Drastic Times (Book 3): Fierce Freedom

by Rock, R. A.

  ZOE WAS IN labour? Here in the prison at Castle Bakersfield?

  That did not sound good. I stifled a yawn. It must be nearly nine o’clock and I was bone-tired from my long day digging in the muck and all that fighting.

  But I had a feeling this day was far from over.

  “Zoe’s about to give birth? What do we do? She can’t have a baby here.” Yumi’s mental voice sounded a bit panicked.

  Both of us looked out of the corner of our eyes, without turning our heads towards the corner where we could see Zoe lying on her side on one of the bed rolls.

  “It’s okay. This is her second birth. She’ll be okay.” He told us, sounding as though he was convincing himself as well as us.

  “We need to get Grace down here to check on her.”

  I interrupted their conversation.

  “Grace doesn’t need to be down here. She just needs to be out of the cuffs.” I told Yumi, who sent it on to Ernest.

  “I think Grace might be down here already,” Ernest sent back. “There was a major ruckus in the hallway, so I watched from the window. I couldn’t see very well because there were about five guards surrounding the prisoner coming in but I thought I saw some long red hair.”

  “So you are prisoners,” Yumi sent.

  “Of course,” Ernest sent back in disgust. “The guard rushed in a few minutes ago and unlocked the door, telling us to say it had been open. And if we didn’t, then we would regret it.”

  Damn it.

  “From what I could hear of Brett and Nathan’s thoughts when we arrived, I think Nathan bought us from Brett. Or at least traded us for something he wanted.”

  “Where is Brett?”

  “He never even came in,” Ernest explained. “Just made his deal and left.”

  That sucked. We had come here to deal with Brett but it seemed as though Nathan was a much bigger threat at this point. I still wanted to make sure Brett didn’t hurt anyone else, though, so maybe we would have to hunt him down.

  God, we’re never going to get home, I thought in despair.

  Yumi was finishing her rounds and went to Zoe where she lay on the bedroll on the floor. I joined her.

  “Well, we’re here to try and get you guys out,” Yumi sent. “We don’t know what we’ll be able to do but be prepared for anything. Tell whoever you trust to be able to keep the secret and try and prepare the kids without telling them what’s going on.”

  “Thanks, Yumi. We’ve been working on a couple escape ideas, too. But it’s damn good to see you.”

  Yumi smiled without looking at Ernest.

  “Excuse me,” she said, in a soft voice, putting her hand on Zoe’s arm. “Are you alright?”

  Zoe opened her eyes and her mouth was a round O of shock when she saw us. But we both gave tiny head shakes and I could see she understood.

  “I think I’m going into labour,” Zoe said.

  “Going into labour!” Yumi said, doing a fairly terrible job acting surprised but she didn’t have to fake the indignation. Nathan didn’t seem to notice her bad acting job as she strode over to him, eyes on fire. He looked a tiny bit intimidated but then blinked it away. I smiled in satisfaction. The little jerk ought to be intimidated by Yumi. When she got a chance she was going to wipe the floor with his ass. Or I was. Maybe we would play rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to do it.

  “Mr. Bakersfield. This woman needs to be brought upstairs at once.” Nathan’s eyes were a little glazed as he took in Yumi in all her glory, her dark eyes flashing, those red lips completely distracting. I knew what I wanted those lips doing to me and that bastard was probably imagining something similar. I clenched my fists and controlled my anger.

  Nathan looked a little irritated but didn’t seem to want to show his true colours by being a complete asshole who wouldn’t help a pregnant woman in labour. And I wondered how much of his power over these people came from the fact that they really believed he was a good guy. I wondered what would happen if they knew the truth about him.

  I could see how they would so easily be deceived. If I wasn’t a Telepath and an Empath that could sense what he was really thinking and feeling, I would have very little idea that he was lying. He was so damn good at it.

  And he really was a nice guy, except for the lusting after my wife and killing and torturing people in the water chamber and all that. If it wasn’t for that, I could see the two of us being friends. No wonder he held this entire castle in the palm of his hand.

