The Outerlands - Sedition

by Aleigh Schuster

  “It’s going to be all right. Graff and the others will get to us before they do,” he whispered, voice so low I could barely hear it. He ran his hand through my hair like a parent would to sooth a child and I took deep, shuddering breaths, tuning out the fighting all around us and forcing my emotions into a false calm.

  We both grew quiet, as did the gunfire, and I finally let my head drop back, relaxing more into Gunner. My hands fell, resting along the tree roots that jutted out of the ground beneath us, where I found thick clumps of grass sprouting out and over their sides. To keep calm, I glided my fingers back and forth across the prickly blades, counting each one while my breathing continued to slow. I wasn’t sure how long we sat like this, silently waiting for rescue from above, but somewhere in the last few minutes my palms had become sticky with a thick residue in the grassy crevice beside me. I tensed, and my mind started to focus again, acknowledging the situation around us. But it was when I sat forward, pulling my hands back in front of me, that I realized the true severity of the predicament Gunner and I faced.

  My hands were covered in blood.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Gunner…?”

  Gunner didn’t answer and my trepidation grew as I continued to stare at my trembling hands.

  “Gunner?” I said again, this time almost yelling.

  When there was still no answer, I placed my left hand on the ground to support my injured leg and carefully lifted myself up into a crouched position, trying not to put any pressure on him as I did so. Still, as soon as I turned, he sucked in a breath then grunted out in obvious pain. His body laid the way I had imagined: slouched back halfway against the tree’s trunk, resting at an angle because of how he held me.

  Running my eyes over him from head to toe, I located a wound and a small bit of blood on his calf, but it wasn’t enough to warrant the amount coating my hands. I raised my eyes back to Gunner’s torso and found part of his shirt torn; the ripped fabric completely soaked red.

  I peeled off my outer shirt, placing it against his right side. Gunner groaned again with the movement and briefly opened his eyes.

  “How bad is it?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Not sure yet. You think with my help, you could sit up so I can get a better look?” When he didn’t answer, I added, “Or do you want to wait for one of the guys to come back?”

  “Wait,” was all he said before passing out. Of course, only then did it occur to me that with the severity of his injuries, he may not have heard all the fighting a few moments ago or know that there was a high probability our guys might not even be out there guarding us anymore.

  Staying on my hands and knees, I twisted around to face the mangled transport van. It laid upside down, the cab on the driver’s side completely crushed in, and the back cargo area that held our GW teammates was partially broken off, hanging from a jagged edge off the embankment.

  The only area on the entire vehicle that sustained minimal damage was the cab on the passenger side…where I had been sitting. I stilled as that sank in, tearing up when I realized what Gunner had done to protect me; he put himself and everyone else at more risk by making sure we didn’t land on my side of the van.

  Regaining control of my emotions, I wiped the moisture from my cheeks and crawled over in search of the first aid kit—something that unfortunately, none of us thought about when we were making our quick exit earlier. They were usually stored in the middle console, so it should have been easy enough for me to get to.

  Leaning both hands on the floor, which was actually the inside of the van’s roof, I bent my head below the upside-down captain’s chairs and saw a couple of gear bags, one of the supply crates, broken glass from the windshield, pieces of sharp metal strewn about, and part of a white box.

  “Yes,” I whispered out loud when I located exactly what I was looking for. Then I reached for the closest item—one of the gear bags—and pulled it by one of its shoulder straps toward me. The other strap caught on the headrest, jerking me forward. Before I could right myself, my left hand glided across a large piece of glass that cut deep into my palm. I took a few steadying breaths that helped block out the pain, then unhooked the strap and pulled myself back to the edge of the van.

  Blood oozed out of the cut as I pulled the lodged glass from under my skin, so I pressed my hand to my thigh to stop the bleeding and watched as red circular patterns soaked my pant leg. The gear bag had ripped open, revealing its contents of men’s clothing, so I reached in and took the first shirt on top. Tearing off one of the sleeves, I wrapped it around my hand and tied it off the best I could.

