Page 36 of Of Sinners & Salvation
“Alright, let’s go,” Walker says.
He jogs toward the end of the sprawling building, keeping along the edge of the lawn but just inside the shadow of the trees in case anyone looks out.
“You think those guys who went in might have tipped them off that there were more of us?” I ask, keeping pace with him.
As if in answer, a blinding spotlight sweeps over the trees.
“Fuck,” I say. “I hope the others weren’t caught.”
“Want to go back?”
“No,” I say. “Let’s get down. Army crawl.”
Football drills have kept me in much better shape than Walker, who’s muscular but lean, more like a swimmer or a runner. My upper body strength has me several yards in front of him when a second light crisscrosses the first, sweeping over the lawn and illuminating him in the stark white glow.
“Stop right there,” a voice calls from somewhere to our right.
“Take my phone,” Walker hisses, hurling it in my direction. “Don’t stop until you get her.”
His phone lands beside me in the grass. I swerve to grab it, then crouch as low as I can get and race to the end of the enormous building. Running footsteps sound behind me. I’m sure one of them is going to tackle me at any moment, but I slip around the corner before they can. I turn on his flashlight to alert the others, though I’m not sure if they’ve been caught too. It’s up to me now.
I duck back and slide along the side of the building to the side door, praying for a signal when I thumb on Walker’s phone. The wi-fi comes in strong, and I text Nate.
On the lawn, Walker is yelling and causing a ruckus as they try to drag him away. I send him a silent thanks for the distraction, and one to Nate when not ten seconds later, the door beside me unlocks with an audible pop, making me jump.
Three minutes.
I don’t have time to wait for the others. I duck through the door and glance around, but I’m alone in the hall. Nate showed us the blueprints for the place, but they weren’t much help, considering we don’t know where Mercy is being kept.
I start down the hall, then pause and listen. Somewhere far away, a cheer goes up. My mind immediately returns to that devastating ad Nate showed us.
You break her, you buy her.
Are they letting people watch? It’s sick enough already, but the thought that they’re making it into a spectator sport, where the winner catches and rapes Mercy in front of the crowd, makes all logic disappear. All I see is red as I charge down the hall.
“Saint!”
I hear footsteps behind me, but I don’t turn, don’t wait. The others can catch up. I follow the noise as another cheer goesup. At last, I find my way to a downstairs hallway with a sign that says “Rec Center.” Blood pounds in my temples in rhythm with my fury.
This is what they call recreation?
I yank at the door, but it’s locked.
“Fecking hell, slow down,” Heath says, arriving beside me, panting like a dog. “Some people haven’t respawned all their blood.”
“Move,” Angel commands sharply. He turns his face away and kicks the glass hard, sending a spiral of cracks through it. It’s the reinforced kind, though, and a tough plastic barrier remains even when the glass is splintered.
“You could have let me do that,” Heath says. “I’m the kicker.”
“Gotta save your foot for the field,” I reassure him. And then a female scream sounds from somewhere inside, turning my blood to ice water. I dive at the glass, tearing through with my bare hands, not caring about the cuts or anything else. I have to get Mercy. I rip through the reinforcement, taking half the panel with me. I kick it away and charge down the hall, bellowing her name. No one hurts my sister. No one.
My feet pound up a set of metal stairs to the next level, where the crowd is stomping. I shove through another door labeled “track” and find myself in a group of a few dozen. That’s when I realize my mistake. I went the wrong way, toward the voices, the cheers, thinking that’s where I’d find her. But I find myself in the crowd instead of at her side.
A few people glance at me, but most are captivated by the spectacle. They’re all standing at the huge glass windows, like VIPs at a football game, eagerly watching the scene below unfold.
The scene in which Mercy is being dragged by the hair across the bottom of an empty swimming pool by a man threetimes her size. They’re both bleeding, and Mercy is twisting frantically back and forth, trying to free herself. My first instinct is to throw myself through the glass, but it’s a long fall, and landing on the tiles beside the pool would incapacitate me, if it didn’t kill me. The man stops at the side of the pool and swings Mercy, slamming her body against the side. The hollow thud echoes around the pool room, all the way up to us.
I turn and bolt back down the stairs. I reach the door to the pool room just as it’s swinging closed. I kick it open and barrel through, shoving past Angel and Father Salvatore, leaping down into the pool without looking first. A loud crack sounds, reverberating through the room. I barely hear the screams from above, barely see her attacker fall. Mercy is lying on the floor, clutching her head. I charge across the empty pool and scoop her into my arms, crushing her to my chest. Nothing else matters.
