The fifth one worked, the door clicking as it unlocked. I pulled the door open so the prisoners could get out. When no one moved, I looked in to see them all staring at me, some with their mouths agape.
I looked at Bruce. “What’s wrong?”
Bruce couldn’t hold back his smile. “I think they’re surprised by you, that’s all. You’re a big guy.”
I smiled at the prisoners, trying to let them know I was nice. “Hello. My name is Gideon. I know this is probably shocking to you, but we need to hurry and get going before someone figures out we’re here.”
An older lady stepped forward, placing her hand on my arm. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lana.”
Bruce hugged Lana tightly. She squeezed him back, rocking side to side. When they pulled back, she pinched Bruce’s cheeks. He looked at me. “Lana was my watcher growing up.”
“Watcher?” I asked.
Lana brushed some of her graying black hair out of her face. “I watched over him. Made sure he was taken care of, looked proper for all public and important events.” She looked at him. “Made sure he ate his vegetables.”
Bruce gagged. “Gross.”
“I hate to cut this reunion short, but we need to go.” I looked around the cell. There were still some people lying on the floor not moving. “Are they …?”
Lana’s eyes lit up in anger. “Yes, they’re dead. They’ve hardly fed us, and they’ve just left anyone who dies in there with us. It’s completely unacceptable. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
Bruce squeezed Lana’s arm. “Now isn’t the time, Lana.”
Lana huffed. “Look what they’ve done to them! To us!”
Bruce smiled and took Lana by the arm, escorting her back to the opening we created. The prisoners gradually piled out, some moving quite slow. They were all very thin, their clothes torn and tattered. All of them were dirty and I could smell sweat and urine as they passed by.
I counted their heads as they exited. Two hundred and sixty-eight prisoners. When the last one was out, I took in the view of the cell floor. There were at least a hundred dead, some of them small children. It would have been nice to give them all a proper burial, but we didn’t have time. Thinking about how many people we were trying to help escape and their horrible condition, I wasn’t even sure if we could make it out of there. It was going to take forever.
Bruce had already started helping people through the first opening, telling them to continue, making a left at the water container and heading toward the exit.
I went up to Bruce, who had already gone to the other side of the hole to help. “Go to the exit. I’ll keep helping everyone here.” I sighed. “The next opening’s going to be harder. I had to make one at the top.”
“I’m not sure if they can climb,” Bruce said as he helped a young boy through the opening.
“We’ll have to assist them,” I said. “One by one. It’s the only way.”
Bruce nodded. “Alright. See you at the other opening.”
It ended up taking me forty minutes to get the rest of them through the first hole. When we made it to the other opening that would lead us outside, a big group of people was just standing there. Bruce wasn’t in sight.
I went to the front and looked at a man who seemed to be around my age. “Where’s Bruce?”
“Helping someone down the other side,” the man said. Out of everyone there, he seemed to be in the best condition. By his stature, I assumed he must have been a palace guard at one point. “I’ve been helping them up and he’s helping them down.”
“How many have you gotten through so far?” I asked.
The man scratched his beard. The black hair on his head was a tangled mess. “Maybe twenty.”
I sighed, looking at all the prisoners who had hope in their eyes. Hope of freedom and life. If we continued at this rate, we would be there for hours. But what other option was there?
Bruce came back through the opening and climbed down. He gritted his teeth. “They’ve started a fire.” He looked at me, his eyes lit with anger and disgust. “The mound.”
Shock ran through me. “They’re burning them?”
Bruce nodded. He looked like he might throw up again.
I gently put my hand on his arm. “Bruce, I know this is hard, but we have to continue. All of this means they’re distracted right now. This is the best time to do this.”
“I know,” Bruce said.
“Get back up there. I’ll start helping people up.” I looked at the man I talked to. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“Ren.” He stuck out his hand and I shook it.
“Gideon. Nice to meet you.” I looked up at the opening. “Would you mind staying up there, helping people through? I’ll help them up and Bruce can guide them down.”
Ren nodded. “Of course.”
With Ren’s help, we got everyone through in two hours. I was glad we still hadn’t caught anyone’s attention. If anything, we were downright lucky. They must have rarely checked on the prisoners or the guard.
I was the last one down. Everyone stood in a group, huddled together near the entrance. I looked out over them. “We need to head down the mountain. Unfortunately, we’re taking a path that isn’t used very often, so it won’t be easy. But it’s the only way.” I looked at Bruce. “You take the front. Ren can keep to the middle. I’ll stay in the back. Let’s get going.”
Bruce immediately took off, all the freed prisoners at his heels. I kept a watch out, using my binoculars to glance at the entrance to the city now and then. A huge billow of smoke came up from the mound, making me shiver.
When the last person had started down, I grabbed my bag and rocket launcher, strapping it to my back. I took one last look at the mound and then started down the mountain.
I had only taken two steps when a voice came from behind me. “Who are you?”
I turned around to see a soldier standing there, his sword in his hand. He looked me up and down, sizing me up. He suddenly shouted, “Intruder!”
