Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

61

ATLAS

THIRTY THREE MONTHS CAPTIVE

Usually I could turn off the outside world when I was on a mission, but today, every time I looked through my scope, all I saw were apparitions of Vetticus in all the targets I landed on.

I knew what Nyx meant; he was under my skin, trying to consume every part of me.

The map was another huge spread out environmental, so the hope of putting the escape plan into place was dashed the minute we stepped outside the doors. North had told us Vetticus knew we’d try to escape. He hadn’t seemed phased when he mentioned it—I guess it’s pretty obvious that people being held prisoner would think about those kinds of plans but it still didn’t make me feel good to know he was expecting us to make an attempt every time we shot out a camera.

North was having us do that more frequently now to throw him off. We’d throw a whole grid into darkness and then pop back into visibility as soon as we heard the drones coming. It was in part to practice, to see what his response time was, but also we did it just to piss him off.

“Atlas, sniper on the roof, second building in,”

North barked. “Vance and Casper—go with Kane to clear that building ahead.”

Somehow we’d managed to keep a team of seven for the last two games. We’d won the last one with minimal injuries and a successful execution. If we thought that was going to stop Vetticus from having his fun with North, we were wrong. He’d decided North was his and continued to pull him in every few days.

I didn’t know how North was managing. I was barely keeping it together, and I didn’t know how much longer I could do this. We were all sinking deeper into our heads, even Kane, who until recently hadn’t seemed phased by much. But lately even he’d been moody.

I found the sniper and dialed in, then pulled the trigger.

Miss. Fuck.

I gritted my teeth, adjusted and the second shot took him out.

“Sniper down,”

I growled.

“Copy, meet up with Nyx. Preacher, with me,”

North ordered.

I made my way quickly down from the hide I’d been in and found Nyx guarding the alley between buildings. I tapped him on the shoulder and we carefully made our way towards the edge of the small cluster of buildings. We turned a corner and Preacher and North were waiting for us. I looked out over the view and saw a massive ruin sitting in the middle of a field. The only cover besides the ruin itself was the forest far to the east and the buildings we were currently taking cover in.

I saw a team already booking it across the field far to our right.

“Ammo cache,”

Kane’s voice came over comms. “Headed your way.”

“Copy that,”

North answered, not taking his eyes off the ruin. Kane arrived soon after and we distributed the ammo amongst us while North quickly laid out the plan and signaled for us to go. We raced across the field, keeping our eyes peeled for the enemy. There was no sign of the third team.

We hit the ruin and spread out, methodically sweeping it. It was so large; we didn’t encounter the other team until we hit the middle where a large courtyard sat and in the middle was Red’s cage. She’d shut down over the last few months and was sitting dejectedly behind the bars, staring listlessly off into the distance. She no longer had the fire like she had in the beginning and there were no more escape attempts from her. She was always in her cage. The last two wins she’d told us Kai had turned even more violent and when she wasn’t being used as a target in the games, she was available to the guards.

We were all just so tired.

Bullets bit into the stone around us and we ducked back down before returning fire.

“Kane, Vance, Casper—go right,”

North said. “Atlas, Preacher—left flank.”

I let Preacher take point, and we made our way around the left side of the ruins. The rumble of thunder cut through the occasional round of gunfire and the first few drops of rain tapped down around us, quickly turning into a steady rainstorm. The landscape grew dim as the clouds thickened and the wind picked up, masking our footsteps. Preacher threw up his hand, halting us and I crouched down, a hand on his shoulder.

He gestured a few hand signs, indicating he saw a muzzle behind some rubble. I nodded, and we adjusted our path in order to hold the element of surprise. Preacher took out the nearest one, and I brought down the second, then we advanced down a narrow gap between columns.

“Two down,”

Preacher whispered over comms.

“Copy,”

North responded.

We came around behind the other team. They must have only sent those two out to scout because the remaining five were spread out along the ruin, firing across the courtyard at random. We saw Kane appear as he closed the loop on the right flank and Preacher signaled to him to move on his mark. A quick nod and he relayed the info to Casper and Vance.

We took out two immediately before the others dove for cover among the copious amount of stone and fallen pillars. I glimpsed North and Nyx make a move on the cage as soon as we engaged and then I had to dive behind a pillar to avoid a spray of bullets.

“Fuck, Vance down,”

Preacher called over comms.

The rain was coming down harder now, making a mist rise around us. I moved around the pillar and joined up with Kane who was engaged with two of them. He’d tossed aside his empty AR and was grappling through the mud with one. The other stumbled to his feet and rounded on me. He somehow dodged the shot I aimed at his chest and slammed into me. We went down and the viciousness of his attack drove me backwards against a massive piece of granite. He pulled back long enough to point his .45 at my face and pull the trigger.

Click. Empty.

He cursed at the same time I gasped in relief and finished sweeping my AR up. I pulled the trigger and dropped him.

“Target acquired, let’s go!”

North shouted.

I met up with Preacher and Kane and we took off across the field at the same time we saw North, Nyx and Red make a run for it. A gunshot rang out and Kane dropped next to me.

“Fuck! Third team is waiting in the buildings!”

Preacher shouted.

We scrambled to lift Kane who was bleeding from his stomach. Another shot and we lurched down again as Preacher was hit in the leg.

