Chapter Twenty-eight
I've never been so happy to see the Hummer in my life. Dunn comes stumbling up the hill to us, quickly passed by Hicks who comes sprinting, his suit in shambles and signature sunglasses missing. I can see the tears in his eyes even from here. Hicks envelops me in a hug so tight I think he cracks one of my few not cracked ribs.
"Get off, you big lug," Dunn says.
Hicks releases me and wipes at his eyes. Dunn moves him out of the way and hugs me as well.
"You okay?" he asks, pushing me back to study my face.
"I'm fine. We need to get River to a hospital," I say.
Hicks gently takes River's limp form from Finn and starts down the hill towards the Hummer.
"Oh, shit. What happened?" Dunn asks.
"I'll tell you later," I say. "Take River to a hospital, okay? We'll meet you there when we can." I start back up the hill, digging for any energy I might have left.
"Where the hell are you going?" Dunn asks, following me.
I look back at Finn. "We've gotta go save the rest of them. Anna is in there, and one of the werewolves helped me. There are so many binders. We have to help them!"
"Falon, you were lucky to get away at all," Dunn says. He gently grabs my wrist. "We need to leave while we still can, yeah?"
I look between him and Finn. Hicks honks the horn on the Hummer.
"Are you coming?" I ask Finn, wrenching my wrist from Dunn's grasp.
The look on his face says it all. He's not going to help me.
"I'm not leaving them behind! They're torturing them! They're slaughtering them! I can't leave them!" I yell.
"We have to, love," Finn says. "We have to leave them. You can't save anyone how you are now."
"You could!' I plead. "You know you could!"
"I'm not in any shape to take on—"
How could he refuse to help? After all he's done? "You let my mother die! You let my brother die!"
Dunn steps between us. He says something but I yell over him, pointing my finger at Finn.
"You might as well have killed them yourself! If I've ever been anything more to you than some weird little pet, then you'll go back! The least you can do is help me—"
"Falon, shut up for a second!' Dunn yells. "Finn can't! Open your freaking eyes!" Dunn points at Finn's left arm.
I'm fuming, but the second I look at Finn's arm, the anger dissipates. How did I not notice it before? The flesh on his arm is bubbled up and almost smeared looking. It's completely inflamed and oozing a bit from an open wound, a small hole in the meat of his bicep. It looks like someone threw acid on him.
"They have weapons," Finn explains. "They're ready for a war. The most we can do right now is retreat and recover. I'm sorry I can't help them, I really am, love. But my priority right now is getting you home safe. Please, let us take you home."
I look back up into the woods. If I walk away now, I'll be walking away from hundreds of my kind. I'll be walking away from the people that helped me escape. But if I go back, I'll probably do little more than get myself killed. Or worse, strapped back to a table.
"Let's go home," Dunn says, stretching his hand out.
Hicks honks the horn again. They're not going to leave unless I'm going with them. And that means River won't get the medical attention he needs.
"Shit," I curse, taking Dunn's hand.
We rush for the Hummer and I hop into the trunk area with River. Hicks covers him in a blanket, tucking him in on all sides. I crawl besides him and place his head gently on my thigh, putting one hand on his chest over his heart. Dunn hops into the second row and looks over the seats at us.
Finn hovers in the back doorway. "Go ahead. I'm going to make sure no one picks up our scent," he says. He looks back at me, full of sadness. Guilt hangs around him like a thick grey aura. "I'll catch up."
I want start to say "be careful," but hesitate. He disappears before I can get the words out of my mouth.
Hicks jumps into the driver's seat and starts the engine. The Hummer tears away, rattling over every hole and rock on the dirt path. Dunn doesn't even flinch at the damage obviously being done to the tires and the suspension.
He places his hand on my shoulder. "Is he gonna be okay?"
I feel for River's heartbeat beneath my palm. "I hope so."
"He's tough, yeah? Can tell he's been through a lot," Dunn says.
And a lot of it's been because of me. "How did you find us?" I ask, changing the subject.
"We didn't, really. Someone told us where to look."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I mean, literally. We were out there, no idea where to start looking. No idea who'd taken you guys, just the werewolf and vamp bodies left behind. Mr. Byrom has a few guys, they didn't know anything. Then he got a text. With your exact location."
"A text? From who?"
"No idea. Just said you were here. Nothing else. It was already morning so I tinted the windows on the Hummer and drove Mr. Byrom north. And here you are. Thank God." Dunn sighs.
Who would tell Finn where we were? Cara maybe?
"How'd you... get away? I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't already gotten out of there. Especially with Mr. Byrom injured. Our weapons don't do nearly that much damage against vamps."
"I had a lot of help," I say. "Anna was there Dunn. She was the whole reason I got out." My chin starts to quiver as I think of her.
"Anna? Anna May? Simon's Anna?" Dunn blubbers.
"Yeah. She's been trapped in that place since she disappeared." The quivering increases. "I can't believe I'm leaving her behind. She saved me. And I'm paying her back by leaving her to be tortured in there. They might kill her!" I sob.
River stirs at the sound of my crying and I put my face in my hand, trying to stifle the noise.
"Jesus, I'm so sick of crying," I whisper.
"Crying is the soul trying to rid the mind of poisonous thoughts. Get them out of your system. Then think of something more useful to do."
I sniff and nod, forcing a smile. "Another one from your mom?"
"Damn right. I ain't got that wisdom-y shit in me," he laughs. Dunn pats my head. "We all know you're something special, Fal. I don't doubt for a second that you're going to be the one to end this."
"I'm willing to die trying," I say, wiping the last of the tears from my cheeks and chin.
"We're a long ways from dying, yeah? Like Finn said, retreat and recover." Dunn tousles my hair. "Get some sleep, muttface."
I want so much to think of every possible course of action for ending this war. For ending the pain my kind are forced to suffer through, but the feeling of safety, the decrease in adrenaline, the exhaustion, it all catches up with me. I take River's hand and lean my head against the window to sleep.