Reckoning

Chapter Twelve: Divide and Conquer

Song for this chapter
Afraid by The Neighborhood

Eli practically shoves me out of the house and onto the street. I nearly fall and I turn back and give Eli a look. He walks onto the street behind me, and I hear the door to the two-story house open. Nathaniel steps out with his arms crossed, watching me. I stop and shout at Nathaniel, "My people will come for us! Just wait! You're screwed!"

He just smiles. I turn back and keep walking towards the courtyard to get to the cells.

While the sky has become overcast, it still feels a little chilly. Then suddenly a few of Nathaniel's men run past me and Eli. There seems to be a commotion up ahead near the main gate.

Nathaniel quickly walks past me, yelling, "What the hell is going on?"
Eli joins Nathaniel, leaving me behind as they get to the crowd that has formed. Curious, I walk over to the main gate. The metal barred gate opens just enough for a few of Nathaniel's men can come through.
Richard moves through the crowd to join Nathaniel and Eli. "What happened?", Richard loudly asks.

Then one of the men who came through the gate points at me and shouts, "It was one of his people! A woman! She killed six of our men! It was a slaughter!"

Who was it? Anna? Lauren?

Nathaniel scowls at me and storms toward me, and stops just inches from my face. We both glare into each others eyes as the crowd goes silent.
"I told you they'd come for us", I say to Nathaniel.

I instantly regret it when Nathaniel swings his right arm back and strikes me across the face. I fall against the concrete, my face twisted in pain and blood dripping from my nose. "We have to do something, Nathaniel!", Richard yells, "They have to pay!"
A man shouts, "We demand justice!"

"NO!', Nathaniel shouts louder than ever before and silencing everyone, "If we harm the prisoners, the people of Haven will never give me back my little wildflower! Are we clear?!"

The crowd is silent.

"Eli, take David back to the cells and stay there. Diana will switch shifts with you in a few hours."
"Yes, Nathaniel", Eli says, approaching me with his sword in his grasp. He grabs my arm and yanks me off the ground. A few drops of blood find their way onto my grey hoodie which will leave a stain. I wipe my nose with my sleeve, then i walk towards the cells with Eli trailing behind me.

I lower my head. When we finally get to the cell where my friends are, I am shoved inside by Eli. "David!", Cody exclaims, "What the hell happened? Are you hurt?"
"I'll be fine", I assure him and the others, "Nathaniel just got a good swing at me."
"What did he want with you?", Matt asks, his blonde hair slightly matted from his sweat, probably since it's so humid in here.
"Just to talk", I tell him.

"About what", Theo asks, scratching at his dark brown hair.
"His plan", I say to my three friends, "He's going to trade us for Lisbeth."

"The hell he will", Theo angrily proclaims.

"It'll be better if you just go along with it", Eli says from behind the cell door, "Trust me."

"Why do you even listen to him?", I angrily ask Eli, "Nathaniel is insane. What made you think that things are better in here than they are out there?!"

"He took me in when I was starving", Eli shouts at me, looking through the opening in the door, "Nathaniel offered safety, a place to sleep! And in return, I had to follow his rules!"
"But you could have left!", I shout back.
"He would have killed me!"

"To tell the truth, I think that fate would have been better than this!", I tell Eli.

"You don't know shit", Eli mutters before leaning on the door.

"You've probably lost someone in this world, too. Maybe you changed like I did", I say to him. My friends just listen as Eli and I keep talking.

"Who hasn't?", Eli asks, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie.
"I lost my brother", I reluctantly confess to Eli, "Who'd you lose?"
After a few moments of silence, Eli says, "My girlfriend, Sarah. Within the first month of all this."

"And how did you get the sword?", I ask.

"A pawn shop. Seemed like the right place to get a weapon."

I wipe my nose to see if it's still bleeding. Just a little bit. I then ask Eli , "Do you..wanna get out of here?"

"What?", he asks, confused, looking through the opening of the door.

"We have to escape, and get back to Haven. But we need someone who knows this place more than us. And after we escape, you can come back with us to Haven. You'll be able to live a normal life."

Eli is silent. Cody pulls me aside and whispers, "Are you crazy? We can't trust him! He's one of them!"
"He's not like Nathaniel or his lieutenant", I whisper back, "He seems like he hates it here."
"If this fails, it's on you", Cody tells me before sitting on the bed.

Eli finally says, "Alright, I'm in. But here's what we need to do..."