Chapter 10.1

I helped my prisoner to her feet and looked over to Vicki, she nodded and pulled hers up as well. We walked them out of the cells and over to where the other prisoners knelt on the ground. Several guards stood around the prisoners, facing in rather than out. I knelt her down and retreated back to where Nick and Kai stood.

Jason walked forward, taking a long draw off his cigar before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it. “So, yer the six stupid idiots who thought that if ya yielded to us, we’d spare ya and welcome ya with open arms? Guess ya also figured that ya could infiltrate our ranks, kill a leader, go trotting back to the military and collect yer reward? Well, let me tell ya something, ya go back to them, they’ll ship yer ass off to a camp. They have no use for traitors.”

“We aren’t traitors! We’re prisoners!” one of them shouted.

"If ya expect to make it past today, ye’ll be a traitor,” Jason said. “Anyone who wishes to keep their head, stand up.”

My girl looked over to me, her eyes wide with fear. I nodded to her and she shakily pushed herself to her feet. One other man stood, I recognized him from the cage my woman had been in.

“Only two?” Jason asked. When no one else stood, he pursed his lips and nodded. “Alright, you two,” he pointed to two of the guards, “yer pistols.”

Both men handed the firearms over and Jason disengaged the magazine. He slipped two bullets out and loaded each pistol with a single round. Holstering one, he walked over to the woman and held it out to her grip first. “Take it.”

She complied and held the pistol at her side. The other man took the pistol as well and Jason turned back to the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Lisa,” she stuttered.

“Alright, Lisa. You don’t want to die, commendable, nobody really does. So, help us and we’ll help you.” He motioned to the man next to her. “You, you going to join our cause?”

“Go to hell!” he spat. “All of you gay fags are an epidemic in this country!”

“Alright, Lisa, kill him,” Jason said.

Lisa’s eyes went wide and she took a step back. “I-I-I-I ca-ca-can-can’t—”

“You will or you will join him back on your knees and I will have the other traitor shoot you,” Jason said.

Lisa shook her head and positioned herself behind the man knelt next to her. She raised the pistol. It shook in her grasp as she struggled to turn the safety off.

“You backstabbing whore!” the man shouted. “You’re just like that faggot brother of yours!”

“Anton did nothing wrong,” she cried. The pistol went off and the man pitched forward into the dirt. Blood spattered across Lisa’s face and she stumbled back.

“Tawny, take Lisa and get her cleaned up,” Jason said. “She’ll be staying with a few other women here in camp.”

I nodded and walked over, offering my hand to the woman. She reached out and took my hand. I took her around the shoulders and turned her away. The pistol fell from her grasp and thudded against the dirt. Tears began to streak down her cheeks and she bent her head.

“It’s alright, you’re free of the military now,” I whispered to her. That is more than I could say about myself. She had more freedom than I did. I continued walking her away when a second gunshot rang out and she screamed, nearly dropping to her knees. Tugging her upright, we continued to walk towards the showers where I helped her wash the blood from her skin and change into new clothes.

“Thank you,” she breathed, “Thank you. You’re a hacker, right?”

I nodded as I began dabbing a healing gel on her chemical burns. “Why?” I asked.

“You must have been really good when they got you,” she said. “To recognize a feed back looper that quickly.”

“I was second in my class during training,” I muttered.

“I just barely made the grade to not get stationed in a camp, but I wasn’t good enough for dead head special forces,” she said. “The train was a nice compromise. Very little dying, I didn’t have to kill anyone, just maintain the electrical systems. I didn’t think the trains were a target for the resistance.”

“What did you expect with Ferals as cargo?”

“I wasn’t privy to what the cargo was,” she said.

“You protected the train not know what was on it?” I asked.

“You heard what the soldier said about my brother, well, it’s true. My brother and his boyfriend were arrested while I was in training. So, I was pulled for questioning, hence my low grade. I worked hard to get my grade up and got assigned to the cargo trains, simply supplies for the camps and troops. I wasn’t allowed off at any of the camp stops. I guess I should have assumed it. I hated the military but there was nothing I could do against it. How did they get you?”

“A cop tried to arrest me and Nick, the big guy with the bionic arm, killed him,” I admitted. “Then they abducted me and held me against my will until I agreed to help them.”

Her eyes went wide. “They abducted you and held you against your will!” she gawked. “Why are you helping them?”