The Night of the Mobs (MCSM Fanfiction - Sequel to The Secrets Beneath the Lies)

Chapter 21 - On Death's Doorstep

The prisoner cowered in the corner of the cell, their arms wrapped around themselves. They were a mere shadow in the dark, barely visible from the outside.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway of cells, the prisoner lifting their head and looking around fearfully. Their breath caught in their throat, recognising the man that came down the hallway as Gill, not Aiden.

Gill smirked at the site of the bloody, bruised person cowering in the corner of the cell. Aiden sent him and Maya there merely to feed their leverage, but without their leader there to keep him in line, it was really more of a game. He unlocked the cell's gate, stepping inside and crossing his arms.

"What?" The person asked in a shaky voice, after being stared at for a few minutes.

"Just thinking, we need to fatten you up a bit." Gill said, smirking. "Once Aiden no longer needs you for information or leverage against the loser, you're going to make fine punching bag."

The prisoner let out a frightened whimper, scrambling to their feet and backing up against the wall. Gill stepped closer, liking how his shadow towered over them.

"Scared, are we?" He taunted. "Because you should be."

"A-actually." The person stuttered. "N-no!"

Gill's face fell in surprise, not having expected that response. The prisoner acted as the speed of lighting, kicking upwards. The blow from their boot caused Gill to double over, collapsing onto his knees in agony.

Ignoring the pain from their fractured ribs and other injuries, the prisoner bolted past Gill. They flung the gate closed behind them, quick to turn the key in the lock and stuffing it in their pocket so Gill couldn't get back out. And then they booked it down the hallway.

Maya was waiting at the entrance of the cell block for Gill, rubbing her bare arms. She softly cursed under her breath for not bringing her wolfskin coat.

Suddenly Maya was caught off guard as the prisoner came barreling out of the hallway, shoving her against the nearest wall with all of their remaining strength. There was an unsettling thud as Maya's forehead met the concrete, collapsing to the ground in a pitiful heap of limbs.

The person glanced back at the cell block one last time, before beginning to sprint into the dark jungle.

-------------------

"Come on, Jesse, just hold on." Petra's desperate pleas were beginning to get drowned out by her own sobs.

Blood, Jesse's blood, coated Petra's bare hands and arms, staining her clothes. Wiry strands of her soaked red hair that had escaped her bandanna, dangled in her eyes. Rainwater glistened on her cold, pale skin while shivers of cold and fear rippled throughout her limbs.

Not having known where the other Blaze Rods were, especially Maya, Petra had fled their bunker with Jesse and Rascal. Now here she was in the first cave she could find, on her knees on the ground beside Jesse.

Jesse's armour lay in a discarded heap off to the side, the quartz surface painted in her blood around the horrendous gash in her chest plate. Jesse herself was lying on the ground in front of Petra, eyes closed and breath shallow.

Petra's jacket was used in an attempt to stop the blood flow, tightly secured around the wound in her stomach. In fact, most of Petra's clothes were used to wrap or clean the wound, even in attempt to keep Jesse warm and dry. Petra didn't care in the slightest that she herself was chilled to the bone, with only a thin layer of clothing remaining on her body. Saving Jesse was all she cared about.

Petra anxiously glanced back at the storm raging outside. If she tried to carry Jesse all the way back to the tree-house, there was higher chance that it would kill her friend instead of saving her. But she was left absolutely no way of getting Jesse help.