Page 20 of Savagely Yours
“Come on. Let’s move.”
We started off again.
“Wait, Dez, won’t the Metro entrances be blocked?”
Good girl.
“More than likely, but some stations have secondary entrances. That’s where we’re going.”
“How do you know this place so well?”
“These streets were once my home, remember?”
I found the emergency entrance I’d used many times as a teen and burst through a door that took us down a stairwell. With the air crisp and thin, Larke’s breaths went from quiet and evenly paced to loud and harsh.
“Hold on just a little longer for me, Tapley.”
“I,” she gasped, “should have…bought that…Peloton.”
I smiled.
My smile dropped when I saw what was in front of us.
TheGallery Pl-Chinatownsign was barely recognizable. A hole had torn through the curved ceiling, resulting in dust clouds and a pile of rubble we would have to climb over to get to the other side. This had to be what had caused the ground to shake at the condo, and it was probably the same thing at each access point.
“Tapley, mask up for me,” I ordered.
I heard a zipper.
Then, she tapped the back of my arm.
“Here,” she said. “For you.”
I took the mask and slipped it over my face.
“Be honest with me, Tapley,” I prefaced. “Do you want to go through this? If you’re tired, I’ll understand. I’ll…find another way.”
I didn’t know how.
But I would if I had to.
“We don’t have a choice,” she reminded me. “Don’t worry, Dez. We’ll get through this. I trust you.”
I swallowed and took a deep breath. “All right, then. You go ahead. I’ll follow. That way, if you slip, I’ll catch you.”
She quickly scanned the debris before finding a spot to place her foot. For someone who’d barely considered the idea of hiking the one time I’d brought it up, she maneuvered the fallen stones exceptionally well. Whenever she slipped, I grabbed whatever limb I could reach. Each time, she reassured me that she was fine, but she might as well have been reassuring one of the stones beneath our feet.
“Where to…after this?” she asked, testing a stone before placing all of her weight on it.
I wanted her to believe I still had a plan.
I needed her to believe it.
Yet, at the moment, I was winging it, using my knowledge of the city to slip in and out of tight spaces. Little did she know that with every step we took, it felt like fingers had just missed closing around my neck.
“Let’s see what the other side looks like first,” I said.
The ruckus from before echoed behind us.