Unsheathing my sword, I lunged at him. He dodged a few of my thrusts, but I connected with his arm. He stepped back, losing his balance. I drove my sword through his abdomen, twisting it until he fell. When I pulled it free, I could hear shouting in the distance. I looked up to see more soldiers running toward me, my presence now known.
The soldiers were coming from the entrance to the city, running alongside the mountain. I glanced down at our escaped prisoners. They must have heard all the commotion, because they had picked up speed, going down as fast as their weak bodies would let them.
But they were still too slow. I had to think quickly. I looked back at the soldiers running toward me and then at the side of the mountain. Their city was surrounded by a large wall made of rock. If I could knock down part of the wall so it blocked their path, it would slow them down, giving us time to escape.
Since the soldier I had just killed had only shouted “intruder,” he didn’t know there were others with me. He must have just walked up and only saw me walking down. Which meant the men coming toward me thought I was the only one there. I could use that to my advantage.
“Bruce, we have a slight problem up here.” I tried not to move my lips too much just in case the enemies could see my face clearly.
“What is it?” Bruce asked through the communicator. “We were going down when all of a sudden all the prisoners in the back started pushing everyone forward, telling us to go faster.”
“Someone spotted me.”
He swore. “What do we do?”
“You keep going back toward New Haven.” I looked at the soldiers and they were getting closer, all of them shouting at me.
“What about you?”
“They only spotted me. I’m taking another direction.” I took off running diagonally down the mountain, the opposite way Bruce went, which would take me closer to the entrance of the city.
“I can’t lead all these people by myself!” Bruce shouted.
I weaved
around trees, looking back now and then to make sure all the soldiers were still only following me, which it looked like they were. “You have to, Bruce. I’ll try to make it to you, but you must keep going. Notify Mack of what’s going on. Maybe they can send a bus to you. Have Ren help you. You’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” Bruce said. “But I want you to know I’m not happy about this situation at all.” He paused. “But good luck, anyway.”
“Thanks.” I tried not to smile. I was really starting to like the kid. “You too. See you soon.”
Looking back again, I noticed I had made good progress, creating a bigger gap between me and the soldiers. I was directly down from the entrance to the city. There were only ten to fifteen people outside the gate.
I immediately stopped, taking off my rocket launcher. I pulled the rocket from my bag and loaded it up. Placing the launcher on my shoulder, I pointed it toward the opening.
The gate was open, revealing an alleyway leading into the city before it opened. If I could just hit those rocks walls, it might close off the exit making it so no one could get out. For now.
Looking through my scope, I found the perfect spot to hit. I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger, watching the rocket fly toward its target. The soldiers running after me stopped, watching the rocket go through the air.
While they were preoccupied, I hid my launcher and bag behind a tree and ran to the left, away from the path to New Haven. I heard the rocket explode, so I glanced up the mountain and stopped to watch. The rock wall fell just like I’d hoped, sealing off the entrance.
The soldiers looked down where I should’ve been and panicked. I made sure they saw me before I moved. As I looked back at the soldiers, I counted them. Twelve in all. Somehow, I needed to eliminate all of them so I could get back to Bruce.
I ran until it was obvious I was headed north, but still close enough to the city so the dead soldiers could be found. Stopping in the middle of the path, I turned and waited for the soldiers. I unsheathed my sword, ready for battle.
I took slow, even breaths, trying to calm my nerves and heart. I thought about Bruce and how he’d need my help. I thought about all those people we rescued. I thought about New Haven. I thought about Marie and how much I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
When the first soldier was only a few steps away, I yelled out and charged at him. With my mind clear of thought, I continued to swing my sword around, connecting with any enemy that came at me.
I counted as they went down.
One. Two. Three. Four.
I took a slash to my left leg, but it fueled me. I drove my sword through the culprit’s side, quickly released and spun around, ramming my sword through another’s abdomen.
Five. Six.
These soldiers weren’t ready for battle like the others. They didn’t have armor on, so it evened out the field.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
I ducked down, dodging a swing at my head. Kicking the man in the stomach, he fell to the ground. Hearing someone behind me, I flipped my sword around and drove it backward, connecting with the soldier.
Ten.
I pulled out my sword and spun away from another soldier. I dodged a few attempts and then slashed his side. The other man I had kicked down was back up, coming at me. I slashed the man near me again on his other side and then kicked him down.
The other man approached me, and we started swinging, my sword connecting with his over and over again. His thrusts slowed. I jumped to the side, throwing him off. Swinging my sword around, I cut off his hand holding his sword. He took hold of his arm, screaming out in pain. I drove my sword into his stomach and pushed him to the ground.
Eleven.
I went and stood above number twelve, the soldier who’d already taken two slashes. He looked up at me, his eyes pleading. I had to tell myself this was war. It wasn’t personal against this man. But it was personal to New Haven. It was personal to those prisoners we’d just released. It was personal to me.
With one last roar, I drove my sword through his chest.
Twelve.
