Page 82 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw
I glance over the first row of barricades, dull greys and neutrals camouflaged within the sand. Bullets hit my shield, growing in ferocityas I approach the compound.
“Guy!” I scream. My voice sounds muffled, my hearing numb and buzzing from the continuous blast of firearms.
“Guy! It’s May!” I scream again.
Lifting my eye-line through the piece of clear shield, I inhale to yell again, hopeful Guy’s hearing is as good as Lowell’s.
“GUY! HEL—” My voice is cut off by an impact to my chest, knocking the wind out of me.
Have I been shot?
I’m tossed and spun, my shield slipping from my grip and landing on the battlefield. When my vision focuses, the area remains spinning, grey floaters swirling across the bright-blue sky.
“No, no, no…” A voice frets. “Why did you come back? Lowell’s going to be pissed.”
Rubbing my eyes with my fingers until my vision clears, I recognize the voice. When I look down from the sky, a sharp-scaled red Lizardfolk stares at me with a pitiful look and a forehead wrinkled with concern.
I exhale with relief.
“Guy they’re bringing—” I start, stopped by a sudden hand pushing my head down. Bullets nick the top of the concrete, pieces spraying out and over our heads.
“You could have been shot! What are you doing?” Guy shouts, shielding parts of me that spill over the barricades with his body.
Before I answer, I’m drawn to the jarring sight of his uniform littered with bullet holes. Only a few shots from the sniper have pierced his skin. Red rings form around the fabric, some crusted and others still glistening with wetness.
Guy looks worn-out.
“Lowell was right. Abouteverything,” I begin, words slurring together. “The supplies Kinsley is giving you are hiding bottles of herbicide, thesame ones used in Misya Swamp, the desert, and Goddess-knows-where-else. Kinsley’s scheme is in danger of being discovered, so he’s trying to pin everything on Gaia 4.”
Guy winces in shock, his expression perplexed. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’ve come back,” he says, eyes softening. “You could go home, return to your life — what happens to us in Gaia 4is not your concern anymore.”
I drop my gaze to the ground, my chest feeling tight.
Goinghomesounds so silly, now.
“Look, May, I can sneak you over to Nilsan’s vehicles, but we need—”
“No,” I say, pressing my lips together in a thin line. “Not withthem.”
Guy tilts his head. “What? Why not? They’re your allies. If you don’t go back now, I don’t know when you’ll have the chance again.”
“They’re not my allies, Guy. And they’re not military. They’re scientists,” I explain, breathing heavily. “Nilsan doesn’t know Kinsley’s here. Meaning Nilsan doesn’t know I was captured. These scientists are here of their own volition to cover up for their entire department…” I shake my head. “There is too much to explain, but you have to believe me when I say I can’t go back with them.”
With a gentle hand on my shoulder, Guy lowers his head. “I don’t get exactly what you’re saying, but friend-to-friend, you need to go with them.”
My face contorts in disbelief. “What the hell? Are you even hearing me?”
Guy squeezes my arm, a somber look dulling his bright colors. “If you stay here, you’ll be killed. Go back to Nilsan and finish what you’ve started, May. The thing is…. it’s, uh.” The scales at the base of his pointed chin pinch. “It’s not looking good for Gaia 4. Lowell is in bad shape, and we are scrambling for medics, never mind the sniper picking us Lizardfolk off one-by-one. We are not coming out of this the victors; we’re outmatched and outgunned.”
I can only stand and gape. The hopelessness in his voice is unnerving.
“You leave with them or you don’t leave at all,” he says. The acceptance of his tragic fate shows in every pained line that forms in his bittersweet smile.
I hold out my hand, flexing my fingers. “Then give me my crossbow. I know where the sniper is,” I say, pleading. “I’m not going back with them.”
I won’t be able to look at myself again if I cower back to Kinlsey and let Guy and the others die here.
I can’t leave Lowell.
