by Chele Cooke
“You’re not going anywhere until you help him.”
“Vajra, don’t be stupid, he can’t…”
Vajra’s eyes narrowed. He glanced at Dhiren and back to Edtroka. He stepped back into the doorway, blocking their path.
“You can’t help,” he sneered. “But she can.”
Georgianna shrank back as he pointed the copaq at her chest. Edtroka moved forwards. Vajra’s aim didn’t flinch as he slashed the knife at Edtroka’s arm, forcing him back. He moved further into the cell, forcing them into the corner. The knife came up under her chin. He beckoned Georgianna forwards with the gun, keeping the knife against her.
“You fix him up, Med,” he ordered. “Fix him up so we can get out of here.”
“If you don’t move now, you’re not getting anywhere!” Edtroka snapped. “You think the other guards are just going to wait around until everyone’s escaped? They’ll be swarming in here any second to block those holes!”
Shoved down next to Ta-Dao, Georgianna cried into her teeth as pain shot through her leg. Vajra paced in front of the doorway.
“Well, then you’re going to have to get us out, aren’t you?”
Georgianna didn’t know what to do. There was no way that she’d be able to mend the break, not without opening the leg up further. She didn’t have any of the equipment she needed for that, and it took at least two people. She’d never done this sort of thing on her own. Usually Jade or Keinah was with her, taking the lead. Even with Dhiren or Edtroka helping her, it wasn’t the type of thing to be fixed in a few minutes.
“I… I can’t,” she whispered, more to herself than any of the others.
A knife pressed against her throat before she could take another breath.
“Yes—you—can,” he hissed, keeping the others covered with the copaq while he held a knife against her throat. “And you will, unless you want to see that guard gutted like a deer after hunting?”
Dhiren edged forwards.
“Med, what do you need?”
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe with the knife against her throat. It was too much. They were meant to be getting out of here. The Adveni were going to come. Maarqyn was going to come.
“Med?”
Dhiren reached across Ta-Dao’s body towards her. He curled his finger under her chin and turned her face to look at him.
“What do you need?” he asked again.
She didn’t know how he could be so calm. He should have run. She didn’t know why he hadn’t run, but he was here, and he was asking her a question to which she should know the answer. She did know the answer. She couldn’t fix Ta-Dao’s leg but she could fix it in place.
“Splints,” she whispered. “I need… I need wood or metal.”
He moved back from her then. The moment he did, all she could think about was the blade against her neck and how, at any moment, with any wrong move, she would be dead. What had to be done was slipping away. She wasn’t ready to die.
“I can’t do this with that knife there.”
Glancing up and meeting Vajra’s gaze, she gulped. Swallowing pressed her skin against the blade. She let out a sob.
“Please.”
Vajra glanced at his brother, saw the heavy sweat across his brow, and then pulled the knife away. She let out a sigh of relief, but Vajra kept the gun aimed at Edtroka.
“Do it, or he dies,” he said. Then, looking at Edtroka: “If you move… I kill her.”
Edtroka looked down at her for a moment and held up his hands.
Dhiren stomped and kicked at the side of the bunk. It was built into the wall but the edges were straight and made of metal. When one edge came off, he began wrenching against it as Georgianna tore Ta-Dao’s trousers away from the wound.
“This is going to hurt.”
Ta-Dao screamed and howled as she straightened out his leg. He swore and spat threats as she pushed the bone back into his leg. Blood streamed from the wound faster than ever. Georgianna couldn’t bring herself to apologise or murmur words of encouragement. She straightened the leg as much as possible and tore off the bottom of the thin blanket on the bed. She tied it tight, even though she knew it wouldn’t be enough to stop the blood from soaking through.
Dhiren handed her two bits of metal from the side of the bed. Placing them on either side of the leg, she tore off two more strips of blanket and fastened them to the leg to keep it straight.
“What the hell?”
Georgianna froze at the sound of his voice. Alec stood in the doorway, his face flushed and blood dripping down his neck. Georgianna leapt to her feet.
