Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

65

THERON

This was it.

We stood at the door about to start what would hopefully be our last game. It was two months after the incident that tipped us over the edge. Over the past weeks, we solidified the plan, discussed different strategies and refined our previous operation to only include the four of us. We’d decided as a team that we’d send the three new teammates away because they were too much of a variable to risk including them.

The doors swung open and the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen greeted me.

A city.

There were no wide open spaces in sight on the map, just a grid of war-torn buildings, similar to the first map we’d played on. Dense forest surrounded the entire thing and as we walked out into the gloomy overcast day, we exchanged looks of relief and resolve.

This just might work.

I went about my normal routine of shoving a comms unit in my ear and studying the map. Then I turned to the three newcomers. I hadn’t even bothered to remember their names. The buzzer announcing the start of the game sounded, and I gestured off to one part of the grid.

“You three—sweep these sectors. Find as much ammo and firepower as you can. We’ll meet up in this courtyard.”

They nodded and trotted off.

“Give ‘em hell, boys!”

Nyx shouted after them.

“Hoo-rah,”

Atlas said at my shoulder, acknowledging the code for our escape plan, even though we’d already decided this was the game regardless of the map, it still felt right to say it.

For Kane.

We went the opposite direction of the kids and methodically swept the first few buildings like we usually did. As soon as I found a .45 and ammo, I started taking out cameras. After about fifteen minutes of clearing buildings, we’d amassed an arsenal of two guns each and a comfortable amount of ammo. The only thing we hadn’t come across was ironically a knife, which was pivotal to our plan.

It wasn’t until we’d made it to the far side of the map, that during a building sweep, I found one embedded in a scrap of wood wall. I took out the cameras and we went to the next building. I could see the forest on my left, the shadows heavy under the treeline with mountains stretching as far as I could see. I didn’t even care. We’d figure it out.

In the next building, I did my normal hand signal to sweep the building, but added the signal to take out the cameras. We shot them out and tore out our comms units, stomping them into the ground.

“Nyx,” I barked.

He turned his back to me, dropping his vest to his elbows. I cut quickly into his shirt, and after feeling for the bump where the tracker was, I dug the knife into his skin. He didn’t flinch, his adrenaline already shielding him from the worst. I dug the tracker out and put it on a slab of concrete at my side.

Atlas was next, and he did the same thing, then Preacher, then Nyx took care of mine. In under a minute, we had our trackers lined up on the concrete slab, all live and still transmitting.

“Go!”

I growled.

We sprinted out the door and took off full speed towards the forest. It was a good hundred yards and my blood was pounding in my ears, listening hard for the hum of the drones. We hit the treeline and didn’t stop, plunging into the forest. The footing was thankfully easy, with the trees spaced a foot or two apart with soft pine needles underfoot. I led the line, keeping my eyes peeled for any traps or cameras Vetticus may have placed.

We’d been running for about ten minutes when we finally heard the hum of a drone slowly gaining on us. These were military drones so they were equipped with heat seeking technology, night vision and all the other bells and whistles that made them deadly.

“Atlas,” I barked.

“Three drones incoming,”

Atlas called.

We kept running, and I heard his rifle, three shots in quick succession.

“Drones down!”

He called.

I looked over my shoulder to make sure he was following before we continued on through the trees. We crashed through a stream, up the bank and continued running on the other side. I was thankful for how fit we were and how much stamina we all had because I wanted us to run for as long as possible. I wanted to put as much distance as we could between us and the map.

An hour later, I slowed us to a walk to catch our breath.

“Kraven!”

A voice rang out through the trees and we immediately took a knee covering each other.

“There,”

I muttered. “Off my two.”

A lone drone hovered in the canopy, broadcasting Vetticus’ voice.

“I knew you’d do this to me,”

he growled. “I commend you for getting this far, however, this is where it ends. I’m giving you one chance to surrender. None of you will be harmed—”

I pulled my trigger before he could finish speaking and we were up and moving before the drone even hit the ground.

A few minutes later, more drones descended on us from above where they’d been hovering out of sight and sound. Bullets cut into the ground around us and we dove for cover. I scrambled behind a tree, bringing my rifle up as soon as my back hit the trunk. I took out two before bullets bit into the bark and one zipped around the tree to get to me. I took it out and turned to help the others.

Afterwards we regrouped.

Nyx had a graze on his arm but Preacher had taken a bullet in his shoulder.

“I’m fine,”

he ground out and motioned for us to keep going.

I pushed us into a jog again.

For the next few hours we fought off swarms of drones but by the time the afternoon crept towards evening, we hadn’t seen any for a concerning amount of time and we were nearing exhaustion. To make things worse, I’d started hearing the telltale whisper of rushing water somewhere in front of us that would mask any sound of the drones approaching. I could smell damp earth and hear the pounding of a waterfall when I heard Atlas shout.

