Free Fear of God (Trials of Strength Book 1) by Jr Matthew Bell

earlier admiration I had had for Chris melted
away and the obvious truth filled the void. He knew more than he
was letting on. It had gone on for long enough. I waited as he
surveyed Anna.
    ‘ She’s
breathing, but it looks like her arm is dislocated,’ he whispered,
gazing around suspiciously as if more monsters waited to catch us
off guard. ‘Anna, hey, Anna?’
    He gave her a soft shake
and patted her face lightly. She groaned and arduously opened her
eyes. She looked around, and then tried to move.
    ‘ Oh god,’ she
gasped through clenched teeth. ‘My arm! My arm, I think it’s
broken, oh god.’
    Chris helped her sit up
against the wall while he studied her arm.
    ‘ No, Anna,’ he
said. ‘It’s just dislocated.’
    Anna’s eyes locked onto
his and she winced.
    ‘ Can you fix
it?’ she asked.
    ‘ Yes, but it’s
gonna hurt. We should wait till we’re back in the tunnels before-’
he started.
    ‘ No,’ Anna
replied. ‘Now, do it now, please.’
    Chris nodded but said,
‘Don’t scream.’
    He took of his belt and
told her to bite down on it. With a pop, he twisted her arm back
into place. Tears rushed from Anna’s eyes, but she bit down on the
belt hard, keeping her scream coiled away. After a few minutes of
silence, she scanned the room. Her eyes fell onto the pool of blood
on the cream carpet where it had poured from Claire’s head. Chris
obscured her view of me.
    ‘ Lucas,
where’s Lucas? Is he alright?’ she asked flustered.
    Chris shifted and her
eyes caught mine. They both stayed silent, staring at the scene
before them. Fresh tears sprung in Anna’s eyes and I put my hand up
before she could say anything. I didn’t want her pity, I had my
own. That and crippling guilt, someone else’s would be too much. A
few more moments passed, and Chris moved.
    His feet crunched on the
broken glass as he made his way cautiously out of the room. He left
to search the house, and Anna did her best to crawl over and take
my hand. I would have shaken her off, but I held on as if my life
depended on it. Chris returned.
    ‘ The coast is
clear. We have to move now,’ he ordered. His eyes avoided
Claire.
    I laughed, and both Chris
and Anna jumped. I’d never been so angry. The fire in my stomach
was unstoppable, and it spread quickly. It gave me courage, well,
that or foolishness. My throat hurt and my voice rasped, but I
fought the pain and spoke up.
    ‘ She was
sixteen last month,’ I whispered, and Chris dropped his gaze. ‘I
went with my parents to her party down the road from my house. She
was so happy, so full of life, with a future and dreams, and a
family. She was loved.’
    ‘ Lucas, we
don’t have time for-’ Chris whispered.
    ‘ MAKE. THE.
TIME!’ I gasped. ‘She had her whole life ahead of her, and now
she’s dead!’
    Anna was silent. She
stared at the wall she had been thrown into, but she listened with
tears in her eyes, her strong façade put aside. I trembled, and
with Claire’s death it was time to know why.
    ‘ What do you
know?’ I asked.
    He did what he normally
did when Anna posed these questions. He waved his hand, dismissed
me, and moved to leave the room.
    ‘ Don’t you
DARE!’ I shouted and choked. I had to remember my throat had almost
been crushed.
    It was enough though.
Chris hesitated in the doorway and turned. His eyes were wide and
his jaw trembled, scared, but not of me. Everyone below might have
been too afraid, too grateful to him for saving them to question.
Anna tried, but short of causing a scene we didn’t need, she let it
go. I was done with that.
    ‘ For nearly
two weeks we’ve followed you blindly. My Dad is probably dead and I
have no idea what’s happened to my Mum,’ I whispered. ‘I’ve been
shot, and thrown, and nearly blown up. Chased by people I have
known almost all of my life, and I don’t know why!’
    Chris stared at his
shoes, struggling with words.
    ‘ The guns, the
tunnels, the creatures and the snipers and the saving the