“Her leg,” shrieked Maya. “It's bleeding.”
A trail of blood ran down my calf from where the dart had been.
“I'm fine,” I whispered, watching as their faces blurred in and out of focus.
“What was on the dart?” asked Fletcher.
“I…” My energy zapped away and Fletcher caught my weight.
Braven pulled the dart from his belt and my vision wobbled as he passed it to Richy.
“It's an incapacitating dart. Lay her down, I'll see what I can do,” he said.
As they lowered me down my leaden limbs melted into the floor and I struggled to keep my eyes open.
“It's okay Aurora, you're safe now. Have a rest,” said Richy.
Chapter Eight
Fletcher's distant voice woke me from my deep sleep and was soon joined by the voice of Seth. Hearing my name spurred me to attempt calling out but all I managed was a small groan. It was enough to catch their attention and their conversation ended abruptly before Fletcher arrived at my side.
“Rora, are you okay?” He lifted my hand and grasped it while touching my forehead with his other hand.
Blinking my heavy eyes open, the room blurred for a moment before going back into focus. “Where are we?”
“A small office inside the city. You're safe here,” said Fletcher. “I'd offer you a drink, but we left everything back at the dwelling on the outskirts.”
My head swam with the memory of running and being shot in the leg. I ran my hand down my aching leg finding the spot I'd been hit. A piece of material was tied around it, and the skin was warm beneath it.
“Help me sit up,” I croaked.
Fletcher gripped my arm and helped me slide up against an exposed metal beam in the wall.
My head was light and my vision a little hazy. “What was on the dart?”
“It was dipped in some sort of poison to slow you down.”
They did want to catch me alive. At least that made my attempt at running at the guard a little less insane.
Glancing around the small room I found Seth, Ebony and Maya. All of which stared at me with anticipation. Ebony gave me a little wave eliciting a glare from Seth.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“They took off about an hour ago to try and retrieve our things from the dwelling. They shouldn't be far away now,” said Fletcher.
“How long was I out for?”
“The suns been up for a few hours. You were out for a while,” replied Maya.
“I'm going to go take a peek out the front. You okay to watch her?” Fletcher asked her.
“Sure, go ahead.” Maya's smile strained against her lips.
Fletcher leant forward and kissed me on the forehead before walking across the room and out the door, being careful not to let it slam shut.
“He's worried,” I said.
“He should be,” replied Seth.
“Seth,” Ebony tried to stop him.
“What? The city was bad enough, now you've got floating city guards chasing them. I told them to forget their things but they wouldn't listen. I'd be surprised if they make it back. Fancy sending out three of your best members to be caught by the guard or worse.”
“We sent three of our best because it was more likely they'd make it back with our things. Braven knows Fletcher and I would never let harm come to Aurora. Plus, you said we were safe here,” said Maya.
“Seth, they made it this far. I'm sure they know what they're doing,” interjected Ebony.
Seth ignored her words, his gaze not leaving Maya. “As long as Fletcher doesn't get spotted sticking his head out the door every five minutes we should be okay. But that doesn't mean if we sit here too long someone won't come sniffing around.”
“This is all my fault,” I cut off their argument sagging back against the wall.
“Oh no, no it's not.” Maya crawled forward and took my hand. “This is the guards' fault, and you and I know if anything was to happen Vega and Braven wouldn't go down without a fight.”
Seth shrugged and let out a loud sigh.
Fletcher came back through the door. “Can't see them anywhere. They shouldn't be taking this long.”
“Told you so,” said Seth smugly.
“Told us what?” Fletcher asked.
“Nothing. Seth, please stop,” begged Ebony.
“I'm sorry, but I'm not going to lie to him. Between the city people and those guards, it doesn't surprise me your friends aren't back. You aren't used to the way things work down here. It's eat or get eaten. We don't get handouts like you do up on your cities.” He waved towards the crumbling ceiling.
“What would you know about our cities? The lies you hear from your prophet?” said Fletcher.
“Truth. He speaks the truth,” said Seth crossing his arms over his puffed out chest.
“Why do you have to be like this?” Fletcher bit at him.
“Like what?” he replied.
“Stubborn. Rude. Arrogant.”
He shrugged again. “I'm being honest. If you think it's me being rude that's on you.”
Fletcher clenched his fists at his sides. “If you don't want to be here why are you? If everyone in this group is so pathetic to you, why don't you take your girlfriend and disappear back to your precious camp?”
Seth's eyes landed on me. I was the reason he was there. Because like me, despite not trusting or liking each other, we wanted to know who our sibling was. Our only blood connection left on this planet.
“Drop it, Fletcher,” I said.
“Me? Are you kidding?” he asked.
“I know you're stressed. This whole situation bites. But we can't turn on each other, not now,” I said.
Fletcher let out a long breath and dropped beside me against the wall. “Yeah, okay.”
Seth's shoulders relaxed as Fletcher gave up the fight.
“How long should we wait?” asked Maya.
“We'll give them a bit longer, but if they aren't back soon we're going after them,” I said.
Seth opened his mouth but a 'don't you dare' look from Ebony made him close it again and lean against the wall.
