Beyond City Limits (Under Revisions)

Chapter 19: TRIAL

The dark eyed girl pushes me along, her hands pinching mine behind my back. I shake my head and grunt, but the sack she secured over my head doesn't budge. Though the idea of snatching myself away from her is tempting, I don't move against her. I tried that once and realized quickly that there's more uncomfortable ways to be dragged.

"I don't want to hurt you." She had said with her hands raised in front of her. She lowered her hand to the rope on her belt. I glanced at the rope and at her, locking eyes, and understanding crossing between us.

"Let me go." I tried to shove her and reach for the door knob, but her forearm pushed me against the wall of the crawl space, my cheek biting into the brick. I wiggled under her pressure, and she grabbed the top of my shoulder and pinched it, sending pain down my arm and through my chest. I whimpered.

"I can't do that."

I caught my breath and grumbled, "Well then you can go —" Then she gagged me.

We have been walking for what could have been hours or minutes. Most of the journey, I try to keep my feet under me. Though I want to figure out why someone with a Stingray helped me then trapped me, my brain pulses with exhaustion.

"You got her," a male voice cheers. I can't decide if his tone is surprising or unnerving, either way I can practically see a smirk on his face.

"Of course I did. That's why Kendrick sent me to get her," my capture says.

"Oh really? I thought he sent you because your ego can move mountains." The voice chuckles. I feel one of girl's hands leave my bound ones. The second person yelps.

"Anything else you want to say, Colby?"

Colby mumbles something about the girl's attitude.

"Can you just help me get her in the glider."

"Excuse me?" I squeal but the gag strangles my words. The others ignore my protests while two sets of hands grab under my armpits and pull me. I buck against them, but the girl latches her hand on my shoulder again. I flinch at her warning and allow them to shove me into the glider.

***

My pulse echoes around the smothering bag. Every time I inhale, I piece of it clogs my nostrils. The feel of the rough material makes me panic, and I huff the bag away, only to cave and inhale again.

I can tell people are around me, though I can only hear the shifting of their clothes and their shallow steps. I don't feel the Outercity's bitter wind anymore, and if I didn't know any better, I would guess we are walking in a cave. But it must be a hallway or a tunnel. It's just the eerie silence and our shuffling that makes me think of an isolating cave.

The glider ride was silent too, even though Colby tried to chat with the girl. She refused to talk about anything. I think it was because I was there. Though I don't understand why she is scared of me hearing anything when I barely understood why I was sitting between the two in a glider heading to the Great City knows where. The seats in the glider reminded me of the toughness of the cushions in the Headmaster's glider. It made me think of the first day of the Outercity, and how the Headmaster warned me of laying low. Did he realize I was gone? Did he care?

I was mostly concerned with why everyone in the Outercity wants to hurt me. I wondered if Andrew went through the same struggle, and that's why he was gone. Maybe he got away before he managed to piss off every Outsider he met.

My mind throws imagines at me to where my captives are bringing me. Maybe I was being sent to a prison. Maybe they know I killed that drunk last night. Did they have prisons in the Outercity? The Intercity didn't, we just sent the criminals to the Outercity, but those criminals were rare. Who would risk a transfer? Then a thought chills me, Am I a criminal?