Page 82 of Senseless
“Works for me.” Shadow seemed calm overall, if even pleased about going to battle again, but right then his face looked grim. “Will we have to separate?”
I looked down at the drawing, chewing my lip as I tried to think like a strategist. Like Gunner, who I missed with a fierce ache at that moment. We were roughly a day’s ride away from Four Corners, but crossing through Jerriton was a huge obstacle we could not afford to fuck up.
The last time Gunner and I talked, which felt like centuries ago, he finally seemed to understand where I was coming from, how I wanted everything to be fixed. Maybe it was odd to have hit me right then, bent over a crude diagram and chewing on the end of a pencil, but the realization was crystal clear—I did forgive him.
Now Reaper, I was less sure about.
“At the beginning, I think we have to,” I said in answer to Shadow’s question. “Once you start shooting the guards in the towers, I’ll run in and cut through the fences. I’ll deal with anyone on the ground while they scramble to get more people up in the towers. It’s the only way they’ll be able to see us in the chaos.” My forehead met his as I started to look up at him. “What do you think?”
“It’s a good plan, probably the best we can do with just the two of us.” Shadow grazed the backs of his fingers over my cheek. “I just don’t like the thought of my woman in danger.”
“Better get used to it,” I snickered. “You’re fucking with a biker chick, in case you forgot.”
“How could I ever?” Shadow’s voice was a low rumble as his fingers wrapped around the back of my neck. His grip was strong, but not overly possessive as he pulled me in for a long, deep kiss. Just as swiftly as he planted it on me, he broke away with a growl. “As soon as you see me come back around, you run like hell and get back on, okay?”
“Yes.” The word came out more breathless than I intended, my lips tilting up for more.
Shadow chuckled, indulging me with one more kiss before untangling from me and closing up his compartments. “Let’s do this so we can go home.”
My fists tightenedaround Shadow’s shirt when the first prison tower came into view. He squeezed one of my hands, a small reassurance before holding his palm out. I handed him the rifle like a Bonnie to her Clyde, and felt grateful for my earplugs when he opened fire.
Shadow was inhumanly accurate with a gun, and it seemed to be thanks to that pale, scarred eye of his. He didn’t shoot recklessly, spraying bullets like an action movie hero. He was methodical and precise, firing a single round through the open window of the first tower. The guard on duty fell out of sight, though I couldn’t tell if the shot was lethal or not.
We picked up speed, accelerating toward the towers and barbed-wire topped fencing with a roar. I held on to Shadow with one arm while brandishing my gun with the other. Shadow fired at the next two towers along the fence line before a blaring alarm sounded.
He pulled over at the base of the first tower, coming to an abrupt stop. “Go.”
I jumped off and ran toward the fence line, the roar of his bike already growing quiet and distant as Shadow peeled off to take out the other towers. Over the constant blaring of the alarm, a broadcasted message rang out through multiple speakers.
“Inmates, get off the yard and back in the building! Get fucking inside now or get shot!”
“Hey, hey!” I yelled and waved my arms at one group of people getting in line to file into a building. They were all dressed in the same matching gray sweats and seemed to be young adults and teenagers.
A few heads turned in my direction, and I pulled out the bolt cutters that I’d stuck in the back of my pants. My gun returned to my holster for the time being while I started cutting through the links in the fence.
Please, please.I wished I could project my thoughts to them, speak directly into their minds like the gods could.This is your chance.Fight back and escape.
A bullet hit the dirt next to me, and I rolled, scrambling for cover behind the guard tower. The memory of getting hit in the leg was still fresh, and even though I healed quickly, that kind of pain was something I never wanted to encounter again.
More shots zipped around me, coming from the yard as they blasted off small chunks of concrete from the edges of the tower. Fear started to overwhelm me as the shots intensified, the shouts of the guards growing louder.I can’t do this.
I must have overestimated my ability to fight like this. Maybe with more backup I could’ve handled it, but not with just Shadow and me. I was supposed to be covering him, keeping the guards distracted while he took out the towers, but couldn’t bring my shaking hands to raise my gun and turn to face what came for me.
See, daughter.
It was a quick flash, under five seconds, but I was in the sky again. I saw the two guards heading for the tower, for me. They left the prisoners in the yard unguarded and I could count how many steps they’d need to reach me. I saw the angles they were coming at me from, and which parts of their bodies were exposed even with bulletproof vests on.
In the next moment I returned to my own body, and knew exactly what to do. There was no time to think, to hesitate. Only to move.
I spun away from the wall, arms outstretched with my weapon raised and fired before my human eyes even settled on my targets. My shot landed in the neck of the first guard and he went down silently. The other guard ducked and changed direction, running for cover. Now I had time, seconds to set up my next shot, and I took it.
He fell dead a few feet away from his partner, the crowd of prisoners across the yard all staring at what just happened. I ran back to the spot in the fence where I began cutting, holstering my weapon and picking up my bolt cutters again. I had the advantage now, but more guards would come, and I never knew when Horus would give me his eyes again.
“Come on!” I yelled, snapping the tool through the thick wire links. “We’re breaking you guys out!”
Finally the prisoners quit staring and started running toward me. I cut a hole roughly my own height, and held it aside for people to come through. A young woman at the front of the group hesitated, eying me suspiciously as she held her arms out to the sides to halt the others. “Who the hell are you?”
“We’re just trying to get through the territory to go home,” I said. “You guys are kept here on orders from the new governor, right?”
