Adriana grabbed Steve by the back of his vest and began dragging him along behind her as she followed Julia and Felix.
“Broken ribs,” Steve panted out. “Something…wrong. Hard to breathe,” he said in a strangled voice.
“Stab wound?” Adriana asked, not bothering to check him.
“Yes.”
“Maybe a punctured lung. You’ll be alright for now so long as you’re not bleeding into it. If you are, you’re probably already done,” she said clinically.
“Great,” Steve wheezed.
“I’m so sorry, Felix,” Eva said, wringing her hands together, getting in front of him.
“Shut up and watch behind us. Use my rifle if you lost yours. Worry about your self-righteousness later,” Felix grumped.
Looking crestfallen, Eva bobbed her head quickly. Taking his rifle she moved back behind them.
“That was a bit cold, darling,” Adriana said after Eva got further away.
“And the world is cold. If you hadn’t noticed, we’re probably going to die down here.”
“Nn. All the more reason to be kind to her.”
“Don’t be a dick-bag, boss,” Julia said, agreeing with Adriana.
Sighing, Felix fell silent. He didn’t want to talk about it right now.
Julia dropped him down into a chair next to an old laptop and a corpse. Taking her weapon in hand she started to move things around from the nearby areas to create some shelter and cover.
Adriana laid Steve out next to Felix and then checked on his leg again.
“That bad, huh?” Felix asked, watching Adriana’s face. She had a pretty solid poker face, but when you spent almost every day with the same people, you tended to learn their mannerisms.
Her ears laid flat to her head and she froze, looking up at him.
“Yes… darling. It is. We need to get you out of here.”
Unable to keep himself from grimacing, Felix thought hard on the situation.
There wasn’t much they could do. He didn’t think there’d be an exit out of the tunnels. They were pre-existing and he doubted Skipper’s people really wanted to provide a way in or out of the fort.
There wasn’t any way to contact Legion either. They’d never managed to find a cell phone with a signal, landline, or working computer.
Everything had been shut down by Skipper’s techs and her control of the area.
What about radios? Or better yet, isn’t Miu listening?
Turning his attention to the corpse, Felix started pulling at the uniform of the dead woman.
“Felix, what are you doing?” Adriana asked.
“Looking for a unit radio. There was a tower above us, which means this probably gets broadcasted, right?”
“Uuhhhm? Oh! Here,” she said, picking up something that was under one of the woman’s legs. Taking the radio from her hand, Felix checked it.
It was on, powered, and on whatever communication channel it was encoded to.
“You said Miu was listening, right?”
“She was last I saw her… Judging from the rank insignia, that’s an officer. Leave it on whatever setting it’s on.”
Thumbing down the transmit button, leaving the settings as they were, Felix leaned over the device.
“Shadow. This is Throne. I need you,” Felix said, trying to be as clear as he could be, while still protecting what little information he could.
It was enough to get her attention if she was listening.
A burst of responses crackled through the speakers. From people demanding that he identify himself, that he get off the channel, and just asking what the hell was going on.
Eventually, when no response was forthcoming, it all died away.
Nothing came back.
Silence.
Leaning back in his chair, Felix sighed.
She wasn’t listening.
“She might be out hunting. We should try again in—”
“Where?” came the single word across the space and depth of hopelessness Felix held in his heart.
“What park is this?” Felix asked Adriana.
“Aaaa… I don’t know,” Adriana said.
“Tradewinds,” Julia interjected. “I saw a sign for it when we were crossing in. Tradewinds Park.”
Smiling, and feeling just the smallest bit of hope, Felix looked back to the radio.
It’d be a massive risk to give a location, but it was the only way he could give her the information at the same time.
He took a breath and pressed the transmit button.
“Tradewinds Park,” he said.
Another flurry of messages came over the radio as people started talking about what was going on.
In the span of a heartbeat, between several people talking at the same time, Miu responded.
“I’m coming.”
It was lost in the chatter almost immediately, but he’d heard it.
Closing his eyes, Felix couldn’t help but smile.
His psychotic, devoted, maniacal, deeply disturbed assassin was coming for him.
“She’s going to murder the shit out of me,” Adriana said under her breath.
“Why?” Felix asked, opening his eyes and looking to Adriana.
“Nothing. Something Lily explained to us. We will endure. Now, we just need to hold them off until she arrives,” Adriana smiled at him.
“None of this would have been possible without you. I needed you. Not for your skills, but just the emotional support,” Felix said.
“Nn! Good. I expect to be rewarded. A lot. Also, my Prime has not yet selected a second. You should tell her to choose me.”
Chuckling, Felix gave her a smile. “I’ll do that. Reward you, and tell the Prime to make you second. Is there some type of reward for being the second?”
“Better access to you,” Adriana said. Turning to Julia, she pointed to the woman. “Guard Felix, I’m going to go hold the line. When a scary woman shows up, let her do what she wants.”
Not waiting for a response, Adriana walked off, heading for where Eva was positioned.
Watching her go, Julia eased up next to Felix. “I take it this Miu is on her way then?” she asked.
“That she is. I’m not sure how this is going to play out but… I have a strange question for you.”
Julia grunted, not responding.
“If you died, would you want me to bring you back to life?”
“You can do that?” she asked, looking at him.
“Provided I have something of you I can… well, regrow, yes. I can. Is that a yes?”
“Hell yes. So, what do you need from me?”
“Well. A pinky would probably work. An ear. Something that you can function pretty well without. We can get it regrown once we get back to Legion HQ so don’t worry about it being permanently gone or anything.”
Julia grimaced at him, but released her rifle with one hand, and drew the blade at her side.
“And while you’re at it… Steve, in or out?”
“I’m in,” he rasped.
“Julia, be sure to collect something from Steve, and Eva as well. Thanks.”
Julia shook her head, muttering to herself.
“Strangest and best job I’ve ever had,” she said.
Then she chopped off her pinky finger.
Chapter 34 - Setup -
Felix had been drifting in a haze of pain and fear, his thoughts fluttering around wildly. Sitting, waiting, hoping that Miu showed up before they got rushed, was playing with his mind.
The sudden chatter of rifle fire shook Felix from his thoughts. It was deafening in the stark quiet that’d been squatting over them.
Lifting his head up, Felix focused on his people.
Julia, Eva, and Adriana were all lined up behind the crates. Julia’s muzzle flashed as she fired another burst of rounds.
Following the line of fire, Felix saw the problem.
Skipper troopers were trying to get down into the tunnels with them. Either this was the only entrance, or they thought they could simply muscle their way through.
It’d cost them two people already. They were groaning and rolling around on the floor. Their arms flopping back and forth as they bled out.