Locked up and tortured but refusing to sell out the people he loves, Nathan tries to flip the loyalty of an old friend in the hopes they'll help him escape.
*****
Just when Nathan...
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We kept driving for what felt like forever. The forest didn't thin out at all but kept being thick with large trees. My eyes slowly got used to the harsh light, and I slowly looked up. Trees were flying past us.
"What happens to you after this?" I asked quietly and glanced up at Birdie.
"I don't care. I just want my brother back."
I bit down on my lip and nodded. We stopped after a couple of more hours, and Birdie motioned me to get out of the car. He walked around it and pushed me up against it. He pulled my wrists to him and opened the cuffs. The collar was the next one to go. I slowly ran my fingers over the newly exposed skin and cringed. I hadn't realised how sore it was.
I looked down at my wrists. The skin was completely torn from the cuffs. Birdie grabbed my wrists again and turned them around.
"It should heal fine," he said quietly and let go. I didn't know what to say. Why had he taken the chains off?
"Are you not afraid I'll hurt you?"
"Why should I? If you kill me, you're stuck out here. It's not like you can drive. And I am taking you to your family. There would be no logic behind attacking me."
"I thought ferals didn't possess logic."
"But you're not feral, are you?"
"You said I was."
"I also let Shane torture you for a month. I think we can both agree on the fact that I can be wrong."
I had not thought of it that way. Birdie being wrong was a foreign concept to me. He seemed like the kind of person who never was. He was so smart.
"Come on, we need to keep going." He walked back around the car and jumped in behind the wheel again. I opened the door and got in.
I looked at myself in the side mirror. My skin was so dark around my throat, and my cheeks were hollow. My eyes were dead, only made worse by the dark rings under them. I had hair on my head too. I looked nothing like I had when they got me. I desperately wanted to shave my head again. I just wanted it off.
I leaned back in the seat and took a deep breath.
"Does it feel better?"
"Yeah... Thanks." I rubbed my wrist. The skin was all dark, and it looked like the first layer was just plain gone. "Birdie... For what it's worth... Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do. You... You got me out of prison, and now you're getting me out again. I can make sure you disappear after this. Get a new life somewhere away from the FIB. My dad has a lot of contacts."
"Your dad is a terrorist. I'll pass on that, but thanks for the offer. I'll take whatever punishment I'm getting after this. My mom just wants to see Che, and I'll do anything for her."