  He was a charmer.

  Like me.

  I wondered if knowing that would give us an advantage.

  “I can have the guard bring her to another room,” Nathan told Yumi.

  “It’s too bad my sister isn’t here,” I said, meeting his eyes. “She’s a healer.”

  “Do you have a healer in the castle?” Yumi demanded.

  “I can send…” His eyes flicked to mine. “…a healer to attend to her.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Ernest said, standing up and going to Zoe, helping her get to her feet. “I’m her husband.”

  “Fine,” Nathan said, clearly trying not to show his annoyance. “There is a guard’s room at the end of the hall with a bed. You will find clean linen in the dresser. Will that be sufficient to your purposes?”

  Ernest nodded.

  “The guard will bring the healer.”

  “Can we go with them and see them settled?” Yumi said.

  It wasn’t really a question.

  “Then we’ll return to our room,” she added.

  “As you like,” Nathan said, his face cold. “I will see you tomorrow.”

  She gave one nod and followed Ernest and Zoe down the hall. I watched for a moment as Nathan whispered something to the guard and then headed back up the stairs.

  Once in the small guard’s quarters, Yumi and I changed the bed and Zoe sat down on the edge. A moment later, the door opened again and the guard shoved someone through.

  The woman fell to her knees with a grunt of pain.

  Grace.

  THE DOOR OF the guard’s room in Castle Bakersfield’s prison slammed shut. It was late and I was so tired that I wished that I could lie down and sleep for a week. But with the the way this fucking night was going, it didn’t look like sleep was going to be on the agenda any time soon.

  “Grace.” I was beside her in an instant. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. But there’s these.”

  She held up her hands which were in the weird, clumsy looking adamantium cuffs from New Winnipeg.

  “How did Nathan even get those?” Chad said. I had been wondering the same thing.

  “I read their minds before they got them on me,” Grace said. “It looks like Natasha and Nathan have a deal. She gives him luxuries and he does her dirty work on the outside. His job was to capture me and lure us all here. Natasha’s people are already on the way to come pick us up. God knows what she has planned for us.”

  She frowned and rubbed her knees, then went on.

  “They also have a bigger plan. Nathan is supposed to be cultivating people for The Emergence and in return for that, Natasha is going to give him a high ranking place in the new society.”

  “The Emergence,” Chad said. “What the fuck’s that?”

  “I’m not sure but I think it has something to do with the people coming out of the secret cities.”

  “Never mind that now,” I said, flapping my hands at them. “We need you to check Zoe. She’s going into labour,” I said, feeling worried. Giving birth was nothing to be fooled around with. This was a new little human life we were talking about.

  “I can’t,” Grace said with a shrug, her face frustrated. “I can’t do anything with the cuffs on.”

  Chad went to the door and called the guard through the small window.

  “She can’t work with the cuffs on, can you take them off?”

  “Sure,” the guard said, and I was surprised that he was so obliging. He searched in his pocket and then toss
ed the keys to Chad, taking out his gun and putting it to Grace’s temple, pressing hard. “She’s allowed to have them off as long as I keep a gun on her the whole time and if there’s any sign of anything fishy, I get to blow her brains out.”

  I felt my muscles tense and glanced at the guard. He was not kidding. I could feel the desire to kill coming off of him like a poisonous gas.

  “Okay,” Chad said, and I noticed his hands shook a little when he picked up the keys. “But you wouldn’t do anything fishy, right? You’re just going to check the woman out. Right?”

  Grace didn’t move a muscle.

  “That’s right,” she said, keeping perfectly still. “I will not be doing anything fishy because I like my brains right where they are.”

  The guard laughed.

  “Cute and funny. I like it,” he said.

  Chad got the cuffs off and Grace put her hands on Zoe’s belly, moving them around to show she was doing something while she checked her out kinetically, using her abilities. Nothing except her hands moved and only a small distance. Grace was hyperaware, as we all were, of the gun to her head and the trigger happy guard wielding it.