  Dumping the contents of the bag out to cover all the debris, I climbed forward to retrieve the first aid kit. As I was backing out again, a pain shot through my injured hand, causing me to lose my balance yet again, and I hit the ground, landing flat on my backside. Thankfully, the first aid kit fell onto my lap, and securing it under my arm, I turned to go.

  That was when a loud rustling caught my attention.

  I raised enough to peek through the open end of the van, and I could make out at least six men— what I assumed were Hirelings—less than a hundred feet away, quickly coming my way.

  Graff and the other team were nowhere to be found. There was nothing other than Gunner, myself, and those men. I rushed out to find Gunner still passed out, but with a steady pulse. Since I couldn’t carry him, and dragging his body through the clearing to another hiding spot would undoubtedly bring us attention, I ended up covering his body with some debris from the wreckage and hoped they didn’t rummage over by this particular tree. Then I climbed my way partially up the embankment to hide behind the boulder we first crashed into. I hid myself just in time, because a few seconds later, they were at the van.

  “Baker, get the truck. Mack, start loading up whatever cargo they were carrying,” one of the Hirelings ordered the others standing near him. “I’ll finish off the mess you idiots left behind here.” Their leader pointed to the direction of where I last heard the grunt from Neil. “Everyone else, search for the girl. Intel said she’d be in one of these last three groups. Anyone finds her, bring her directly to me.”

  Wait. What? Oh, no. Did they find out about my powers? Is all this because of me?

  A vehicle drove up, screeching to a halt in front of the wreckage. I watched as they pulled out supply crates that housed all our guns and ammunition, followed by four bodies that had been stripped bare. The crunch of footsteps below alerted me to one of the Hirelings coming around the other side of the van. I panicked when I realized that the Hireling called Mack was headed for the tree, and Gunner.

  “Well now, look what we have here, Captain,” Mack hollered, kicking Gunner with his foot.

  The leader came around and Mack kicked Gunner again, but Gunner still didn’t move or make a sound.

  “Looks like he was left behind. End this guy, Mack, and let’s finish up so we can find the girl and get outta here,” the leader ordered.

  Seeing no other choice, I jumped from behind the boulder, landing beside the Hirelings’ truck. I waved my arms high in the air. “Looking for me?” I hoped my voice didn’t betray my frightened state.

  Mack and the leader startled at my presence while the other Hirelings in the vicinity dropped what they were doing and turned in my direction, guns raised.

  The one closest to me, Baker I think the leader had called him, pressed off the safety and aimed his pistol’s laser sight at me, it’s red light honing in on the center of my chest. I sucked in a sharp breath, too frozen by fear to call on my abilities. After everything I’d been through, was this how it would end? Gunned down by a band of hired mercenaries who didn’t even care which side prevailed as long as they were paid well?

  Baker saw my resignation and smiled knowingly, adjusting his arm to raise the gun’s laser from my chest to my head. The red light streaked across my face, briefly blurring my vision. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that whatever happened h
ere, even if our entire unit had been killed by the end, that someone would still be sent in to rescue Keegan. When I reopened them, I was prepared to accept whatever fate had planned for me today.

  Baker’s grin widened as my eyes met his, but before he could get his first shot off, a man jumped from the top of the embankment, colliding head-first with the Hireling and knocking the gun from his hand.

  They wrestled around, hitting, fisting, and rolling over each other as they both reached for the weapon a few feet away. The gun went off and I screamed in alarm, but then saw Baker’s body fall slack to the ground. A moment later, Graff stood up. Blood and parts of the other man’s entrails were splattered over his body as he pierced me with his fierce gaze. Then he turned away, running to intercept another Hireling who’d been hiding behind the truck.

  Reacting on what could only be described as an extremely delayed instinct, I blasted Mack, who had started moving toward me, with the full force of my power. At the same moment, John joined the fight, swinging his rifle like a bat and knocking the leader in the head.