* * *
The door swung open and Fletcher entered for the tenth time since I'd woken up. “No sign of them and the sun is sinking. Something's happened.”
Fletcher paced the room between us and I stood to stand in front of him. “They'll be fine. This is Braven, Vega, and Richy we're talking about. Maybe something held them up.”
We all looked at Seth who withheld whatever smart comment was brewing inside his brain. “What?” he asked.
“I say we head back towards the house and see if they're there,” said Fletcher.
“I say you're all crazy,” said Seth earning himself another round of glares.
“I say you're right. We have to be a little crazy to be doing this in the first place. But we're also loyal and we don't leave our friends behind unless we have to,” I replied.
Seth gave an impatient huff but didn't argue any further.
“We're going to try to find them?” asked Fletcher.
“Yes, let's go find our friends.” I turned to Ebony and Seth. “Are you two joining us?”
Ebony gave me a sharp nod. “Yes.”
“Looks like it,” replied Seth shaking his head.
Drawing a deep breath I took a step, putting weight on my wounded leg. There was a dull ache and tingle of pain, but it was bearable.
“How is it? Will you be okay to walk?” asked Maya.
“Better than I thought,” I replied, pressing down a little harder, testing my weight on it. “How could something so small make me feel so terrible?”
We all filed out of the office, down a hallway, into a foyer where the buildings front door opened onto a deserted street. Fletcher poked his head out first, sweeping his eyes back and forth to make sure the coast was clear. “Let's do this.”
We made our way down the darkening street in single file and it didn't take us long to
get back to the abandoned homes on the outskirts of the suburbs.
As darkness settled over the dwellings it was hard to differentiate one from the other. They all looked the same in their rundown states.
“How do we know which one it was?” I asked.
Fletcher stopped in the middle of a street and looked back and forth. “I have no idea.”
“I do,” offered Seth.
“Yeah? And what's your idea? All of my friends are dead?” bit Fletcher.
“No.” Seth's eyebrows creased in the middle. “I counted the houses on our way to the building in the city. In case Ebony and I needed to escape.”
“Oh.” Fletcher looked away from Seth. “Lead the way then.”
Seth mumbled to himself as he paced down the street, turning and going between a few houses before walking down another row. A few blocks away we arrived at a house much like the others. “Here, this one.”
“Coast looks clear,” said Fletcher. “Where are the others?”
“Where are the guards?” I asked.
“They won't go into the city,” said Ebony. “The city folk don't like them much and will band together to keep them out.”
“To keep safe from the guard we have to go into the city?” I asked.
“Safe isn't the word I'd use,” replied Seth.
“If you haven't got anything helpful to say,” said Fletcher.
Seth ignored Fletcher and turned to face me. His familiar eyes staring into mine. “I might know someone who can help us find your friends. Are you sure they wouldn't have ditched you? Got scared and ran home?”
“I couldn't be surer. They wouldn't leave us behind, Braven vowed to keep me safe.”
Seth drew in a deep breath. “We need to go back into the city. There's two particularly nasty city folk who like to prey on travellers who venture too close to the cities borders. I bet if anyone's got your friends it'll be them.”
Ebony's hands trembled, fear seeping into her eyes. “You don't mean Slitter and Cronk?”
“We have to get close enough to see if they have your friends. But you don't want them to catch you,” said Seth.
“Thanks, Seth,” I ignored the fear in Ebony's eyes and turned to the others. “Let's check the house to see if our stuff's inside once we have our things Seth will lead the way.”
Inside, our bags had been ransacked but most of their contents had been left behind. We packed them back up and took everything we could carry, leaving one, half-empty backpack behind. Back on the street, Seth looked towards me as though convincing himself he'd made the right decision and began leading us back towards the city.
“Keep talking to a minimum when we're inside and follow closely, quietly and as inconspicuously as you can manage. There are eyes and ears everywhere in the city.” Seth fell into silence and we all followed suit.
Once again we approached the tall buildings of the city, their height blocking the already limited light from the crescent moon. The buildings were much taller than the ones I'd seen on Eden, but where Eden's buildings were shiny and glistening these were dull and grey. Most of the windows were lined with shards of glass, shattered, or completely empty, and moss and plants grew both inside and out. The streets between them were buckled and cracked, with large holes where the road appeared to have dropped down into the earth.
“What happened here?” I whispered to Ebony.
“Floods hit the city bad. They say the waves were as high as these buildings,” she replied.
“Sssh,” hissed Seth.
Ebony lowered her whisper with her head down. “You and Seth were born in a hospital here in the city. You were lucky to escape as the waves came in from what he says.”
“Shut it.” Ebony and I halted to find Seth a nose width away. “You two trying to get us killed?” The seriousness and fear behind his eyes made guilt clench at my stomach.
“No,” we replied in unison.
“You should know better Ebony. Now quiet.” He spun around to continue leading us deeper into the city.
“Who made him boss?” whined Fletcher.
I glared at him. Hadn't he heard Seth's warning? He groaned in frustration earning himself another sharp stare and dropped to the back of the group.