“Down!”

We dove for the ground as another cluster of drones shot at us. I landed in some bushes and twisted on my back, shooting one down before I scrambled to my feet and took cover behind a small rock outcropping. I leaned out and saw one whip by me and bank as it headed towards Nyx.

We both fired and hit it, sending it crashing into a tree.

“Clear!”

Nyx called.

“Preacher is hit!”

Atlas called.

I came out to see Atlas supporting Preacher as he clutched at his leg which was bleeding heavily from a bullet wound on the inside of his thigh. I tore off my vest and shirt, shredding it into a bandage. I quickly ripped his pants and wrapped it to try and stop the bleeding.

“Can you make it to the water?”

I looked up at him to see his face tight with pain but he nodded curtly.

“Fuck—incoming!”

Nyx said. We barely avoided a barrage of bullets.

“Let’s go!”

I got us moving and within minutes we came to a raging river with white water frothing over rocks as it headed south. Upstream, there was a pounding waterfall with mist curling from its base.

“Get in the water!”

I had to shout to be heard. I shoved Nyx towards the water and helped Atlas with Preacher. Once they were all in up to their waists, I turned and shot down the two drones as they flew at me through the trees. Then I turned and launched myself into the current.

Night had fallen by the time I hauled myself up onto the bank, only to hear the click of a gun.

I looked up, straight into the eyes of one of Vetticus’ men.

“Round them up,” he said.

My head dropped in frustration as they manhandled us out of the water. A short walk through the trees we came to a waiting SUV on a barely discernible dirt track.

The drive was a surprisingly short one and I was hauled out and forced onto my knees, a gun to my head with Nyx, Atlas and Preacher in a similar fashion next to me. We were in a clearing with a crude cabin, the rustic and decrepit feel offset by the two gleaming black SUVs sitting to one side. The headlights of one cast a spotlight on us as Vetticus appeared on the steps, casually cutting up an apple in his hands.

“Kraven, Kraven, Kraven.”

He tsked as he deliberately took each step down towards us.

“Didn’t I tell you? I knew you were going to do this to me,”

he chuckled but it held no humor.

Vetticus stepped up to me and I heard him eat another apple slice, then toss the core away. He wagged the knife towards me.

“You’ve gotten the farthest anyone has yet, so there’s something.”

He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me into the center of the clearing, closer to the steps. I scrambled to keep from being dragged before he quickly threw me down into the dirt. I lunged for him but his brass knuckles connected with my jaw and I collapsed back down as the taste of copper exploded in my mouth.

“Now, now—none of that,”

he said as he grinned down at me. “Do you remember what I told you would happen when I caught you? Because again—I was right—I said I’d catch you and here you are. But do you remember what I said—what I promised you?”

He looked positively gleeful as he leered, his eyes flickered with the headlights, radiating pure evil.

I didn’t answer. But I remembered.

Dread pooled in my gut and I turned my head when I heard a commotion behind me. Atlas was being dragged towards one of the cars by two men. His struggles were weak and they easily threw him face down over the hood, stretching his arms wide so he couldn’t move. A third man sliced his shirt off him.

I growled in protest and went to get to my feet, but Vetticus pressed his gun to my head, forcing my attention to Atlas. The man who’d cut Atlas’ shirt off now held a whip in his hand and despite the gun, I jerked again in Vetticus’ grip.

“Remember Kraven, you only have yourself to blame for this,”

Vetticus protested. “And baby, I’m just getting started.”

The whip came down on Atlas’ back and I was forced to watch as lash after lash was doled out. Nyx cursed viciously at Vetticus and went to rise to his feet, but the man with the gun to his head pistol whipped him back down, beating him into submission until he lay there unmoving, panting and grimacing as he watched the man beat Atlas.

Atlas took it well in the beginning, only muttering a soft curse after the tenth but then Vetticus stepped in.

“Give it to me,”

Vetticus said impatiently as he strode over and yanked the whip from the man’s hands. “You’re obviously not doing it hard enough.”

Vetticus drew his arm back and the moment the whip connected with Atlas’ back, red bloomed where it broke the skin. He lasted through four more of those before a soft cry escaped him. Five more and he was visibly shaking against the hood of the vehicle, fists clenched as his wrists were tightly held in place.

Each lash after that was violent and bloody. He looked like a sacrifice, framed by the headlights. Forced to give himself over to the devil standing behind him. Nyx was in obvious distress. He struggled to his knees and with a surge of speed leapt to his feet and landed a solid punch to Vetticus’ jaw.

“You son of a bitch!”

Nyx raged.

The guards grabbed him and beat him again, sending up a cloud of dust illuminated in the glow.

Vetticus brushed his fingers over his jaw before cracking his neck to work out a kink.

“Well that will wake you up,”

he said. “Fine, if you really want to go next, I won’t object.”

