Chapter 26
Searing pain is all I feel as I fight for consciousness. I hear voices long before I manage to open my eyes. I reach up and feel the left side of my head. A crusty lump there throbs like it has its own heartbeat.
"Treow? Treow, can you hear me? Wake up," the voice grates. Every word pricks the pain searing behind my eye.
A pill is shoved in my mouth and rough hands put a canteen to my lips, which I gulp back eagerly. I try to open my eyes, but it hurts too much. It's no use. I give up, and strong steady hands gently lower me to the floor, laying me on something soft.
Voices come in and out of my awareness. Sometime later I open my eyes. I see most of my crew sitting near the dining room table where Tane and Vera are seated. Vera carving something into the wood with her knife.
I try to lift myself from the floor and groan, catching their attention.
Farra scrambles over Leo, bending over me.
"Are you ok? Can you hear me?" She sounds panicked.
"I'm fine. My head... hurts" My eyes connect with Berkley's briefly, but I bounce past him, hitting everyone in the room purposefully.
"Ya, no shit. They knocked you out cold, Maple," she gripes, glaring.
"Cadets, clear the room, now," Tane commands, staring straight ahead. He sounds like he's in a lovely mood.
"She just woke up. Give her a minute," Berkley scolds, earning himself a glare.
"We don't have a minute." His voice is like ice. "Everyone out."
I wince as I prop myself up against the wall. Apparently, we're going straight to interrogation then. Perfect.
Everyone clears out of the room, and Vera mumbles something about feeding me, before shutting the door.
Tane grabs water and a protein bar and bends down so we're at eye-level. Without a word, he breaks apart the spongy brick, pushing pieces into my hand and motions for me to eat, and then drink. I do as I'm told, a little disoriented, because right now… He seems concerned. Gentle, even.
"Explain to me how two unarmed civilians managed to get the best of you guys, and escape." He cocks his head, eyeing me in that predatory way of his.
I gag on another bite of the bar, washing it down quickly to mask the taste.
"Ugh, these are still so gross," I complain.
Once I've swallowed, I shrug, pretending to be unbothered by his nearness.
"I was helping the old man pack, and the woman snuck up behind me and snagged my baton. Not sure what happened after that."
He nods his head, running his fingers through his hair with one hand in a way I know means he's thinking. Contemplating something.
"And how did the woman get out of her binds?"
"I undid the kid so he could go to the bathroom. Guess he was clever about helping his grandma out before he sat back down." The lie falls easily from my lips. I make sure to stare straight into his eyes and keep my tone even.
He inches forward, like he's hoping to catch the lie; hoping I'll flinch, or cower, or cave as the darkness in his irises tries to devour me. But I don't. If anything, I feel pulled into him––curious which way he's going to play this.
"What else do you remember?" His deep voice barrels over me.
I clear my throat after another bite of the chalky bar.
"Nothing. Other than this awful headache."
He scrutinizes every inch of my face. He exhales, either believing my story or relenting. He'll get no other information from me.
"Aren't we going to go after them?" I ask.
He scoffs. "You've been out for almost four hours, cadet. A couple of us tried to follow the tracks, but we couldn't risk splitting up and losing each other to follow further. Not to mention, I think the way they went, the weather picked up."
Satisfaction settles into my gut, and I try to school my features, but Tane's eyes narrow.
"There's nothing else you need to tell me, Treow?
Because if I find out you've purposely ruined an assignment and put us all at risk, there will be hell to pay," he snarls, pushing his hair back through his hands in frustration.
The jagged scar that peeks out of his hairline right where the white patch of hair is, catches my attention, but I manage to stay focused on his wrathful glare.
"There's nothing else to tell you. I wouldn't have nearly bludgeoned myself to death to help people I don't know," I say simply. It's mostly the truth.
His eyebrows raise sarcastically, while sucking a sharp breath in through his teeth. He doesn't believe me, or at least he knows I've left parts out.
Steaming, he walks to the front door, ripping it open and motioning for our crew to come back inside.
We lost a full day of travel because of my condition.
I didn't lose consciousness again, but I was in rough shape.
I started puking, and between that and my slowly healing shoulder and ribs, I was in no condition to travel.
Luckily for me, the pill that was shoved into my mouth was a healing accelerant.