“You were meant to be gone!”
“Get back!”
Vajra shoved her away from the door, toppling her into Dhiren. Edtroka, it seemed, had found his opportunity. He hunched over and threw his weight into Vajra, trapping him against the bars. Vajra growled and slashed out with the knife, catching Edtroka across the arm. A shot rang out, brick sprayed from the wall.
Georgianna lurched forwards but Dhiren grabbed her and hauled her back, keeping her out of the way of the blade.
“Stop!” she screamed. “Let go!”
Dhiren threw her backwards against the wall, blocking her in.
It was a flurry of limbs as the two men grappled for control. They both had a hold on the knife and Edtroka hissed as the blade sliced through his palm, unable to control the grip. Edtroka had managed to grab Vajra’s wrist, keeping the copaq aimed high above them. He pulled back, swinging blindly in a punch that knocked Vajra sideways into Alec and Wrench. Vajra used them to push off, launching himself forwards again. His shoulder caught Edtroka in the stomach and he jeered triumphantly as they slammed into the wall.
They all leapt for the copaq as it slipped from Vajra’s hand and clattered onto the floor between them.
Hands were everywhere. Georgianna cried out as an elbow hit her in the face. Before she could even try to snatch the gun out of whoever’s hand it was in, an arm snaked around her waist and pulled her out of the fray.
It was Alec. He hauled her up as she kicked and hit back at him, dragging her out of the cell. Wrench seemed to be the only person who hadn’t launched himself into the fight, though he was nursing a deep cut across his face.
“Come on!” Alec shouted above the din. “Come on, leave them!”
“No!”
Georgianna kicked backwards against his shin. His hold only tightened, his chest pressed against her back.
“Don’t be stupid,” he snarled.
Grasping the cell bars with both hands, she fought to keep hold as Alec tried to tug her away. Her fingers were slippery with Ta-Dao’s blood and she wriggled against him, shoving her heel back against his knee.
“Get off, Alec.”
Dhiren grunted and a moment later, his knuckles met Vajra’s jaw with a slap.
“Get back, both of you!”
Dhiren was triumphant. He had the gun and pointed it into Edtroka’s face, forcing the Adveni back as he scrambled to his feet. Vajra, sporting a split lip and a nasty slash to his shoulder, eased himself up to sit on the bed. Edtroka spat blood onto the floor. Shifting the gun back and forth between Vajra and Edtroka, Dhiren moved out from the corner. He manoeuvred himself past Edtroka, giving him as wide a berth as he could in the close quarters. Using the copaq, he directed the guard back into the corner of the cell.
“You should have gone,” Dhiren snarled. “They’ll be here any moment.”
“They won’t come in,” Edtroka gasped. “There aren’t enough of them. They’ll be guarding the holes to minimise escape until reinforcements arrive. I helped set up their security protocols. Without me, you’ll never get out of here.”
From the bed, Vajra began laughing. His howls of joy echoed off the walls around them, turning into an army cackling at the guard’s position. He got to his feet, moving to stand between Dhiren and his brother.
“We have your key card, guard,” he sneered. “We can get out that door and through the i
nside. We don’t need you.”
“No! No you can’t!” Georgianna screamed.
“Stop, George, come on!” Alec urged. “The Adveni deserves it. Let them kill it.”
There was hatred in his voice. It dripped with disgust and revenge. However much Edtroka had helped them, for Alec, it had never been enough. The fact he’d called him an “it” was enough to make her blood boil. The Adveni had been treating them as inferiors for a decade, but Alec was just as cruel. She lifted both her feet from the floor, grasping the bars in front of her, she leaned forwards away from Alec and shoved her heels back into his knees.
He crumpled to the floor, snatching for her and managing to grab her shirt as she rolled away from him. She leapt up, darting between Vajra and Dhiren, blocking the path between the gun and its target.
“Take me!” she said, turning to Vajra. “That was what you wanted, right? We’ll get Ta-Dao out of the compound and I won’t leave.”
