Page 47 of N8
“Don’t worry. I have backup on the way.”
The guard leader gave a bark of laughter. “So what? Would that be allthreeof your men on duty? We’ll be long gone before they get here.” Coxwell lifted his face. “Hey! All you kids! Come out of hiding now, or else it’ll be worse if we have to drag you out ourselves!”
F8 quickly turned to them. “I hear footst—”
A gunshot came from beyond the cabins. It ricocheted off an overhead tree limb, and F8 yelped in pain. Before they could react, four guards rushed toward them, encircling them, their rifles aimed directly at them.
“Come on! Haul ass!” one of them snarled. He gestured with his weapon for them to get to their feet.
K8 reached over to F8, but one man shoved his gun between them. “Leave her!”
“She’s injured, you bastard!” She attempted to help F8 again, when the man flipped his rifle and slammed the butt into her chest, between her breasts. K8 let out a yelp of pain, and P8 tried to keep her from falling, when a second rifle butt caught him behind the ear. He dropped to his knees, where the guard who’d struck him grabbed him under one arm and hauled him back onto his feet.
“You heard the sergeant! Move it!”
N8 noticed how F8 was cradling her left arm, blood dripping down her skin from where she’d been shot. He glanced over at Cydney and wished he could put his arm around her, but the four guards were determined for them to keep their distance from each other.
They stumbled out into the opening and were led over to where Coxwell and the three other men were waiting. Presently, two more men emerged from the woods to join them.
N8 gave a quick look at Sheriff Biggs when he walked by the man. From the look on the sheriff’s face, he knew the guards had the man over the proverbial barrel, even if the other deputies managed to show up in time.
Without warning, Coxwell grabbed Cydney and pulled her against him. She struggled to free herself, until the man placed the end of his pistol against her temple. She instantly stilled, her face reflecting her shock.
Unable to stop himself, N8 threw himself in her direction to free her, when an arm went around his throat and nearly throttled him. He pulled on the arm, but it continued to squeeze his larynx, preventing him from getting another breath. At the same time, the cold end of the man’s pistol nudged his cheek.
He threw a look over at the sheriff, but the man’s hands were empty. Two guards had divested him of his rifle. Red-faced, Biggs angrily demanded, “Let ‘em go! You have no right to do what you’re doing!”
“I’m doing what I was ordered to do,” Coxwell threw back at him. “I was sent to retrieve these kids. Keep your shirt on. As soon as we’re loaded back on the busses, we’ll be out of your hair.” He nosed Cydney’s temple. “The bosses are especially interested in you, little lady. Hopefully, you’ll be able to make up for that one’s deficits.” He eyed N8 to make sure he’d gotten his point across. “I guess this is the point where I say check and mate.”
N8 felt himself starting to black out from lack of oxygen. Without being aware of what he was doing, he slipped his psyche self into the man holding him, hoping to somehow get the guy to release him. The guard appeared unmoved by N8’s interference, which left him with no other recourse but to try and take him out another way.
Coxwell must have sensed N8’s intent and pressed the pistol harder against Cydney’s skull. N8 took the chance and tried bending over to lift the guy off his feet. As he hoped would happen, the guard tried to compensate by planting his boots firmly on the ground and locking his knees. Using the man’s arm to balance himself, N8 kicked upward, hitting Coxwell’s arm with the toe of his shoe.
There was a gunshot and a scream. N8 stared in horror as blood spurted from the top of Cydney’s skull. Her eyes rolled upward, and her body went limp. Coxwell released her, letting her slump to the ground. N8 cried out her name as the guard shoved his pistol into his neck. “Try that again, whelp, and you’ll be next!”
Angered, Coxwell kicked Cydney’s unconscious body. “Fuck!” He whirled on N8. “That should be you, you worthless piece of shit! She could have been carrying a fetus we could use!”
“A fetus you coulduse?You killed her, you son of a bitch!” Sheriff Biggs bellowed in disbelief and horror.
“If the little bastard hadn’t hit my arm, none of this would have happened!” Coxwell yelled back. He gestured wildly. “Get these lab rats into the buses!”
The guards nudged P8 and F8 with their guns. As they were herded toward the vehicles, N8 couldn’t drag his eyes from the sight of the woman he loved lying at his feet. The thought that he was responsible for her death tore his soul into shreds. As the guard continued to hold him, he noticed the man wasn’t even phased by her killing. His eyes were trained on Coxwell as he made a movement to force N8 to follow the others to the vans.
His anger and hate roiled inside him, blinding him faster than the tears streaming down his face. “Damn you, Coxwell! Damn you! One day I’m going to kill you for what you did! I’m going to kill you!”
There was a click, inaudible, yet he felt it as clearly as if he’d seen the switch being flipped. Regardless, he concentrated all of his rage and need for revenge on the man who didn’t seem the least bit perturbed by her loss.
One day I’m going to kill you!he silently shrieked at the man. His body shook uncontrollably.I’ll kill you! I’ll pay you back for what you did to her! I promise, if it’s the last thing I do!
He became aware of the pistol slowly moving away from where it had been jammed against his head. As he continued to focus solely on Coxwell, he also felt the guard’s arm turning. The hand lifting. The pistol now pointing directly at Coxwell.
The man glanced up in time to see his own man aiming the weapon at him, and a look of disbelief crossed Coxwell’s face.
“What the fuck do you think you’re—”
I’ll kill you!N8 mutely hollered, venting every last ounce of fury at the man.
The pistol fired. A neat little hole appeared exactly between the man’s eyes. It took out his nose, drilled through his brain, and exited the back of his head in an explosion of blood, brain matter, and skull fragments.
