Haven's Army

Chapter 11

We found ourselves cuffed, chained, and behind bars in no time, and things were starting to look worse. Louis recalled the Angels. He didn't look all too angered that they had left. It occurred to me that Arthur's part in our plan was known by Louis, or maybe even planned by Louis himself. I was still horrified by Arthur's betrayal and my absolute willingness to trust him. Even worse, Naomi seemed in no hurry to get us out, which terrified all of us.

Nathan, in a nearby cell, didn't seem the least bit worried either, even as they called for him to go first. In fact, as they escorted him out of the room, he looked back to me and smirked a little sadly. I wanted to yell out, to scream at them not to take them, but I knew it was no use so I saved my breath and smiled back, trying to tell him I'd be okay for the time being, and so in his final image of me, I would be smiling. But once he turned away, prodded through the door by Angels, I let my head drop and allowed silent tears cloud my vision and fall onto my cuffed hands. Nothing felt real. Ronnie, Percy, Laura, Peter, Julia...they were still alive and smiling. Arthur was playing along and any second, he'd pop in and laugh and tell us we were simple-minded in believing his act, and Cecelia would cry with relief. And Nathan was not walking out the door just beside the cell Kathryn and I to die before hundreds. Everything happened so fast, it had to be another nightmare. Soon, I'd wake up and forget it and go out to the deck and Nathan would be there and I'd tell him I had a nightmare and he'd find a way to make me laugh, or at least smile.

I heard the door open. That meant Nathan was gone. They were coming for the next person. There were murmurs amongst our group, but I didn't care. The door to my cell opened but I didn't care. They could take me and kill me, I didn't mind. Nathan was dead. Naomi was allowing our deaths. All hope was lost.

A hand touched my face gently and I jumped at the unexpected contact. My head shot up and there he was before me: Nathan. Not dead. Not harmed in any way. Just...Nathan.

I began to cry again as he undid my cuffs. Where he had gotten the keys, I had no idea, but once the cuffs were off, I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. I wanted to ask so many questions, but I knew we had a job to do, so I pulled away, wiped my tears, and chose my question.

"What should we do, Naomi?"

She seemed taken aback by the question for a moment. Then, her sharp, cool demeanor returned.

"You and Kathryn guard the door from the Capital building. Some Generals and Captains are late because of Louis' sudden change in plans. We'll get someone else to guard the other door for now."

Kathryn and I nodded shortly. We knew there were two guards outside the door we would guard, so we agreed to take their uniforms. I nodded to Kathryn, then pulled the door open. The guards started to turn but, almost in unison, we put daggers to their throats and they froze.

"Make one noise and we'll slit your throats," I growled. They didn't move. We slowly pulled them back. Once they were inside, we shut the door and hit them over the heads. They crumpled to the ground.

"You should be able to pass if you keep quiet," I told Kathryn. She nodded and we quickly changed into the guards' uniforms, slipping the masks on and tying back our hair quickly as we slipped back out the door, locking it. Hopefully, Nathan would get done soon so he could let us back in without trouble.

I heard footsteps rounding the corner and stood taller, facing directly forward and hoping Kathryn did the same. I hoped the small group of men (it looked like a higher-up and two Elites as guards) would pass us down the hall. Instead, they stopped sharply and the man turned to face us.

"This is where they are?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, sir." I took a moment to observe his mask and buttons. Gold markings, gold buttons. "General, sir, we aren't allowed in. It's locked."