Hers to Protect

by Nicole Disney

  Adrienne fought the fear and paralysis. If there was a chance, this was it. She was still sideways on the floor, tied tightly to the chair. She tried to scoot across the floor, gaining only an inch at a time. She had to make it to Celeste, to her gun, maybe a knife. She didn’t know if she’d be able to free herself, but she had to try.

  She shifted her weight forward. The legs of the chair creaked in protest. The floor grabbed the legs, building a pile of loose dirt and resisting her progress. Soon she was soaked in sweat and had barely moved a foot. She heard a scattering of gunshots in the main room next door. She wondered if they had posted guards in the other rooms to keep someone from sneaking in, but from the sound of the shots, they hadn’t. Had other people been shot through windows? If so, how depleted were their numbers? And was Celeste right? Was this the Hijos? Was she just as likely to be killed as the next person? Adrienne switched her approach and thrust her weight into tipping the chair, attempting to roll to Celeste rather than scoot to her. The jolt of the chair turning and crashing back to the ground was painful, but she saw what had to be the handle of a knife peeking out of Celeste’s pocket.

  She saw a flash of blue run past the window. She froze. WAK members were moving outside in pursuit of this mystery sniper, and she could do nothing to conceal herself, but they didn’t notice her. They were gripped by fear, unable to do anything but scan the forest for the gunman.

  As soon as they passed, Adrienne couldn’t help but crane her neck to see what they were after. They came back into view when they got farther away. They were heading for a particularly thick cluster of trees. Adrienne saw what must have drawn them out. It was a faint outline of something. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing, but it was out of place and wasn’t natural, possibly the outline of an arm. The two Wild AKs approached now in a sprint. The outline sprang to life, stepping from behind the tree, knife blade flashing in the night.

  Adrienne’s chest froze. She knew that outline, that dirty blond hair. It was impossible, but it was her. Kaia thrust the knife viciously into the first WAK’s throat and slashed through, dropping him instantly. The second WAK tried to raise her gun, but Kaia was already attacking. She grabbed the blue shirtsleeve and yanked down, pulling the member off balance and veering her aim into the ground. Kaia sunk the blade into the back of her neck. It was ruthless, a kind of ruthless she would’ve never imagined from Kaia. Adrienne knew Kaia must be thinking she was dead. She’d known that rabid need for violence when she’d beaten the girl in the ring half to death.

  She felt tears she hadn’t noticed falling down her face. Kaia was alive. She was alive and here and moving like she’d never had a knife in her chest in the first place, like Adrienne had just imagined it all. She wouldn’t stay alive at this rate, though. She was taking on way too many people by herself. Adrienne had to get free. She had to do something.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Kaia slid her knife out of the Wild AK’s neck, letting the body fall next to the first. The blood snaked over the frozen ground. Kaia dragged the bodies out of sight. As far as she could tell, they had spotted her and acted alone just as she’d hoped they would.

  Kaia made her way around to the back in search of more vulnerable WAKs or a way in. She knew at some point her only option would be to make the plunge inside, but the fewer WAKs alive when that happened the better. She could just sit outside as long as it took, picking them off one by one, but some small part of her had hope Adrienne was still alive in there, and she had to move fast to keep it that way.

  She didn’t see anyone in the back of the barn, but she found it hard to believe they wouldn’t have at least one person watching it by now. She peered through the scope on the AK. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Reid’s sniper, but it was vastly better than her eyes. She spotted someone through a window. He seemed alone and was pacing, glancing nervously out the window occasionally but clearly afraid to linger by it. She didn’t have a shot at him, but she could get in that room.

  Kaia searched for the best line to the door. There wasn’t a way to avoid exposure. If she missed someone it would be deadly. Gunshots sounded from the front of the barn. They saw Reid, or they thought they did at least. She didn’t have time to worry about him. She seized the distraction and ran for the barn. She braced to hear bullets chasing her heels, but none came. She made it to the barn, then plastered her back to the metal and sidestepped to the door. She took out her knife. The longer she resisted gunfire the longer she could be a secret. She grabbed the doorknob and burst inside.

