The Hunted

Deeper Than Planned

Once the doors were all unlocked, I followed the stream of people down the steps to the main floor. I shoved my way through the angry mob of men and women to try to get to Farris. The people had swarmed the two Guardians that lay on the floor, yelling at them and spitting on them. They were beating the two men to a bloody pulp. I turned away from them and made my way to Farris, who stood near the metal door, talking with a burly man who looked as though he were in his thirties.

"This is crazier than I was expecting!" I shouted above the noise. People were beating on the concrete walls, shouting obscenities. They were kicking at the metal door, pulling the metal hooks off the walls in the cells.

Someone wrapped their arm around my neck, squeezing hard. I gagged, clawing at the arm as Farris shouted at the person to let me go. I kicked at the person, spots growing in my vision.

Farris shoved the man back, pushing him against the wall as the man Farris had been talking to grabbed me, putting me between him and the wall. I gasped for air, sucking in deep, shaky breaths, my head against the cool concrete.

"Fighting amongst ourselves will solve nothing!" the man shouted.

"She's the reason I'm in here in the first place!" the man who'd attacked me shouted in response, fighting against Farris to get to me. I looked at him wearily. Brown hair. Green eyes. Average weight. He could have been any person I passed on the street.

"And she's the one who's trying to get you out of here!" Farris shouted back, shoving the man back into the circle of people who had formed around us. "You're not the only one she's hunted in the past. We've all done shitty things and we're all well aware of why we did those things!"

"I'm going to kill her!" the man hollered, surging forward again. I watched as he collided with Farris, the two of them falling to the ground.

I pushed past the man in front of me, pulling the other man off Farris and shoving him back towards his posse. I planted my feet, squaring off with him. He wiped his bloody face with the back of his hand as Farris clambered to his feet. Farris moved to stand in front of me, but I pushed him off to the side.

"I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me," I growled at him. I turned and faced the other man. "As for you, I did what I was ordered to do. Nothing more, nothing less. There was nothing I could have done to—"

There were shouts all around us as he shoved me to the ground. The air rushed out of my chest. I gasped, pain exploding in my head as he brought his fist down on it. I covered my head with my arms, groaning. He shoved his knee into my stomach, blocking my airway even more.

I tried to knee him, but he just put even more weight on my legs. I jammed my elbow into his eye. He cried out, rolling off me. I rolled over and slowly rose to my feet as he stumbled to his feet too.

"You're fighting the wrong person," I told him, my voice crackling. "We can't fight amongst ourselves if we want to free the Leader."

"The Leader's dead," he growled, moving towards me. Farris stepped in front of him. "She's been dead for months."

"So they've told you," I hissed. "How many lies do you think all of us have been fed over the years? How can you possibly trust a word that comes out of their mouths? I was sent to hunt Farris and his brother who were known as the Chameleon Agent. They arrested me and Derek, the former Executioner, because we killed the person that they told us was the person we were supposed to kill! I know what it feels like to be wronged and I know that you feel that way now, but you're taking your anger out on the wrong person. I never decided who died or who was arrested. I only planned how to capture the person. I was ordered to do that just like those Guardian's are ordered to work here."