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Blood rushed down Roxy's cheek, its origin being the newly formed gash she had gained trying to escape the goons holding them hostage. After Hal had been led out of the auditorium to try and secure a deal with Captain Weaver, the rest of them had been forced to walk through another door into a dimly lit dressing room. The only one who had stayed behind was Tom, seeing as the leader of this group of outlaws, who Roxy had learned was named John Pope, was interested in knowing more information. As soon as they were out of Pope's sight, Roxy had tried to fight her way out, but her attempt only landed her a few more hits in the face.
She had been sitting in silence for what seemed like an eternity, silently watching the two men guarding the door as they expected new orders from Pope. They had deliberately placed her far from the other members of her team, who sat on the opposite side of the room in old looking chairs. The air reeked of stale beer and cigarette smoke, a stench that Roxy knew was sticking to her clothes. Unsurprisingly, she had also been pushed to the darkest corner of the room, the only source of lighting being a candle that had almost fully melted. She could faintly see Anthony and Dai's mouths moving, while Karen simply slumped on her chair chewing on her bottom lip. The brunette was hesitant to speak out, fearing that it would land her yet another hit. She had provoked them enough.
Instead, she pushed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. The situation didn't look very promising, as she was almost positive that Weaver wouldn't take the deal and Pope's group would be forced to take extreme measures to get what they wanted. One of their first steps would be killing the hostages: as long as they were alive, they were in the way. The fact that the Second Mass had close to 100 fighters eased her nerves, but Pope was also aware of that fact and that meant he had a plan. Despite his violent behavior and sarcastic speech, Roxy could tell that he wasn't stupid.
"You're bleeding," Karen's voice echoed in the room, before Roxy raised her head to meet the blonde's eyes. Even from all the way across the room, she could see worry reflecting off of her friend's blue irises. Just as she cleared her throat to tell Karen not to worry, the younger girl turned to the two men standing by the door, "She's bleeding. Someone needs to clean her wounds."
One of the men released a low chuckle, as the other simply smirked, "She'll live. We can't say the same for Billy back there, eh?"
"You ask me, none of y'all should even be breathing right now," the second man added, adjusting his grip on his gun. His dark eyes raked over the four hostages, staying on Roxy for longer than she would have liked, "If it weren't for that stupid deal, y'all would be dead already."
"Good thing no one asked you."
The sentence rolled off of Roxy's tongue before she could hold it back, challenge glinting in her light eyes as she stared at the middle aged man. She could visibly see the way his nostrils flared, knuckles becoming white as he restrained from using his gun. Truth was, even if he decided to shoot her right then and there, Roxy wouldn't really mind. She had nothing to lose. The brunette didn't have a family, like Tom. As far as she knew, they were all dead and it was just a matter of time until she too stopped breathing. She almost longed for that day.
