Chapter 14 of The Edge of the World
A/N: Yoooo guess who’s back! Gosh, I feel like I haven’t written in a decade and even now my writer’s block isn’t completely gone, but I managed to get my ideas flowing again! So much to the point that I crossed like 6000 words and had to split my chapter (oops!). Plus with the way I’ve decided to end the series, new twists and fillers were needed and I had to fix my outline before shelling out chapters again.
The supporting lyrics are from the song Let Us Burn by Within Temptation
Summary: As loyalties change and the fallout begins, Damien, Maya and Alana eventually gain a moment of respite. But no place is safe for long . . .
I’m not fighting myself, will not follow
‘Cause my choices are mine, it’s my fate
And I’ll never bow down from the sorrow
I’ll face all that is coming my way . . .
Denying the devil of silence,
Embracing the world on the edge . . .
Let us burn, let us burn
We’ll light up the skies here tonight!
“That’s enough! Leave her alone.”
Maya’s eyes flew open upon hearing that voice. Both she and Harley turned to find Alana standing there. Standing next to her was the one who had intervened.
“Dexter?” Harley raised an eyebrow.
“Let her go.” Dexter’s jaw was set in a tight line as he pointed his taser at him.
What the . . . is he . . .? Maya looked at Dexter, her anger forgotten and now replaced with confusion. Harley’s grip on her briefly tightened and she winced, shrinking away from him.
“I said,” Dexter’s voice brought her back to attention. “Let her go.”
Harley narrowed his eyes at him, eyeing the weapon pointed at him before glancing back down at Maya. After a moment, he sighed and released her. Maya barely broke the fall with her elbows, but recovered quickly. Keeping Harley in the corner of her vision, she hastily fixed her shawl around her and scrambled away to sit with Alana. Dexter noticed how his now-former ally scowled at the two women and he shifted, angling his body in front of them.
“And just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Dexter?” Harley hissed.
“Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
Harley rolled his eyes. “This is ridiculous.” He began to walk toward him, only to be stopped again.
“Don’t move!” Dexter barked, brandishing his taser more forcefully. With his sights and aim still set on Harley, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Here. Second and third ones should do it.” He tossed them over to Maya, who caught them and rushed over to Damien.
Harley glanced at them disdainfully, then turned to Dexter, cocking his head. “So it’s true then,” he spat. “You really have gone soft.”
“I’d prefer to think of it as being fed up with your bullshit.” Dexter replied. “And considering recent events, I’d say the feeling is mutual for everyone else.”
Meanwhile, Maya was only half focused on what was going on in the background. “Hold on, Damien. I’m getting you out,” she said determinedly. She reached for Damien’s handcuffs, her hands trembling from the cold. She fumbled with the keys until the right ones worked.
As soon as the handcuffs were off, Damien fell forward, catching onto her shoulders for support and she sank to her knees with him. Just as she moved to hug him, Damien immediately threw off his jacket and placed it over her bare shoulders. He helped her get her arms through the sleeves, secured it closed from the front, then wrapped his arms around her.
Had this been any normal occasion, like giving her his jacket on a cold night, Maya might’ve made a teasing comment about him being unusually cheesy and romantic. But in this situation, it was more than just that. Damien was definitely in pain, having just been beaten and tortured. But now? All he was concerned with was protecting her dignity. Overwhelmed with emotion, Maya clutched his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Damien,” she sobbed. “They were torturing you and he made me watch- I-”
“Shh,” he whispered into her hair, holding her tightly. “It’s not your fault. You’re okay, now. That’s all that matters.” Maya just smiled in response and relaxed against him.
Harley was watching this whole scene, shaking his head with a derisive chuckle. “I see how it is. So you’re defending her now?” He took a step to the side and Dexter mirrored his movement, blocking his way with every step as they began to circle each other. “After everything, at this very point.” He jabbed his finger with every word he emphasized.
“I told you once before not to touch her again. But then you went and did this!” Dexter snarled. “You remember that don’t you?! You remember how I kept warning you-”
“Yes, I remember that very clearly,” Harley cut him off. “But in case you don’t remember, that was because it ‘put Father’s plans at stake’!” He held up air quotes, then spread his arms out dramatically, smirking as Dexter’s jaw tensed. “What’s your excuse now Dexter?” He taunted, risking an extra step closer to him. “Maya’s here now, isn’t she? She’s alive. Father’s ‘plan’ is doing just fine.” When Harley didn’t get a reaction, he stepped forward again. “When I once said that your problem was more here,” he pointed at his own chest. “I didn’t mean the hardware. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
Dexter immediately straightened, his finger moving to the trigger on his taser.