  The Wild AK spun. It was Sean, still in body armor. Shock crossed his face. Kaia charged. He raised his gun but she plunged the knife into his neck. His eyes went wide. Kaia had firm control of the direction of his gun, but he managed to pull the trigger. The shot rang loud and hollow, announcing her. She held her breath and guided his weight slowly to the ground, hopeful the sound was lost in the racket of shots from the front.

  The house went silent for a moment, then Kaia heard whispers and footsteps coming her way. The room had a door on each side of her, the one to her back that she’d just come through and would take her back outside, and the one in front of her, which led to the interior of the barn. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then raised her gun at the interior door, waiting for them off to the side in case they came through shooting.

  She heard at least four voices. Her heart thundered out of control, the gun rattled in her shaking hands. The door burst open with a kick from the other side. Kaia fired, dropping the first one. The gun kicked into her shoulder as she continued fire. The person behind the first went down too before return fire blasted through the doorway. She heard the pangs of bullets punching through metal. Kaia lunged out of the way, seeking protection behind the door they’d just kicked open. Three more WAKs forced their way inside, stepping over their friends’ bodies.

  Time became a blur. Her vision was hyper focused and tunneled. She felt like she’d fired a thousand rounds. She kept pulling the trigger and two more WAKs went down. Two bullets pounded into her and knocked her backward. She was afraid they went through the vest, though she didn’t feel pain. Vests could only take so much before they failed and this one didn’t even fit as it should.

  Her rifle clicked, out of ammo. She had plenty more but no time to reload. She dropped the rifle and reached for a dead WAK’s weapon, but the wall of muscle that was the last Wild AK alive in the room rushed her and kicked the gun out of reach. He swung his gun at her head, apparently out of ammo too. She ducked, but he shoved her into the corner behind the door and slammed her against the wall, crushing her throat with the gun.

  She slashed at him with her knife, but he grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the wall, still using his remaining hand to press the gun across her neck. She struggled to reach the pistol in her waistband with her free hand, but it was pinned tightly between her back and the wall. She needed air. Her vision was fading. The black was closing the corners of her eyes. She clawed at the gun, trying to ease the pressure, but she was getting weak. Everything went dark and she felt her arms drop, unable to bear their own weight. She distantly heard a single gunshot and she fell to the ground.

  She felt like she’d fallen into a lucid dream. She knew her eyes were open, but she saw nothing. She knew she’d fallen, but she couldn’t move. She knew she’d heard a gunshot, but she couldn’t feel the pain. Cold fingers touched her face. They were soft and gentle.

  “Kaia.” She heard a familiar whisper. It was Adrienne. Kaia swam through the dark, reaching for consciousness but unable to find it. It was like she’d dived into deep water and lost track of which way was up. She fought it, but it only seemed to get worse, and as it got worse a kind of panic threatened to take over.

  “Breathe, Kaia.”

  She wasn’t breathing? Was she dead? No. She hurt too much to be dead. She screamed at her body to come back, to breathe, but she couldn’t remember the sensation. She was stuck in the dream.

  “Baby, breathe!” Adrie
nne’s voice got more urgent. Adrienne shook her. The feeling brought back an awareness of her body and she forced her lungs to take in air. She felt herself gasping, rasping through the pain of her crushed throat. Adrienne’s arms tightened around her, holding her.

  “You’re okay,” she said. “Slow, deep breaths.”

  Kaia’s arms automatically wrapped around her, clinging to her. Slowly, her vision came back. Sound came back in full force. Gunshots were still sounding from the main room. It felt too loud, like it was echoing around her head an octave higher than the sounds should be.

  Adrienne’s face finally came into focus. She had splotches of black, blue, and purple scattered across her face from several different blows. There was a tangle of ropes hanging from her arms that she’d only managed to get halfway out of. Adrienne smiled as she recognized Kaia processing her.

  “God damn it, Kaia, you have to stop scaring the shit out of me. That’s the third time I’ve thought you were dead.”

