grand finale bri

The Cure

I walked up to the gate, the house seemed almost sad in the emptyness we left it in. Theres a lock on the gate, a heavy padlock, it wasnt budging. I heard Alex before I saw him, his tennis shoes crunching the gravel. I was about to say something to him, I'm sure it would have been something sarcastic like 'thanks for the key' or something. I think it clicked in our heads at the same moment right then, him pulling me out of sight right before a circle of lights turned on all around the house. Police and regulators were shouting, someone claimed to have seen us. They fanned out in all directions, searching. Alex and I took off once again, keeping to the shadows. I was about to go in a seperate direction, before he grabbed my wrist. a gentle shake of the head reminded me of what I should already have known. We could never go back to portland, this hadn't been some chance raid. someone had reported us, and going back into portland would land us straight in the crypts or worse, cured.

We ran, we ran as fast as we could for the border. The guard hadnt been drugged, we had nothing with us but the few possessions I had brought with me, thinking we still had time to prepare. I was wrong, there wasn't time left after all. There were search lights everywhere, Alex and I just having time to dodge them, just barely not getting caught. We kept low to the ground, having to stop at almost a crawl once we reached the guard huts. All the lights were on, but there wasn't anything we could do. We reached the very edge of the light, preparing to make a mad dash for the border, hoping against hope they hadn't turned the fence on yet, that they had been overconfident that they were going to catch us. Alex grabbed my hand, stealing a quick kiss before pulling me up. Holding my hand tight, he ran, and I ran with him, Alex pulling me along faster, hoping against hope we could make it.

Alex grabbed me around the waist when we reached the fence, boosting me up and almost throwing me at it. There was shouting at the guard huts now, but Alex just kept telling me not to look back, that he was right behind me. He waited till I was at the top before jumping on himself. I carefully picked my way around the barb wire like he taught me to do, and dropped to the ground, rolling away. Alex was at the bar wire now, picking his way through. An electric hum jumped up from the fence, and Alex jumped, but, not fast enough. His leg had been caught in the barb wire, and I screamed as he fell to the ground. I ran up to him, pulling him back by his arms, the same arms that had held me in that house just a few days ago, the same arms that weren't moving now. I smelled something burning, and realized with a lurch in my stomache that that was Alex's leg. My heart had stopped, I heard nothing of the screaming on the other side of the fence, or the copters, or the dogs, I didn't even hear myself screaming until it hit me that I was crying. The only thing that I was capable of doing was staring at that face, willing for those wonderful, sparkling eyes to open. I stradled him, started pumping his chest and counting out heartbeats, just like I was taught. My heart only restarted when I heard a ragged breath pulled through those lips that I had kissed so many times, had kissed me, and did once again before continuing to pull Alex to the trees. 

The Grand Finale- Destiny

Rebel

By: Destiny

I go to meet Alex in the evening just when the sun starts to set. I find that Hana is there too and they are both holding huge bags in their hands. As I see this, a smile shoots across my face and I feel as if this is all one fantasy. Before I can even finish the process of thinking, Hana grabs my arm, pulling me towards the way to the gate. The gate to freedom, where our mental thoughts aren't used against us. Its a place where love isn't something to be ashamed of. When I arrive there, I come to find my long lost mother who I've missed dearly.

"You guys keep going, I'm  going back. I will come back later when it is safe"- Hana says reassuringly.

"What? NO! They will take you and harm you! Stop fooling around." I speak as I become angry at her statement.

 "Baby, I promise it will all make since once you see what we have in mind," her mother says.

Before I could turn around to look back at Hana, she was gone. I was curious in what they meant. While in the process of what it could mean, Alex and my mother were grabbing my hands, pulling me along further into the woods of the wilds. Finally, they mention that were good now. 

At the end of the sentence I blurt out impatiently "explain!"

So my mother began, "Hana is going back to become a part of the security and procedure operator.. She will pretend to give the procedure in which she will actually not. Her idea is to let people feel and think for themselves instead of what the government wants them too. This way, they will want to end the way the society is."

A load of people come out; I was astonished by what was happening. It was so much to process in such little time. Then my mother started again.

"And us, the invalids, we will prepare to put up a fight to distract the regulators and everyone else while the whole army of Hanas will take over and change the society."

Suddenly, all of the weight that was lifted off my shoulders once I came here was all put back on. This was something massive; never before has anyone done this. There has been schemes and raids, but nobody has went this far. I must get ready. We all must get ready for the fight of our lifes.