I pulled Mack’s body off to the side, hiding him behind a tree. I took a moment to look up, analyzing our situation. We had a good number of New Haven residents alive, but some looked seriously injured and we were still outnumbered.
Forcing myself—and ignoring the pain in my arm—I went out to join Dante, Santiago, and Maya. The four of us stood back to back in a square, fighting off the enemy soldiers.
“What’s the status of our weapons?” I asked, taking a swing at a soldier.
“Arrows are gone,” Dante said. The sound of swords colliding could be heard all around.
“Ammunition on the towers is gone,” President Brown said through my earpiece.
“The ammunition from Mack’s side is out, too,” Santiago said.
I immediately thought of my dad, Will, and Joshua and wondered how they were doing.
“We still have some shells up here,” Tina said. “But over half of my side has already jumped down, moving on to swords. It won’t be too much longer until we’re all out.”
“Tina, what does it look like up there?” Bending forward, I barely escaped a sword chopping off my head. “Can you see how many enemy soldiers there still are?” With my eyes narrowed, I charged at the man, driving my sword through his side.
“At least seven to eight hundred,” Tina said.
“How many of us?” Maya asked.
Tina sighed. “I don’t know, maybe two hundred?”
We’d lost over half already. If we continued at that rate, they would surely finish us off.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?” Derek.
“Who let him on this frequency?” Dante asked, making me laugh. Only for a second, though, and then another soldier dove at me and my laughter faded.
“No one,” Derek said. “I can get on any frequency whenever I want. This is my specialty.”
I took a swing at the enemy. “Would you like to enlighten me on why you’re bothering us right now?” The enemy soldier stopped for a moment and looked at me confused. I smiled at him. “Oh, sorry, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to my half-brother.” I put my sword through his side. “We have nothing in common, trust me.”
“First, Emmie, let me say I’m surprised you’re still alive,” Derek said. “Although, maybe you’re just boring the enemy to death.” He laughed, clearly amused at himself. “Second, I wanted to inform you that at least a thousand people are coming from the other side of the canyon right now.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“Did I stutter?” Derek asked. “A thousand people, coming at you. Well, in addition to the seven hundred and twenty-four still left of the soldiers already here.”
“How do you know the exact number?” Santiago asked.
“My computer,” Derek said. “Oh, seven hundred and twenty-three. Nice job, Maya.”
I rolled my eyes. How could Derek still be interfering with our lives during the battle? I thought I would get a nice break from him for a while. “Are they more soldiers from Juniper?”
“They’re still too far out to tell,” Derek said. “I didn’t have cameras installed all the way down the canyon. But there’s a lot of them and from the way they’re walking, they look like they’re ready to fight.”
“We need to check it out.” Dante stepped next to me, stabbing a big soldier that I was fighting with.
“Thanks,” I said. “That guy was huge.”
“Why don’t Emmie and I go check it out?” Santiago suggested. “It will give her arm a little break.”
“Why you and not me?” Dante asked, his eyebrows raised.
Santiago shrugged. “Just because.”
Dante glanced over at me and then turned his attention back to Santiago, smirking the whole time. “Why?”
“Don’t make me say it,” Santiago said. When Dante continued to smile at him, Santiago threw up his arm th
at wasn’t holding a sword. “You’re better with a sword than I am. Okay? You happy?”
“Completely,” Dante said, pushing me to the side and going at another soldier.
Santiago took me by my good arm and steered me toward the south side of the canyon, away from enemy soldiers. “Maybe we can make it down the side without being interrupted.”
We stayed close to the side of the mountain, hiding behind trees when necessary. My arm and energy were thankful for the little break. It wasn’t long until we had reached the end of the enemy line. Those guys hadn’t even seen battle yet, which meant they were still full of energy.
“How’s your arm?” Santiago asked, rubbing the cross tattoo behind his ear.
“It hurts like no other,” I said.
Santiago took my arm and looked at it closer. "That looks pretty bad."
"Well, it feels pretty bad." I flinched when he touched it. "What are you doing? Trying to kill me?"
"Sorry, just wanted to see." He took off his shirt and wrapped it around my arm. "Maybe that will at least stop the bleeding for now."
I rolled my eyes. "You just wanted a reason to take off your shirt."
He couldn't hold back his usual smirk, which he referred to as a smolder. "You know it, baby."
I couldn't help but look. Of course, he was nicely built with the perfect abs. I sighed. I didn't want to be thinking about Santiago's abs at that moment.
He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “I know it's hard to resist, but you're going to have to.”
"Please," I said. "Eric looks better."
"I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that."
After about fifty yards, a group was coming toward us. There were a lot of them, tightly packed together, marching through the canyon. Santiago and I hid behind a tree and tried to get a better look.
The rain had lightened, making it easier to see. I went to another tree in front of us so I could look closer. I immediately noticed they weren’t wearing armor like the soldiers from Juniper had. And they didn’t have swords. They had guns.
I gasped. They looked like they were from …
“Yeah, baby!” Santiago said, running out into the open.
Reckoning (New Haven Book 2) Page 19