  The last two Hirelings came running toward me but stopped short when they saw their comrades had been taken down. We seemed to be at an impasse and I watched, amused, as the men shared a concerned look before focusing their attention back on me. Both sets of eyes dropped to my hands, which still had small sparks sizzling off the fingertips.

  Before I was forced to make the decision to kill these guys, the rest of the team appeared and surrounded them on all sides.

  “Drop your weapons,” Rafe ordered, and they complied without hesitation, throwing both their guns down. Rafe shoved them to their knees and tied their hands behind their backs. Ford then lifted them by their shirts and hauled them off.

  The second I looked up, Graff was by my side, pulling me to his chest. “You’re okay now. Everything’s going to be all right.” He cupped my face as he planted a kiss on my forehead.

  I nodded then whispered, “Gunner’s hurt pretty bad.” I pulled back from his embrace and led him over to the tree and our friend’s limp form.

  “Randy, you’re needed over here, now,” Graff yelled once he saw the extent of Gunner’s injuries.

  A high pierced scream filled the air, and I turned to see Cali almost wrecking her ATV in her rush to get to Gunner.

  “Let’s give them some room,” Graff said, pulling me a few feet away. Cali knelt beside him, grabbing his hand. Randy worked on him as she whispered in soothing tones to him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s okay, baby. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be fine. You hear me, dammit? You’re going to be fine.” Her voice faltered with her last words as she pressed her forehead against Gunner’s temple.

  Looking away to keep my own tears back, I focused on the rest of the group, most of which had circled around us. I did a silent head count and found that we were missing more than half our people; none of the men in our van were accounted for and the ones that were here from the other groups were pretty roughed up.

  Graff picked up the medical kit I’d dropped earlier and gently pushed me to a sitting position on the outside of the Gunari circle. He looked me over, instantly noticing the cut on my hand and gash in my leg. He tended to my hand first, un-wrapping the makeshift bandage and pouring a small vial of alcohol on my palm. I bit my lip when it stung, but it wasn’t unbearable, so he moved on to my leg. “This from the crash or those men?” he asked softly as he tore open my pant leg and pressed a numbing towelette to the cut. The pain started to lessen immediately.

  “The crash.” I shrugged, already feeling better. “We should check on Gunner. He saved my life, Graff. You both did,” I choked out. “I…I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for the two of you.” I paused, not knowing how to convey my feelings except to say, “Thank you.”

  Tugging me up from the ground, he pulled me to his chest. “I’ll always keep you safe,” he whispered in my ear. We stayed standing like that for a while, him encasing me in his warmth. A sense of déjà vu swept over me with his words, but as soon as it came, it was gone. Before I could question what it meant, we were walking back through the circle, towards Rafe and Ford, who were sitting at the edge of the tree, each holding Gunner down.

  Rafe stood when we neared. “It doesn’t look good, boss. He needs a hospital—or at least a real doctor—and fast. We’re three hours away from the first and over an hour away from the second.” He must’ve meant there was a doctor at base camp.

  Graff nodded then abruptly started barking out orders. “All right, everybody listen up. We need to get out of here ASAP. Gunner’s life depends on it. Rafe, Ford, I need you two here to carry Gunner up and load him into one of the remaining transport vans.” In a lower voice, he said, “Henley, go through the gear and make up a bed in the back of wherever they put Gunner. Cali, Randy, you’ll be in the back with him.” He paused, pulling Cali in for a quick hug and whispering something in her ear that made her lips tremble but her crying stop. Graff waited until she followed behind the men carrying Gunner before he turned to instruct the others. “John. Have your men clean out the rest of the van, make sure they find all the crates with weapons, and finish loading that truck. We just acquired a new vehicle to replace one of the ones they destroyed. And work fast. I’m driving out with Gunner now. Want your team as close behind us as possible. You never know with these bastards; there could be more traps ahead.”

  “Sure thing,” John said, already snapping his fingers and pointing to several GWs, who in turn jumped and rushed to follow out Graff’s orders. Then John backed up, releasing a grunt of frustration before saying, “Graff, he’s a friend of mine, too. It’d be much appreciated if you could radio me if there is any…change in his status.” Without waiting for an answer, he jogged to catch up with his men.

