Free Unremarkable (Anything But) by Lindy Zart

hell was he?
    Ryder had no answers and no choice but to walk and see where it got him, so with a heaving sigh, that was what he did. His body ached like he’d been beaten all over instead of just his head and it didn’t take long for him to tire. He forced himself to keep moving, always taking the center tunnel when given an option between three, and resting minutely when another step was impossible. He was weak, hungry, and thirsty. 
    He’d been walking for what felt like hours when he found her at the end of the tunnel. She was looking around a corner, a handgun held between her hands, intent on watching something on the other side of the tunnel. She stiffened as though sensing his presence. It was dark and still he knew her.
    Ryder would recognize her no matter what. Her petite frame, her midnight hair, those dark blue eyes and pale features—it was Honor. Air escaped him in a ragged breath and his insides twisted. Wonder washed over him, making him dizzy. Was it really her, or was it a cruel trick courtesy of his eyesight?

     
    “Are you a ghost?” he whispered, his vocal cords failing him as he crept toward her.
    “ Get back!” The gun was suddenly aimed at him, Honor’s back against the damp wall of the underground maze. “Wait. Ryder? ” The word was a question, his name on her lips enough to make him shudder. He took another step closer. “Damn it, Ryder! You never listen!”
    She sounded frustrated with him, but not hateful, and even if he had wanted to listen to Honor, he wouldn’t have been able to. His feet pulled him to her like she was a magnetic field and he was unconsciously drawn to her. He couldn’t fight it, couldn’t deny the need to be nearer to her.
    “Did they send you for me? I’m not going back. You’ll have to kill me.”
    He flinched at her words, shaking his head. “You’re not real. You’re dead. You have to be a ghost.”
    Blue eyes full of fire flashed at him. “If I was a ghost, I would haunt you.”
    “ You have to be. You are. You do.”
    “ I do what?”
    “ You haunt me.” Ryder’s eyes stung and he blinked it away, the pressure in his chest tight.
    “ I should shoot you.”
    He ripped his shirt over his head, ignoring Honor’s protests, and flung it to the ground, baring himself to her. Widening his stance, he raised his arms out from his sides, his eyes locked with hers. “Do it.” Ryder tapped the place where his heart rapidly beat beneath his flesh. “Right here. One shot. One good shot is all you need.”
    Her hand wavered on the gun. “Why would you want me to shoot you?”
    “ Why wouldn’t you want to? I shot you. I could have…I thought…” He swallowed thickly. “I thought I killed you, Honor.” I thought you were dead. I wanted to die.
    “ Sorry to disappoint you.” The gun lowered.
    He clenched his jaw. “I didn’t want to shoot you. I didn’t even know I did until it was too late.”
    “You’re a terrible liar.”
    “ I am not lying,” Ryder enunciated slowly.
    Honor bristled. “Whatever. All you’ve done since you moved to Anderson Junction is torment me. You hate me, that’s never been a secret. I almost broke your nose. You said you would get back at me—”
    “I wouldn’t shoot you to get back at you!” His voice, loud and angry, echoed through the tunnels. “And I don’t—” He stared at his tennis shoes. “I don’t hate you. I never hated you.”
    The silence drew out, awkward and tense, until Honor finally spoke. “What are you doing here anyway?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “ You don’t know?” She cast him a dubious look.
    “ That’s what I said, isn’t it? I don’t know. I was knocked out and woke up down here. I don’t even know where we are. What are you doing down here?”
    “ Trying to outrun UDKs. You know; the usual.”
    Ryder blinked. “Why?” And then, suddenly, something clicked in his head. He’d thought Honor was dead. August had told him she was dead. She wasn’t dead. August had