in on themselves, something is pushing through them. 

Axel reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife the length of his hand and starts walking towards me, turning the blade around so it’s facing me. 

My eyes close as he grabs the rope around my wrists forcing me to turn around. Peter gets thrown slightly off balance and knocks into me. He must see the blade because I hear him begin to say something before Axel slides the blade across the center of the rope cutting it in half like it is butter. My hands fall to my hips, free.

“Go!” Axel yells ardently into my ear as he pushes me forward down the rows of trees. 

Taryn breaks into a run in front of me but I’m right on her heels actually slowing myself down so that I don’t pass her. Axel and Chase stay behind, I can hear their breathing become quick and uneven as their feet slam into the crunching leaves. I notice my feet barely make any noise if I run on my toes. 

“Split up and meet at the road!” Axel says. 

Taryn and Gwen break away to the right into the heavy orchard. When I turn to follow them they’ve all disappeared into the forestry. The trees have swallow them into the night. My feet slide on the wet earth when I stop to look for them. Peter is no where to be seen either. Neither Chase nor Axel are in the row I’ve run into. The ground still vibrates under my feet, not as proficiently but enough that I know they are close. 

Coppers. 

The desire to call out for one of them is so desperate it physically hurts to suppress it. If I do call out it’s guaranteed that we’ll be caught. I’ll be dragged back to Dystal and the life I know will be removed from me. And Peter, he’ll be left by himself. The idea is enough to make me start panicking.

My only option is to keep running.

I pick a row and dig my feet into the soft earth as I run in the direction they were heading in before we all split up. Peter will still be with them. He will have followed someone.

At the first break, I turn right and duck under a branch breaking to a run again down another row of trees. My arms pump through the air and my breath push through my dry lips with every step that I take. The warm air pushes against my body, making my eyes water and sweat rise from my skin. Tree branches graze my arms when I shove them out of my way. I leap over a fallen limb and pump my arms harder down the center of the orchard row.

 Something flashing out of the corner of my eye on my left shoulder. I slide to a stop, bracing myself on a branch hanging over my head. I duck underneath it, hiding behind the thick foliage. 

It could be Peter. It could be Coppers. It could be any sadistic member of that group. 

The figure flickers through the lines of trees again. I catch a glimpse of the thick black boots on their feet. 

It’s not Peter.

I let go of the branch slowly and turn around to head in the opposite direction as the Hostile. The ground has stopped vibrating under me now. Everything has gone quiet. All the bugs in the area have all gone silent, the sound of the feet pushing against leaves has been subdued into the moisture of the ground. All I can hear, is the sound of my rushed breathes coming in and out of my tired lungs.

In the silence I notice a rustle come from behind me as something pushes through the trees. How have I not lost it yet?

 A small hill breaks the tree lines and dips down. I can’t make out much through the darkness but I can hear the sound of water breaking at the bottom. I dig my heels down and slide down the loose dirt in the direction of the road.

When I get down onto the hill, I drop down onto my hands and knees on the slanted part of the hill as a pair of bright head lights shift through the rows of trees heading East in the direction I separated from the rest of the group. In the flash of light I see a dark figure running in the opposite direction, the headlights are coming straight for them. 

My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I wait for the head lights to approach the figure. If I don’t get their attention quickly, they’ll be caught. Why would I help them? They’ve done nothing for me except given me some nice new bruises and a reason to hate every living person. 

If the situation was reversed, they’d let me get caught. They wouldn’t think twice about it. 

The Copper’s are approaching them quickly. It will be over in minutes. 

My stomach churns as I wait for it to come. The vengeance feels like poison in my system. I want to watch them get caught. I want to hear them scream and thrash and fight for their life. He is almost there, moving fast down the line of trees. I can make out his face now. It’s the boy that hit me with the gun. The leader.

He doesn’t slow or stutter when he runs but pushes himself forward like a train unaware of what’s about to hit him.

Those eyes. Those dark aquatic eyes that were so full of vehemence when he brought the end of the gun down on my face. The pain that struck me like a shock of lightning. He never wavered. He never thought for a moment that what he was doing was to another person. I can’t understand why they wouldn’t think of me as just another human being. A person. 

Just like him.

 I can’t become like that. I can’t become like them. 

He’s a foot from where I’m hiding. His feet are pushing dirt down over the side of the hill. Just as he’s about to pass me, I jump up and pull him by the arm down beside me, shoving him as hard as I can into the spot beside  where I’m hiding. He lands on his back hard and slides down the hill a foot before bracing himself against a tree trunk. I flatten myself against the mountain as the Copper’s truck rolls past us, their lights flashing around the perimeter, just grazing over the top of my head as I press the whole side of my face into the ground.

I stay as still as I can. Something crawls over my legs, but I refuse to move as another truck rolls by shaking the ground violently knocking loose dirt down over the top of my head covering my hands. 

My eyes meet Axel’s. He doesn’t move except for the quick rise and fall of his chest. He keeps his gun clutched across his heart waiting for the opportunity to shoot it.