He waved his hand and the men released Atlas. He slid down into the dirt. Unable to hold himself up, he slouched against the bumper on his knees, head against the grill, barely conscious.

Vetticus’ attention was on Nyx now. He looked like a hunter, assessing his prey as he stalked closer. He still had the knife in his hand and he tapped it thoughtfully against his pursed lips.

“Kraven,”

he turned to me. “What did I tell you I’d do to Reaper?”

My jaw clenched as my breathing picked up. The man pressed the barrel harder against my temple, reminding me of my place.

“That was not rhetorical,”

Vetticus said.

He walked back over to me and his hand snapped out and grabbed my neck. His thumb brushed across my lips and he stuck it into his mouth, sucking off the blood he’d smeared it in. A soft moan escaped him and his eyes lit up with a fiery lust.

“What. Did. I. Say?”

He rumbled.

My jaw clenched. “You’d torture them—in front of me,”

I growled.

Vetticus nodded and shoved me away. He motioned for two men who moved towards Nyx.

“No—” I barked.

Preacher shouted obscenities but he was in bad shape and wavered on his knees, looking pale even in the light from the cars. Nyx yanked and jerked in their grasp, but it did nothing to stop the men from dragging him to a tree stump near the cabin. They knocked him to his knees and while one man held him down, another stretched his hand out flat. My gut twisted savagely in dread.

There were only a few yards separating us and I didn’t realize I’d tried to get to him until the butt of the gun slammed into the side of my face and sent me to my knees. The threat of the gun was no match for how strongly I needed to get to Nyx.

Nyx was cursing violently, fear and anger warring in his eyes.

Vetticus strolled over and crouched down opposite him.

“I always did enjoy you Reaper,”

he said cheerfully. “You made me laugh more than any of the others. It’s a pity you have to take the fall for your friend here. I did warn him.”

He shrugged. “This little debacle can’t go unpunished—no one is getting out of this unscathed, that’s for sure.”

Vetticus pressed his knife against the base of Nyx’s pinky finger. Nyx’s chest heaved as he tried to get his breathing under control. I was cursing, shouting at Vetticus to stop along with Nyx’s protests and Preacher’s growled threats. But Vetticus just chuckled and pressed his knife deeper until Nyx’s eyes shuttered and the lines of pain etched themselves into the crease between his eyebrows.

“Here’s the thing—you don’t need your pinky to shoot or do anything really so I don’t think you’ll miss it,”

Vetticus reasoned. “It’s more of the principle of the thing.”

He put all his weight into the knife and Nyx cried out as Vetticus sliced through skin and bone. Nyx moaned as blood poured from his hand, his face pale and glistening with sweat as he leaned against the man holding him, eyes tightly shut.

“Patch him up so he doesn’t bleed out.”

The men dragged him off the stump and wrapped his hand tightly while he sat trembling in the dirt at their feet. When they were done, he clutched his hand to his chest, slumped forward over it. I was vibrating with rage.

Vetticus wasn’t done.

“Kraven, what did I promise you about Preacher?”

I hissed in displeasure and rage, my heated glare tracking Vetticus’ movements as he stepped towards Preacher. He spoke to me over his shoulder but when I didn’t answer, he turned to me fully.

“I’ll just remind you—I said I’d enjoy making him scream.”

Preacher was restrained, his fight weak from the blood he’d already lost. Vetticus grabbed his hair and yanked his head into a beam of light. He put the blade against Preacher’s cheek, his eyes lit up with a sick pleasure at our pain.

“And I will enjoy this,”

Vetticus breathed.

His knife dug into Preacher’s eye and Vetticus’ word rang true as Preacher’s scream cut through my blood like ice, sending a shiver down my spine. His screams echoed in my ears long after Vetticus shoved him away. Preacher clutched at his face, sobbing and writhing on the ground. The desire to kill Vetticus was so overwhelming I nearly choked on it as I watched him look around at us, clearly satisfied with the night’s festivities. Vetticus took a breath and looked at me, a deadly smirk pulling at his features. He pointed his bloody knife at me.

“Don’t you dare think I’ve forgotten about you,”

he sneered. “I’ve got something extra special planned.”

While Vetticus disappeared back in the house, I looked around as the dust settled. Nyx was clutching his hand to his chest as he leaned against the steps. Atlas was still slouched against the bumper and Preacher had gone limp where he lay at the edge of the light, probably passed out from shock.

The door of the cabin slammed and I turned.

“No…NO!”

It couldn’t be. There was no way.

A cry escaped my lips and I was on my feet, disregarding everything, even the gun to my head. I made it a few feet before I was knocked to the ground but that didn’t stop me. I went feral, kicking up so much dust it threw the clearing into a haze.

Nothing mattered anymore because Vetticus was dragging my daughter down the steps.

My daughter—who was very much alive.