The Hunt

Chapter 64: Naya

I don't even have time to yell at Mikael before the soldiers are on top of us. I want to scream at him. I want to shout that he doesn't know what he's doing, that they might only take one of us. He could be killed! What the hell are you doing, is what I want to scream.

As the soldiers take us down, his icy blue eyes pierce into mine. We don't fight back.

Since the Military Confinement branch is gone, (I would know, I'm the one who eliminated it), they take us to makeshift cells across a parking lot from the storage building. As we leave the building, I hope that Hanna and the rest of them are smart enough to get out of there while we're causing a distraction. Otherwise, it would mess up my whole plan.

This is a win-win for everyone. I didn't want to go back into the forest, so now I don't have to. Being captured gives the me opportunity to get off clean, go back to my position in the city. The Prince and his rebellion patrol, they get to go back unharmed. Besides a little blood here and there, this whole mess can be pushed aside and things can go back to the way they were. I can still be Hanna for a little longer.

The only flaw in my plan is Mikael.

That idiot, he's ruining everything. Who is he, that he gets to decide whether I live or die? Who is he, to ruin the whole plan and get captured on purpose when there was no need? Who is he, to take everyone else's lives in his own hands? Hanna said that he was the one who wanted to go in the city and retrieve me. Why would he want to do that, and save my life, after he tried to kill me the last time we saw each other?

He has a lot of explaining to do.

Luckily, we are thrown in adjacent cells. The cells are old and outdated, steel bars instead of thick walls; these must have been the old containment units before the military built a new facility.

I am thrown down roughly, my hands slapping against the cold tile. The first thing my eyes latch onto is the drain pipe on the floor in the corner. I wonder what that is for.

Next to me, I hear a grunt from Mikael as he is shoved onto his back. The gates lock. We are left alone. The air is stale and filled with dust, coating my lungs with its thick odor.

I crawl over to the corner of the cell, lean my head against the wall, and drink in the silence. After the incessant blaring of alarms, the gunshots, and the constant shouting from the group, I am more than grateful to be swallowed by complete and utter stillness. It will finally allow me to retreat back to my head, where I spend most of my time.

Mikael, however, seems less inclined to sit in solitude.

"Don't go quiet on me, or I'll think you attempted suicide again."

I ignore him. Maybe if I don't respond, he'll leave me be.

"So this is your plan? You're going to sit and rot away until they come to interrogate you, and then you're going to go back to living Hanna's life? I thought you weren't happy with that life, isn't that why you were going to jump?"

"I don't need life advice from you," I murmur.

"No, you're probably right. If anything, I should be taking advice from you. You're the girl who can never die," Mikael inches over to the bars separating our cells, and rests his head against the steel. "Now that we're alone....separated by a wall....unable to kill each other....maybe we can finally explain ourselves."

"The last time you tried to talk to me and get me to open up to you, you were drunk and I said five words to you."

"That's more than five words," a smirk tugs at his lips. "While you're feeling chatty, want to explain how you're still alive?"