Bad Luck and The Law of Averages (The Old Guard Fanfic)

Chapter 3 - Impossible

Life slammed back into Nicky like a cannon ball into a castle wall. He sat up gasping and coughing and with pain in every part of his body. He curled and rolled and fell off whatever it was he was lying on. The heavy thud as he hit the stone floor perversely helped centre him a little.

Gasping, he gathered his scattered wits and desperately tried to figure out what was going on.

He hurt. He wasn't sure he'd ever hurt like this before, because it felt like it was in every cell of his being. His body was at war with itself. Taking long, deep, shuddering breaths, he did his best to push the pain down and figure out what was going on.

He wasn't chained at least, a small plus. Groaning, he pulled himself up using the wooden table he had to have been lying on. The room was still lit by the meagre lightbulb, but there was no sign of his assailants. He had a strange sense that he had been lying there for far longer than he would have normally expected.

His limbs felt weak and he was completely uncoordinated as he struggled to stand.

A quiet whimper of fear had him turning far faster than he should have done. His legs almost went from under him as he failed to balance, but he caught himself on the edge of the table. He was further down the room than he had woken up last time, but someone had taken his place. There was a young man, no more than a kid really, chained right where he had been.

"Don't hurt me," the captive begged.

From his ripped clothes it looked as if someone had already had a try.

"Not ... not going to..." Nicky started, and then realised he was speaking Italian.

His thoughts were all over the place.

"Not going to hurt you," he managed to force out in English.

"You were dead," the kid accused, "you're one of them."

A wave of pain swept through Nicky's body from his heart outwards, almost as if taunting him. He swayed, closed his eyes and swallowed it down. His heartbeat was thudding in his ears.

"Not one of them," he said.

"I watched the bites fade away," the kid said. "They said when it got dark, you'd wake up, you'd eat me."

"It's not dark," Nicky replied and then realised there was no way he could know that, there were no windows in the cellar.

He'd answered on instinct.

"Not one of them," he reiterated, but he wasn't sure exactly who he was trying to convince.

He was a warrior, he could deal with pain. He stood up straight, refusing to let it take him down.

"What's your name?" he asked, heading towards the steps and the door.

It was time to start thinking like a soldier. He staggered a couple of times, but he made it to the stairs and dragged himself up them. The door was solid oak and had thick iron work all over it. When he tried it, it rattled, but barely budged. The hinges were rivetted, no screws and the plate over the lock looked as if it had been welded in place. There was no way out unless he could find something to help.

He set about searching the whole room.

It was a dark, dank cellar, but someone had also thoroughly cleaned it out. There was nothing of use. Eventually that just left his unwilling companion.

"Stay away from me," the kid warned.

"I need to see if those will come loose," he said, pointing at the chains. "If we are going to get out before they come back, we need tools."