Vicious Memories

Chapter 100

A short figure brushed past me before I could shout a warning.

"Where 'ave you been?" Mads' voice was loud, bordering on hysterical. "We needed you. People are hurt."

Bev didn't answer directly. Instead she looked over her shoulder at the armed men behind her, then directly at me. Make sure she doesn't come any closer.

"Mads," I said. "Wait a second."

The rest of the village began to jostle forward. Gabriel and Arun appeared on either side of me, moving past my spot quickly.

"Why are you here, Beverly?" Gabriel asked. "Who are these men?"

Their answer was swift.

Gabriel and Arun had crossed the invisible line in the sand that constituted a threat, and they swept unstoppably forward. Several people screamed as their automatic weapons came up and started swiveling back and forth, the flashlights attached to their barrels suddenly blinding us all in searing white light.

Arun shouted a challenge and brought his spear to bear, while Gabriel drew a knife from a sheath at his waist. Two men moved to encircle each of them, and while I fully expected them to hold their own for at least a little while, I couldn't have expected the armed men to lower their weapons and pull out a pair of tasers.

Gabriel dropped first, spasming on the wet ground. Arun went down to one knee, fighting against the blue current of electricity pummeling him. Eventually he, too, fell.

"No!" Finn and Cooper shouted simultaneously.

The rest of the villagers surged forward, only to be brought up short by the returning stare of gun barrels. Now it was their turn to be disarmed of our weapons.

We had lost. It had taken less than a minute.

The visceral panic in me faded under a confusing, more satisfied emotion as the armed men unceremoniously tossed Arun and Gabriel back to the rest of us. Several people bent down to help our wounded friends. They groaned and tried to re-learn how to move their limbs. I felt relief knowing that they would be okay, even if I wasn't the one helping them back to a seated position.

Instead, as half the guards gathered the dropped knives and spears of the other villagers, I reached around to pull the pistol from my waistband, recognizing that this was the moment Bev had told me to expect.

A hand flashed out and grabbed my wrist, fingers wiry and strong.

"Not yet," Neema hissed. "It'll be better to use when they're off guard."

I nearly ripped my hand free and proceeded anyway - what would happen if I didn't? - but my opportunity had passed. We were all forced at gunpoint into a small group to one side of the Strangers, our arms held up, scared and confused.

"After all that," Finn mumbled, "we're going to die anyway."

My shoulder bumped into a familiar silhouette. Alice smiled up at me, the message in her eyes bittersweet. They still hadn't lost the sense of command that had finally blossomed in them when she'd talked Arun and the rest of the villagers out of murdering the Strangers. At least, when we had nothing else left, it was her I got to stand next to.

"Well," Bev said, letting out a dramatic breath of air. "Wow. That was exciting, wasn't it? I'm glad we all got that out of our systems." Her smile turned to a leer. My gut twisted and a few people took involuntary steps back. "I'm here to congratulate you! You passed the final trial."

She bounced on the balls of her feet as if it was Christmas morning and she'd just handed us the world's largest present. Her condescending expression was grating. The muscles of my jaw flexed just watching it perch on her face like a pampered cat.