DIVISION 52 - BOOK I

CHAPTER XVI

– S C O R P I O N –

I counted every single second that I was away from her.

A thousand different possibilities of her death had crossed my mind and I was just about done with it. On the fiftieth minute I commanded my driver to take us back and start to track her down. By fifty-four minutes, I had every pair of eyes I owned in Sector 52 all the way to 11 looking for one person.

Proximo was at my side keeping me updated with every murmur on the comm link. I even set a bounty on her head--alive of course--for her capture at 10,000 credits.

We stormed down the crowded streets. It wasn't an issue because this was the sector that perhaps knew me the most. The people of Sector 52 saw me as a visionary. The one that made something of herself from the most condemned place in the city. They parted in a sea of colour and murmuring.

"Still no word." Proximo informed me as we pressed on.

I growled under my breath.

How was it that she could of vanished so completely. Even if she was dead my people would find out. Not even a single word of her existence was given. It had my fear spiking to an entirely new high.

I had been a fool.

I was too crass, too stubborn and arrogant to see that I made a mistake. She didn't belong outside of Sector 1, let alone 52. And there I was marooning her in the most lethal part of the city, for what? To teach her a lesson? Ha! She's as stubborn as me. The only thing I've taught her tonight is how to hate me even more.

Suddenly, a hand on my shoulder had me grabbing for my dagger and turning it on the person responsible.

My guards had similar responses.

The thin man paled and looked at all of our lethal group in terror. When he retracted his hand and remained silent I spoke for him.

"Is there a reason why you have a death wish today?" I seethed.

His eyes widen and he shakes his shaven head quickly.

"God--no--I heard about th--I" His butchered sentence only angers me more and I have the blade at his throat in seconds.

"You have five words before I end your life. Make them good." I stated.

"I know where she is!" He blurted against my blade.

I went still. I analysed him carefully, making sure he wasn't just another cockroach looking for my good favour or credits. After a second more I dropped the knife away and glared at him.

"Lead the way." I murmured darkly.

He didn't hesitate. We were soon moving towards a darker network of alleyways within minutes.

– M A K A Y L A –

"It's not much further!" The skinny woman called back to me as we got towards an even more sinister area. I had started weighing my ability to help vs my safety at this point. But it was for a woman's son I had to remind myself. It was for a child.

We ducked down a thin dark alley which was lined by metal boxes that were people's homes. I winced as I saw an unconscious man sprawled in a suspect liquid.

When I looked back up, the woman was gone.

I looked around frantically. Did she go into her home? Was I supposed to follow? I jogged up towards the maze of alleys and saw no sign of her. God, what if her son dies because of this.

"Hey darlin' fiiiine evenin t'be out ehh?" A raspy voice drawled from the shadows of an alley. my head whipped towards it.

"Fine indeed, Jackle." Another female voice pitched in from another alley. My head snapped over to the darkness where the figure leaned against the wall.

"What was it a pair of lungs was worth on the market these day, Tai?" A third deep voice asked aloud.

The female chuckled in response and came out of the shadows. "Around two k with the right buyer." She grinned a broken smile in response. Her hair was dyed a startling shade of red and she had savage tattoos running up her arms.

"Looks like we're in the money tonight then lads." The first man growled in pleasure.

In that moment the three of them came to stand around me, trapping any escape. I had one chance. In a flash I wrapped my hand around the pistol in my jacket and fired off three fusion shots.

The first clipped a man in the shoulder and the second went straight through the fiery-haired girl's chest. Her eyes bulged as she dropped to the ground instantly dead.

The third man roared and punched me hard in the head with some kind of object. It snapped my head back and I struggled to stay on my feet. He threw another punch which I took to the stomach before he yanked me off my feet and slapped me to the cold metal floor.

The pistol spun out of my hand and meters away.

My head throbbed and spun and I could feel warm liquid trickling down the side of my face from an unknown injury.

"You fucking bitch. FUCKING BITCH!" He roared again as he took in the state of his companions.

I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for them. I whole-heartedly hoped that they never lived to see another day.

God, what am I becoming... I thought mildly as I lay half-conscious on the floor.

The man I shot in the shoulder continued wailing like a child as he clutched his muscled arm.

Then the unharmed one stormed up to me. "Look what you've done!" He shouted as he kicked me in the stomach. I cried out. "This could of been simple--" Another kick. "—painless!" He kicked again and I felt like he was going to shatter my ribs. He turned and went to retrieve my pistol.

"You might be bitch, but at least you have fine taste in weaponry." He grunted as he levelled it at me.

A broken sob left me as I was utterly helpless and terrified to prevent my death. He locked cold eyes on me and a shot went off. My eyes flashed closed expecting the pain, but it never came. When I opened my eyes his body was dead in front of me with a fusion round through his forehead--eyes still widen open.

Another broken sound left me and I felt completely distant from the world.

All of my injuries seemed to weigh on me and I was struggling to remain conscious. Voices sounded and came closer. God knows who wanted to kidnap me, harvest my organs or worse now... I just felt like giving up.

My eyes drifted closed and the voices got louder. One rang above the rest in command but I didn't care enough to try and identify it.

"Deal with him." A voice dismissed with unconcealed rage. Another shot went off and the wails stopped. "Get the fusion craft here now." It continued. "Shoot anyone that gets within 50 meters of us." It finished in a snap.

Gloved hands then held my face. They checked my pulse and then a pause of breath as they listened to my own breathing. Great. They wanted me alive... No easy death then.

"I'm... sorry Makayla–" A voice murmured so quietly that I thought I had just imagined it. I then felt a strong pair of arms wrap around me and pull a cloak around me. I was truly struggling to hold onto consciousness now. Reality was drifting away.

"You are safe." It continued like a smooth lullaby. "You will be safe with me..." It sounded more like a promise than the threat of another death. But I was probably concussed and not sane. The arms then lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing and strode forward.

The sound of a fusion craft was near now. The warmth of the body holding me seeped into my bones and I felt myself relax into it. The last thing I heard before I fell into the depths of unconsciousness was the whisper of my name.