Page 3 of Bound to the Guard

But for a heartbeat, I allow myself to imagine a life beyond this cage, beyond the constant fear and pain.

“Why would you trust me with this?” Suspicion rears its head. “For all you know, I’m a plant here to trick you into spilling the information they want.”

“You’re not.” He cocks his head to the side, studying me. “You’re desperate and afraid. You realize what’s coming for you, and you still want to live.”

“How can you be so sure?” I shake my head. “Why show me your map? You have a better chance of escaping alone.”

Jade’s expression softens, a sad smile ghosting over his lips. “Because only one of us can make it out, and it has to be you.”

When I open my mouth to protest, he silences me with a raised hand. “I’m not small enough to get out. You, though… you have a chance, Seven.”

He folds the map and passes it through the bars, the flimsy piece of paper trembling in his hold. “Take it, Seven. Take it and run. Don’t stop until you’re safe.”

Heart pounding, I reach as far as I can through the bars and pinch the map between my fingers. My mind races with a thousand doubts and fears, but beneath it all burns a fierce desire to live.

I clutch the map to my chest. It could be a trick. I might get caught. But let’s face it. There’s not much they can do to me that’s worse than what they have planned. Right now, I’m just a flesh bag full of organs waiting for a buyer. If I stay, my story will end here.

Really, I have nothing to lose? And, who knows, I might make it out.

With a deep breath, I nod. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Jade’s grin is blinding, a flash of pure joy in the darkness of the cage. “Atta boy, Seven. Now, I’m going to give you an address. You need to memorize it. If you go there and tell them my name, they’ll keep you safe.”

Jade gives me the address and has me repeat it until it sears into my mind.

Then, he whispers the plan, and with every iteration, the hope in me grows.

I may be broken, but with this map, with Jade’s sacrifice, I have a chance at a new life, to become more than a number, a test subject, a grave.

I have the chance to be free.

The guards come with our meals, pouring the slop through the bars onto the floors of our cages. I use my fingers to scoop it up, not caring what it is beyond fuel for my stomach.

Jade eats slower as he tracks the time based on the guard rotation.

Anxiety curdles in my gut as the time draws near to implement Jade’s plan.

With a sudden, explosive movement, Jade slams into the door to his cage. “Hey, assholes! I’m ready to talk!”

Even expecting it, the shout sends me scurrying to the back of my cage in panic.

He keeps up the racket until two men come pounding down the stairs.

The one in the lead kicks Jade’s cage, and he snatches his fingers back in time to save them from being crushed.

“Step away from the door,” he snarls. “And shut the fuck up.”

Jade raises his hands in surrender and shifts backward in his cage.

“Careful.” The other man’s hand drops to the taser at his belt. “He’s still dangerous.”

His partner grunts in acknowledgment as he fits the key into the lock.

The second the lock clicks open, Jade lunges forward, slamming the door into the man’s face. He lands a punch to the man’s temple next, dazing him before Jade flies toward the second man.

Everything happens in a blur. The two men go down, and Jade somehow gets his cuffs around the man’s neck and pulls. The man’s eyes bulge, and he claws at his throat, forgetting about the taser at his belt.

The first man stumbles upright, fumbling for his weapon, and twin prongs shoot into Jade’s back. His body stiffens, his hold on the chain loosening as he convulses.

---