Chapter Fifty-six

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Rico dragged Fran behind him and stared at Pearl in silence. Pearl gestured impatiently with the knife.

"Move," he ordered. "I need to kill her before they find her."

Rico bristled angrily. "No."

Pearl sighed. "Then I'll have to kill you too. But I don't like killing boys."

"I don't give a d*mn who you like killing." Rico got to his feet.

Pearl looked disappointed. "But I only need to kill girls," he said. "They aren't going to sacrifice boys. I have to kill their female sacrifices so that they can't use them to raise their mother goddess."

"You're a f*cking *rsehole," Rico told him.

Pearl didn't take it well. He drew himself up with a glare that, if looks could kill, would have incinerated Rico on the spot, and pulled his arm back to throw the knife.

Before he could get any further, there was a zap of electricity. Pearl screamed and crumpled. A second zap and he was unconscious.

"Wow," said Bruno's voice. "He needs to be locked away. Who is he, in any case?"

"Dunno," said Rico.

"Pearl," Fran mumbled from the floor. Her heart felt like it was stuttering, both from the shock of Pearl's scream and from the abrupt appearance of Bruno. She'd never been so glad to see somebody in her life. "Or he might be Jordan."

Rico and Bruno both looked down at her, but neither of them commented.

"We need to move out," Bruno said. "There are helicopters and commandos everywhere, and I'm not sure if they're shooting live rounds or not."

Rico gestured to Fran. "Help me carry her? I don't think she's all that well."

"Give her a piggyback. I have a weapon - I'll need at least one hand free or else I can't defend us. And in any case, I have to be careful about my back."

"I forgot about that," said Rico as he crouched down. "Fran, do you think you could get onto my back?"

Fran somehow managed to drape herself across him. He tucked his arms under her legs and hefted her so that he was comfortable. Bruno gave them a quick once over and then beckoned for Rico to follow him.

The warehouse door had been left open, and it was possible to smell and see the fire from the first burning warehouse before they were even outside.

"That building does not look safe," Bruno commented. "It looks like it's going to collapse at any moment."

He had barely finished speaking before there was a huge whumph! and the burning roof plunged out of sight.

"Let's go out the other way," Bruno suggested, turning away from the fire. Rico followed his lead wordlessly, and they headed into the shadows of the other nearby buildings.

Fran dozed a little as they slipped through the darkness and around the chaotic fighting between the army and the cult members. They had to hide behind the shell of a pick-up truck at one point because bullets were zinging all over the place, but the fighting soon moved on, which meant that they could, too.

All in all, Fran wasn't totally sure how long it took them to get away from all the noise, but when she was next fully aware of what was going on, Rico seemed more relaxed and Bruno pointed out a wooden fence near some trees that they were apparently heading for. As they got nearer, it became clear that the area near the trees was a car park, although a large tank was sitting there alongside the trucks and cars. There was also a figure hovering anxiously by the gate through into the car park.

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