  Graff kissed the top of my head, took my hand, and led me over to a rigged up pulley that lifted us up the jagged embankment to the edge of the road we’d been run off of.

  Rafe and Ford had already made a small pallet inside the only transport van in sight. At the end of the blankets sat two crates, a variety of used medical supplies scattered across the top of one.

  “Randy says he won’t last much longer,” Rafe whispered to Graff when we reached the back of the van. I looked further inside and found Gunner unconscious in Cali’s arms, Randy injecting him with some sort of medicine in his thigh.

  “Then we move. To base camp. Now.” Graff yelled his next words. “All right. Everybody either on their ATVs or inside this van. We’re leaving.” He guided me to the open driver’s side door, lifted me into the seat, and waited. When I didn’t move, but instead started to panic at the thought of taking over the wheel on one of these things, he barked, “Scoot your ass over, sweetheart. You’re in my seat.” I sighed in relief and instantly moved to the passenger’s side.

  No sooner than we took off, a harsh groan came from the back of the van. I looked behind me to see Gunner gasping for air, staring up at Cali with glossed over eyes. She took his hand and whispered, “Baby, please baby. Hold on for me. We’ll be there soon. Just take a deep breath for me. There you go. That’s it’s.” It was the sweetest, saddest voice I had ever heard.

  Facing forward, I saw Graff’s grim expression. “We’re forty-five minutes away. It’s just too far,” he whispered, running a hand roughly through his hair. “I’m going to take the next turnoff and find an out of the way place to stop. I need to be back there with him when it happens,” he said, distraught. I shook my head, knowing he was right, and moved my gaze to the window.

  A few minutes later, Graff turned onto a narrow dead-end road. A dust cloud trailed the van and encapsulated the ATVs behind us as we sped straight ahead to the small a-frame house at the end. Cali screamed and pled with Graff when he hopped out of the van and opened the back cargo doors to get in beside Gunner.

  Crawling in as well, I settled next to Rafe and Ford, who had just run over from their vehicles to check on the situation. Cali cradled Gunner’s head
in her lap, his bleak eyes staring longingly into hers as he gurgled, “I love you, Cali.”

  Cali rocked back and forth, crying out, “You can’t leave me, baby. You can’t leave me.”

  Eventually, Graff placed a hand on Cali’s shoulder. With tears in his eyes, he said, “Cali, honey. He’s gone. I am so sorry.”

  “No,” Cali whispered through her tears. “He can’t be gone. I don’t understand.” Then her words turned angry, and she gently laid Gunner’s head down to turn and pound her fists on Graff’s chest. “Why’d you stop, Graff? Why? We were almost there! He could have made it!”

  “I’m sorry, honey. You know how much we all loved him. If there was anything I could’ve done, I would have.” Graff reached around and picked Cali up like she was a wounded animal. She hesitated at first then curled herself in his embrace. He slumped against the side of the van, slowly dropping to the floor, still cradling her in his arms.

  I scooted to the empty space next to Gunner and placed my fingers over his eyelids, closing them for the last time. Then I gently skimmed my hands them over the top of his head, down his cheeks, his neck, his arms, and hands, trying to find some way to say goodbye to my new friend. It was a light touch, and I’d gone so deep inside my head with grief that it took me a second to notice his warmth radiating beneath me. When I finally did notice it, I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. So I closed my eyes, concentrating, and pressed myself closer to him. I was met with a quiet hum of electricity, circling, intertwining itself throughout his body and vaguely I wondered if it was his soul being released from his body.

  A hand came to rest on my shoulder, but I ignored it, too focused on the need to connect with Gunner. Everyone else had been shut out. It was only him and me and darkness that surrounded us. I called to his inner light, pulling it to me when I found it, unwilling to let it slip away. It was a struggle, and after finally getting it back to where I for some reason thought I wanted it to go, I was violently thrown backward.