Chapter |15| Reconnoiters

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“Chase?”  

The blackness consumed me. I tried maneuvering onto my feet, but chains weighed heavily on my cuffed wrists. Groaning, I yanked my arm away from my body, unintentionally causing myself pain. The metal cuffs around my wrist dug deeper, scraping against the already raw skin. Dirt particles flew up in a cloud, making me gag.   

“Chase!” I cried out into the vast darkness in front of me. “Are you there? Is anyone there?”  My voice echoed inside what I had believed to be an enclosed room without windows.   

Warm tears spilled down my cheeks. The silence hovered over me like a rain cloud. Recons had to be responsible. The last thing I had remembered was running with the group, falling, and staring down at Inara’s wound on her head. Is she dead? Did anyone make it out alive?   

“Mila…” a male voice spoke quietly somewhere in the room.   

I looked to the right, even though I couldn’t see my own breath formulating with each exhale. The room was cold, so cold the tip of my nose hurt. Though the chill made me ache deep into my muscles, I tried to keep focused. The voice spoke again, pain etched in every word.  

“Are you hurt? Did they touch you in any way?” he asked.  

Chase. Relief swept over my body, warming me from head to toe. “Chase, I’m so happy to hear your voice.” I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat before I spoke again with my scratchy voice. “I don’t think I was hurt, just my wrists from these cuffs. Are you okay? You sound hurt.  I don’t remember anything after the Recons showed up in the dead woods…” I rambled, confusion escalating with each word I spoke.  

Chains scraped across the cement floor. “I’m fine, I think.” He moaned, more movement echoed to my left.   

I looked in that direction, wishing I could see Chase’s face. Hold him in my arms. Kiss his familiar lips.   

“Mila?”  

“Yes. I’m here.”  

He said, “Recons captured us. They took the other three to a separate room. Last I knew, Tank was badly injured, and Inara…well, I think she’s suffering from a concussion.”   

I huffed. “Yep, figures. With her hard headedness she’d definitely survive a grueling impact with a side of a tree.”  

Chase laughed, but sadness lingered afterward. “I wish I could see your face.”  

Shaking my head, I realized he couldn’t see me. “You wouldn’t want to see these tears, the hopelessness I feel right now. You’re so close yet so far away because of these stupid chains!” I pulled my arms forward, tightening the metal links in the air.   

Stop, Mila,” Chase said in a sharp whisper. “If they come –”  

Fluorescent lighting blasted my eyesight.  A swarm of Recons shuffled into the room in a singular line. One in particular, massive in size, stepped forward. White boots stood a couple feet from me, the figure’s masked face tilted down at me as if waiting for me to speak first. So I did.  

“What the hell do you want from us?” I screamed while jumping to my feet. I failed to stand. Falling backward, my head clashed with the cement wall. “Dammit!”   

The masked person laughed deeply. “Are you done, Earth-child?”  

“Excuse me?” I gazed up at the helmet covering the face speaking to me. “Who are you people?”  

Chase scuffled nearby, forced into a kneeling position by two Recons. “Don't give them the satisfaction of speaking!" He spat at the floor.  The Recon to his left elbowed his cheekbone. Chase scowled, pinching his lips tightly together.   

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