Shatter Me: Chapter 36–Epilogue

Kenji is nursing new bruises, but seems in reasonable spirits, excited for reasons I can't fathom.

It's difficult for me to leave this humble home, so I can only imagine what Adam must be experiencing right now.

There must be at least a hundred soldiers following us through these streets, clustered in different groups, dispersed in different areas of the city, ready to capture and kill.

He turns to fire two shots. One falls short. Another elicits a strangled cry.

He's unleashing a mass of expletives in our wake.

The weather is turbulent; natural disasters are common. Cyclones must have ripped this city apart.

He’s like a feral dog, crazed and wild, thirsty for chaos, simultaneously aching for recognition and acceptance.

I don't know how to reconcile the confusion in my mind, my hesitant repulsion, my inexplicable chemical reaction to his lips.

Old machines clutter the walls, conveyor belts are frozen in place, thousands of boxes of inventory stacked precariously in tall heaps.

Heavy, labored breathing.

His head is bent, his neck limp, his left leg drenched in blood despite the tourniquet wrapped around his thigh.

His face is almost unscathed; there are only minor cuts and bruises to account for.

Adam had been buried deep in the recesses of this building, and finding our way to the front is even more difficult than I expected.

His voice. So steady. So suddenly articulate.

My joints ache; my eyes burn from an insatiable exhaustion.

“Do you feel dizzy? Disoriented?”

“Can I at least make sure you’re doing all right? Then I’ll answer your questions. I promise. Just let me get through the basic protocol here.”

“You’re naked?” Kenji is suddenly studying my sheet and not bothering to be subtle about it.

I decide not to indulge his cryptic tendencies, and instead ask a more straightforward question.

Artificial lighting illuminates the cavernous dimensions, small monitors are built into the stone walls.

His eyes are glinting with genuine curiosity, a smattering of surprise.

I don’t want to be lulled into a false sense of security.

“But the air—the seasons—the weather—”
“Is not as bad as they’ll have us believe. It’s probably our only real problem—but it’s one caused by the perverse manipulations of Mother Earth. Man-made manipulations that we can still fix.”

We are fed lies because believing them makes us weak, vulnerable, malleable.

We depend on others for our food, health, sustenance.

I have no doubt he’s swayed many people with such fanciful thoughts. Hope for a future that seems lost. Inspiration in a bleak world with nothing to offer.

“I’m amused by your skepticism. I admire it, actually. It’s never a good idea to believe everything you hear.”

He'd lost more blood than most hospitals would be able to replenish.

“I was the first to realize my affliction could not be mine alone. I sought out others, following rumors, listening for stories, reading the newspapers for abnormalities in human behavior. At first it was just for companionship.” He pauses. “I was tired of the insanity. Of believing I was inhuman; a monster. But then I realized that what seemed a weakness was actually a strength..."

Garbled voices croaking through a weak radio line.

“So you’re...corporeal?” I ask.
“Look at you, using big fancy words.” Kenji crosses his arms. Leans against the wall.
“I mean—you can’t, like, walk through walls or anything, can you?”
He snorts. “Nah, I’m not a ghost..."

He’s helped me fly away and now I’m stuck in centripetal motion, soaring right into the center of everything.

“What if I don’t want to sleep?” Adam asks, unabashed.

“I'm sorry—” I backpedal. “I don't mean to pry—I shouldn't have asked—”

I feel incredible. My bones feel rejuvenated; my skin feels vibrant, healthy.