Renegade

Chapter six

Fair warning: this chapter introduces a character that can be offensive. Just so you're prepared.

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The guard wore a dark helmet that hid his face, but from the way he abruptly stopped to look at them, it was clear they had startled him.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the boy shrink back behind her. The motion brought her out of her shocked stupor and she shoved the guard with both hands. He stumbled back a step, but recovered quickly, raising his gun at them. He never got to fire it as he disintegrated before managing to take proper aim.

The pair ran into a second guard as they rounded the landing and her hand immediately flew forward, connecting with the man's arm. Her whole body was screaming in protest as she demanded more effort of it than she ever had. She ignored the pain, hurrying up the stairs.

She quickly discovered that if she balled her hands into fists, she could brace them against the wall without destroying it. Apparently, only her palms were lethal.

Her breath was ragged and she had to slow down a couple of times, violent coughs shuddering through her frail body. The boy had a hard time keeping up, limited to breathing through the two small holes carved in the mask at nostril level.

They reached sub-level three at the same time as four guards. These were ready and pointing their weapons at them by the time the duo stumbled to a halt. The boy was wheezing behind her and she wasn't much better off, the muscles in her legs and back straining from the exertion. She stared at the armed men.

They were too far away; no matter what she tried, she probably couldn't deal with more than one. For the first time since she'd left her cell, the cold tendrils of fear wrapped around her, dousing the ever-present and reassuring boil of her anger.

Was this it? Back to her cell? To the punishment room?

The door to their left swung open, slamming the closest guard into the wall. A person that was more beast than human sprang out of the hallway, barreling into the remaining guards before they could regain their bearing.

The creature was big, large enough that its sharp horns scraped the ceiling, wide fur-covered arms grabbing one of the guards and shoving him to the ground.

Another beast appeared, slithering out between the first one's muscled legs. It was a white snake that curled around one of the remaining guards, long enough to envelop his whole body. It opened its mouth and bit through his throat. The reptile released the limp body and morphed into a pale-skinned, yellow-eyed, naked young woman who sprinted up the stairs without a glance back.

The first beast grabbed the last standing guard and smashed him into the wall hard enough to leave an indent. It turned surprisingly gentle eyes towards them.

"Run!" it thundered through a bull-like snout.

Neither of them needed to be told twice and they ducked under its powerful arms, hurrying up the stairs. They found the snake-girl on the floor above, coiled around a female guard.

There was another inmate by her side, with cropped red hair and wild green eyes, fingers wrapped around a rifle. Short in stature, his maniacal laugh reverberated through the staircase every time he downed an incoming guard.

More prisoners were cluttered in the hallway behind him. When the trickle of guards seemed to dry up, he threw the people around him a wide grin.

"How 'bout we take this party upstairs?" he asked, voice filled with glee.

He didn't wait for an answer, sprinting up the stairs with the snake-girl on his heels. The others followed without hesitation, sweeping the duo along.