Innocents

by Lena August

  Chapter 10

  The next few days pass in this way. Flynn brings us food twice a day, but never stays to talk, and Landon never shows up again. I pass the time thinking about Sera and Livi, and trying not to think of Tegan, Calder, and Eaton. Kyla is getting restless. I can tell she still hasn’t given up the hope of escaping. Her eyes constantly dart to the door, as though she is considering making a break for it.

  I venture outside once in a while, mostly to bath in a nearby pond Flynn had mentioned to us, but the rest of the time, I try and stay off my feet as much as possible. My ribs are healing quickly, and unless I move suddenly, they are virtually pain free. Walking still hurts, but I figure that some progress is better than none. My stomach still poses some problems. Although the stitches keep the cut from opening up again and seem to keep infection out, it still aches miserably. What I wouldn’t give for a couple of painkillers.

  On the evening of our fifth day here, Flynn comes later than usual, carrying a heavy backpack.

  “I just finalized the plans for the escape.” He tells us, “We leave two nights from now. Landon and I will get you safely to the fence on the other side of the island, they shouldn’t recognize you, but they will have been alerted that a team was sent in here a few days ago. Your job will be to get them to open the gate. Landon and I will be posing as the two guys from your team.”

  I frown, neither Landon nor Flynn look anything like Calder or Eaton. Flynn might share Calder’s tall stature and brown hair and eyes, but he is younger and admittedly more handsome. And Landon, with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, looks nothing like either of them. I just hope the guards haven’t seen any pictures of us.

  “And what happens once we make it back to Innocents and they realize you aren’t part of our team?” Kyla asks angrily, “You know they won’t just let you get away with that.”

  “Nice of you to be concerned about us,” Flynn states sarcastically, “But once Landon and I get to Innocents we won’t be your concern anymore. We can disappear well enough and find a way to Mainlands.”

  “What about us then? If they can’t punish you, the PSC will take it out on us!”

  “I just promised to get you out of here safely, I never mentioned anything about after that. Once we get to Innocents, you won’t be our concern either.”

  I wonder if I am imaging it, but his voice almost sounds regretful. Flynn reaches into his rucksack and withdraws two knives, both very similar to the ones they gave us back on the guards island. He hands one to each of us. “You trust us with these?” I say in shock as I take it. Flynn looks hesitant.

  “I can’t afford to have you out of practice, and you need to know what you can and can’t do with your injuries,” he explains bluntly.

  I examine the blade and realize it is not just similar to the one I received before I came here; it is an identical copy, right down to the Innocents symbol carved into the steel. However, this is not my knife. The blade is not as sharp and the grips on the handle more worn down. It is obviously older than any my team carried, so how did Flynn come to have them? I look at him suspiciously, “Where did you get these?” I demand.

  Flynn looks wary, “They were in our supply closet. We probably gained them in some sort of raid.”

  “A raid that you led?”

  He shrugs, “Probably. Why? What does it matter to you where they came from? A knife is a knife, and at least you have something to protect yourself with.”

  Thoughts and emotions are swirling around in my head. Could Flynn possibly have attacked an Innocents mission? The thought makes me sick. Maybe, he just seized them from another clan. That is a possibility, right? I indicate to the star within the circle engraved on the blade. “These knives came from Innocents! Who did you get them from?”

  Flynn’s face clouds over and he doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have to; I can see the answer in his eyes.

  “You murdered innocent people, didn’t you?” I spit the words at him as harshly as I can, “You fit in so well here at Murderers, I have no idea why you would want to escape.”

  When Flynn speaks, his voice is stony. “You think I had a choice? I just do what Marek orders me to do, because if I don’t, he will kill me, so I don’t have time to sit around pondering what is right and wrong. It’s all self-preservation on Murderers. I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand that. You’ve always had everything provided for you.”

  “You expect me to feel sorry for you because you didn’t have a choice,” I yell, “As if that makes it all okay. Well, you had a choice back on Mainlands when you chose to murder someone. You got yourself sent here. And if Marek is so bad, why did you join with him in the first place?”

