Page 8 of Truths

A flash of black hair whips by Dax as Shep breaks the neck of a man aiming to shoot at Colt. Colt's opponent falls to the ground in a bloody and broken heap, and he turns to Shep. “Thanks, man.”

“It was more for your wife than for you,” he says with a smirk before hitting another opponent.

“I thought it was about ten men,” Finnegan says beside Dax as they both punch in unison to two more rushing towards them.

“This is fucking fun!” Venom shouts as he climbs onto a chair and dives onto the group of Kingsmen like he's crowd surfing in a mosh pit. “Blood and bones. It's like Halloween, Christmas, and the Fourth of July all in one pretty little present.”

Undertaker grabs men, lifts them, and bends them over his knee like he's breaking a branch. Everyone he does this to cries out in pain as they fall limp to the floor, and he pulls out a pistol to shoot them in the head. “The guy may be a little crazy, but I don't disagree.”

It feels like no time and all the time has passed before there are no more men rushing towards them, and Dax searches for a basement. A door. Something. “Where the fuck is it?”

Colt rushes outside to grab the bolt cutters from his bike, and he hurries back in as everyone scatters through the small house, opening every door.

Nothing. Dax can't find the way into the basement, and he shakes. “Do I go outside and break the fucking window to climb in?”

“You wouldn't fit,” Undertaker says. “I thought of that already.”

“This is probably it,” Colt says as they see what looks like a pantry door off of the kitchen with four padlocks keeping it secured.

Undertaker walks up, grabs the door handle, and yanks. “Allow me.”

“I fucking like you,” Venom says, and the two share a sadistic smile with the other.

Dax sees the staircase and damn near rolls down it as he skips as many steps as he can to get to the bottom. When he finally reaches the dingy, dirt floor of the basement, he finds Dani cowering in the corner, her hands covering her head with large chains connected to the wall and the shackles on her wrists.

The sight takes his breath away, and he only hears a couple sets of footsteps behind him. “Dani?” he whispers.

She's dirty, skin and bones, and she looks so sick. The skin around the shackles is red and raw, and she looks like a scared, abused animal. Her eyes peek up over her hands at him, and she shakes her head.

“Are you here to kill me?”

“What? No!” he gasps. “Dani, it's me.”

“Please, just kill me,” she begs. “Please. Please!”

Colt's eyes widen as Dax looks at him in frozen fear. His wife just begged to die. He has no idea what to say or do, and Colt nods as Venom hangs back, looking around the room for anyone who may jump out and attack.

“Dani, can you look at me?” Colt asks, his voice gentle as though approaching a child.

Her eyes look at him. “Areyougoing to kill me?”

“No, I'm not. I'm here to get you out of those shackles and take you away from this place.”

Shaking her head, she presses her back against the cement wall. “I don't want to go to another basement. I'll stay here. Please, don't put me in another basement.”

“Dani, we're not here to hurt you, and we’re not here to lock you up again. We're going to take you out of here, and you'll never have to have chains or shackles. You'll be free.”

She stares at him, her eyes blinking with no emotion on her face. “Free?”

“You looked out the window today, right? Do you remember the girl with the curly blonde hair and the stroller? She may have had a crazy little boy running around like a maniac with her?”

Blinking, she tilts her head. “I saw Sutton and Hannah,” she says. “They were with the blonde woman who walked up to the house. She took my picture, I think. I know her. I knew her.”

“Lex.”

“Lex. Lex Dalton?”

Colt smiles, and Dax just stares in amazement. How does he know what to do here?

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