The Rouges

t h i r t y t h r e e

THE RINGING IN my ears told me I was still alive, but my eyes struggled to open. The ground beneath me was shaking, the strange vibrations causing my arm to ache. I could hear voices talking quietly, someone saying my name.

"I think she's waking up."

"Great." Someone muttered not sounding altogether enthused.

"Lyra, can you hear me?"

I moaned in response. "What the hell happened?"

My jaw hurt.

There was a low laugh. "That a girl."

Lips brushed my forehead. The ground beneath me stopped shaking, but as my senses returned I realized my head wasn't resting on the ground. It was being cradled in a small lap. Two little hands were running methodically through my hair, trying to soothe me. When I finally got my eyes to open, Mouse was staring down at me. Tears stained her flushed cheeks. I reached up with my good hand to wipe them away.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm just fine." She nodded, more tears welling in her eyes.

With Triven's help I sat up, wincing as my arm moved.

"Where are we?" I glanced around at the tunnel we were crouched in. There was a walkway about the size of a city sidewalk and maybe fifteen pipes of various colors that ran along next to it. There were dim oval-shaped lights that flanked the wall. Unlike our green-hued ones, these set off a warm amber color. Maddox and the blonde sat twenty feet down from us, speaking in hushed tones.

"We're under the city." As if on cue, something rumbled past on the streets above us. We all jumped looking towards the curved ceilings. "We are going to have to hole up here for a little while. The sun will be coming up soon and the streets will be teeming with soldiers."

Triven ran his hand through his hair. I understood what he wasn't saying aloud. We were trapped in a city with no way out and we were being hunted. The only people who knew how to help us were most likely dead and our lives were being held in the hands of a scared little girl. In other words the reaper was already stalking us in the shadows, he was just waiting for our hearts to officially stop beating.

"Did you stop the bleeding?" I glanced down at my arm, trying not to think about our impending deaths.

"I was able to staunch it, but I'm afraid if your heart rate rises again the patch won't hold."

"Doc put a kit in my bag, there's got to be something in there." Mouse jumped up, scampering to find my bag. I touched my chin, my hand coming back slick. "How far did I fall down the shaft?"

I vaguely remembered those few moments before I had blacked out.

"Maddox and I caught you before you fell, but you managed to hit your chin pretty hard before that. You split it pretty badly."

As my vision continued to clear, I looked harder at Triven. There was blood smeared on his cheek and his hands were tinged red. I was sure there was blood coating his clothing as well, but the black fabric hid any trace of it. He looked tired, his bright eyes dimmer than usual. Mouse returned with my bag and I reluctantly looked away from his face. After rifling through its contents, Triven came up with a small silver tin. Inside Doc had packed three bottles of green serum, a suture kit, a roll of bandages and several small blue pills. While I had no clue what the majority of those things were, relief washed over Triven's face as he looked over the supplies.

He smiled. "That Doc is a good man."

He pulled out one of the green vials and began stripping away the bandages on my arm. Mouse grabbed my other hand in support. The wound looked worse than I had imagined. The bullet had gone straight through, but the skin around the opening had turned a sickly grey color. Though I knew little about medicine, I knew it wasn't good.

"This is going to burn, but then it should get better. Normally I would sedate you, but we don't have anything." Triven's hand shook a little as he held the vial over my arm. His other hand clasped down on my collarbone to hold me steady. I could see the regret in his hazel eyes.

Never taking my eyes from his, I nodded, gritting my teeth. "Do it."

Burn was an understatement. My entire body seized as the green ooze came in contact with my open flesh. It felt like he had just shoved a hot poker into my arm. Pain radiated out from the wound, pulsing though my body with a heartbeat of its own. It took everything I had not to scream. Mouse's hand closed tighter around mine and I closed my eyes as they rolled back into my head. I didn't want to scare her further. The pain seared until I could feel nothing else but the flames. Eventually, I could feel Triven's hand on my chest and the pain began to recede.

When I opened my eyes again there were fresh tears on my cheeks, but my head had seemed to clear. I glanced at my arm in shock. Where there had been torn flesh and exposed muscle tissue, there was now only a perfectly round scab about the size of my thumb. Tentatively, I ran my hand over the raised flesh. It was hot to the touch, but the pain was a fraction of what it was. What was once unbearable now felt like an old, achy wound. I turned my stunned gaze to Triven's.

"Amazing, isn't it? One of Doc's own inventions. Burns like hell, but kills off all infection in the process. Its healing qualities are not quite as good as the regeneration serum, but it's still better than sutures."

"We should get moving." I tried to push myself up but Triven held me down.

"It's been a long night and we have an even longer one ahead of us. Mouse says we're safe here for now and I think it's best if we all eat and rehydrate. Besides, I think we need a new plan."

"They knew we were coming." I whispered to him, shooting a sideways glance in Maddox and Brant's—I might as well call him something—direction.

Triven followed my gaze.

"I know." He whispered before finding us something to eat.

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