It's a rare medication that they only allow in the field.
My head begins to throb despite the medication, but I suspect it has more to do with the blistering heat than anything else.
My goggles feel like a jagged rock strapped to an open wound.
Berkley tries to catch my attention as we walk, giving me an apologetic glance, and I try to convey with a smile that everything is forgiven, I don't have the energy for more.
The heat feels oppressive and I'm desperate for relief, but when the temperature takes a sudden drop, my momentary relief is swiftly exchanged with a prickling alarm. It's not just a gentle breeze––the temperature plummets.
I look back, and Tarius behind me has a frantic look on his face. Looking forward, I peek around at the others, hoping Tane has noticed and will either speed up or address the big problem we're about to have. He does neither.
Minutes pass, and the coldness hovers over us like a warning bell.
"Hey Lieutenant. Did you feel that temp drop, by chance?" I try to sound subservient. Pleasant even. In classic Tane fashion, he completely ignores me, and my temper begins to rise.
I pass the others, cutting in line to see if I can talk some sense into our obstinate leader.
"Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but I think we're about to get hit with a pretty big storm."
Tane doesn't slow his strides to compensate for my short legs, just continues to barrel through the soft rolling hills.
"I am, in fact, aware the temperature dropped Treow, thank you," he shouts loud enough that I know the others hear. I throw my hands up in defeat, backing away.
"We don't have time to turn back. Our only option is to move quickly and hope we make it to the pods," he says, with marginally less malice in his voice.
"Yes, sir," I mumble, turning back and finding my place in front of Tarius.
Farra gives me a sympathetic smile as I pass, and I try to give her a reassuring nod.
Within minutes, the dust starts to swirl and thicken, and my stomach clenches. I am in no condition to run, but we must have quite the stretch before we get to the pods, so I push my body. We all do.
I see the faint outline of the flag poles; the pods are there, and my legs start to work harder as the wind picks up.
Before we left, Tane had all but shoved a mask in my face, seeing mine had been stolen.
I'd be suffocating right now without it.
Even with the goggles and the mask on, it becomes more and more impossible to move, to see, to breathe.
"Stay close together! Stay in line!" Tane bellows, trying to fight the wind with his voice.
Leo falls, and Farra and Tane haul him forward.
It feels like my body is being beaten by the wind and dust, weight hitting me from all angles.
I turn, and Vera is helping a struggling Berkley, who was in front of me but is now somehow behind.
I see the faint silhouette of a tall figure, and turn fully.
How did Tarius get so far behind? Without hesitation, I track backwards toward him, faintly hearing my name being screamed.
Tarius is on his knees by the time I get to him, the wind seeming to ebb and flow around him, giving him a small reprieve where he's kneeling, defeated. I tug him off the ground as best I can, and push him forward. He wobbles, but we catch up to Farra and Berkley in rough, staggered steps.
Berkley snags Tarius by the scruff and I keel over for a second, trying to catch my breath. I look up ahead, the dust somehow getting even thicker. I know I'm not far from everyone, but somehow I can only see faint silhouettes.
I am being strangled by dust now. Strangled and punched and whipped. The throbbing in my head gets stronger, and I realize how disoriented I am. I push my feet forward with every last pitiful ounce of strength, praying to Ethra that I'm going the right way, and hoping he takes pity on me.
A hand latches onto my shirt, and I'm yanked in the opposite direction. Relief washes over me as I'm pulled again, and again, and then pushed downwards.
Tane, I realize, is shouting something at me. He's on his knees using his hands to dig out a buried hatch and, on instinct, I kneel beside him and do the same until our hands hit hard plastic.
With one impressive tug, he's got the hatch open and is pulling me inside after him.
I land with a thump, right on top of a hard wall of muscle. The door slams shut behind me, sealing us in.
Reality settles into me as I pull my mask down and my goggles off, coughing and reveling in my first few easy, dust-free breaths. I inch myself off of Tane, but the space is so tight and he's so unnaturally large, that I have to slide my body off his, a layer of dust falling beneath us.
He sucks in a breath through his teeth, and I hold back a snarl. My head hurts, my lungs hurt, and I have no patience for his moodiness.
But then I remember everyone else, and my body lurches. I move towards the handle and accidentally whack Tane in the process.
"Would you stop?" he grunts.