Descent

Chapter 18

"This is my fault. This is my fault."

Dove paced back and forth before the cell that Roger sat in, unable to comprehend the predicament that they now found themselves in. Roger looked bleak and pale with each passing hour but he still managed to keep a slight smile etched on his face. The stump where his hand had been wrapped crudely, the blood seeping through signaling it needed to be changed once more. For all the high tech medical gear they had here, it seemed it was now only reserved for whatever plan her mother had in store with Malik's blood.

Once her mother injected enough of their people with the boy's blood, they would have the means to topple the remaining enemy Highwaymen outposts with just a handful of people. Eventually, her mother will turn them onto local settlements, and then from there, the rest of the country.

"Mon amour." Roger spoke for the first time in what seemed like days, reaching his still intact hand out through the bars, "It's going to be okay."

Dove paused to look at him, nearly aghast, "How can you say that? You heard the radio broadcast. My mother is using Malik is bait and you and I both know Mai is going to chomp down hard and fast. The moment she steps even a mile of this place my mother is going to snatch her up."

Roger said nothing as he continued to hold his hand out to her, his blue eyes staring at her patiently. Dove crossed her arms, biting her lower lip, fidgeting until deciding to finally sit down against the bars. She took Roger's hand and placed it in her lap. She turned it over allowing her to trace the lines of his palm with the tip of her finger, imagining that there was a secret hidden in the lines. A secret that would see him and the others safely out of here. She kept her head down, listening closely to Roger's rattled breathing. He would not last another week here in these conditions - but their only hope was very well on her way back ready to spring her mother's trap. Dove kept her head down as she continued to run her finger along, reality beginning to settle in.

"You didn't have to tell her." she said still looking down, "You could have just let me die right there and saved yourself another way."

Roger immediately withdrew his hand, looking at her with a furrowed brow and look of disbelief.

"What- you think your death would solve everything?" he sounded hurt as he continued to speak, "I have seen a lot of good people go ma chérie, and I would be devastated if you were to find yourself among them."

Roger's words struck Dove in a way she found hard to comprehend. No one had ever gave two shits about what happened to her save for her father, rest his soul. It was in that moment she knew she could not just sit and wait for Mai the saviour to come and rescue them. She had to do whatever it took to get Roger and Malik out of this hell. The reunion could come after.

"I promise to help in anyway I can." Dove assured him, reaching into the cage as she scratched his scraggly beard.

Roger gave her a weak smile before dipping his head down to kiss the palm of her hand. Hurried footsteps cut the tender moment short as the two looked down the prison halls. From the heavy thuds of footprints, Dove could only assume that it must have been her mother's guards.

"You have to go." Roger said, suddenly thrusting Dove's hand out of the cage, "Go now."

"I'm not leaving." she said defiantly, standing to greet the soldiers as their bodies emerged from the shadowy depths of the hall.

They seemed startled to find Dove standing there in front of Roger's cage, approaching cautiously. Not all the Highwaymen were mindless marauders. Some of them just had no other choice but to obey. Their motorbike helmets disguised their expressions but their voices gave way to a sympathetic tone.