Chapter 29 - End of Darkness #2
“July, what are you doing? Go!” Tabitha pushes me so hard I stumble. But eventually, my feet start moving when a bullet whistles past inches from us, burning a straight red line in the air.
It travels so fast and far, I can barely hear the explosion flaying the bark of an innocent tree. But it’s enough to make me run faster than ever before. I’ve dodged enough bullets for one night; I don’t mean to chance my luck further.
Steps rush behind me, desperate to live and see another day. Tabitha is not far. I can hear her heavy breath and random cursing against whoever is shooting at us.
“Nasty offspring of a rotten mother!”
But there are other steps, following close behind. Voices ordering us to stop and yield, hissing rounds of firearms destroying a good amount of vegetation and - by the sound of it - some of the local fauna.
The lights in front of us are the only thing I want to focus on. And the oddly shaped silhouette of Jyn, who looks like a creature with two heads and a double pair of limbs.
“You’re flagging again…” Tabitha pants next to me.
“I’m running…” I sound like I’m about to throw up one of my lungs.
“Your thoughts are holding you back. Tell your brain to stop!” Tabitha doesn’t wait for my answer and sprints in front of me.
She’s right. Thinking about what could happen if they get to us and take us prisoners, or worse, won’t help any of us. Besides, I’m the one who’s now furthest behind and in danger.
“Fuck this!” I echo Tabitha. Her sturdy shape quickly melts into the dark wall of trees and undefined shadows. I don’t know what I’m running away from, and I have no clue where I am heading, so I command my feet to lift from the ground as if on fire.
“Keep shooting…”
“They’re not far!”
“Come on, you pathetic, useless beings. Take them down…”
The voices around me are angry and coming from every direction. The forest shakes, screams, and complains under the rain of bullets. I want to cry with it and call for Tabitha, Galen…
The ground under my feet turns from soft and unstable to hard and paved. My first step on solid, flat stones is heavy and aggressive. My right ankle twists slightly, but I save it with an awkward hop before landing on my knees and hands.
“This is a path,” I whisper, touching the trail of irregular stones.
I’m not sure how and when I made it out of the forest. But mostly, I’m scared to lift my head and look up at the person standing so close to me that I can smell the leather of their black combat boots and—sugar and lemon?
“Tabs? Are you sure this is her? She looks like a baby bird that’s fallen from its nest.” A young voice asks as the boots move a step towards me. She has an inflexion I can’t pinpoint but shares Tabitha’s imperative yet friendly tone.
A new shower of bullets rains down in the distance, and I scramble up, turning my back to the stranger, staring at the forest we’ve just left behind.
“Leave her be. She’s gone through a lot in the last few hours,” Tabitha’s familiar voice replies. Her tone is comforting before she shouts, “Walls up, Mack, now! We’re all in the clear—but you’re in trouble, boy.” Her stomping steps grow upset and worried as she walks away from me.
“Well, baby crow...” A hand lands on my shoulder and spins me around.
She’s probably my age but so much taller; the first thing I see is her chest wrapped in bullet belts and a couple of grenades attached to her waist. The young woman gives me a smirk, winks and jerks a thumb over her shoulder.
“You’re still on your feet and looking better than poor Galen over there.
A friend of Tabs’ who doesn’t need me to carry her like a damsel in distress is a friend of mine.
Let’s go; we can save the introductions for later. ”
I blink, stand on my toes and tilt my head to one side to see what she’s pointing at.
My nerves untangle. “We all made it,” I sigh when Galen waves at me from the other side of a square that looks like a landing spot.
He’s leaning heavily on Jyn’s left arm, but is finally standing on his own feet, while in the background, Tabitha is waving her hands in the air and pointing at the forest behind, seemingly arguing with another person whose face is concealed by a black helmet.
I grab the girl’s hands and squeeze them with no shame. “He’s alive…I can still kick his butt without feeling guilty.” I throw another glance behind her, ignoring her increasingly puzzled look.
Midway between us and the rest of the party, the skeleton of what once must have been a majestic gate rests on the ground. Its partially melted rusty bars still show a ghost of their original gold coating.
I circle the girl for a better look at the place. “This is familiar…”
I hear the stranger huffing behind me, “All right, Miss Obvious, if you’re done describing every damn thing around you, I’d like to rejoin the others and leave.”