  Kaia’s eyes watered. “What did they do to you?”

  Adrienne squeezed her tighter and kissed her quickly on the forehead. “Later. Can you walk?”

  “Have to.” Kaia struggled to sit up, letting Adrienne steady her.

  “There’re still more of them. They’ll come check on these guys soon when they don’t go back.”

  “Reid is distracting them.” Kaia reached for the AK-12 she’d just been choked with. “He’s the sniper.” Kaia couldn’t help but smile as hope filled Adrienne’s face.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Kaia nodded at the door she’d come through, the one that went outside. Adrienne took a step out, then blasted into Kaia in urgent retreat.

  “They’re outside,” she whispered and carefully closed the door. “That way,” she silently mouthed as she pointed to the back wall.

  Kaia heard shuffling in the next room, the clatter of empty magazines being discarded. “They’re still inside too.”

  “Now what?”

  Kaia went to the window and carefully leaned forward enough to peak outside. Adrienne gripped her arm. She glanced outside and pulled back. No one was looking her way. Half were facing the house, half watching the woods.

  “Big players are in here,” Kaia said. “No sign of Christina or Anna out there.”

  “How many outside?”

  “Five.”

  “Shit.”

  “Do you know how many we started with?”

  “Twenty.”

  Kaia counted off bodies she knew about, then shrugged. “So five out there, three inside.”

  “Should we just wait for Reid to take care of them? He shot Celeste in the head through the window.”

  “I don’t think he can reach them. That’s probably why they moved to the back.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I’m going through this door to the main room to take out the three in here. You stay here and shoot anyone that comes for this back door or the window.”

  “No, please don’t.”

  Kaia touched her face. “The only way out of this is through them. They’re too well positioned for us to run.”

  Gunshots shook them both, followed by Christina calling out. “Oh, Adrienne.” A loud crash marked her kicking through a door in search.

  “Where’s Anna?” Adrienne barely even breathed the words.

  Kaia shrugged. “Maybe Reid got her.”

  Adrienne shook her head. Kaia agreed it was unlikely. Anna knew how to protect herself without looking like a coward. More and more, Kaia had to admit Anna was in some ways worse than Gianna, more tactical. She was probably quietly searching for them.

  “We know you’re still here, Adrienne,” Christina yelled. Kaia changed the plan and went to the window. She aimed the AK at the group of Wild AKs guarding the back. She didn’t want Adrienne responsible for the five people outside. Even though Christina and Anna were more skilled, they seemed to be separated at the moment. She looked to Adrienne, who raised her gun at the door for Christina’s inevitable rush inside. She nodded.

  Kaia leaned out the window and fired at the WAKs in back. Two fell to the ground and struggled to back away from further fire. A young girl raised her pistol. Kaia ducked inside for an instant as the shot rang through the air, then leaned back out and fired. The young one ducked and ran. The rest watched, at first in horror, then followed. The injured ones struggled to scramble after them. The door from the main room kicked in behind her. Adrienne’s gun sounded from where she waited.

  The door to the outside kicked in too and Anna burst inside, gun raised. Kaia threw herself in between Anna and Adrienne, taking another round to the vest. She rushed forward and slammed Anna into the wall. Anna was covered in blood and furious. She head butted Kaia, landing the blow to her nose with excruciating success. Kaia fought the automatic recoil and leaned her weight into Anna, determined to keep her away from Adrienne and trusting Adrienne completely to handle Christina even as their grunts betrayed a life or death struggle.

  Anna dropped the gun and shoved her palm into Kaia’s chin, twisting her head away, pushing for space. Kaia was forced to drop her gun too and shook her hand off. She reasserted her weight into Anna. She tried to drag her to the ground, but Anna was relentlessly strong. She looked to have an average build, but years of fighting made her the kind of tough that was infuriating to the point of feeling futile.

