Ryan is right beside me as I run. Out of all the prisoners, we’re the only two completely free from our shackles. The others are still bound together. They’re all running at different speeds and attempting to maneuver in different directions around debris. It’s slowing us down, giving the slavers a chance to regroup. There’s no way we’ll be able to get all the prisoners free. But then I have an idea. Maybe we can use this to our advantage.
I tell Ryan my plan and he looks at me like I’m crazy. But when he looks back and sees the bikes racing toward us in a line, he knows this is the only chance we have of defeating our captors. We pass the message back to the prisoners and one by one they nod their agreement.
The bikes are gaining on us, and the slavers riding them swing their whips over their heads, ready to strike us down.
“NOW!” I shout.
All at once, the prisoners fan out in a long line, stretching the chains that connect them so they’re just level with the necks of the approaching riders. One by one the slavers are caught in the trap, the chains pinging them from their bikes and throwing them to the ground.
Some of the bikes keep rushing forward before crashing and exploding, while others skid to their sides and halt. Ryan and I rush forward and grab the spare bikes. Now it’s up to us to keep the remaining slavers at bay while the prisoners escape. Molly’s using a dropped axe to start smashing apart the chains and freeing the prisoners. Once they have their arms freed they’ll be in much better positions to steal bikes.
Ryan and I also grab discarded tools, brandishing them as weapons as we start circling back and forth on our bikes, facing off with the remaining slavers. We’re trying to keep them at bay long enough for the rest of our group to be freed.
The scene behind us is one of utter chaos. Prisoners are cowering as the slavers attempt to whip them into submission. Other robed men are running around on fire, screaming, trying to fan out the flames. More still lie dead on the ground, their limbs twisted and jutting out at painful angles. There’s thick smoke everywhere, obscuring my vision. Then, through the smoke, a figure emerges.
Despite being fully robed, I recognize him straightaway as the man who’d first spoken to us in the prison cell. He’s standing at the front of a group of slavers, leading them to battle. A red mist descends over my vision. I rev the bike, brandish the crowbar in my hand, and race toward him. I swing the crowbar back and, as I pass, bring it down with all my strength. I hear the crack of his skull, see him fall, dead, to the ground, and a sick satisfaction washes over me.
I loop back and see that Molly and the others have managed to get hold of bikes. As much as I wish we could liberate all the prisoners here, I have to be selfish and look after my own. I drive up to my group.
“Bree, get on the back,” I say to my sister, who is cuddling Penelope in her arms. “Molly, you take Charlie and Jack. Ryan, Ben, take a bike each. We’ll need the spare spaces for Zeke and Stephan once we find them. Come on, let’s go.”
Everyone gets into position and I lead the way through the compound, racing past burning structures and groups of slavers and prisoners, trying to find Zeke and Stephan amongst them. But they’re nowhere to be seen.
“We have to get out of here!” Molly cries from behind.
“NO!” I shout back. “We need to find Zeke and Stephan first.”
“There’s no time,” she barks.
She’s right. The slavers have noticed our little gang and they’re starting to follow. But the thought of leaving my friends behind makes my blood run cold.
“We can’t leave them!” I scream. “We have to rescue them.”
Molly locks her eyes with mine. “We can’t rescue them, Brooke. They’re not here. They’re dead.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
We’re still tearing along the road on the bikes, but it feels like the ground has fallen away beneath my feet. I can hardly breathe.
“I’m sorry,” Molly cries over the wind as we race across the parched earth. “They didn’t survive the crash. We have to go.”
Stephan and Zeke are dead? I can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it.
I look back over my shoulder. They others look as depressed as me. None of us wants to accept the reality of having lost two of our group, and I can’t help but feel like their deaths are on my shoulders. I look at Ben, hoping that the only other person in the car who may have been witness to their tragic demise will be able to refute the bombshell Molly has just dropped on me.
“Ben was passed out,” Molly shouts. “He didn’t see. But I did. They’re gone, Brooke. We have to save ourselves.”
Emotions threaten to choke me. I feel like I could easily give in to the blackness, to give up the fight.
“Brooke!” Bree cries from the back of the bike. “Listen to Molly. We have to save ourselves.”
The sound of her voice grounds me, brings me back to the moment. We may have lost our friends but we haven’t lost our hope. Now isn’t the time to break down. Like my dad would always say, crying won’t keep you alive. No matter how terrible I feel, I have to do what needs to be done to survive.
I grip the handlebars of the bike hard in my fists and grit my teeth, more determined than ever.
“Let’s go!” I cry.
Without another word, we rev the bikes, driving even faster through the thick smoke. We’re searching for a road, a way out. The slavers got into the crater somehow, and we’ll be able to get out if we find it. But driving through the crater city is dangerous. There are still slavers milling around, not to mention prisoners who are desperate to be liberated. The whole time I’m on a knife edge, feeling like my world could end any second. Bree must feel it too; her clutch on me is so tight it’s painful.
Finally I see a steep incline leading out of the crater. It’s been carved like a road, winding up the crater edge. I pray our bikes can handle such a difficult climb.
“THERE!” I cry to the others.
One by one we start to race up the steep road. I’m gunning the bike, knowing the only thing that will carry me up is speed. As we burst through the cloud of smoke, I know we’re now in plain view of all the slavers below. There’s no hiding on the crater’s edge. We’re completely exposed.
It’s then that I hear someone cry out. Instantly, I recognize the voice as belonging to Ben.
I look back and see that his battered bike is struggling to get up the incline. It has clearly been damaged in all the fighting and is starting to give out. It’s getting slower and slower. Behind him, racing along on their own bikes, are a group of slavers.
“Ryan!” I shout. “You have to go back for Ben.”
Ryan grits his teeth. “No way. If I go back, the slavers will get me.”
I stare at him, horrified. “We can’t leave him!”
“We left Zeke,” he spits back. “We left Stephan.”
“They died, Ryan. You heard Molly. We have to let them go. But Ben is still alive and he needs our help!”
Behind me, clinging on with dear life, Bree starts to cry.
“Please,” she begs Ryan. “You’re the only one with a spare space. Don’t leave Ben to die.”
The motorbikes are getting so close to Ben now it’s almost too much to watch. I feel like every muscle in my body has tensed as I wait for Ryan’s decision.