  “Sent here? You think I was sent here?” Flynn snarls, “I was born here. My mother was part of Marek’s clan and he killed her when she tried to sneak me away with her right after I was born. I never got any choice about anything in my life. Marek raised me these last eighteen years and trained me to be his guard. He allows me to live because I fight for him, and I am alive because I’ve learned not to question his orders or think about what he wants me to do. I am just doing what keeps me alive, something you never had to do.” Flynn storms out the door. I sit in shock for a moment and then decide to go after him. Kyla tries to stop me, but I shake off her arm.

  “Flynn!” I call. He stops and slowly turns. I can see rage still burning in his eyes. I am not sure if it is directed towards me, or Marek, or perhaps toward this life that he is so desperately trying to escape. “Flynn, I’m sorry. I was unfair, you’re right, I can’t pretend to understand your life. It’s just, with everyone killing just to stay alive, it never ends and nobody wins. It’s terrible.”

  “I know,” Flynn says quietly, “Why do you think I want to escape?” He turns away again and this time I let him walk out of sight.

  When I return to the hut, Kyla is pacing back and forth, impatiently waiting for me. “That Domus is insane and dangerous!” She hisses when she sees me, “We have to leave. I can’t believe we’ve been at his mercy this entire time. I can’t believe we were actually planning on helping him! And all this time, he was one of the people to murder all those Innocents.”

  The idea still repulses me, but now I can see Flynn’s side of the story. I wonder what I would do in his position. If I were forced to choose between my own life, and the lives of complete strangers, who would I choose? I can’t help but think that I would choose myself, just as Flynn had.

  “Kyla, we actually have a chance to survive with Flynn. And I don’t want to give up that chance. Besides, the plan is already set.”

  “My God, you’re not still going to help him are you?” Kyla’s face is incredulous. I nod.

  “Brie! That freak is responsible for the deaths of some of our friends. We don’t owe him anything.”

  “We owe him our lives,” I point out quietly. Kyla makes an exasperated noise and sits down on the opposite side of the hut, facing the wall.

  I doze off but am awaken early in the morning by the sound of Kyla moving around in the dark. “What are you doing?” I mumble sleepily.

  “I told you,” she snaps. “I’m not staying here. If you don’t want to come with me then fine, I won’t force you to, but I’m leaving.” She strides outside.

  “Kyla, wait!” I call, but she doesn’t look back.

  I curse and sit back down; hoping she will see sense and come back. Five minutes later, it becomes apparent that Kyla is not returning, and I realize I must go after her. She will not die out here alone. The morning is cooler than usual and I wish that I was wearing something heavier than my borrowed Domus T-shirt. Knife in hand, I look around for signs of the direction Kyla headed. Luckily, it rained last night and the ground is still soft. I find Kyla’s footprints easily enough. The rising sun is ahead of me as I walk, so I know I must be heading east. I mentally curse Kyla, if she had chosen to go west there would be a chance she could have made it to the fence within a few hours. Prov
ided she wasn’t attacked along the way. But now she must traverse almost the entire island, not that I will let her get that far.

  As the sun rises, the day quickly grows hotter, and I begin to sweat. Wiping a few damp strands of hair off my forehead, I quicken my pace, determined to catch Kyla and bring her back before she can get much further. I must have been walking for about an hour when I hear a distant scream. Ignoring the pain, I break into a run towards the noise. Finally, I see them, about fifty feet ahead. Kyla is fighting against two Murderers, but I see her defense fading fast. She makes a desperate lunge towards one her opponents, leaving herself undefended. Kyla screams again as a knife is plunged into her flesh, and judging by the location of the stab, it will be fatal. I swallow my scream of rage and hurl myself at the nearest Murderer, a tall, dark haired boy. I catch him by surprise and manage to slash at his shoulder, leaving a good sized cut. However, now their attention is focused on me, their next target. The trip here has left me tired and sore and I can tell that I am out matched by these two. I briefly consider running away. It’s cowardly, yes, but it may be my best bet. Before I can decide, something hard collides with my side: a fist. The force sends me back a few steps, and the boy advances. Without the strength to defend myself against him, I brace myself for the fatal blow. The boy smiles as he strides forward. But before he can deliver the strike that will end my life, I hear a sharp voice.

