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

Chapter 7 - After Death

Tiny little pins sticking into his skin all over dragged Nicky back to reality. He tried to open his eyes, but everything was too bright and all he could do was roll over in a desperate attempt to shield his vision. He felt something hard under him as he came to a stop and remembered the stake that had been rammed into his chest.

As it turned out all the little pins were in his head, but the sensation continued to run through every piece of exposed skin anyway.

He was outside, that much did make it through into his muddled thoughts, and the sun was shining. The burning in his cells was back too and any strength he had was minimal. Moving felt like a herculean effort and it seemed to take forever for him to push himself onto his knees.

There was not one part of him that didn't hurt, but he was free, he was alive and that meant he could get back to Joe.

More detailed reasoning just wouldn't come to him and he pushed himself up with that single thought in his head. He fell twice before he even managed to get his feet under him properly.

It was so bright he could barely see. He had no idea where he was, so he staggered downhill, wherever that would take him. He was acting mostly on instinct with very little thought process to his movements, so he barely registered when grass became tarmac. The screech of brakes did register, and a red shape coming towards him, but about all he had time to think was: "This is going to hurt."

Someone shouting at him, a siren, people, being lifted. It was all a jumble after that for a considerable amount of time. He was stuck somewhere between conscious and unconscious until his body sorted itself out.

"He's stabilised," he heard someone say with a heavy Scottish accent. "You make sure they're ready for him, I'll get him prepped for transfer."

Nicky flashed back to Merrick's lab. Every moment of Dr Kozak's twisted care zipped through his mind and he opened his eyes.

"Hello," a woman said, leaning over him. "You're..."

She was blond, hair in a ponytail, and he panicked. There was no gap between thought and action as his overtaxed system completely failed to discern reality from memory. He struggled, ripping out of whatever restraints they had him in and dived for the open doors of what his mind saw as a van. He didn't fight, he didn't think, he simply ran.

~*~

"He's free," Andy said a second into the call that had just come through, and Joe was on his feet in a heartbeat.

She listened some more, holding her hand up to Joe as he all but vibrated in place.

"Thank you," she said before ending the call.

"Where?" Joe asked.

"He was taken to the Royal Infirmary two hours ago," Andy said, "but when they tried to take him in, he ran."

"Where is he now?" Joe demanded.

"Copely is working on it, but the CCTV is patchy," Andy said.

"Fuck," Joe said along with a few more words in other languages to back it up.

"Joe," Andy said, placing her hand on his arm. "Copely also said he thinks he's coming this way."

The hope that welled up in Joe made his knees feel weak.

"What else did he say?" Joe asked.

"Not much, but he's sending through the footage," Andy told him. "Booker should have it now."

As if one cue, Booker appeared in the doorway. Without a word he handed Joe the laptop with a file already open on the screen. There in perfect freezeframe was Nicky leaping out the back of an ambulance. Joe stared. For a few seconds he forgot to breathe. Only when Andy came over to stand beside him did he reach to press play.