“Yeah you knew. You always knew.” Harley jeered, disgusted. “Explains why you chicken out at every chance you get to prove yourself.”
“Oh yeah? What does it look like I’m doing now?” Dexter argued. “You’ve gone too far now, Harley! You need to be stopped.”
“Aww, how noble of you,” His partner sneered. “Should I remind you of what you did back at the Louvre? Everyone in that group was there. I was there. You’re not exactly some precious angel.” Harley gestured an open hand at Dexter, up and down. “You think this little stunt of yours is gonna change things? That you can just shoot me, then ride off into the sunset with them?”
“How about you tell me what exactly you all have planned?!” Dexter challenged. “And don’t give me that bullshit story about Father’s ‘vision’. How is all this improving humanity?!” He then jerked his head towards Maya. “And why them? Why her?!”
Harley snorted. “You actually think you’re gonna get anything out of me now. I cannot believe you-”
“Well you fucking better!” Dexter shouted. “Because this is as real as it’s gonna get. I’m done. I’m done taking orders from you. I’m done being used just so you can hurt-”
“Maya, right?!” Harley exclaimed. When Dexter didn’t answer right away, he stopped his pacing to burst into laughter. “Admit it, Dexter, that’s what this is really about! It’s not really about the Siren Project – no, this is just about your pathetic feelings-”
“Harley, shut the hell up-”
“Really? After everything Eros has done for you? After everything Father-”
Dexter cocked his taser, gritting his teeth. “Don’t. Don’t even-”
“I’m just telling you what you need to hear, damn it!” Harley bellowed. “You’re not one of them, Dex. No matter what, you never will be. You’re a Match – one of us, made by the same creator.” There was a flash of pain in Dexter’s eyes and Harley grilled him further. “I mean, you do realize you’re not the real Damien right? You’re just a copy. A small part of him.”
Dexter looked to where his former captives were watching nervously. His exchanged a glance with Damien, whose eyes had regained a light that set something off in him, strengthening the fire in him. Then he met Harley’s accusing stare. “You’re right. I am a part of him,” he said solemnly. “But so is she. That makes them a part of me too, and I’m not letting you hurt either of them.”
Both of them stared each other down for a few seconds, until Harley began to chuckle. “Not letting me, huh?” He joked. “That’s what you’re saying? Not letting me?” When Dexter opened his mouth to reiterate his point, Harley’s face immediately morphed into rage. “You don’t tell me-” He lunged forward. Dexter sidestepped him and swung his arm, aiming the butt of the taser at Harley’s face. The hit landed and Harley stumbled back into the wall, momentarily stunned. Then his hands balled up tightly into fists. “You’ve just made a big mistake Dexter,” Harley snarled. “A big fucking mistake!” He charged forward again with a yell, catching Dexter around his waist and knocking him flat on his back.
The taser clattered several feet away, which went unnoticed by the Matches as they spun out of control, blindly punching and kicking at each other.
As they continued to fight, Alana was shuffling over to the other side the best she could in spite of the handcuffs limiting her movement. “Maya,” she hissed, nodding behind herself. Knowing that the two androids were too focused on each other to notice her, Maya complied, turning the key as quietly as she could until the handcuffs came off with a click! “Now that’s more like it.” The agent flexed her fingers, relieved to finally get some circulation back in them, then glanced between the androids with a cat-like grin on her face.
At some point, Harley had trapped Dexter in a headlock with one arm and then gripped one of his other arms. “I knew there was something off about you from the start, you know.” he growled. “I even told Cecile. I warned her, but she didn’t listen to me.” He then started to twist Dexter’s arm, ignoring his cry of pain. “‘Cause you had ’em all fooled didn’t you, you little bastard?” Harley was grinning wildly, not noticing Alana sneaking up behind him, taser in her hands now. “Yeah? I wonder what’ll happen if I . . .” he twisted further and Dexter screamed.