  “Kovan, wait, stop for a second!” A blond haired girl enters my field of vision, the girl who killed Kyla. “Look at her shirt; she’s Domus, which means she could be worth something.”

  The boy looks skeptical, “What? You think Marek would pay for her?”

  “He might if she is important and she looks like a fighter so she probably is. If she is valuable to them, Marek won’t want to lose her. I’d bet that he’d be willing to pay a pretty high price.”

  “And if not, I’ll be able to thank her for this nice shoulder wound.” The boy grins, and the last thing I see before my vision goes black is him springing at me, the butt of his knife aimed for my head.

  When I wake up, I am lying in a dark room with no idea where I am. The room is small with metal walls and a thick door. My hands are tied in front of me, I guess I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I sit up against the wall for what seems like an eternity before the door opens. The boy, Kovan, I think he is called, steps into the room. The look in his eyes tells me that I am going to pay for cutting him.

  “What’s your name, Domus?” His voice is smoother than I expected. When I remain silent, he comes over and crouches next to me.

  “Now, you see, if you stay silent, we won’t know what name to tell Marek. Without a name, he won’t believe that we’ve captured anyone so you’d be forced to stay here, and I can guarantee that you would find that most unpleasant. Now, I am asking you, what is your name?” The anger radiates from his voice.

  Good theory, too bad if they tell Marek my name he won’t know who the heck I am, so I still don’t say anything. Kovan takes out a knife, lovingly caressing the blade, and points it towards me.

  “You have such a pretty face,” he whispers, resting the tip of his knife on my eyebrow, “it would be such a shame to have to destroy something so nice.” The knife digs into my skin, drawing blood. “Do you feel like answering my question now?”

  I shudder, “Brie,” I say, “My name is Brie.”

  Kovan allows the knife to travel gently down my cheek before pulling it away. “There, Brie, not as difficult as you made it, right?”

  He turns and heads back out the door, leaving me alone again.

  I should never have left the hut, I think, It was all for nothing. And it’s true, all I managed to do was get myself taken hostage and stuck in a prison where my capturers will surely kill me, and painfully, as soon as they find out I am not of value to them. I didn’t even manage to save Kyla. The thought of Kyla threatens to bring tears to my eyes.

  While Kyla and I where never exactly friends, at least not in the way Sera, Livi, and I were, and we had only known each other for a few days, together we had managed to survive life or death situations. And that kind of experience forms bonds. I want to take time to grieve for Kyla, but right now I need to focus on surviving, and the only way to survive is to escape. The walls look as impenetrable as before, so I settle for something smaller: getting my hands free. The rope is tied tightly, but the knot they used is a simple one, one that we practiced untying millions of times in guards training. Still, it takes me a while to undo it, and by the time my hands are free, I hear footsteps approaching. I briefly consider attempting to overpower whoever is coming and make a run for it, but decide against it. I am still weak and don’t know anything about where I am.

  Instead, I position myself in front of the door, keeping my hands wrapped in the rope. With any luck, when it opens, I will be able to gather information about what lies beyond my cell. The door opens and I get a quick look at a long hallway. My heart falls, the building is obviously much larger than I was expecting, with more opportunities to get lost. How did they manage to build such a sizeable structure with the limited supplies that they have?

  My visitor is a guard I don’t recognize. She sets down a small plate of food and a glass of water. “You’re lucky that you might be valuable to the Domus,” she tells me, “otherwise we would never waste food on a prisoner.” She gives me a disgusted look and leaves quickly. The food she brought contains a hunk of unknown meat and a tiny portion of rice. I think about what Flynn said about some of the clans being cannibals and decide against eating the meat. That leaves me with the rice, which only seems to rouse my appetite when it’s gone, and a glass of water that can barely cool my aching throat. I am miserable