After everything I’ve seen, everything that I’ve done; killing the Questioner, attacking another person, stealing, lying, it’s not who I was raised to be. If I’m going to die, I don’t want their lives to be on my conscience. He may not believe that I deserve to live and I can’t exactly say I think he deserves to live, but who are we to make that decision really. Who lives and who dies? If we can save someone, show them even a little kindness, then we should. 

No matter how hard it is. 

Axel’s eyes pierce through the darkness as he stares up at me. He leans up on his elbows and twists around to look down the road in the direction the Coppers went. He turns back around to face me, a scowl permanently embedded onto his face. “This doesn’t change anything.” 

I knew I was going to regret it.

“Of course it doesn’t.” My hands slide out from under the dirt as I push myself back up. I quickly brush off my clothes and a few bugs off my skin. I cross my arms over my chest and turn to start heading down the hillside as I whisper quickly behind me, “Why should it?”

My feet slide on the loose dirt as I coast down the hill. Axel stays behind me. When I get down to the bottom the ground becomes solid again. It’s warm against my bare feet even in the night but at least it’s not moving. The  sound of water is closer now. I can see the white tips of the waves as they roll under a large wall that separates the beach from the road. 

Without waiting for the leader, I keep heading down the dark path that’s been eroded with plants growing out of thick cracks in the pavement. 

“Hey, hold on.” Axel whispers behind me.

My eyes roll as I dodge a rusted metal vehicle part that looks like it’s been left alone for a long time. 

“Where are you going?” His pack rattles against his back as he jogs to catch up to me. 

“The tall blond one said that the your camp was towards the South.” I point straight ahead of me. “The sun sets on the West, and rises in the East, so that would mean we need to go straight to get to your first point.”

“That’s smart.” He says, fixing his pace beside me. “How do you know that?”

“Just because I live inside buildings does not mean that I’m uneducated.” A warm breeze picks up sending stray pieces of hair around my face tickling the back of my neck.  “In fact, I might be more educated because I live inside those buildings.”

Axel snorts and glances over his shoulder again. “If you’re so smart, why did you help me back there? You could have let them take me. You could have run away. That’s what I would have done.”

I stop abruptly and bark, “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not you.” 

He doesn’t say anything to that. He just stands there beside me his mouth slightly open and his head tilted back like he’s about to say something, but decides not to. 

I don’t wait for a snarky retort or another brutal attack but keep moving forward. Peter has to be there. He has to be. 

Axel keeps by my side, searching the perimeter as the flat land turns into old crumbling buildings lining the bay. 

Axel lifts up his head and cups his mouth letting out a high whistle. Nothing happens. He lifts up his head and whistles again.

A few seconds later, a low distant whistle replies back from a quarter mile away.

The group moves out from behind one of the first building in the small ruined town. They are all accounted for. Including Peter. Henry is hovering over him, with a gun pressed against the back of his head.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading. Please let me me know if you find any grammar mistakes, flaws in story line, or something that just doesn't sound right.

Chapter Song: I, the Hand Grenade by highasakite

Reviews

[Wolven]

"I was able to but I remind myself that the we both made it up and that’s all that matters." Only spelling mistake i've found so far. It should likely be "...but I remind myself then, that we both made it up..."

Hi by the way. It's been a while since I took a jook at this story. (been off writerscafe for months) It's a really enjoyable chapter, and i like how you've shown Story's ability to see things in ways the others wouldn't. So like, when she saves Chase from the coppers (again) he starts asking why she did that, and beforehand there was that highlighted line:

If we can save someone, show them even a little kindness, then we should.
No matter how hard it is.

I wondered why it was highlighted at first, but then. attention is drawn to it. lol. unfortunately if this were to get published on paper you wouldn't be able to have it highlighted in that way. Instead, employ other techniques. I recommend you either change the size of your font or the line spacing to begin with, because with such large portions of writing (the paragraphs) it's a little hard to take in. but that can't always be helped online. Alternatively, as it is all a continuous stream of consciousness, you could put the likes of that line in Italics, and/or give it its own paragraph/space if you get me. Something simpler like that to emphasize the point you're making in it.

I'm intrigued by the interactions of the other people... the outsiders if you will. When they talk about what use the 'Ghosts' could be put to (nice use of their prejudicial terms by the way. blends in great with the setting) they suggest putting guns in their hands, or using Story's knowledge of Dystal's infrastructure and stuff, but then that bit:

"I’m telling you Axel, the girl got me out of there in ten minutes flat. She knew exactly where to turn, when to stop, when to go. I tried to loose them, but she kept following me. It was like she trying to escape too.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” Chase lies..."

I like how Chase is thinking about her in the strategic way, but then that point "It was like she was trying to escape too..." i think is brilliantly worded. It shows that these outsiders have no conception of the hardships and mental torture that the ghosts were subjected to, so much that he is confused at the notion of her trying to escape. and at the same time it shows that he's thinking about her in a different way, not just as an asset- a resource. it gives the hope that the outsiders may well change their perspectives on the system with the knowledge of what goes on. (like looking in on a birdcage...) Don't sate that hope just yet though. be strategic. you don't want it all to end so soon.

all in all, a brilliant chapter. I'll be sure to recommend it to other people when I can. :D