Break My Bones

Chapter 2: Sweet Bitterness

As soon as they had landed in the harbour that the Right Arm had been using as their base for the past few months, the teens were moving down the sides of the carriage, anxious to reach the door and reunite with their friends.

Several people were already working on the locks, sawing away the heavy metal as soon as the carriage had been set down safely. Thomas was at the door first, naturally anxious, but Newt and Rachel were close behind. None of them said a word, too nervous to do more than wait as they dared to hope for the first time in months.

'We did it.' Rachel marveled as she watched the saw break through the thick metal locks. 'We actually did it.'

Months and months of planning were finally about to pay off. Her gaze wondered briefly to the side, off to the edge of the harbour. There, just in view from her current spot, was the rusty old ship that they had found several months ago. It had been the reason for their choice in settling down in this location, and even now she could see signs of movement all over the ship as the Right Arm got it sea-ready.

The clanging sound of the heavy carriage locks falling away had Rachel turning her attention back to the rescued carriage just as she also heard movement behind her.

She glanced back to see Frypan and Harriet joining them at last, hurrying away from the Barge they had been flown inside the Right Arm hideout after dropping off the carriage. Seeing them, Rachel once again mused over just how lucky they had been. Jorge and Brenda's distraction to capture the Berg with Harriet and Frypan's help had gone as smoothly as they had only cautiously hoped it would, and Rachel could hardly believe just how all the pieces of their admittedly risky plan had actually come together to work.

Now they just had to get Minho, Sonya, and Aris out of the bloody carriage they were trapped inside.

Nodding briefly at Harriet and Frypan to acknowledge her friends, Rachel turned back to the front as the Right Arm men pulled the heavy carriage door open, finally letting them in.

Thomas was the first to step inside, making his way carefully through the dark carriage. Rachel darted in next, and she didn't have to go more than a few steps before she saw them.

"Aris! Sonya!" Rachel gasped in a strange mix of relief and horror.

She was glad beyond words to have her friends back alive, but she was also concerned and more than a little dismayed at the condition they were in. The two teens looked like they had been to hell and back, especially Aris. Although Sonya was as disheveled and alarmingly thin as the brunette boy, Aris was also sporting a black eye and several lacerations on his face and on his body where it was just visible beneath his shirt. Rachel hadn't seen Aris look this terrible since they had made it out of the Maze, and Sonya had always been a strong and healthy Navi. To see her so pale and weakened...

"Let's get you out." Rachel murmured, turning to the front. "I need the bolt cutters!"

Newt came up behind her, holding out the tool. Rachel quickly started to work on the manacles around her friends' wrists which held them hostage against the roof of the carriage, while Newt knelt down beside Aris, waiting while Rachel quickly removed Sonya's bindings.

"I'm sorry." Aris murmured quietly to Newt, who glanced at the younger boy in some confusion.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He replied, but Aris's eyes were heavy with guilt as he shook his head.

"Sorry."

Rachel glanced at Aris as he apologized again, in barely a whisper while his head hung forward and he avoided eye contact with Newt. Her grey eyes then flickered over to Sonya, who also bowed her head in guilt.