Whipped - Drake Merwin x OC

Ringleader

      ~~~86 hours, 11 minutes-SAM-~~~
"Uh, where are we?"
Sam woke up all at once and was embarrassed to find himself being half dragged down the road by Edilio and Quinn.
The latter broke away with a pained smile.
Edilio stopped, looking relieved. "Can you stand?"
Well, I can try, Sam thought. He tested his legs. Lana's healing of his leg had been complete, but whether she'd done more along the way or had healed him completely when he was conscious, he didn't know.
Sam looked back and realised they had been leading a sort of ragtag parade. Astrid and Little Pete, Lana holding a boy's hand while Patrick bounded into the woods to chase a squirrel. Quinn, now walking by himself along the shoulder of the road, looking shunned and ashamed.
And there were almost two dozen kids- liberated freaks from Coates, Taylor among them.
Edilio caught sight of the look on his face.
"You got yourself a crowd of followers, Sam."
He lowered his voice. "They said she let them go at first. It was Caine who got his guys to bring them back. After her little display, they all assume she's passing the mantle."
Sam took a moment to reflect. Light. Dark light. Then...
Then he was unconscious. A bullet. Green light.
A countdown. Astrid.
Astrid was actually approaching him.
What a coincidence.
"Sam," she said lowly, biting her lip. "After you...passed out, I felt..." She stopped.
Sam nodded. He needed to hear this.
"She's gone."
Sam was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing.
Even with Astrid practically whispering, the world had gone too quiet. The Coates kids, the freaks, were listening in.
And they were not happy with what they heard.
He heard first murmurs, then mutters, then outrage. The kids weren't happy that their saviour had all of a sudden disappeared.
Sam ignored them.
"Caine won't come after us," he said decidedly.
After Lillian's stunt, no one wanted to mess with the people she protected- and especially if they were freaks. Most of them were, aside from Edilio and Quinn and a few others that had been 'mistakenly assumed', he learned later- like "witches" burned at the stake.

The group of freaks were straggling down the road, bunched here and there, spread out elsewhere, wandering, undisciplined.
Sam winced when he caught sight of their hands- leeched of all moisture, skin white and loose, hanging in tatters in some cases, like the bandages of some horror-movie mummy. Their wrists revealed red circles where the flesh had been rubbed bloody.
"Yeah," Edilio said, knowing where Sam's eyes had wondered. "Lana's going through then one at a time. Healing them. She's amazing."
Sam thought he heard something extra in Edilio's voice. "She's cute, too, huh, Edilio?"
Edilio's eyes widened and he blushed. "Oh no, I...she's...I'm not.."
Sam slapped his shoulder. "Good luck, man."
"Sam I...I'm just...she isn't..." Edilio stammered his way to a stop.
Sam just grinned, Edilio and Lana would be good together.
If they all lived through it.
"Well, to answer your question, Sam, we're on the Coates road," Edilio answered,
remembering his first words. He nodded- he'd seen the iron gate, which meant they were still many miles from Perdido Beach.
So close to the place where he'd been shot.
Sam looked back at the Coates kids, catching Lana's eye and mouthing 'thanks'.
Lana just shrugged as if to say 'no biggie'.
"Once Caine hears news of her, he'll come after us," Astrid said, turning serious.
"Maybe. But not until he comes up with a plan. We've got a lot of kids. He's lost Drake, and..."
Sam wasn't really sure if he should count Lillian as Caine's. Definitely not before the liberation of the freaks, but now? Well...
It was difficult to say who's side she was on.
It didn't even seem like she was on her own.
Not Drake's anymore, not after whatever had happened. Sam wasn't even sure if Drake was alive.
He hoped not.
With the biggest threat- Lily- out of the way, Sam had gained and lost. Gained kids, gained time...but maybe lost Astrid. He wasn't sure. And not to mention three priceless favours. Two now, actually. And once they got back to Perdido- for that was where they had to go- the opposition from Orc and his cronies might render the kids useless from fear.

Wow, his life sucked.
"Sam," Edilio interrupted his thoughts,"These kids are starving. We might have trouble with the kids in Perdido, but getting these kids food is top priority."
It was weird how Edilio always knew what he was thinking about.
But not that weird.
"I know, I know," Sam sighed. "Three or four miles to Ralph's. You think they'll make it?"
"They have to," Edilio answered simply. "I've, uh, been talking to them while you were out, and, they're pretty tough. This one girl, Dekka, she's got game. Brianna, readhead over there" -Edilio jerked his head to a small, skinny girl standing near a strong, solidly built girl with cornrows and a nose ring- "she can go real fast. That's Dekka beside her. See that boy?"
Edilio pointed.
"Agile as an adder. Brunette over there? Einstein siren, smart as a whip."
On and on he went, pointing or gesturing to the kids and explaining the extent of their abilities.
It was pretty comforting, Sam had to admit, to know that these kids were watching his back, watching for Drake.