  A thud and cry from Adrienne drew her attention for the span of a quick glance. Adrienne was taking blows from Christina from her back, but she was dragging her over by her sleeve in an effort to even the leverage. Anna pushed Kaia enough to give herself space to punch. Anna’s fists came in a flurry, catching her on the chin. Kaia regained her balance, but Anna turned away and rushed for Adrienne, raising a foot to stomp on her face. Kaia dove after her and grabbed the ankle Anna was standing on, pulling as hard as she could. Anna crashed to the ground and kicked her entrapped leg for freedom, but Kaia held on. Kaia felt the pistol in her waistband come loose and slide to the floor, but she couldn’t risk reaching for it without being sure she’d get it. Kaia used her body weight and one arm to keep control of the leg and took her knife from her pocket with the other hand. She stabbed Anna’s calf and pulled the blade through the flesh. Anna screamed.

  “You bitch!” She tried to claim the blade from her own leg, but Kaia ripped it out and stabbed again. She felt the blade biting into flesh, tearing through the resistance of skin and muscle. Anna screamed again and dove for Kaia’s arms, trying to still the blade.

  Kaia accepted the elbow to her face, refusing to let go of the knife. Anna’s finger plunged into the stab wound in Kaia’s chest, pressing hard enough to rip the stitches even through the gauze. Kaia screamed and slashed crazily with the knife in an effort to reach something more vital than her leg, but her elbow was pinned. Kaia thrust her weight into Anna and toppled her over. She wrestled for the top, but Anna was strong, battling just as hard. Kaia sank her weight into her knee and drove it into Anna’s injured leg. Anna screamed. Kaia pushed again, using Anna’s leg as a platform to push off, and finally succeeded in rolling Anna onto her back. Her knife arm was free. She overpowered her natural reaction to hesitate and stabbed downward as hard as she could, ignoring Anna’s arms trying to stop her. She slashed past them by sheer force.

  Kaia’s knife sank in. The room felt frozen. Kaia looked down. The knife was in Anna’s chest. It had hit center and Anna’s face was twisted in pain and shock as she looked down at the hilt in Kaia’s hand. Anna’s hands hovered around Kaia’s, around the hilt, afraid to touch it, afraid not to. Kaia tightened her grip and pulled the knife out as she stood up. Anna’s chest rose as Kaia ripped the blade free, then she collapsed back to the ground. Blood spurted from her mouth and she choked and gargled on it.

  Christina yelled and fell away from Adrienne. She crawled to Anna’s side, seeming to forget everything else. Adrienne scrambled away, more than happy to break from the violence and catch her breath.

  A gunshot
pierced the air. Kaia felt the burning sensation rip through her. The heat of it radiated through her entire arm. She spun to locate the shooter. The young Wild AK who had fled was now standing outside the window with her gun raised, prepared to take another shot. A gun appeared on the outer edge of the window frame and fired. The girl’s brain and blood sprayed through the air and her body fell out of view.

  Kaia was shaken by the visual though she knew it saved her life. She frantically tried to reach the pistol she’d lost in the fight, but Reid’s face in the window drew her attention away. She breathed in relief.

  “Reid!”

  She heard Christina shuffling beside her. She turned in time to see her reach for a gun and spin it on her. Kaia lunged but she was too far away. Adrienne kicked Christina’s hand fast enough to make the shot miss. She kicked again, this time hitting Christina in the head. Christina was dazed but still struggling to aim the gun, still trying to shoot Kaia in spite of Adrienne’s attack. Kaia rushed to help, but Adrienne acted in a flash. She grabbed Christina’s arm and wrenched the gun around so it pointed at Christina. She squeezed Christina’s finger and force pulled the trigger. Christina’s head shot back from the impact and her arm fell limp.

  Adrienne backed away. She backed right into Kaia. Kaia grabbed her shoulders and forced her to turn away. She guided Adrienne’s head to her chest and held her.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered. Adrienne buried her face in Kaia and held her.

  Reid came through the back door and put his hand on Kaia’s back. Adrienne let go of Kaia and hugged Reid.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Hey, you got it,” he said with a sad smile.

  “You saved her life,” Adrienne said. “You saved both our lives.”

  “I did my best.” He smiled. “Not as good as I’d hoped. You’re shot, Sorano.”