“Get off him!” Alana lunged forward and pounded the tranquilizer into his shin. A loud CRUNCH! resulted and Harley howled in pain, his death grip loosening just enough for Dexter to break free and pin him to the ground. “Dexter, catch!” Alana tossed her taser to him and he swiftly caught it. He aimed directly at Harley, who’d recovered from the blow to his shin and caught Dexter’s wrist, preventing him from getting closer. He pushed back, while reaching for the weapon with his other hand, which Dexter promptly seized and pinned to the ground.
Maya slowly stood up, slinging Damien’s arm around her shoulder as he leaned on her. “We have to do something!” she said, watching as the Matches wrestled against each other, their strength evenly matched and making it unclear who could gain the advantage.
“I got Harley.” Damien took a few steps forward, then winced at the sharp pain in his side and Maya steadied him. “Thanks Maya, but I’ll be fine.”
“No Damien! Not after what you just went through!”
“I don’t care,” he growled. “I’m going to kill him.”
Suddenly, Dexter was shoved off of Harley. He quickly brandished his taser and pulled the trigger, watching as the wires dug into Harley’s arm and shocked him until he dropped to the ground, unconscious.
There was silence for a good thirty seconds, in which he took in the scene and the reality of what he’d just done settled in. Alana stood next to him, giving a slight nod in approval. Then he glanced up to find Damien and Maya watching him with a stunned reverence. Then he noticed Damien’s jacket on her and swallowed hard, blinking back the dampness he felt in his eyes as he remembered why it was needed. “I . . .” he stepped forward, then hesitated, unsure of what to say at this point. “I’m sor-”
A loud beeping noise sounded from behind him, pulling everyone out of their state of shock. Dexter realized it was coming from Harley and a new sense of urgency overrode everything else. He reached into his own pocket and pulled out his communicator, tossing it to Maya. “Get out of here!” He barked at them. “All three of you!” Then he bent down and rifled through Harley’s pockets until he found a similar device, which was beeping. “Pretty sure we’ve attracted a ton of attention by now. You can’t be here when Cecile arrives. You need to leave. Quickly.”
“But what about you?” Maya asked, glancing anxiously at Harley. “And he-”
“I’ll handle it. The code for that communicator is 43210. Listen in and use whatever information you can. That’s all I can do for now. Go!”
Not needing to be told again, Maya held on to Damien, who hobbled along with her as they burst out of the cargo container. Alana led the way, taser at the ready just in case they had company. The heavy sound of footsteps sounded nearby – no doubt Cecile and her reinforcements – and they quickened their pace, stopping at a corner every now and then at the slightest sign of movement. At some point, Damien caught sight of what appeared to be a small office. A few bored-looking security guards were sitting inside. “In there!” he whispered.
Alana complied and they crept across the empty lot, staying out of line of sight from the windows as much as possible. Once they were outside, Damien and Maya waited as she kicked open the door and burst in. The sounds of punches, kicks and grunts of pain were barely audible to anyone outside, thanks to her flawless ambush tactics. A few minutes later, she poked her head out to let them in and they wasted no time barricading themselves in; securing the door, shutting all the blinds of the windows. Then Maya headed straight for the abandoned monitors, minimizing different windows until Dexter’s image came up in one of them. Harley lay next to him, still unconscious.
“Looks like we got out of there just in time.” Maya said quietly. “With any luck, the guards here didn’t see what happened.”
“Doubt it.” Damien replied. “Most of them looked to be asleep at their desks. We shouldn’t take chances, though.”
“No. We won’t,” Alana was dragging the unconscious guards with her towards a closet, their hands bound by their own handcuffs. Grunting with effort, she shoved them inside with Damien’s help. Once they were done Damien limped over to rest in one of the empty swivel chairs next to Maya.
“Are you okay?” She was hovering over him, inspecting his clothes and where he’d been shocked. “You’re not bleeding anywhere, are you?”
“Hey, I’m fine.” Damien’s hand closed over her wrist, stopping her mid-sentence. Then he took her hand and kissed it gently, his brows were arched sadly as he took in her disheveled appearance. “What about you? Are you okay?” Maya bit her lip and nodded. But when she looked him in the eyes, they both knew that wasn’t entirely true.
“I will be.” Maya said, running her thumb along his knuckles. “I don’t want to think of what could’ve happened if Dexter hadn’t . . .” She stopped and swallowed hard, unwilling to finish that sentence, considering how close it had come to that point. “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t be able to believe it.” Then Maya instinctively reached for the jacket that she was wearing, her fingers closing over the zip line as if to make sure it was still there. “He finally did the right thing.”