Even though I don’t object, she nudges me forward. She not only speaks like Tabitha, but she also acts like her.
Yet, I can’t stop thinking I know this place. Something is missing.
“Was there a fountain there?” I ask no one in particular, pointing to a hole in the ground, when I finally reach Tabitha and the others.
But everyone seems too busy securing Galen’s head and limbs with some sort of padded equipment to ignore my comment. When they’re done with him, the girl and the stranger with the helmet switch their attention to me.
“What is all this?” I ask, looking from the person in black to Galen and back. He seems at ease, even if still unstable. Jyn must have gotten here quickly because someone had the time to slap a massive square patch on Galen’s wound.
He smiles, nodding at the hole. “That’s for the descent.”
Whatever that is, it’s better than running away from bullets and voices demanding our death.
I glare at him, pursing my lips. “I take it you know these people, too?” I point at the young woman and the faceless stranger.
He shrugs, mouthing a sorry, which I decide to ignore.
Next to Galen, Tabitha is not taking her eyes off the eerie space behind me as she nervously beckons the woman closer. There’s a line between her brows as she stares at a square box in her hands, producing a low beep and flashing lights.
“Merya, can you see them? Are they still outside the perimeter? I can’t hear anything…” Tabitha scans the area as if waiting for an army of wild animals to emerge from the forest and devour us.
With all the thoughts swarming in my head, I've had no time to analyse each aspect of our escape. But I finally understand the worry behind Tabitha’s pressing questions. No bullets in the air, no voices in the distance. Whoever was after us has gone.
“They must have rushed to their transports when they sensed the barriers were going up. They lost a good number the last time they tried to break in. But I wouldn’t spend longer on the surface.” Merya rushes her words, patting Tabitha on the shoulder.
Tabitha nods, pinching her lips. “Airships?”
“Most likely. They must have sent a small group on foot after us to test their luck and take us down on the spot to make it quick.” Merya replies calmly as if talking about the weather.
Her profile is such a mixture of features I can’t exactly give her an age.
Her big eyes scout the sky like a kid in awe despite her straight nose and confident stance.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Tabitha mumbles, picking at the dry skin of her lips. “Why are they letting us go so easily? The barriers can kill them, but they don’t stay up very long. Even they know that.”
“Perhaps they didn’t know exactly who they were after. Maybe they thought you were just some random rebels who ended up on the wrong side of the forest,” Merya shrugs.
Tabs nods, “Yeah, perhaps you’re right, but they never act erratically. If they wanted to inflict real damage, they could have. Those were scouts, and they never go back empty-handed.”
Merya chews on her cheek as if testing the implication of that statement and slices her eyes from the sky to Tabitha. After a quick exchange of knowing looks, the two nod at each other.
Tabitha rushes to Galen and Jyn, imparting orders in such a low voice that I can’t understand her words. She points at the forest, while Merya takes my hand and drags me to the hole’s entrance.
“Mack, pass me that helmet. Quickly!” Merya orders the stranger, who is wearing all-black, and who has been witnessing the scene without interfering.
Mack—the octopus?
“She’s got a big head. Will this fit?” The stranger’s muffled voice asks as he saunters towards us, tilting his head to study me before taking off his helmet.
He’s probably younger than me, but he has several scars on his face and neck—ones he shouldn’t have had the time to collect at such a young age.
“Excuse me?” I snap, taken aback.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful head.”
“Mack—what happened to counting down from ten before we voice what’s on our minds?” Merya steps between us, stretching a gloved hand to Mack and flexing her fingers.
He looks at me in response, scrunching his lips to one side. “Right, she doesn’t know.” He bends over slightly, making eye contact with me and tapping a finger on his temple. “Octopus brains—sometimes one or two escape my control,” he whispers.
Before I can even think how to respond, he straightens his spine, chuckles, and tosses a helmet to Merya.
Despite bearing the evidence of too many battles, it feels sturdy and strong when Merya smacks it on my head, tapping its top twice for good measure. “That’ll do.” She winks at me before moving her attention back to Tabitha, who’s gone to Jyn’s aid, helping him lower Galen down into the hole.
The diameter of the opening is so large we could all fit in at once, but Tabitha directs the operation with such confidence that I can only stand by and wait for my turn—to go where? Not sure. At this point, I don’t really care.