Turncoat: Turncoat Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 21.1

The whine of the truck engine and the crunch of gravel under the tires were the only sounds that penetrated the air around me. The plastic zip ties pinched around my wrists and the bag over my head tasted like sweat. I strained to hear anything else about where we were going, but I could pick up on anything else. I could feel someone's body pressed up against mine as we huddled together in the center of the truck bed. It didn't feel like Vicki, she felt firm everywhere, this woman felt softer except for her one hand which felt cold like Nick's.

She quivered just sitting there, soft sobs occasionally escaping her. I wanted to comfort her, just something to keep her from crying too loudly. I didn't want the guards around us to hurt her because she was scared. I reached for her metal hand with my fingers. When I tightened my grasp, she cried out pulling away from me.

"Don't move!" one of the loyalists snapped.

I felt a shock travel through the woman's torso as her cry of fear cut off. I wanted to shout at the men, but I knew worse would await me if I tried to fight them. So I kept my mouth shut and I will always regret I did.

The kick only increased the volume of her whimpering. She shied back against me, pressing her soft body against mine, her fingers tightening around my wrists.

"If you don't shut up, I will give you a reason to scream about," another loyalist growled.

The woman quieted for a moment, before silent sobs began to rack her body. She began muttering under her breath. Apologizing to various people or begging for their forgiveness. I squeezed her hand back and turned my head to position my mouth closer to her ear.

"Shut her up!" a third loyalist snapped before I could try to comfort her.

Her crying increased in volume until that's all I heard. "No, no please don't, don't please! I beg--"

Hot liquid struck my shoulder as a deafening bang went off in the back of the truck. My entire body tensed as she went limp and her head struck my shoulder. Her fingers slowly released and something wet began to seep down my arm and shoulder. Panic built in my chest as I nudged her gently, hoping for her to make some kind of sound but there was nothing. Just a limp form supported only by me as her blood soaked into my shirt.

A hand closed around my neck. "Don't you go making a fuss now," a voice growled. "Our bosses will be interested in talking to you and I don't want to have to wash two bodies worth of blood out of this truck."

I nodded, my lips quivering as I sat there alone now. The guards around me returned to their silence. My ears rang slightly from the gunshot and the woman's blood had now reached my hands. The ride seemed to last an eternity of silence. When the truck came to a halt, a pair of hands grabbed me and yanked forcefully upward. I managed to get my feet under me before being shoved off the end of the truck. The fall seemed to last for a short eternity before it terminated on hard packed dirt. My face landing in a pool of water that soaked the bag around my head.

I coughed and hacked as they removed me, dragging me up to my feet. A rifle barrel dug into my back as a hand struck my shoulder with a crass, "walk."

I followed their instruction, walking straight without seeing anything. They directed me with sharp strikes on my arms and legs, directing me in whatever direction they wanted. A hand closed around my collar and jerked me to a halt. I stopped in place, taking sucking breaths through my soaked bag.

"Sit," came the next instruction.

I complied, and heard two accompanying thuds. The bag was removed from my head as light flooded in. I sat in a barren room, a single bloodstained mattress in the corner and one window set high and covered with bars. Vicki and Nick were nearby, also sitting.

The loyalists left us alone, closing the door behind us. Vicki shot to her feet, trying to rush the door I guess, only for it to slam shut before she could get two steps in. She swore fervently before turning her attention on me.

"You're bleeding," she cried and dropped to her knees next to me.

"It's not mine," I muttered. I looked over at Nick who sagged lethargically against the wall. "Is Nick okay?"

"They put a tamper on his bionic," Vicki said. "He's going to be fairly tired. How are you feeling?"

"Dirty," I said. "I could have saved her, I know I could have."

"They would have killed you too," Vicki said. "Just focus on getting yourself out of here alive and nothing else."

I nodded and walked over to Nick. He looked up at me with guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tawny, this is my fault. I shouldn't have gone into that town."

"We would have starved," I said.

"That would be better than this," he said.

We sat there in silence for several hours, using the passing of the light to keep track of time. I rubbed my empty wrist where my interface used to be, the missing weight felt foreign to me. When the door opened again, four men walked in, two carrying large rifles, pointed at us.

"You and you, back against the wall," one of the men snapped, pointing at Vicki and Nick.

Fear surged into my chest as the other grabbed me.

"No! Leave her alone!" Vicki shouted. One of the men with a rifle reversed his grasp quickly and slammed the butt into her temple. She fell to her side with a cry of pain.

"Vicki!" I shouted. I struggled against my captor. He was too strong and removed me from the room quickly. I thrashed against him as they dragged me down a hallway A doorway opened and my eyes went wide. A pair of chains hung from a point in the ceiling, hanging over a low spot in the room with a drain.

The plastic ties around my wrists snapped and my arms were wrenched in front of me, the chains attached before I could fight back and then the chain started to shorten. I stretched to keep my feet on the ground, I got onto my toes and then the ground vanished. I could see it just past the end of my toes.

A fat man entered the room with a cigarette hanging from his lips. "So, you're the one who came with the woman who wouldn't shut up," he said.

"You're men made sure she'd never talk again," I spat.

"So, they did. I'm not interested in her, I'm more interested in you. What is a pretty little dead head hacker doing with a group of resistance members?"

"Nothing," I said.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment and removed the cigarette from between his teeth. He blew the smoke into my face and whispered. "Liar."

The red hot end of the cigarette touched my chest, burning quickly through my shirt and searing my skin. I cried out in pain and he began to laugh. "So, you're a screamer," he said. "This is going to be fun."