New World Ashes (7 page)

THERE WAS NO
telling how much time had passed when I finally awoke, but based on the stench of my own body it had been at least a few days. My arm was throbbing and by reason, the heat radiating from my skin meant it was safe to guess I had contracted a fever. I buried my face in the mattress, breathing in the mildew stench. Tears were still clouding my vision. I pressed my eyes harder into the mattress, trying to staunch the unwanted waterworks.

I had been dreaming of Triven again. Every time I closed my eyes it was either his face or Mouse’s that laid in the bed next to me, their patient eyes watching as I slowly slipped further and further away from reality. Every time I awoke it was torture knowing that none of it was real, that I was still here.

That they weren’t coming for me.

No one had been in to see me. No torment had been inflicted, but there had been no food either. My stomach had stopped growling, knowing its meager protests were futile. Every once in a while I would awake to find a small glass of water, but those moments were few and far between. It seemed I had finally pushed the old man too far, and now he was going to let me rot.

Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe he didn’t need me after all. Maybe it was better this way.

Even with those thoughts rattling in my brain, something within me refused to give up. It was as if there was this minuscule flicker, this tiny, persistent ember that refused to be doused. And the only thing keeping that teeny spark still burning was the thought that despite what pain and torture The Minister could inflict on me, I was still defying him. Better than that thought, was the knowledge that the two people I loved were doing the same just outside of his reach. With Triven’s and Mouse’s triumphant evasion lingering in my mind, I managed to pull myself up a little straighter. If I died in here, at least I could die knowing my current life’s mission was still being upheld. That somewhere out there people were fighting The Minister. People he could never touch.

The lights flickered to life, blinding me. I drew away, cradling my head against the assault. The light was painfully over stimulating after days in the dark, like tiny needles stabbing my eyes. Instantly, my head began to ache. The cell door opened, but I didn’t move.

“Get her up.” A cool voice barked from the doorway.

I lifted my head with curiosity. For the first time since my arrival, it wasn’t Ryker who had come to retrieve me.

Gage stood in the doorway with a mingled look of pleasure and disgust. Two silver clad guards hurried past the young man and stooped to pull me to my feet. I hung limply in their arms at first, my feet barely working beneath me. It took what little strength I had left to stand, however shakily, in the soldiers’ arms.

“What’s today’s torture? Babysitting you?” I muttered, my voice was like gravel.

Instead of the explosive reaction I had been hoping for, a wide smile spread across his pallid face. My skin prickled. The result was much more frightening than any threat he could have spouted.

“Let’s get going. This is one appointment you don’t want to miss.” Gage turned, leading the way back down the hallway.

Someone shoved me face first against the wall. They fumbled for a minute with the handcuffs, my cast proving to be quite the hindrance. Eventually, they compromised by handcuffing my hands in front of me. One side was so tight it pinched and the other just barely encircled the cast. Before the bag was slipped over my head, I noticed that the size of my personal guard had grown. As I stepped through the door I had counted at least twenty soldiers before being plunged into blackness.

The boots seemed too loud as we moved down the hall, causing my head to pulse. I wanted to ask questions about this so-called appointment, to say something rude and demeaning, but it took all of my focus just to walk. In truth, I was leaning too much on the arms carrying me despite my best efforts to appear strong, the two soldiers half carrying me cursing whenever I fell into them. The elevator ride seemed excruciatingly long, my eyes staring unfocused at the black canvas breathing against my face. I was trying to count the seconds, but they seemed to be drifting in and out. When the door finally opened, it wasn’t until we stepped outside that I realized we were in a place I had not yet been.

Internally cursing myself, I forced my slow eyes to blink a few times.
Pull it together!

I closed my eyes, forcing my ears to listen.

The sounds echoed here, not like in the gym or like The Minister’s refined office. It sounded hollow, with metal reverberations. The ground beneath my feet was coarse, gripping the bottoms of my slippers and grinding beneath the guards’ shoes. I could smell something too, but could not place it… A metallic tang in the air maybe… or more chemical based? Then there was that whirring sound… I knew that sound. I had heard it before. My brain struggled to recall what seemed like a lifetime ago. It was that sound on the streets, the noise those strange vehicles had made.

I was jerked to a stop just as the bag was yanked from my head. I was staring at a pair of metal doors, their tops towering a good two feet above me. The two guards in the front pulled several levers and the doors swung open to reveal an encased, windowless room made of steel. There were two metal benches on opposite sides with fortified rings affixed strategically to the floor below them. I scanned the room. The step up was nearly a foot off the ground, but stranger yet there were wheels of some sort protruding out from underneath it. The whole thing seemed to be vibrating slightly. It clicked. The smell of chemicals, the humming noise and the vibrations—this
was
one of the vehicles I had seen that first day.

My jaw tightened.

They were moving me.

Not just from one holding cell to another, but outside of this monstrous building. My mind spun with the thought.

Outside…

“Step up,” a soldier ordered in my ear. When I did not comply right away, the two men grasping my arms lifted and thrust me forward in the vehicle. The floor reverberated with a resounding thud as my feet connected with the metal surface. As the guards pushed me forward, the strange vehicle groaned and swayed under our weight. The men shoved me down onto the hard bench. They wasted no time securing me. As one guard alertly pointed his gun at my chest, the other took out an extension of silver chain and locked my handcuffs to one of the rings on the floor. He then attached the larger cuffs to my ankles. Once assured I could not escape, the guards hopped out of the container. It rocked again in their wake, making me feel a little seasick.

