Page 59 of The General's Captive
And it wasn’t the only one, as my eyes widened the second I saw the army behind the dark ones, now taking them out one by one… and with startling ease at that.
I couldn’t understand it. Had he feared for my death that much that he had marched his personal army in to save us? I was astounded.
“GET ON THE TRAIN!” Riley roared at me, as I was closest to the back of the last train cars with the doors open.
People that cared for us were at the ready to grab us so I reached out, grabbing hold of Volkov’s outstretched arm before he pulled me in. Then I turned, quickly seeing Riley pushing it with all he had, making sure to get the little boy inside.
“That’s it! Nearly there, come on!” I shouted as he held out the kid so Volkov could get him, meaning I could concentrate on getting Riley. So, with the kid inside, I shouted out to Riley.
“Come on!”
He ran and ran but with the train now picking up speed, it looked fucking impossible!
“No! Get him to stop the train!” I shouted, tears running down my cheeks as the Myths continued the chase behind him.
“No, don’t give up! I told you, tell him to stop the fucking train!” I screamed, but no one was fucking listening to me!
“No, don’t stop… Get out of here!” Riley shouted back, making me cry out a hopeless sound.
“I am not leaving you!” I shouted back, but his running slowed, putting more distance between us, and I readied myself to jump out.
“STOP! Don’t do it… Please!” he begged, which was when I was grabbed from behind by Tiff, making me fight against her, trying to get out of the train car the second Riley’s legs finally gave out, making me scream.
“NO!”
But the last thing I saw was Riley raising his head and whispering the same words back to me that I had mouthed only moments ago.
‘I love you.’
His goodbye.
I cried out, hanging on to the side of the door as Tiff kept her arms around me from behind and, in my heartbreak, I no longer had the strength to fight her.
I was forced to watch as The General’s army started to surround him. But the second he was hidden from view, my eyes narrowed in on the one who had his fate in his hands.
The General now sat atop a huge black steed. His eyes on me as he watched me do the thing he vowed I couldn’t do…
Escape him.
But as for my heartbreak… Well…
There was no escaping that.
Pain and anger.
That was all I felt. The sight of his face after he fell. The defeat I saw there was like ten thousand lashes to my heart. My tears just hadn’t stopped, not even when I was finally forced back into the container, not when I had Tiffany’s arms around me and not when I had fallen to the floor. My cries of anguish merged with those around me coming from the others who also felt that same loss. For their loved ones, for their friends…
For Riley.
But I refused to believe what they did, refused to believe he was dead. Because they didn’t know what I knew. They didn’t know about The General. That he would most likely use him as a tool to get me to do what he wanted. And I would do it, just not in the way he thought I would. No, I needed to be smart about this.
But first, I owed it to everyone to get them back to safety and hopefully, that meant back to the base at Jerome. So, I wiped my tears and stood, letting my anger drive me to do what needed to be done.
“Michaels, did he make it?” I asked.
Our nurse Jenkins, had just finished cleaning up a little girl’s knee and she told me, “I saw him get on one of the freight cars a few ahead of this one after helping the others.”
That was good as it meant leaving someone trustworthy in charge. I then looked to Volkov who was clearly struggling with the loss of another friend, his head hanging down as he sat against the wall of the container.
