New Elysium: Breakout

Bloody Knuckles Part 32

The absolute silence was broken by heavy panting. It took Red a few moments to realize that the sound was coming from him.

The crimson haze faded from Red's eyes as he rocked back on his heels, his lungs gasping for air.  He sat, staring at the carnage in front of him. Blood pooled on the floor around him and splattered the nearby wall. He was sitting in the middle of it on a man's body. A crushed-in skull was all that remained, completely unrecognizable. He trembled there for a moment as it didn't register, but he felt Dag's hand grip one shoulder and Ember's light touch on the other, it was enough to pull him back from the berzerking rage he'd just experienced. 

He staggered to his feet unsteadily, disgust as he jerked away from his handiwork. His breath came out in ragged wheezes as he fought to calm himself. He was stained head to toe in blood and gore.  Red looked down at his own hands, red with carnage, nausea rising up in his gut. I did this.

The threat was neutralized, his sensors told him as his breathing steadied. No shit, he responded to himself. There was a bloody mess on the floor where the head of the man who'd tried to grab Ember used to be. Ember. He glanced her way. Her breaths were labored as she returned his stare. She had blood on her as well, on her sleeves, none of it hers. He let out a small sigh of relief. 

Blood dripped into his eye and he wiped it away smearing his face in a crimson tide. He tried to feel something like regret or guilt. It didn't come. Him or her, he thought.

He turned around scanning for any other signals as he went. Something they might have missed because they weren't looking for it. None of the New Caledonians came near. The fight had gone out of them at the sight of their leader being pulverized.  Red doubted he had their loyalty but he at least had their unwilling cooperation for the time being.

No one moved but Red, no one seemed to dare to breathe.  

"Red," Dag's voice penetrated the silence. 

Red glanced his way, Dag was still close to him, concern etched on his features. You really lost it back there.

Hell, he didn't need Dag to say that out loud. He took a step forward, feeling unsteady, and some of the New Caledonians scrambled to get away from him. Blood still dripped from his fingertips. Their wide eyes and small gasps as they moved were enough for him to know, there would be no more mutinies on this ship. A small part of him regretted things had come to this. I used to be better at leading. Or maybe I wasn't, honestly, I can't remember...

"Ember," he rasped, the sound of his own voice surprising him, as he walked past her. "What's  our heading?"

"Unchanged," Ember answered from his right. He glanced sideways at her, afraid of what he was going to see.  There was a strange glint in her eye, but unlike Dag, there was no concern on her face. If anything, she looked relieved. Her voice was rock steady as she answered. "We're still heading for New Elysium, or whatever happens to lie at that end point."

"Anyone following?"

"I don't sense anyone...but this isn't a military ship. The long-range sensors are a bit impaired to what I'm used to." She clasped her hands behind her back, hiding the blood on her sleeves, and waited, fully a Neo-Tokyan soldier. She too had come into this room and killed someone. Now that Red had a chance to look there was a second body, charred on the floor. Ember's voice may have been steady but he could see she was breathing heavily, and the stare she was giving him... Her voice came back to him from their conversation earlier. If anything happens to you, I'll vent this ship, Red. Do you understand?

Red nodded and moved past her towards the door. He flicked a glance at Andrea who was standing next to it with her hands over her mouth. He suddenly felt sorry for the old woman. Trying to keep these people in line when they were absolutely terrified was probably the worst job one could take on. He hadn't helped matters either. On the other hand, Red still hated her for condemning Ember to die.