Sanctuary. That was what the quarantine dome was supposed to be, a place of refuge from the N-Gel and the deadly Neoplague they unleashed on the world.
But we aren't safe here.
Senna is uprooted from her rural life in the outer dome when her mother...
Dani brought up the rear of the fleeing herd of children, half bent over them with her arms out to keep them from straying from the group. Mrs. Davenport was leading the way in the front, wheeling Bekka as quickly as she could. There was a sharp turn that took them into a rarely used hall that was thin, dark, and terrifyingly ominous. It opened up at the end to a circle of a room with a ladder that would be their way out, but that didn't make it any less unnerving. Dani was funneling the kids down the hall after the 'all clear' from Mrs. Davenport when someone called her name.
She startled, turning to the familiar voice only to see Nigel racing after them with a gun in hand.
"Where's Maggie!?" he demanded and Dani pointed down the hall. Nigel grabbed her hand as he passed her without so much as slowing, dragging her with him down the hall. Mrs. Davenport was at the top of the ladder, making sure the way out was clear. Dani counted the kids as Nigel released her hand and ran to embrace his sister. Everyone was there. Mrs. Davenport announced that the way was clear. Dani watched the hall to make sure no one else came down while Bekka looped her arms around Nigel's neck so he could lift her from her wheelchair and carry her up the ladder.
One by one the kids vanished out the door and into safety, until only Nigel and Dani were left at the bottom of the ladder. Dani gestured for him to go ahead, her panicked eyes turning back to the hall for the briefest of moments. She thought she heard something, but that was all the more reason to leave as quickly as possible.
She followed him up the ladder, but only made it halfway before one of the officers burst from the hall and into the circular room. He spotted them quickly, his eyes brightening as though he hit a jackpot. He leapt up several rungs of the ladder easily, pulling himself up the rows of metal bars with an unmatched speed. His hand swung up and wrapped around the rope-like braid of Dani's hair, yanking it hard with the clear intention of pulling her from the ladder. She grit her teeth against the pain as he pulled at her scalp, looping her left arm around the edge of the ladder to make it harder for him to dislodge her. She scrambled at her pocket with her now free right hand, producing a small pocket knife she carried for protection. It may have been paranoia that pushed her to carry the weapon, afraid that someone would hit her like her ex had, but that paranoia was paying off.
"Go!" she shouted at Nigel, the word like fire in her throat. It came out hoarse and ragged, the sound unfamiliar to her. He hesitated. Dani didn't.
Dani cut her long braid off in one swipe of her knife. Her burgundy hair bursted into freedom, bouncing into jagged waves around her face and brushing against the back of her neck. She moved back up the ladder, but the man grabbed her ankle and pulled even harder. Nigel was up at the top of the ladder, then he was gone. The kids were gone, the door shut behind them.
Nigel would make sure they were safe.
That was all she wanted.
Dani let go of the ladder and let herself fall, taking the man behind her to the ground with her.
Dani hit the cement roughly and didn't roll back to standing like the trained officer did. The landing knocked the wind out of her, leaving her choking on nothing in a desperate attempt to find air. She gasped in shallow painful breaths as the man drew his nightstick. There was a sadistic grin on his face as he prepared the first swing.
Dani's right arm went up out of reflex to protect her head and face, which it managed. However, there was nothing to protect her arm and the weapon hit her hard near her elbow. There was a loud cracking sound and a surge of white hot pain that caused Dani's lungs to finally find air, but only to scream. The man laughed at the sound and brought the blunt weapon down again and again in quick powerful hits. Dani's arm couldn't block the attacks anymore and one hit crashed down as she brought her left arm up, shaking, with the knife clutched tightly in her fist. The knife dug into her attacker's arm when he brought down the blow. Dani used the force of it against him, burying the knife up to the hilt into the flesh of his arm. He cursed and staggered back without landing the full blow, the baton only glancing her forehead and eye as she turned her head out of the way. He tore the knife back out of his arm with a gush of blood. Dani didn't register the hot blood that spilled over her hand and onto her chest. Her breathing was too ragged, the pain too agonizing. She rolled to face the man's legs, because it was the only movement she could manage. Even that shot a fresh new wave of stabbing pain through her arm, but she had to do something. If she didn't do anything, she'd die. He'd beat her head in and laugh while he did it.
He didn't laugh when Dani dug the knife into his leg. He simply cursed again, calling her names she didn't hear. He kicked her and she dropped the knife, leaving it in his leg as his blow knocked her onto her back again. The man lifted his arm to deliver another hit, ignoring the knife in his leg.
A blur of white hair flashed across Dani's vision, swinging from the ladder and colliding hard with the officer's head. They both went down, the fight rolling out of her sight. There was an echoing bang, but she couldn't find the strength to lift her head and investigate. She hurt. She hurt so badly.
It hadn't hurt so bad, the last time she faced death. It had hurt her more mentally and emotionally, but physically it had been a walk in the park in comparison. Her chest was heaving, her head was spinning. She couldn't tell if she was crying or not. She couldn't tell anything anymore. She wanted the pain to stop. She should close her eyes, go to sleep, and wait for the pain to stop.
"Dani!" Nigel called out, bringing her back up to the surface. He was kneeling over her, covered in blood. Was he hurt?
"No, I'm fine. I'm fine," he responded, even though she hadn't said anything. Had she said anything? Maybe she had. It didn't feel like she had. "We need to get you out of here, come on." He took off his jacket and used it to tie a sling for her arm, but it hurt when he touched it and she cried out again.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But we have to get you out of here, okay? I can't carry you up the ladder in my arms, you're going to have to grab onto my back with your good arm and your legs, okay?"
Pervert.
Nigel gave a light laugh. "Sense of humor. Good, that's good. You're going to be alright. I'm going to sit you up now, okay?"
She nodded, but there was a stabbing pain in her head. She was tired. She wanted to sleep. He sat her up with an arm around her back and she cried out again when her arms shifted down into the sling. She knew she cried that time. She could feel her eyes burning.
"I know. I know. I'm sorry." He tried to be gentle with her, helping her up onto his back, but her injured arm kept ending up between her chest and his back and she couldn't help but whimper and cry. He took the ladder carefully, since Dani's grip wasn't steady. She kept getting tired and almost slipping off before realizing she still needed to hold tight to him. Her head was pounding so bad that for a moment she felt like she'd throw up. But then they were out on the ground floor and he was sliding her down off of his back.
Dani couldn't sit up any longer and so she let herself fall to her back on the ground, staring up at the rounded buildings rising up around her.
She wasn't so much aware of leaving the ground as she was of Nigel's arms around her. They were moving hurriedly and the rocking was making her sick. She wanted to sleep.
"Dani. Dani!" Her eyes opened heavily. "You have to stay awake, okay?"
She couldn't stay awake, though. She was too tired.
"Dani!"
Her lips moved, but the words didn't come out. She couldn't even remember what she had been trying to say.
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(Author's Note: I hope all of my American readers had a happy and safe Thanksgiving within their quarantine domes! Remember to keep wearing your masks like you're an Upper Class resident of Central!)