I could feel my heart rate begin to rise, pulsing rapidly in my temples. I was used to living in confined spaces, crawling through metal-encased air ducts, dwelling in windowless rooms, but this was something different. This was a metal box on wheels. A box I had no control over. I pulled at the chains restraining my hands. They barely rose to my bent knees. I pulled harder until my casted arm screamed in protest and the cool metal bit into the skin on my good wrist. As the pain escalated, my mind became clearer. Adrenaline was an amazing drug.

Think…

I kept the tension on my wrists taut. A slight boyish-frame jumped into the back with me. I glowered at Gage as he sat on the bench across from me. The doors slammed behind him, closing us in. For a brief moment, I could see nothing. Then as the vehicle lurched to life, a dome light illuminated the moving prison cell with an eerie blue hue.

Gage’s face looked like that of a ghost’s in the dim light. His porcelain skin was nearly opalescent. We stared at each other as the automobile trundled along, whirring in its oddly high-pitched tone. Neither of us spoke. Every few moments the corner of Gage’s mouth would pull up in a sneer before returning to its usual smirk. He knew something and this silent treatment was his personal attempt at torture.

My silence, on the other hand, was due to the fact that every ounce of strength I had was focused on staying conscious. The past few days of dehydration and of sleepless hallucinations had drained me. Even the short, impromptu walk to the transport garage had left my knees shaking. Each time my eyelids blinked a little too slowly or I saw black rimming my vision, I pulled harder at the restraints. My feet were becoming slick as my blood trickled to the floor. But the harder the restraints cut, the more alert I became. I
had
to stay conscious. Thanks to the subdued lighting, Gage didn’t notice.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Why a man who could have
anything
is so obsessed with
you
, I will never understand.”

Gage’s words hung in the air as we went back to glaring at each other. This time, however, my mind was working. There was a truth to his words. The Minister was a man who got what he wanted—whatever he wanted. He never lost…

The vibrations in the floor began to slow. We were stopping. When the engine cut off, the light went out again. I took this brief opportunity to close my eyes, smothering the threatening tears of pain and exhaustion. I barely managed to open them again when the back doors sprung open. A blast of night air hit my face. I couldn’t repress a tiny smile. It smelled like the night, like life, like… freedom. I stared out at the dark calling to me.

A cold finger caressed the side of my face. I yanked backward, but Gage’s hand wrapped in my hair. With a thrust of his fist he jerked my head to the side, exposing my neck. A hungry look blossomed in his gaze as his free hand traced a line across my throat. I pulled violently at my manacles but they didn’t yield. He pulled harder. I could feel the follicles separating from my skull. Every fiber of my being froze as Gage leaned down and trailed his nose along my exposed neck.

He sniffed me.

His thin lips traced behind his nose, catching on my skin. When his lips found my ear he laughed quietly before speaking. “Tonight—when you wish you were dead—come find me. I will be happy to oblige.”

Giving my hair one last yank, he threw my head to the side and stepped back. I bared my teeth as I lunged for him like a wild animal. He merely laughed coolly as I struggled against my chains. With a skeletal smile, Gage turned and strode from the metal box.

I slumped back against the wall, letting my eyelids fall half closed. I could feel the heat boiling in my veins as the guards came to gather me. Gage thought I would want to die after tonight’s new torture. If I
was
going to die tonight though, it would be on my terms. That little piece of crap would
never
feel the joy of being the one who finally beat me down. I didn’t have a lot of choices here, but I could choose one thing. I could choose my own demise. It was better to die trying. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let the untamed beast within me take control.

There was a heavy clanking on the floor. My feet were unbound. As the chain restraining my handcuffs clicked free, I sprang to life, surprising myself as well as the two guards. I dove forward, smashing the top of my head into the kneeling guard’s face. There was a satisfying crunch before he slumped to the ground holding his nose. The metal box exploded with a deafening noise as the other guard’s gun went off. I felt a lightening bolt of heat sear the tip of my right ear before the bullet ricocheted off the wall behind my head. In one clean move, I slammed my casted arm into his face. There were two distinct crunches as I broke his cheekbone and my own newly set arm. We both bellowed in pain, but as he fell back, I leapt forward. The blackness was creeping in again; the pain in my arm was no longer keeping it at bay. My feet were moving, but I could barely sense what I was doing.

I flung myself from the back of the vehicle, tackling the nearest body. It wasn’t until my fingers snagged a fistful of brown hair that I realized it was Gage. We tumbled into a tangled heap. The world seemed to spin as I lashed out, kicking, biting and punching whatever I could reach. With well-timed strikes, I slammed his head into the pavement as we rolled. Finally, we slid to a halt tumbling apart. Gage’s body was sprawled on the ground face down, struggling to push itself upright. He was nearly unrecognizable. Blood stained his pale skin. A flap of flesh hung loose below his right eye. I somehow managed to come up in a crouch about five feet away. I was sure the injuries my body had sustained were substantial, but I felt nothing.

I chanced a glance upward. We were in an alleyway. Smooth walls blocked both sides in front and behind me. To my left, a foreboding bright light seeped into the mouth of the alley. The transport vehicle blocked my right, its oversized body nearly scraping the alley walls. In the little space, new guards were emerging from around the front of the truck in total disarray. Everything had happened so fast they seemed at a loss, guns pointed in the truck, at Gage and at me.

Fire.
I pleaded.
Just fire and get it over with…

But they didn’t. They had been instructed not to shoot. Gage was stirring, reaching for his own firearm. I knew he would not hesitate.

Not him,
I reminded myself. My mind shut off and for the first time in my life, I chose flight over fight. Without a second glance I took off toward the pool of light.

It was a surreal feeling, like my body and mind were no longer one. I knew better than to panic. Panic gets you killed. But that was exactly what I was doing. My body scrambled down the alleyway, staggering drunkenly with exhaustion, while my mind screamed for it to stop.
NO!!! That’s the wrong way! You’re going the wrong way!