“Go, you fools,”

Kane snarled, shoving me off him, which saved me from a kill shot as a bullet bit into the ground where I’d been standing. “Go!”

He barked at me. “Give me that.”

He pointed at my sniper rifle and I tossed it to him. The rain was pelting around us now, thundering into the ground as he laid prone in the tall grass. Casper dropped next. He was dead before he hit the ground, a bullet through his eye. Dread settled in my gut, we were dealing with a dead shot.

“Kane’s down,”

I said over comms.

I pulled Preacher along with me as best we could, trying to take a route I knew would make it difficult for the sniper. But he’d turned his attention to North and Nyx. I heard a shot come from behind us.

“Sniper down, go!”

Kane said weakly over comms.

“We’ll come back for him,”

Preacher panted as we made it to the buildings. I didn’t know if he was saying it for my benefit or his.

North appeared at a crossroads with Nyx dragging Red behind him. North’s side was bleeding from where a bullet grazed him and Nyx was favoring his shoulder, but they were both alive which is all I cared about at the moment.

Preacher shoved me off of him, insisting he could walk just as a grenade exploded nearby, sending us all to the ground. Smoke, mist and rain made visibility shit and as my ears rang, I heard shouting and gunfire. I staggered to my knees and used a wall to pull myself to my feet. A man came through the mist—I fired, dropping him.

Preacher was pulling me with him and as the world rushed back to me, the noise was deafening. Nearly a full team had converged on our location.

The next few minutes were a wild blur of survival, training and instincts as we fought through the village. The four of us were a seamless machine, having now worked these missions with each other for over two years we could anticipate each other’s reactions.

It’s the only reason we made it nearly all the way to our DZ before a man rounded a corner so fast, he nearly took out North. Somehow, North’s reaction time was fast enough, and he dodged sideways at the last second. Sometimes I was convinced that man wasn’t human, and this was one of those moments because as he twisted, he came around and used his AR to shove his attacker against the wall. I didn’t have time to see more because I saw Nyx get flanked by two men and rushed to his side. He was grappling with one of them when we saw Red get dragged away.

“Go!”

Nyx shouted at me. “I’ve got this! Go!”

I took off after Red. The pursuit seemed to surprise the man dragging her away because I was nearly on him before he noticed, the rain must have masked my footsteps. He shoved her away, sending her hard into the hood of a burned out car. It looked like everyone was nearly out of ammo because we both tossed our guns away and collided with fists.

I had the upper hand until the wet stones underneath me caused me to slip and a blow to my head sent me down hard. When the world stopped spinning, the man and Red were gone. I cursed and scrambled to my feet, looking around through the pounding rain, trying to determine which direction they’d gone. I found a .45 with a few bullets in the clip, chose a direction and jogged down the street.

I’d almost made it back to where we were ambushed when the buzzer sounded.

My knees weakened and I knew in my gut we’d lost. I leaned against the wall, wiping water from my face and trying to pull myself together as despair tore through me so intensely I lost my breath. I’d never gotten anxiety before, but it was the only way I could describe what I was feeling. My chest tightened and I couldn’t take a full breath as I rested my forehead against the wall and fought to compose myself.

I’d lost this one. I should have held on to Red.

“Did we win?”

Kane’s voice, now a weak whisper, came over comms. I pushed away from the wall.

“No,”

North said. “We’re coming for you, sit tight.”

“No,”

Kane sighed. “This is it for me.”

“Fuck off,”

Nyx snapped and relief surged through me hearing his voice. “They can patch you up—”

“I’m done, man,”

Kane rasped.

I picked up my pace at the tone of his voice, heading back where we’d left him in the field.

“It’s been an honor, gentlemen,”

Kane continued, his voice nearly unintelligible over the raging storm. “It’s a beautiful day to die, this storm—it reminds me of that poem. How’s it go?”

“Kane—hold on,”

North demanded.

“Though wise men at their end know dark is right,”

Kane quoted. “Because their words had forked no lightning—”

As though the world was listening, the sky erupted, lightning crackling across the sky. “—they do not go gentle into that good night.”

“Kane!”

Preacher pleaded, the tone of his voice tearing through me.

“Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,”

Kane continued, ignoring us. “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors—Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

There was a pause.

“Rage against the dying of the light…”

he muttered. “Give ‘em hell for me.”

A gunshot cracked through our comms units.

I pulled up short, my chest constricting and I was surprised when I choked on tears suddenly mingling with the rain running down my face. I don’t know how long I stood there, listening to the silence in my ear. But it was North’s voice that got me moving again, this time back towards our DZ.

“Bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.”

His voice was rough. “Do not go gentle into that good night—”

the emotion surged through his tone as he breathlessly finished, fierce and angry. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

“Rest easy, brother,” Nyx said.

I don’t know how I made it back to the DZ.

My thoughts were dark, twisted and matched the storm raging around me.

Bless me now with your fierce tears…

Bits and pieces of the poem cut through my thoughts and I couldn’t stop the devastation that slid painfully through me like a blade piercing my heart. I stumbled across the line of the DZ where the others stood but I didn’t see them.

All I saw was the end.

I was done.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

The .45 still dangled from my hand and as I dropped to my knees, I brought it to my head.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.