  “Seems fine to me,” she said and Zoe smiled.

  “I’ll stay with her,” I sent to everyone. “Obviously Grace can’t stay if she has to have a gun to her head. Zoe’s done this before. She should be okay, right Ernest?”

  Grace held her wrists up and the guard lifted his chin towards Chad. He put the cuffs back on his sister and I saw Grace’s shoulders droop as she felt her powers cut off again.

  “I’m going to stay here,” I told the guard.

  “Me too,” Chad chimed in. The guard lifted his eyebrows and Chad hastened to explain himself. “The little lady’s already in the family way and I want to see what we’re getting into.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at his attempt at Survivor slang.

  The guard gave him a look of disbelief.

  “You want to be there when she…” The guard got an expression of distaste on his face and I could sense the anger from everyone else in the room. “I let my wife and the women take care of that. She gave me a nice strong baby boy. And when I saw him, he was all cleaned up. That’s how you want to do it.”

  “I’m staying,” Chad said and the guard shrugged.

  “Suit yourself. I’ll need to lock the door to keep the woman safe.”

  “Of course,” Chad said, his face expressionless.

  The guard went out, taking Grace with him, and then he shut the door and we heard it lock.

  Refugees. Right.

  IT WAS NEARLY midnight according to the old analog clock on the wall in the guard’s room and Zoe had a brand new baby in her arms. Another girl. The guard had let Ernest bring their other daughter in to see the new baby and her mother for a few minutes and then returned her to the big cell where Cynthia and Nessa were taking care of her.

  “She’s beautiful,” Ernest said, sitting beside Zoe on the bed. “I’m so proud of you, Zo.”

  He kissed her.

  “I think I should lie down and nurse her now,” Zoe said, her face was tired but her eyes were shining.

  As she scooted down in the bed, she wrinkled her nose.

  “Oh dear,” she said. “The bed is wet.”

  “What?” Ernest said and pulled back the covers.

  We all gaped in dismay at the large red circle that covered the sheet almost to the edge of the bed.

  “You’re bleeding,” Ernest said, fear in his eyes.

  Zoe glanced at him, afraid too.

  “What’s going on?” I said, feeling myself infected with their fear. Chad was already at the door, calling the guard to bring Grace back.

  “She’s haemorrhaging,” Ernest said. “It’s dangerous.”

  “Nursing her will help my uterus close up,” Zoe said, and lay down on the blanket I had stretched out on the bed to cover the blood so that she could lie down. She brought the baby to her breast and soon the little girl was nursing a bit.

  I watched as the sheets lifted a little and then fell back down — as if there was a breeze in the room.

  Weird.

  Grace came in then and her eyes widened at the sight of the blood.

  “She’s haemorrhaging,” Grace said.

  “Guard,” Chad said. “Is there a midwife in the building? Maybe you could bring her? She could help? She’s bleeding.”

  The guard looked concerned.

  “Sure,” he said. “I’ll go find her.”

  He left, locking the door again. Grace went to the bed and examined Zoe physically.

  “This is dangerous.” Grace sent to me and Chad on a tight channel. “Much worse than I thought when I walked in. She needs help right now.”

  “How dangerous?” Chad asked.

  “A woman with postpartum haemorrhaging can die from blood loss even in our time,” Grace told us. “She’s clearly already lost way too much blood.”

  “Too much?” I felt frozen with terror. This was way too close to what had happened to me. “What do you mean too much?

  “I mean she could die in a couple hours if the bleeding isn’t stopped.”

  She ran to the door and slid the little window open again.

  “Guard, I need these cuffs off.”

  No answer. There was no one in the hallway.

  “Guard!” She yelled.

  There was no one.

  “I sent him to get the midwife, remember?” Chad said.

  “Damn it,” she said, coming back.

  “Make a Circle, you two. Heal her.” Grace commanded.