It took Vajra a few seconds to stop laughing. Dhiren’s glare hardened and she could see why so many of the inmates had feared him. He’d already killed three Adveni, he’d admitted as much. Now that she stood here, she wasn’t sure that Dhiren wouldn’t kill her in order to get at Edtroka, to get revenge for his years inside the compound. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked away from him, turning instead to Vajra, the man who pulled the strings. His face twisted in vicious distrust.
“Why should I believe you?”
“I promise,” she begged. The tears wouldn’t stop. The faster she tried to blink them away, the worse it became. “Please. I’ll never leave. I’ll do whatever you want. Let him live.”
“George, what are you doing?” Wrench demanded.
“George, stop!” Alec yelled. “He’s not worth it.”
“He is more valuable than I’ll ever be!” she screamed back, her voice cracking. “You can’t do this without him!”
Keiran had told her that she wasn’t strong enough, but she knew now that he was wrong. Strength had nothing to do with it. It didn’t matter if she was strong or not. What mattered was how useful she was and, when it came to war, she wasn’t useful, not in the way Edtroka would be.
Dhiren remained cold and quiet. He wouldn’t look at her. His lips were pulled back into a snarl. He stared at Edtroka. He looked detached and cold, and she didn’t doubt that killing one of the men that had put him here would amuse him.
“No!” “Shoot him!” “Stop!”
Everyone was yelling, screaming different orders at Dhiren. He shook his head.
“Do it…”
She barely heard his plea above the shouting. Edtroka’s voice, desperate and scared.
“Please.”
He was against the wall. Blood had spread down his arm, dripping from his fingertips and soaking through his shirt. His skin was pale. There was another slash across his stomach. She stepped towards him.
“Edtroka?”
“Dhiren… I promised…”
“Dhiren doesn’t do what you want,” Vajra sneered. “He owes us.”
She backed away from him, shielding Edtroka from his aim. Ta-Dao jeered from his position against the bars, a slimy smile of vicious satisfaction. Vajra came up behind Dhiren’s shoulder.
“The girl wants to stay with us, so she stays,” he said.
He stepped past Dhiren, further into the cell, coming up next to Georgianna and trailing the tip of the knife down her cheek. The blade was sticky with blood, Edtroka’s blood, and she shook so hard that she felt sick.
“You like her, right? Let this filth die here and we’ll give you a taste. You know we reward those who are good to us.”
Edtroka gulped. His entire left side was shaking. His gaze never wavered from Dhiren’s face. A thousand curses sprang to Georgianna’s mind, yet she couldn’t move.
Barely a flicker of a smile. A bang. The bullet hit Vajra between his eyes.
Georgianna screamed as blood splattered over her face. She wasn’t sure whether it was shock or relief that brought the sound from her throat. Vajra slumped down. His eyes were still open, his jaw slack. Ta-Dao screeched and struggled, trying to get to his feet.
“I’ll kill you!”
Dhiren stood over him, his face calm and determined. The gun hung from his fingers. He looked comfortable, as if he’d been designed especially to hold it.
Ta-Dao hit his leg against the bars as he clambered up. Cries of pain mingled with the long string of obscenities spewing from his lips. Dhiren cocked his head to the side, looking at him like a coyote would look at a particularly difficult prey. He stepped forwards. Pity flickered across his face.
Georgianna was grabbed around the middle. Edtroka picked her up and hauled her past them. She didn’t fight, but let him drag her through the cell. Alec’s fury had turned his face a blotchy red. Wrench had to clap him on the shoulder to get his attention. The two men moved along the cells towards the other end of the block, looking into each cell as they passed.
“You better fucking kill me, Yote!” Ta-Dao snarled, grasping the bars and hauling himself up to balance precariously on one leg.
“No,” Dhiren said. “I’m not going to kill you.”
“I’ll come for you, Grutt! You don’t kill me now, I’ll hunt you down.”
Dhiren’s bark of laughter was cold and merciless.
“Happy recovery, Dao.”
