Page 88 of Beyond The Maples
"Absolutely not."
"Yes, we are. They did nothing wrong, and we both know what will happen if they're dragged back to The Centre." I can see in his eyes he's not accepting it, and I lose patience.
"What would you want for your own family, Berk? We have to be better." His eyes widen slightly, and then narrow. I look at the little kid shaking behind me, and Berkley's eyes land on him. He lets out an aggravated groan.
"I'll take the heat for it. I have a plan. Trust me?" My eyes bounce around his tense face, war waging across his features.
He finally steps out of the way of the door.
The three are ready behind me, and I give the woman my baton. Maybe it will help her walk faster. They bolt. The man turns though, teary eyes locking with mine. "We won't forget this. Maybe there’s hope for us yet. Thank you."
I say nothing as I watch him run. They head up the opposite way we came down, towards the dead woods. The dunes will hide which way they went for a while. Hopefully, they can make it before Tane makes us follow.
"We are so screwed, Maple... You have no idea." Berkley sounds pissed and honestly, it's fair. I turn and punch him in the face as hard as humanly possible with my good arm. He stumbles backwards, the hit knocking the breath out of him, and then he screams.
"Sorry Berk, I had to get that part over with. Now knock me out and tie me up."
"Are you out of your mind!?" he shouts.
"Yup." I pop the "p" obnoxiously, to egg him on a little. "Actually, just slug me as hard as you can, and I'll tie you up. Come on, we don’t have much time."
His entire face reddens. He's furious. There's a reason I chose him instead of Tarius, who, right on cue, opens the door.
"T, I need you to listen carefully. Run to find the others and tell them the family escaped, but take your time finding them, ok?" Tarius gapes at me. "Tarius, do you understand what I'm saying?" I ask firmly. He nods obediently and rushes out the door, hopefully headed in the wrong direction.
"Berkley, we don't have much time. They knocked me out and took my baton and tied you up and got away.Come on." He's breathing heavily, eye already turning purple. He shakes his head, and for a second I worry he's not going to play along. I give him a shove. We don't have time for his conscience right now. I go to hit him again, a ball of panic rising in my throat.
I catch a flash of metal, and that's the last thing I see before sharp pain blinds me, and darkness sweeps over my world like a heavy blanket.
Searing pain is all I feel as I fight for consciousness. I hear voices long before I manage to open my eyes. I reach up and feel the left side of my head. A crusty lump there throbs like it has its own heartbeat.
"Treow? Treow, can you hear me? Wake up," the voice grates. Every word pricks the pain searing behind my eye.
A pill is shoved in my mouth and rough hands put a canteen to my lips, which I gulp back eagerly. I try to open my eyes, but it hurts too much. It's no use. I give up, and strong steady hands gently lower me to the floor, laying me on something soft.
Voices come in and out of my awareness. Sometime later I open my eyes. I see most of my crew sitting near the dining room table where Tane and Vera are seated. Vera carving something into the wood with her knife.
I try to lift myself from the floor and groan, catching their attention.
Farra scrambles over Leo, bending over me.
"Are you ok? Can you hear me?" She sounds panicked.
"I'm fine. My head... hurts" My eyes connect with Berkley's briefly, but I bounce past him, hitting everyone in the room purposefully.
"Ya, no shit. They knocked you out cold, Maple," she gripes, glaring.
"Cadets, clear the room, now," Tane commands, staring straight ahead. He sounds like he's in a lovely mood.
"She just woke up. Give her a minute," Berkley scolds, earning himself a glare.
"We don't have a minute." His voice is like ice. "Everyone out."
I wince as I prop myself up against the wall. Apparently, we're going straight to interrogation then. Perfect.
Everyone clears out of the room, and Vera mumbles something about feeding me, before shutting the door.
Tane grabs water and a protein bar and bends down so we're at eye-level. Without a word, he breaks apart the spongy brick, pushing pieces into my hand and motions for me to eat, and then drink. I do as I'm told, a little disoriented, because right now… He seems concerned. Gentle, even.