“Even knowing what it might cost him.”
“Considering he’s like you, I’m sure he does.” Maya said ruefully. “I just hope he doesn’t get in more trouble. We have to make it out of here so that it’s not in vain, but I don’t even know where to start. I’m just tired of feeling so helpless!”
Damien sighed and just squeezed her hand, wishing he could do more than this. If anyone deserved to curl up and let out all their frustrations right now, it was Maya. He wanted to hold her close, shield her from all the evil in this world; though lately, it seemed to keep finding them wherever they went.
Needless to say Damien Nazario felt like a failure, now more than ever. This is my fault. I’m so sorry, Maya. He wanted to say it again and again until he was blue in the face, but the words didn’t reach his lips. It wouldn’t be too long before it was time to run again, this time to escape for real. It was taking everything in him not to let his guilt precede the urgency of the situation.
It was the least he could do after the way he’d failed her today.
Maya saw his crestfallen look and was about to say something else, but then she glanced at the computer screen and saw Cecile entering the cargo container, accompanied by several guards.
Damien noticed too and narrowed his eyes, watching with distaste as Cecile confronted Dexter. “Quick, the communicator!” He hissed. Maya immediately pulled out the communicator that Dexter had given her, dialed the code and watched the screen. Right then, Dexter was discreetly brushing a hand against his own pocket, most likely to press a button. Static crackled and the conversation from came through the small speakers.
“You better have a good explanation for this.” Cecile was stepping toward him menacingly.
“What happened is that Harley got a bit . . . overzealous with the interrogation and things just got out of hand.” Dexter gestured emphatically at the discarded restraints and taser. “I did everything I could do stop them!”
“Unbelievable. I leave for twenty minutes and you two start a brawl?!” She retorted with a frustrated sigh. “And you’re telling me Miss Kusuma singlehandedly managed to fight two armed Matches while handcuffed?”
“Gee, I wonder how that happened,” Maya quipped. Damien elbowed her in the side, a silent urge to keep listening, only to get a poke in return.
“All ridiculous excuses aside, this just complicates things further. I’ve also received reports of a disturbance on the ship that’s supposed to arrive today.” Cecile tapped the screen of her tablet, then flipped it around to show Dexter. “Furthermore, I had to bypass my own security system to find surveillance footage of the control room!”
The second she mentioned the control room, Damien narrowed his eyes, knowing all too well who could’ve possibly pulled that off.
“Take a guess. What do you see?”
“Uh oh. This doesn’t look good.” Maya watched, worriedly, as Dexter remained silent for a long moment.
“Oh . . .”
“Yes, ‘oh’.” She glared at her own screen. “We’re about to have a bigger problem on our hands. They’re not getting away now, not on my watch.”
“So their friends made it in here, undetected.”
“And it seems they procured another one of our Matches.”
“Right. A copy of me . . . the other one, that is.” There was a slight edge to his voice now, which didn’t go unnoticed by Cecile.
“Only part of the test we were running . . . or at least trying to run.” Cecile spoke through gritted teeth, her tone daring him to argue with her now. “I’m sure you understand our reasons.” Dexter just nodded in response, watching as the guards took Harley and hauled him out of the room. “Essentially, whatever we’d hoped to accomplish at our previous facility, we’ve replicated here – except for the unfortunate change of scenery of course.
“You mean the footage of their interactions with me and Harley. However they reacted to these tests.”
“Essentially, yes. Anything we can get that brings us one step closer to harnessing our research. It’ll all be for nothing if these people escape and try to create more trouble for us. We have to get the situation under control.” Then she pointed to her tablet, smirking. “And Sloane is going to help us out.”
Damien ran his hand through his hair and let out a long breath. This complicated things even more now. They’d barely escaped and were still at risk of being recaptured, which was now the same case for their friends. And they were still too far apart from one another. How were they going to find each other now?
Maya seemed to read his mind and nudged him gently. “Hey, at least we know where they are now, right?” Her smile was nervous, though her eyes seemed to regain their earlier spark.
He shook his head. “But so do they. We need to act fast.” Then Damien took over the computer and began searching through different windows. “If I can find a way to contact the control room, maybe we can warn them . . .” He clicked through several directories, trying to figure out which ones were specific to that room. “Damn it, I wish Sloane were here. She’d navigate this whole thing in a heartbeat.”