A second bang cracked through the air as Dhiren shot Ta-Dao’s other leg.
Ta-Dao’s screams followed them through the block, chasing them, hunting them down. Alec and Wrench had a head start, but Edtroka called them back and set off at a run towards the other wall. Dragging Georgianna away from the hole, he led them back through the lines of cells. One hand grasped her at the wrist, the other, furiously digging into his pocket.
“How we getting out?” Dhiren asked.
“Through,” was all Edtroka shouted in return.
“Vtensu!” Alec snapped, turning away from the hole at the last second, veering down the next alley between the cells. He yelped and swore as copaq gel splattered the floor in front of the hole, right where his foot had just been.
Pain seared through Georgianna’s leg with every step. She tripped and swerved, her injured leg crumpling underneath her. Edtroka slammed into the metal door. He hit the card into the reader, swearing in rapid Adtvenis. She looked away from him, spotting Dhiren at the back, aiming the gun down the row towards the hole in the block wall, waiting.
“Come on!”
The door squealed open. They piled through it, Edtroka leading the way, and sprinted along the corridor, flattening themselves against the wall at the last second as guards in black armour ran past the intersection in front of them without even looking in the escapees’ direction. The guards knew where the breach was, and it was on the opposite side of the compound.
Edtroka held up his hand, warning the others to stay put as he moved forwards. He readjusted his shirt but nothing could hide the slashes and injuries beneath it. When he waved for them to follow, they didn’t hesitate. Dhiren shoved the copaq into Edtroka’s hand as he went.
The compound was alive with screams and gunfire. Georgianna didn’t dare look over her shoulder to confirm what she already knew—that those who hadn’t been quick enough were now being slaughtered instead of captured. She stumbled as pain shot through her leg again and Alec was at her side in an instant, looping one arm around her waist and holding her against him.
“I got you,” he whispered in her ear.
Now was not the time to be angry at him for trying to leave Edtroka for dead. She couldn’t make it much further without help and she wasn’t sure that Edtroka would last much longer on his own, let alone with her weight as well.
The doors leading out of the compound to the gate were already open. She wanted to laugh in relief. Up ahead she could see the gates, unmanned. In the back of her mind, a thought niggled that this was too good to be true, but she was fast losing energy and any luck that came their way was welc
ome.
They were out in the open before the guards appeared—two of them, less than twenty feet away, their weapons already raised. They found their targets with almost impossible speed.
Alec threw Georgianna to the ground before the crack of the first shot, the bullet sailing over their heads as they hit the ground. With a face full of dust, she shook where she lay. She lifted her head in time to see Dhiren leap over her, a homemade knife in his hand. Edtroka fired shots back at the guards, who jumped away from the bullets, looking for cover.
Edtroka kept firing as he tugged a knife from his belt. He swerved and ducked between the guard’s bullets, pushing the guards back towards the gate.
“Move!” he yelled over the racket.
Alec was caught between advancing and hitting the deck. He didn’t have a weapon on him, Georgianna knew that. Wrench, too, looked like he wanted to join the fight unarmed. Pushing herself up, she grabbed Alec’s arm to scramble the rest of the way, urging him forwards. They couldn’t fight this.
Dhiren and Edtroka moved on instinct. She had seen it many times, watching coyotes move in on prey. They had the lesser weapons, and Edtroka was injured, yet they had a predatory grace that was unmatched by the Adveni guards. Gunfire sprayed the through the air as the guards began to panic. Dust billowed in small clouds as bullets ricocheted off the ground around Dhiren’s quick feet.
Closer, faster, the two predators pushed the guards back. The large weapons weren’t as useful in close quarters and Dhiren had used their moment of panic to close in. They couldn’t aim properly this close, they were used to people running away instead of heading towards them. Dhiren jumped over the path of a bullet and swooped under the long barrel of the tyllenich, leaving a long, red slash behind him. The guard howled and spluttered. His rifle dipped and a shot hit the ground by Georgianna’s feet. She screamed and jumped back. Alec grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to the fence.
