The Condemned (17 page)

   Leci frowned. That had been the plan, up until the night before when he had told her things that it seemed so hard to forgive him for. Maybe it would just be easier if she got
herself straight back on track, got on with the only thing that really mattered, forget about these guys, she didn’t need ‘em.

   ‘I got somethin’ I need to sort out, somethin’ I’ve been working on a long time. I reckon I might just go my own way, get on with shit, y’know?.’ She shrugged.

   It was hurtful to know she was the one solely shouldering the blame from Beriael, but it struck her as childish to expect Amato to come clean to the other man about his role. What good would it do? It would cause distrust and friction between the two men, would drive a wedge that just didn’t need driving right now. They needed to be working together as a group.

She knew this and acknowledged it but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The anarchical teenager inside her cried out against the unjustness of having to carry the burden alone, but the woman blossoming within humbly accepted it as her cross to bear.

   On the other hand, it seemed wise to think that sticking around for a while would also be beneficial. She had more chance of staying free if she was with Amato and she had time to rest, recuperate, get strong enough to deal with her issues and then go looking for a fight, when she was ready, not before.

   Alecia chose the path of maturity and quietened her
rebellious side. Her inner turmoil eased slightly, she managed a smile for Morgan.

‘But I don’t think I could manage alone. You guys are my family now.’

   The other woman returned the smile warmly, clearly sensing that something inside Leci had changed, something had been resolved, and the girl was a little more settled than she had been.

   The moment felt strange, as though they were on the verge of something important. Leci was suddenly acutely aware that at some point in the future they could be relying on one another for their lives, it was paramount that she give her trust and her faith entirely to the other woman, and that she receive the same in return.

   Neither one of them spoke, they just stared at each other until the grating of the heavy metal covering that fell into place over the opening of the shelter startled them into action.

   Bitsy looked up at the entryway and crouched quickly, reaching under the bed and pulling out a decent sized rock that she must’ve hidden there earlier. As weapons went it wasn’t fantastic but at least she was trying. She glanced towards Alecia who was focused entirely on the hatch, waiting to see who was coming through it and if they needed burning or not. She felt a dread in the pit of her stomach and her gut
told her that the Officials had found them, had come for them.

   Maybe the men had been spotted in town, captured and tortured and forced to say where the women were hiding. Maybe they had been followed back, killed outside and their bodies lay only feet away as the bad guys closed in on the girls trapped like frightened animals inside what suddenly felt to Leci to be nothing more than a giant coffin.

Maybe the shelter hadn’t been so empty after all and now its inhabitants were returning, they’d be angry at the intrusion, thirsty for blood, maybe-

  
Stop it!

   Was it harder to breathe all of a sudden?

   Were the walls closing in around her?

   It felt smaller in here than it had been, the air was thin and stale.

   Leci knew she was close to panicking and that she needed to be alert but couldn’t seem to dispel the worry that was rising inside of her.

Chapter 14

Maybe it had all been a trap after all, maybe Amato had gone to fetch the other Officials, maybe-

 
Beriael ducked into view, Amato close behind him and Alecia sighed with relief, feeling her coiled muscles relaxing, the tension easing from her body. She hadn’t realised she’d
become
so wound up just anticipating having to face the men who wanted her back in their possession.

Bitsy and Beriael were sharing a warm hug, Leci looked at Amato and caught him watching her. His expression gave away nothing, he was waiting to see what kind of reaction he would get from her.

Alecia smiled at him and before she knew it he had crossed the small room in two swift strides, taken her in his arms, one hand pressed against the small of her back, pushing her against him. She felt fingers in her hair and then he grabbed a handful, tugging her head back gently but firmly. She looked up at him and then closed her eyes as he lowered his lips to hers.

 
Leci pulled away from
the kiss but stayed in his arms. S
he lay her cheek against the soft leather of his jacket and breathed in the scent of it; musky and strong, it stirred
distant memories and she associated it with noisy bars and people laughing; things she wouldn’t get to experience again but somehow that didn’t seem so important or like too much of a loss.

  
‘I missed you. I was worried.’ She raised her head and looked up at him, he was smiling down at her, his expression was somewhere between pleased and amused.

  
‘Brought you something.’ He grinned and let go of her, shrugging a linen backpack from his shoulder
,
he reached in and took out a pair of dirty running shoes with frayed laces, their colour indistinguishable. Leci took the shoes and purposely avoided lifting them anywhere near her nose. She sat on the bunk and slipped her feet into them, wiggling her toes. They were a little big but they weren’t going to fall off. She tightened the
fraying
laces and checked the soles, they were intact.

  
‘No holes, awesome, who’d you have to kill for these?’ She joked.

 
Amato laughed and handed a similar pair to Morgan who squealed with delight and quickly put them on.

 
Beriael carried a pair of old baseball caps and he handed them to the girls.

  
‘Wow, you two thought of just about everything, you didn’t get seen?’ Bits asked as she tugged one onto her head, pulling the bill down low to shield her face as much as possible.