“One step at a time Damien.” Maya reassured him. “We know they’re in the control room. If we can find a way to meet up, our odds will be better against-”
“Wait. ‘Our’ odds?” Alana frowned. “Surely you’re not planning on confronting them? We just got out of there.”
“I don’t like it either. But the truth is, Cecile probably has her guards scouring the place for us by now.” Damien explained matter-of-factly. “We’ll have to be ready for a fight if we want to get to the others.”
“I don’t disagree with that. But I think it’s better if you leave most of the fighting to me.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Or realistic.” Damien narrowed his eyes at her tone. “We’re in Eros’ territory now. That means more Match guards. I also don’t believe Harley’s out of commission just yet. Dexter only tased him in the arm. If Cecile and her guards come after us, he’s likely to be there too.”
“Which is why I think we should focus on finding a way to sneak out. You’re not in a state to fight at the moment.”
Maya was about to weigh in, but he held up a hand to stop her. “I appreciate the concern, Alana, but I can handle myself just fine.”
“You could barely walk on the way here.”
“Well I’m getting my rest now, aren’t I?” his tone was more harsh than intended. “And I’ve been through this before. It’ll be fine.”
“You can’t be serious Damien, you were electrocuted! A lot of times over the course of several minutes!”
“Look, one way or another Eros is going to come after us when we get out there. I can’t just sit back and do nothing while you get outnumbered.”
“You need to focus your energy on escaping. If we can get out of here and lie low, they’ll crawl back to their hole and scheme like they always do. It’s safer for us than sticking around just to get even with Harley-”
“Just to get even’? Are you listening to yourself?!”
Guys, we can’t-” Maya tried to cut in again, but went unheard.
Damien and Alana’s voices were starting to go up as tensions rose. They were different in the tactics they used in their line of work, but were equally hotheaded and stubborn when it came to making their point. Now Maya could see that this was but a small glimpse into why these two had such a messy history.
“You can’t be the hero, every damn time, Damien! For now, escaping is our priority. We’re outmanned and outnumbered in case you haven’t noticed!”
“Of course I’ve noticed.” He shot back. “Thanks for that, by the way. If there was anything in life I’ve wanted to cross out of my bucket list, it’s being imprisoned in the North Pole.”
Alana rolled her eyes. “Aaaaand here we go. I should’ve known that would come up at some point.”
Damien’s face contorted in anger at her words. Maya placed a hand on his arm, urging him to back down, but he shrugged her off. “Well it was going to at some point, and it had to be from me!” He glared at Alana as he pressed further. “Do you see now? Do you see what we were talking about? Why I took my friends and went on the run instead of negotiating directly with Eros?”
“Your ‘friends’?” Alana laughed. “If you mean Maya and Nadia, then I get it. But I seem to recall you referring to Hayden as ‘plastic, metal, nuts and bolts.’ Besides, weren’t you planning on abandoning them anyway?”
“Don’t- don’t do that.”
“Do what, sweetheart?”
“That thing you do where you put words into my mouth. For your information, my original idea had been to stick together and plan carefully until we could find a safe place for Hayden and Sloane to hide, then go our separate ways. There’s a difference between that and just throwing them to the wolves! I would never have done that!”
“That’s not what I’d intended!” Alana fired back. “I thought-”
“Well, you clearly thought wrong!”
“Now you listen here-”
“Guys, focus!” Maya slammed her hands onto the table, shocking them into silence. “We’re in enough trouble as it is and arguing over the past is not gonna change that.” She glared at both of them. “Now as I was saying, both of you are right. Alana’s right that we’re exhausted and injured. If the guards catch us, we’ll be overwhelmed so we need to get out of here and fast. That being said, Damien is also right. Cecile knows we escaped and the second we leave to find our friends, she’ll be after us. We have to be ready, which we will be once we find our friends. There’s no choice there. And one thing is for sure, no one is getting left behind! Do I make myself clear?!”
Both of them watched her, stunned, and then slowly nodded. Damien’s expression had sobered into a sheepish one while Alana pointedly looked away.
“You’re right, Maya. Sorry.” he said. “We have enough enemies without us turning on each other.”
Maya then looked at Alana, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
Alana held her gaze for several seconds, then sighed, glancing awkwardly at Damien. “Yeah. Sorry.”