  We healed her, giving her back the energy she had lost. But we weren’t Kinetics, we couldn’t close the blood vessels that were bleeding. Healing the person meant that we gave energy to the person so that their natural healing processes were supported. Zoe’s blood vessels weren’t closing. And no amount of healing could change that.

  I sat back down on the wooden chair on the other side of the room and watched Ernest, who was holding the baby in his arms. His black hair was lifting and falling as if the wind had caught it. And yet there was no air movement in the tiny room. If I hadn’t been so concerned about Zoe, I would have investigated. It seemed as if the hair and the sheets were being moved kinetically. But the only Kinetic in the room had adamantium cuffs and couldn’t use her powers.

  It confused me but I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to wonder about such a tiny anomaly when Zoe was in trouble.

  The next hour passed by in a nightmare. Grace tried massaging Zoe’s uterus. They tried to get the baby to nurse some more but she had already fallen asleep, exhausted from being born, the little sweetheart.

  The guard didn’t come back. It seemed he had either got distracted by something or decided to take a little break while pretending to be on a mission. Who knew? What mattered was that he wasn’t here and Grace couldn’t get the cuffs off and without her powers she couldn’t help Zoe.

  But the bleeding just wouldn’t stop.

  “The next step is usually administering drugs that mimic the chemicals that cause the uterus to close up,” Grace said, shrugging helplessly.

  Ernest and Zoe looked terrified. They knew more than any of us how deadly things could be in a world with no civilization and medical centres. They had lost all of that.

  Zoe grabbed Ernest and pulled him close to her, whispering in his ear. Tears rolled down his face but he nodded. I turned away. I couldn’t take this.

  Over the next hour, we all watched in horror as Zoe started showing signs of shock from blood loss. She became weak and seemed confused. Her heartbeat when Grace checked it was rapid and her breathing had turned to shallow panting.

  I took her hand and it was cool and clammy.

  Ernest was holding the sleeping baby, fear and grief etched on his face. Soon, Zoe seemed to fall asleep. I gazed at her pretty face and when I glanced around the room, there was agony on everyone’s features.

  Then she stopped breathing
.

  “Grace,” Ernest whispered. “Is she?”

  “Oh God,” Grace said, swallowing hard and checking for a pulse.

  Her eyes filled with tears.

  “Yes,” she said, beginning to sob. “I couldn’t save her. She’s gone, Ernest.”

  WHEN GRACE SAID that Zoe was dead, I freaked. I went and pounded on the guard’s room door. Surprisingly, the asshole guard came right away, accompanied by an older woman.

  Not soon enough to save Zoe, though, the fucker.

  “Where were you?” I hissed at him, enraged. “She died. She died.”

  The guard and the woman had the decency to look appalled at the news of Zoe’s death.

  “I have to go,” I said, storming past them. “I just need to go.”

  I ran for the stairs and took them two at a time for as long as I could. When I stopped running, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. It was Chad. The tears were pouring down my face and I kept walking as fast as I could.

  “Yumi,” he said, finally catching up to me as I made my way into our room. “Please.”

  “No,” I said, pacing back and forth, not knowing what to do with the fury and grief inside of me. “No, leave me alone.”

  “Please, Yumi,” he said, and I really looked at him for a moment. His face was the picture of misery. He grabbed my wrist but I wrenched it away, not wanting comfort, and feeling a sudden surge of fury I lashed out.

  “No. Fuck you, Chad,” I said. “Once again it’s all your fault. Why did you send him for the midwife? If he would have been there, he could have taken the cuffs off Grace and she could have saved Zoe.”

  I stopped myself before I said that he had killed her, though likely he was hearing those thoughts too.

  Chad flinched back as if I had punched him. His face went white and his eyes filled with tears.

  “Are you saying that it’s my fault that Zoe’s dead?” he said, a quiet rage in his voice that would have scared me if I hadn’t been so angry that I couldn’t even see straight.

  “Yes,” I yelled at him, the wrath and grief pouring from me into the acid words. Deep inside I knew it wasn’t true, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Yes. It’s your fault. Just like with the baby.”