 
Leci tucked hers into the back pocket of her jeans but Amato shook his head, plucked it out and put it on her, tugging it down too far, covering her eyes and forcing her to readjust it so that she could see.

  
‘We didn’t. It’s still early, not too many people about, we even managed to grab a couple of horses so that should make travelling easier. We should think about getting out of here. I don’t like the idea of spending too long in one place and as soon as people notice stuff is missing it’ll find its way to the wrong ears and we’ll have Officials crawling over the area
in no time
.’

 
It made good sense and Amato received argument from nobody. Bitsy packed up their remaining food into the linen satchel and the four of them headed outside to where the two horses were tethered and waiting.

Morgan climbed into the saddle behind Beriael and Amato reached down for Leci’s hand, pulling her up to sit with him. She slid her hands up under the jacket and around his waist, holding tightly as he kicked the horse into motion and the four of them rode out, leaving behind the shelter for the next set of renegades seeking a place to stay for the night.

Chapter 15

The guard carried a sheaf of paper under his arm, protectively glancing about the deserted corridor as he approached the door at the end. He paused, gathering courage before raising his fist and knocking.

 
When a voice answered the knock he entered the room, holding the file out in front of him like some talisman
, warding off the attack that had to be coming; the Governor was pissed, really pissed
.

 
The stark white walls and the shiny, pristine surface of the marbled floor bounced the light around the small area. It hurt to look anywhere other than the far wall which was composed entirely of a thick layer of glass and looked down over a room filled with medical type equipment.

The man stood with his back to the door, looking out of the huge window and down into the area below. The examination room was empty and the man
who
stood at the observation deck was staring at nothing.

 
The guard with the file waited patiently until his presence was acknowledged. The man in the suit turned and looked at him, the guard almost took a step back but managed to stay where he was, felt his balls shrivel up and try to escape
inside him under the scrutiny of such a powerful individual.

  
‘Are those the reports?’

  
‘Yes Sir, the Official ones anyway.’

  
‘And the unofficial documentation?’

  
‘I’ll have them burned, Sir.’

 
The man in the suit shook his head.

  
‘No, bring that to me aswell, and any copies. I want to see it and then I want to destroy it myself. I can’t trust you incompetent fuckwits to wipe your own arses let alone get rid of something that could damn us all.’ The man scowled and the guard felt his insides turn to ice, wished for the millionth time that he hadn’t drawn the short straw and been selected to deliver the paperwork.

  
‘You should be fucking thanking whatever God it is you pray to that we took the casualties we did, otherwise I’d have your sorry ass Cloned and tortured. I can’t spare the men for my own fun right now though. Consider yourself lucky.’

 
He turned back to the windowed wall and the guard hesitated a moment, not sure if he had been dismissed or not.

  
‘GO! GET THE FUCK OUT BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!’

He ran.

 
The Governor sighed to himself as the door slammed shut behind the idiot. This whole situation was a mess, a complete nightmare and since he was the one taking the flack from higher up it only seemed fair that he got to wreak a little
misery on his own minions into the bargain.

 
The loss of the Fire Mutant was inexcusable, if the moron who had facilitated her escape hadn’t been dead already, the Governor would’ve delighted in ordering and overseeing a slow torture followed by an agonising death. It made the whole thing harder to swallow that he wasn’t even going to be allowed the enjoyment of that.

 
As if he didn’t have enough work to do as it was, now he had to go through all the shitty paperwork aswell, make sure that the cover-up was in order. Officially, no one could ever know she was out there, free among the general public. They would have to say she had died in here and when she was found and brought back she would be readmitted under a new identification.

 
As far as he was concerned, the escape had never happened. He sighed again and started to read the papers from the file.

#

Official Statement of Events Regarding the Death of a Prisoner

Report Number: 00311

Prisoner ID: PYRO009

Prisoner Type: Mutation

Prisoner Gender: Female

Prisoner Height: 5’2”

Prisoner Weight: 97 lb’s

Prisoner Hair Colour: Blonde

Prisoner Eye Colour: Blue

Date of Death: August 13
th
, 2154

Cause of Death: Asphyxiation

At approximately 07:00am on the morning of the 13
th
, the inmate, ID PYRO009, a Mutant held in the flameproof section of the prison was delivered her daily feed.

 
At 09:00am of the same morning guards entered the cell in order to remove the prisoner and have her taken to examination room 03 for further testing.

 
At this time the inmate was discovered in an unresponsive state on the floor of the cell.

 
Guards attempted to resuscitate but at 09:23am the inmate was declared dead.

 
An autopsy of the body revealed the cause of death to be asphyxiation. The inmate had choked to death on her food.

 
The remains were incinerated.

 
The Clone who had been held in the wing for testing was returned to the Enclosure, where he subsequently perished as a result of a later, unconnected security breach.

The third prisoner held in the wing had been awaiting Cloneification and testing. The Cloning procedure was carried out and this man was also returned to the Enclosure, where he also perished at a later date.