Maya rolled her eyes, knowing that was the best she was going to get at the moment. “Okay, so here’s what we’ll do. Alana, look around and see if there’s supplies we can get. Anything that’ll help us when we get out there. Damien, find a way to contact the control room.” Both of them complied and got to work. “We need to warn the others. And if they know anything that’ll help us make our way out, now would be a good time to know.”
“That’s all well and good,” Alana put down the boxes she’d searched and was now rifling through the closet. “But if we contact them, Cecile could find us. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re tapping the phones right now.”
“Then I guess we better get ready to run.” Maya answered pointedly. “In case anyone gets any funny ideas.”
Alana chuckled at that. “Speaking of which, check this out.”
Maya looked up from the computer to see her pointing inside the closet. Inside were several packed bags that Maya recognized as hers and those of her friends’. “What in the world-” she walked across to have a closer look. And then clenched her fists. “They took our stuff out of the hotel?!”
“While we were at the museum. Long before they grabbed us.” Damien scoffed. “They knew we weren’t going back anytime soon.”
“I honestly don’t know why you’re surprised at this point.” Alana deadpanned. “Though on the bright side,” she held up one of them. “You have a change of clothes, now. Clean ones at least.”
“It’s still fucked up.” Maya was muttering angrily. “Should’ve stabbed Rowan in the other eye when I had the chance.”
“Well, you could always do it in this.” Alana pulled out an outfit from her bag – a black spider-cage tank top with a matching pair of sleek leather pants, complimented with a chain hanging off the black belt, black combat sneakers and a pair of fingerless gloves. “What do you think? Picked it up from a contact a while ago. Very efficient in combat situations especially.”
“You had me at ‘change of clothes.'” Maya took the clothes from her eagerly, stepping behind the open door so she could change. First, she put on the pants, then the tank top, admiring the soft fabric as she smoothed it down and tucked it in. Next, she stepped into the sneakers, lacing them as tightly as possible. Finally, she pulled the gloves on, letting the ends snap onto her wrists for good measure.
Salvaging their possessions may have been part of Eros’ plans in arranging ‘permanent lodgings’ for them. But in a twist of irony, it had become a saving grace. She walked around the room and stretched, loving how light and comfortable the outfit felt on her. “For one thing it’s clean, it fits just right, and I can move more easily now.” Then she closed her eyes, breathed deeply and let it out in a relaxed sigh.
When Maya opened her eyes, she peered at her reflection in the windows, taking herself in. Then her lips turned up into a satisfied grin. “This is more like it, now.” Some of the bruises on her arms and face from earlier fights were showing more now, but the sight actually instilled pride in her, not fear. Any soreness or exhaustion seemed insignificant now as her gloved hands closed into fists.
This was the most empowered she’d felt in a while and now she actually looked the part. Maya was never broken. She’d fought back before and would keep doing so until she and her friends were free.
Bring, it Eros.
“Well, look at you. Like one of Charlie’s Angels.” Alana crossed her arms, nodding in approval. “Provided you live up to the outfit’s purpose and kick some ass.”
Maya rolled her eyes. “I’m having a moment here. Don’t ruin it.”
“You look . . . great, Maya.” Damien was smiling at her sincerely, to which she couldn’t help but blush. “Eros won’t know what hit ’em.” With everything she’d been through today, Damien had been genuinely worried about her, especially after what had happened earlier. But now, to see her spirits back up and radiating so much confidence made him proud.
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?”
“Thought you knew better than to fish compliments from me.”
“Now that’s not true,” she giggled. “I never know better.”
Alana cleared her throat from behind them. “If you two are quite done flirting, can we get back to getting the hell out of here?” That just earned her a chuckle from her companions. Damien turned his attention back to the computer, searching for several more minutes until finally . . .
“Wait I found them!” He quickly put on a headset and turned the dial on the radio, racking his brain for a proper message. Maya was right to want to warn them about Cecile. But at the same time, Alana had a point about being careful. He took a deep breath and began to talk. “Hello? If anybody reads, please respond.”
Static fizzed on the other end for a few agonizing minutes before Damien decided to try again. “Hello? If anybody reads, please respond.”
Alana stepped up behind them, her arms crossed and shoulders tense.
Maya was biting her lip nervously. “Please be okay, please be okay.”
Then Sloane’s voice broke through. “Hello? Hello? We can hear you!”
We’re fighting our fear of the silence
We’re running through walls where they stand
Let us burn, let us burn, let us burn . . .