A few months later after all the training of being quiet and quick, Hana shows. We all gather up to head out to the labs. Once we are there, Hana lets us in. I watch the evaluations amused by how everyone is saying the same thing, the wrong thing to be exact. We then make a scene exposing each and every one of the invalids catching their attention. Hana goes and locks down the buildings and all of her followers who she has obtained are capturing the ones of the government and the ones who follow them. One by one, they are locked up. Funny, how its not so great when instead of it being us, it is them. How does it feel I think. Then I flash black to reality and realize I have no time to think, I must act. We began hacking and destroying all the monitors. Singing and speaking of things nobody has heard and then finally, its all said and done. Not only did we win, but we just made a new beginning to the society which nobody ever thought would have come. 

The Grand Finale

Taylor-  Temptation

 I was ready to go. Only two more days until I will run away with Alex. We will stay together under the night sky in the wilds forever. I can’t wait, I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about him. His kiss, his smile, his touch, I love him. Carol can’t keep me here, not anymore. I want to go see Alex, everyone seems asleep for the night. I creep out of bed and slowly make my way out the door and down the steps. I’m dressed in all dark colors, I don’t want to be caught not now. I keep my guard up until I make it to our house. The doors opens quietly and a silhouette of Alex appears from the dark.

“Lena, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to help.”

Alex’s face shows a half smile, more of a smirk.

“We agreed to meet tomorrow.”

“I-I know.”

Tomorrow seemed like and eternity away and just the thought of it made me choke up. I couldn’t think of what to say, luckily I didn’t have to. Just as I began to form words Alex deemed them unnecessary. His touch sent shots of electricity through me, my eyes fluttered between his face and his shirt. His lips felt warm against my cheek.

“I know it’s hard, but we aren’t ready yet. I haven’t gotten enough food ready. We can’t rush this.”

“I know.”

I knew his words were true, but I still couldn’t wait. I buried my face in his shirt and listened. His heartbeat was slow and steady, a constant beat. Bump bump… bump bump… I lost track of time and before I knew it Alex had me in his arms lightly stroking my hair.

“You have to get home,” I could hear the sadness in his voice,” It won’t be long.”

I don’t remember the next morning or work that day. My mind was focused on counting the hours until I could see him again. Hours turned into minutes, minutes into seconds. Finally night had fell, Carol made me do dish duty again that night but I didn’t complain. I cleaned the dishes, got Gracie into bed, made sure Jenny was fast asleep, then listened for the sound of footsteps to stop. I waited around an hour after then I left for Alex.

I was less alert this time, but luckily I was fine. The door creped open, but instead of Alex standing there I was alone. Confused and worried, I searched through the darkness. I found nothing. Worry swelled inside me until I could see the streams puddle on the ground. Every drop shattered against the floor, with every drop a flood of water. Everyone could hear me, but I couldn’t stop. The door then slammed open and dust scattered through the room. Through the blur I could see him. Alex’s mouth wide open, his hands clasped around my cheeks. He was here, he was safe.

Alex took his time calming me down, letting his mouth and hands do more than words. Once I was calm, he whispered,” Sorry I was late. I was picking up something.”

Before I could even ask he showed me two large bags.

“What?”

“I’m ready… I was late packing enough for us.”

I was in tears again. I could leave, we could leave and never look back. We could be together, be happy. We packed everything and set out. Alex motioned for me to follow him as we got close to the fence. There was no buzz, it was off. I climbed the fence and carefully rested waiting for Alex to come too. Once he did, we ran; we had nothing to fear anymore. We were free, Invalid, and happy.

Yey or Nay?

Delirium- Taylor, Brianna, Destiny, Irwin, Amber, and Patrick
The novel as a whole was deep, meaningful, and inspiring. We  loved the use and effectiveness of love and danger. The best parts of our novel was the first meetings between the characters, such as Lena and Alex's meting during the evaluation and once again when she entered the evaluation area without permission. The beach scene with the two of them was another favorite of ours with the incredible secret of Alex and Lena's outrageous reaction. The best thing and yet the worst was the ending, the dramatic scene of Alex and Lena's final days together is heart wrenching. One thing we didn't like was the abuse and under appreciated animals though this was necessary to the plot and advancement of the Lena's character. Another thing that could have been approved was the variety of both people and landmarks. It seemed like there was a set  template for places in the novel, all the streets seeming the same, with only four or five set landmarks in the entire story. Regardless of the things that could have been changed the main story is beautifully written, full of excitement and suspense. The author had beautiful prose, and described the limited scenery with great detail. We would recommend this novel to people who love drama, adventure, romance, and dystopian culture. 

Let Me Introduce Myself

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