A clang echoed down the street sending goose bumps racing over my skin and we all stood rigidly, ears straining for another sound. Seth held his hand up for us to stop, his eyes darting this way and that before he waved his hand beckoning for us to continue forward my heart beat echoing in my ears.
Seth led us along an old storefront before turning down a dark narrow alleyway. Once we'd all stepped around the corner he raised his hand gesturing for us to halt. At a small grate at the bottom of one of the buildings, he knelt down, pressing his face against it and cupping his hands around his eyes to see better. In the silence, gruff voices drifted from the grate along with a violent cough followed by a loud spit.
Seth stood, backing away from the grate and stepped towards us, leading us further down the alley away from the grate before speaking. “It's as bad as I thought. Splitter's got them.”
Ebony gulped beside me making the hairs on my arms stand on end.
“Splitter? Who is this Splitter?” asked Maya.
“He's vile.” Ebony screwed up her nose.
“And he'll happily split you open because you looked at him the wrong way,” added Seth.
It was my turn to gulp.
“I'm sorry. You'll have to continue without your friends,” said Seth.
“They're dead?” I asked.
“I couldn't see them, I heard Splitter and Cronk talking about a large guy, a military guy and a blondie. If they are still alive it won't be for long. They'll take whatever they own and get rid of them.”
“We can't leave them. There has to be a way to get them out,” I argued.
“Do as you please, but I'm not risking my neck,” said Seth.
“You arrogant little…” snarled Fletcher.
“Fletch,” I argued.
“What? He brings us here to tell us our friends are doomed. They've fought tooth and nail to keep us alive and he wants to walk away.” Fletch through his arms in the air.
“We can't Seth, we have to at least try.” I turned to face him, not realising he'd stepped closer.
His fearful eyes locked onto mine. “You don't understand.”
“And who do we have 'ere?” a deep croaky voice filled the alleyway as a dark figure appeared where we'd entered.
Before we could answer there was an almighty bang before grey smoke filled the small alleyway around us. I reached out, attempting to find my friends. I gripped a hand, and another and pulled them closer around me. Thick smoke filled my every sense, the acrid acidity burning my eyes and my nostrils. My lungs ached as I inhaled and my head grew light. My right hand jerked down as the person beside me fell. I struggled to pull them up but found my own strength waning. Fletcher's voice called my name as the person on my left collapsed forcing me to my knees.
My head swam as the smoke began to clear, and a dark figure approached our group. I growled as Splinter leant in, his gnarled face inches from mine.
“Night, night,” he crooned before erupting into deep laughter.
Chapter Nine
A violent cough wracked my chest waking me from a dreamless sleep. My lungs ached as my body shuddered with another onslaught of coughing, my throat burning. I found myself alone in the centre of a small dilapidated room. Slithers of light peeked through the boards nailed across the window to my right and the only door on the opposite side of the room was shut. A wisp of hair tickled at my face, but the bite of ropes around my wrists revealed they'd been tied behind me. I did my best to blow the piece of hair away, looking over the rest of my body. A rope was also tied around my waist while another piece bound my ankles. I wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.
Leaning back and drawing in a deep breath to gather my thoughts, a loud groan behind me sent a shiver racing over my skin. A small shove an
d pull made me realise I was tied to somebody, not something. Turning my head I attempted to see who my roommate was, but I couldn't see more than the rotting walls of the building.
“Fletcher? Are you there?” I whispered, hoping with my whole heart he was indeed the person attached to me.
There was another groan and more movement before the person answered. “No, it's Seth.”
My stomach clenched tight. Where were the rest of my friends?
“Seth, its Aurora. What do we do?” My eyes scoured the room, more alert this time, in an attempt to find something, anything to help us free ourselves.
“Nothing. We're doomed.”
I pushed back hard, earning myself a louder groan. “What the hell was that for?”
“For being you. Are you going to sit there and let these people do whatever they want to us? To Ebony? We need to think Seth.”
“Okay, I'm thinking. I'm thinking Splitter's going to rip us to shreds and make your friends watch. I shouldn't have brought Ebony here.” The self-pity in his voice heated my veins.
“You obviously know this guy. What are his weaknesses? There must be something?” I quizzed him.
The doorknob rattled and I jumped before it swung open revealing Splitter and another large man who filled the entire doorway. “Look what we have 'ere Cronk, two redheads tryin' to make sure they ain't bred out of existence.” The two of them burst into laughter before Cronk broke into a chorus of coughing ending with a snort and a spit onto the floor beside him.
“Shut your mouth, you filthy animal,” cursed Seth.
Slitter stalked towards Seth, squatting in front of him. “Argh, still feisty as ever my friend.”
“I'm not your friend,” spat Seth.
“Acquaintance then. We've seen each other many times over the years.”
“Only when you kidnapped and murdered my friends for fun.” Seth's body tensed behind me.
“Naw, don't make me out to be a monster to turn your pretty friend 'ere against me.” Slitter moved closer to me, running the back of his filthy hand over my cheek. “I'm not running the same game as I use to. I've stepped up in the world you see. Young lads and ladies can fetch a high price ya know.”
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