Undefeated

Part 22: Pleasant Surprise

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Imogen's POV
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    It's been a few days since the symptoms wore off. Now I'm suffering through hunger pains, and knowing that I'm close to my ovulation cycle.

    I've been able to handle the torture for decades. I've learned to fight to the end of it regardless of how bad it hurt.

    The thought of being used in ways I can't even speak or think of throws all my rationality out the window. Not only would it be a horrible experience, but I would be birthing a child into this facility and they'll do god knows what with my baby.

    Dane has been trying to hide his anger, but I can see right through him.

Every time Grim has come to check on my cycle, Dane's been able to keep his cool. Luckily, he's remembered what I told him about constant struggling making a more difficult escape.

They haven't looked at anything beyond my clothes, though. They've been checking my hormone levels and estimating off of them.

We haven't spoken of it, but Dane and I are both wondering about Mila. I don't remember anything, but he says Mila and I were together when they took us.

"Dane," I whisper, even though no one is around to hear but him.

"Hm?" He looks at me and signals me to continue.

"I think I'm gonna be ovulating today or tomorrow." We share a helpless gaze with each other.

"I know you said no, but we have got to get out of here." My breath hitches. The sweat from my forehead and cheeks makes my baby hairs stick to my face.

"Dane, look at us." He sighs and leans back, knowing I'm right. We've both been here for probably two weeks. They've been feeding him the bare minimum, and they've been feeding me nothing whatsoever. Dane's even pointed out that I look skinnier already.

We have almost no energy to make a grand escape. I can if I manage to not get caught, but a single bullet could make him collapse in defeat.

Although, I admit, having a child in this mess and not being able to raise them as my own in a safe environment would certainly be much worse. They would have to test if the baby is immortal.

It makes me shiver just thinking about it.

"If it makes any difference in your mind," Dane mumbles. "We don't really have anything left to lose."

He's right. There's no way in hell I would ever trade my own child for freedom.

"Wait, what about you?" He cocks an eyebrow, waiting for me to explain. "You have a whole life out there. I have nothing to lose. You have everything to lose."

"I'd risk that in a heartbeat for you, Minnie." He said the sentence so quickly and firmly that I completely lost track of the conversation. "I can't let them do this to you. I know what it's like to be sexually assaulted and I won't let them violate you like that."

A lingering silence goes bouncing back and forth between us like slow-motion tennis. Waiting for either one of us to say something. Anything.

"How the hell would we even escape?" I ask, shattering the heavy silence.

As if on cue, the door slams open and two people run in. I don't recognize the old man that grabs a knife and runs to me, cutting all the ropes.

The other person crouches next to Dane in a hurry.

"Mila?!" Dane and I exclaim at the same time.

"Come with us," she whisper-yells. "We know the way out. Dane, we have to shield ourselves behind those two. They're both immortal."

This guy's like me?!

I'm freed from the chair and stand up, nearly falling over. Dane breaks free of the rest of his restraints and runs over to me to plant a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Let's go," I say as Dane helps me to my feet. "Dane, Mila, stay behind us at all costs!"

We bolt out of the room and down the hallways. My legs feel like jelly at first, but soon are taking autopilot. The adrenaline quickly rushes through my veins. The perfect ingredient for running with bullet wounds.

The man, even though he's somewhat old, is surprisingly good at running. We all maintain the same pace.

Muffled yelling and footsteps start approaching us from every direction. The man and I maneuver the four of us to try blocking the majority of the bullets.

My throat lets out a strangled cry when the familiar burning pain hits my side. The warmth of the blood slowly trickles down my hip until I'm creating bloody footprints. I look over to check on the others.

They're fine. The stranger has some blood on his abdomen, but they're fine.

Another pain hits me in the back, but this time it's not a bullet. The pain in every stride my legs take makes me reach back and yank it out to relieve it. I hold it in front of me. They're throwing f*cking daggers!

We make a sharp right, the footsteps slowly straying farther and farther behind us. Although we're gaining distance, we're still nowhere near the exit.

Dane's hand finds mine and squeezes tight. A wave of happiness rushes through me. We're gonna make it out of here.

"Almost there!" The stranger shouts with determination in his voice, only pushing us to run even faster.

A scream comes from my left and I instinctively stop myself, whipping my head around. Mila is laying on the ground with blood pooling from her foot. The men are running up to her quickly, too quick for her attempt at crawling towards us.

I don't know how it happened. I don't understand where all the energy came from. I haven't eaten in days. This shouldn't be physically possible, but I guess adrenaline does crazy things. I'm lifting her up with my right arm beneath her knees and left arm beneath her upper back.

Dane puts his hand on my back to help guide me as we continue our run, Mila's arms tightly wrapped around my neck. Her soft cries from the pain are going straight into my left ear. We begin approaching an exit down the hallway.

"Hold it open," I yell. Dane and the stranger nod and reach the exit first. They pull the double doors open with all their body weights and I zoom through with Mila, the two of them running close behind.

My blood rushes through my ears. Before we know it, we've finally lost them and are deep in the forest. In the middle of nowhere.

I set Mila down against a large rock and sit beside in front of her.

"It doesn't look too bad," I say while closely observing her foot. I carefully pull it into my lap. "It seems like a bullet did it, just a tiny graze wound. It shouldn't need bandages."

She nods and catches her breath. I crawl over to another large rock and lay on my side, my back up against it. Dane lays on his back beside me and, as if we've done it a million times, I move myself forward to rest my head on his shoulder.

"We made it." He lightly chuckles and sends vibrations through my body. "We're okay."