The Tribe

Chapter Sixteen

"Hold it, hold everything." Bray spluttered chasing after a blood thirsty Lex, with me hot on his heels. "You don't understand."

"Oh yeah I understand." Lex said, sizing Bray up. "It was him. He's the one to blame, he's the one who brought him in."

"Bray?" Amber looked at the back of Bray's head, and he could barely look at her.

"That's right." Lex snickered, "your beloved Bray. It was him."

I took the deepest breath I had in me and looked at Bray who was doing his best to keep his composure. Goodbye freedom, goodbye country, goodbye living the remainder of my days alone and free.

"It wasn't him." I announced, shouldering past Lex. "It was me. I brought Zoot in here."

"Maia? Why?" Selene the poor girl looked genuinely shocked. So gullible, so innocent.

"She's lying, I saw them all!" Lex shouted. "Maia, Trudy and little lover boy here."

"You did see us. But they had nothing to do with this. They were just stopping me from giving Trudy's kid to Zoot."

A mass amount of gasps spread throughout the group. But I held my ground. I saw Bray's jaw tighten, still avoiding my eyes. "It's true!" Trudy said from afar. "It's true."

"But before you all go kumbaya on my ass, should I tell them why?" I turned to Bray who snapped his head up.

"Why should we listen? So you lot can feed us more of your lies?" Lex hissed. "Jack, Dal, Ryan, grab em."

Ryan took hold of Bray's arms, pinning them to his back so he couldn't get away. I had Jack hold one arm and Dal the other. I let them think they had me tightly in their grip. But I could see that Lex already thought he won, and he forgot who beat his hind the first day we all got here.

"Maybe we can smoke the other one out, Zoot has some soft spot for his tribe yeah?" Lex used his nunchucks against bray, using his force to injure his stomach. I heard Bray grunt, saw him hunch over, and a new found surge of panic flew through me.

"Jesus, Lex stop!" I shouted.

"Traitor!" Lex shouted, giving Bray another blow to his stomach. With one tug, my arms were free of the grip the boys had me in.

Lex withdrew his nunchucks to go in for another blow, but I was there first. An arm on his arm using all my strength to stop him from gutting Bray. "Out of my way Maia and wait in line, you're next."

"Zoot didn't come to hurt anyone." I gasped through clenched teeth . "He just wanted his daughter."

"Wait, his what?" Amber gasped.

"Liar!" Lex shouted. With a move I can't believe I didn't see coming, he had me on the ground. All of his strength on top of me.

"You gonna hit a woman Lex?" I muttered. Wrestling with his arms as he struggled to strike me.

"Normally no, but I've been waiting a long time for this."  Lex flung his head back, and pounded his forehead into mine. My arms flew straight to my head, the pain too great to ignore. That gave him the opening he needed. He struck my face with his fist. As he tiredly got up to his feet, he let out a blow to my stomach.

"Lex!" I heard Bray yell.

"You're nothing!" Lex spat.

"Leave them alone!" A booming and familiar voice came from the distance. "If you wanna fight, fight me!"

My ribs hurt, every breath felt like another kick to the gut. My head spun, nothing seemed right. I couldn't believe I defended Bray. It wasn't the whole truth, but surely he wasn't expecting that! I still had to get outta here alive.

I opened my eyes enough to see Lex approach Zoot, and I managed to stay conscious enough to see Lex obliterate Zoot.

I got to my feet, still hunched over in absolute agony. Zoot had backed up a bit, legs apart in stance for a charge, but Lex was ready.
Zoot charged Lex with a battle cry so loud it could rattle the dead. All it took from Lex was a side step, his foot and his nunchucks to hurl Zoot over the railing.

"No!" I heard Bray shout

But I was already there. Every muscle, ache and pain in my beat up body protested against it, but I got there. I reached out my hand, and curled my fist around an inch of fabric. Zoot's weight hurled me forward and I smashed against the railings. Another promising bruise I'll end up having.

"I can't hold him!" I stammered. The weight of his body was enough to lift my feet from the ground. There was a very strong possibility that I'd be following him over this railing.

But Bray was already making his way for me, an arm over his stomach. I could see the pain all over his face. He wasn't gonna make it. I looked over at the next 'best' person.

"Lex!" I shouted. "Help me!"

There was a sort of grimace in his face. A conflict. Was he going to help me? Was he going to let me drop —
There wasn't enough time to think on it. Zoot's weight was too much for me to pull him up on my own and with one arm wrapped around my stomach, the other keeping Zoot from falling to his death and the railings the only thing keeping me from going with him I was struggling. And my time was up.

I let out a loud gasp, as my body hurled over the railing. My grip still on Zoots shirt fabric. I closed my eyes and prayed for little pain, but instead I felt a strong pair of hands on my ankle.
Angling my head, I saw a set of angry brown eyes and a head of black hair. Lex.

I couldn't believe that dumbass had actually saved my life. And not just mine, but Zoot's too. A small smile tugged at my lips, as I realised that, that dysfunctional human being had a heart and a conscience. And despite the fact that this now meant that she owed him one, she was uncomfortably grateful for if.

That gratefulness was quickly flushed away when a sound you never want to hear when you're head first and two stories up is the sound of stitching breaking apart.

"Zoot!" I yelled down, "you need to reach up and grab my hand, your shirt won't hold!"

I could feel Lex trying to pull us up, and under circumstances that didn't involve us dying, I'd make it annoyingly hard for him. But I could feel Zoot's shirt ripping more, it was seconds away from tearing completely.

"Do it now, Martin!" I shouted again.

He reached up his hand, just as the shirt tore free. I stretched out my hand, and I could see the genuine fear in his eyes. But he wasn't looking at me, he was looking past me, at something on the balcony.
I felt his finger tips brush mine, but even as I grasped I got nothing but air.

"No!" I screamed, as I watched the leader and ruler I followed for months plummet to the ground. And then I watched him hit the floor. Bones crunching and neck twisting in a way that can't be described.

Still dangling from the air, I felt nausea ripple through me.
He was dead. Zoot was dead.