Elemental

Chapter 35

Christine barely made it, her lungs were aching and full of smoke. She was covered in sweat, soot, and blood. Her limbs barely cooperated and she felt as if her bones were shaking. She was starving and nauseous and all she wanted to do was make sure the team was all right. That their plan at worked.

When she saw Silvia pacing outside the cave at the rendezvous point, Christine sighed in relief and nearly fell to her knees. Then she noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Damien?" Christine demanded, fixing her eyes on Silvia.

Silvia swallowed. "I-I'm so sorry, Christine."

Panic seized her. "What happened to him?"

"He caused a distraction to get us out," Bo cut in. "They took him—"

Christine didn't need to hear the rest. She grabbed the gun holstered at Raquel's hip before turning and bolting back toward the base.

Raquel yelled for someone to grab Christine. She ran past them and many of the troops tried to stop her, but the panic and rage inside of her made her skin hot to the touch. No one could touch her without getting burned. They yelled after her as Christine ran through the trees but she didn't turn back. She couldn't leave him.

She knew that the Raiders would realize soon that Damien wouldn't give up any information and they'd kill him. Raquel would insist on making a plan of attack but Christine knew that Damien wouldn't last long enough for them to come up with a plan. She would use the disorder that came from the aftermath of the battle to her advantage.

With new adrenaline pumping in her veins, she used that to channel her powers. She urged the branches of the surrounding trees to form a sort of bridge. The branches bent and twinned together like clasped hands. She was in a valley so this far up she could see past the hill to the base in the distance. There were at least fifty Raiders still on the battlefield, collecting the dead and injured. Most were in the base itself. She could see a group of Raiders was loading captives into a car, including Damien.

She picked up the pace and formed a flame in her hand. Christine shot the flame towards the base, creating a wall of flames to cut the Raiders off from the rest of the base. Her aim was a little off, leaving twelve Raiders between her and the captives, instead of only the four that were loading captives in the car. The Raiders took out their guns and were scanning the area around for her. She would be on top of them soon enough. She lept from the last tree, landed in a crouch which she rolled out of before getting back to her feet, all in one fluid motion. She skidded to a stop on the asphalt that led to the base.

"Let them go," Christine said, taking aim.

The Raider closest to her fell leaving eleven left and five hostages. She was grossly outnumbered, but she liked her odds. The Raiders leveled their own guns at her and started shooting. Christine created a wall of roots, using the cover to dart into the trees. While the guards shot at the wall of roots she slipped along the trees, shooting at unsuspected Raiders and they tried to figure out her location.

It wasn't long until the four Raiders surrounding the captives were dead and the remaining seven came up to take their place. Before she could make another shot, one Raider placed his gun on Damien's temple.

"Take another shot and I'll blow his brains out." The Raider yelled, eyes scanning across the trees in search of her. "If you come quietly, we'll let the captives go."

The other Raiders followed suit, placing their guns to each of the captives' heads. "Try and fight but you won't be able to save them all."

She looked at the faces of the captives. She didn't know all of their names but knew their faces and the families that they had left behind. They all had people waiting for them and praying for their return. Christine didn't. Besides, if anyone could get away from the Raiders, it was her. She just needs to play this right.

She stepped out of the trees with her hands raised, leaving the gun behind. The Raider nearest to her grabbed her and placed shackles on her wrists. The bands shifted to fit her skinny wrists and as soon as they were secure, needles pierced the inside of her wrists. She hissed in pain. A crushing weight of emptiness overwhelmed her and fear clung to her chest. She tried to make a root wiggle out of the ground at her feet but felt no response. She had always felt a connection with the elements around her but it was as if the line had been severed. Never in her life had she felt something like this, detached from the only constant in her life. The terror must have been plain on her face because the Raider smirked at her.

"Not feeling so powerful now, are you?"

Christine locked eyes with Damien, her terror mirrored in his bright blue eyes.

"You have me, now let them go." She said with as much conviction as she could muster.

"Of course," the Raider next to her said and gestured to the others.

The five next to the captives lowered their guns and almost simultaneously shot each captive in the leg. They all crumbled to the ground with a yell and Christine flinched. The rage that she felt was usually met with flames but she didn't feel the familiar warmth.

"Just to make sure we aren't followed," the Raider said, grabbing Christine's arm and dragging her towards the car.

She looked at Damien, who was struggling to his feet and gave him a small smile before she was shoved into the car. Damien yelled her name and her eyes filled with tears at the desperation and pain in his voice. She didn't dare look back and instead looked at her shackled hands as the car surged forward. They looked like traditional iron but they glowed slightly as if they had been soaked in chemicals. She tugged at them, testing the strength.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you," the Raider next to her spoke, smirking. "Tug hard enough and it'll inject you with poison. Same if try to get out of them without using the key."

"What are they made of?" Christine asked and he laughed.

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is it keeps your unnatural powers at bay. As far as I'm concerned, you're a useless little girl now."

The car stopped and the three Raiders stepped out. Her door opened and the Raider that had been sitting next to her pulled her out.

"I don't need my gifts to kill you," Christine growled at him.

He punched her ribs and she doubled over in pain. "Useless," he hissed.

They lead her toward a huge building surrounded with a fence topped with barbed wire that hummed with electricity. There were Raiders and cameras everywhere. There was only one place she could be. The maximum-security prison.