When All is Lost

Chapter 59

"It's my fault you guys were taken. They were after me and my group but they came across your group and got it all wrong. I'm really, really sorry."

The woman digested my words slowly and I watched as she looked behind her at the others in her group, clearly wanting to get a read on their opinions. None of them seemed to be willing to reveal a lot, so I continued.

"I saw you running," I stated, drawing the woman's attention back to me. "You crossed past the building I was hiding in and I knew I couldn't just let them take all of you. None of you deserve to be here, I-"

"What did you do?" A thirty-something-looking man asked from behind the woman. He had shaggy locks of brown hair hanging in his face and his arm in a sling with a good deal of extra fabric, both of which seemed to dance in the small breeze that blew past. "Why were they after you?"

"We... we had a confrontation that went badly. I made a bad call." I swallowed hard, not wanting to admit more under our given circumstances, but I did want to own that I had made a mistake. "They tried to retaliate and killed two of my group members and had set me free to try and trick me into leading them back to the rest of my group. As you can see, it didn't work."

I hoped Anton heard every word I spoke and actually felt them. He couldn't let the six be led to slaughter. He had it in him to make a better call. I was sure of it.

"They really should just let you all go," I almost yelled, wanting all of the guards to hear me clearly. "Everything that has happened is on me. It's my fault. It began with me and it can end with me. Is that not good enough?"

"Shut up," a voice snapped from behind us. I turned trying to see who'd spoken, but I couldn't tell which guard it had been.

I looked over at Anton next to see him looking off into the distance. From his deadpan expression, I would have almost believed that he hadn't heard a word I'd said except for the stiffness in his shoulders. His posture spoke volumes even if he stayed silent. He was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

Good.

"They won't let us go, will they?" the woman asked, though she knew the answer. She smiled almost bitterly. "At least the others got out."

I nodded. "At least the others got out," I repeated, thinking of my own group. Not wanting the guards to hear the next part, I leaned in closer to her, ignoring the horrible, growing pain in my side. "And I won't give up – not till the very end and still not then. I'll keep trying to get you all out."

The woman looked taken aback by my declaration but she seemed to be a bit more at ease afterwards. "You think they'll kill us?"

"Yes." She had the right to know. They all did. They needed to know how dire the situation really was. I watched the woman nod at the man at her side and give his elbow a squeeze. His expression stayed reserved, but he held his head high and his eyes held determination.

"Then," the woman shrugged. "I guess, thank you for being here with us." Her mixed feelings stung, but I couldn't blame her. It was still my fault they'd been caught up in my mess to begin with.

"I'm Kate," I told her, not sure of what else to say.

The man angled his face away, not wanting to share, but the woman as least tried to give me a half-smile. "Marcy," she answered.

Knowing her name, her voice, seeing her relationships with the rest of the six – it all turned the woman I'd seen running outside of the salon into someone much more real. She wasn't a figure I wanted to save, but a person I wanted to know. And it wasn't because there was anything extraordinary about her. It was because I was finally seeing clearly again.