Vicious Memories

Chapter 95

The gun was gone, and we were in trouble.

It had been our biggest edge, our entire backup plan, the one that would get us out of trouble and save our lives if none of our carefully laid plans ended up working. Like a switchblade up a sleeve during a fistfight, it was our unfair advantage.

Bev had taken it from Alice, and in doing so had taken it from all of us.

As soon as Cooper closed his mouth everything started moving.

"Hold as long as you have the advantage," Arun said. "As soon as you lose it, fall back through the passageways like we planned."

Alice grabbed Gabriel and Arun, one arm around each, in a quick double hug. It was the first time I'd seen her initiate that kind of physical contact with anyone other than me. When she pulled back her eyes were wide and anxious.

"We'll go to Mohammed's gate," I said. "See you soon."

"Make sure you get to the west exit as soon as things start to turn bad," Gabriel said. "If we lose the main entrances before you leave, you'll be stuck."

"We'll be there," I promised.

The first scream scythed through the air as we left the relative cover of the overhang. My hands clenched into fists as I tried to block the sound from my mind. Alice pulled ahead, careful not to slip on the wet stones beneath our feet. Water continued falling from a nearly black sky.

"You stay with Lynn and Mohammed," Alice said, gesturing down one path. "I'll get Gerald and Antonio from the northeast entrance." She disappeared into the swiftly darkening corridor before I could respond.

I arrived at a barricaded entrance that was only four feet wide. We'd stuffed it with splintered wood, chairs, salvaged steel girders, and a dozen other pieces of junk. Two intact chairs sat just inside the blockade, allowing the guards to see over the top and defend the position with long spears. A pile of the weapons rested sadly against the walls nearby.

"Any movement?"

The figures before me whipped around in alarm. Lynn nearly fell off her chair.

"My god, Ollie." Mohammed exhaled. "I almost had a heart attack."

"Sorry. Arun sent me. Have you seen anything?"

"Three people have been flashing back and forth by the mouth of the entrance for a couple minutes. Probably checking how many of us are behind here."

"We need to hold them. Then we'll meet up with the others. We don't have the gun, so we're consolidating by the west gate where we can hold them off together. It's a straight shot to the other side of the caves and the cliffs, too, if we have to go."

I gave them the timing of the retreats and the route we were supposed to take. A tense pause spread between the three of us after I was done, a somber and heavy feeling of anticipation. My lungs expanded and contracted slowly. The last two hours had convinced me that rain was an entirely normal part of life, and I barely noticed the fact that I was completely soaked. The only thing I felt was tired, a sensation that my skin had turned to stone.

We waited for what seemed like an eternity. The sounds of my ragged breathing, the patter of marching rain clacking on the path, the rumbling thunder that accompanied every flash of lightning, the distant screams that surfed the currents in the wind... it all melded together, it all seemed so very distant to me. At our own gate there was nothing but desperate silence.

When Alice returned and I slumped with relief. Then I noticed the bleeding gash on her thigh - the knife and spear held in either hand.

"Four Strangers made it over," she said numbly. "Gerald and Antonio are dead."