Rahd
collapsed onto his bunk, his limbs feeling like lead, an insistent ache
pounding in his head. He'd lost track of how many days he'd been here, the days
blurring into a constant stream of brutal drills and gruelling runs under the
desert sun. Around him, the other 'recruits' were sat on their bunks or stood
in line for a drink from the single grimy fawcet that stood in the middle of
the room. A few had curled up on their bunks, already dropping into the blank
oblivion of sleep, seeking escape for a time. What struck Rahd most was that
there was no talking, no chatter, most of the not even making eye contact with
each other. They were too worn down, too exhausted to do much more that shuffle
forward with the others or lie slumped on their bunks. Escape seemed impossible
with the desert surrounding them, but Rahd wasn't going to give up so easily.
He looked up as he heard feet approaching and Kol sat down on the bunk next to
his, lying back to look at the ceiling.
'Did
you get it?' He asked, quietly, without looking round at him. Wordlessly, Rahd
reached inside his jacket and showed him the key, before slipping it back into
his pocket.
'Alright.'
Kol said. 'We'll do it tonight.'
'Shouldn't
we tell the others?' Rahd asked. 'They could help and...'
'We
don't know who we can trust.' Kol said. 'For now, this stays between us. It's
safer that way.'
'So,
how do you know you can trust me?' Rahd asked and he looked towards him.
'Call
it an instinct, kid. When you've been in as many of these scrapes as I have,
you get a feeling for who you can trust.'
'You
were in the Army, weren't you?' Rahd asked, after a moment.
'...I
still am. Captain Kol Asaid, 2nd Armoured Division.' He said, turning over on
his bunk. 'Get some rest. We'll move once everyone's asleep.'
Ras pressed her back against the wall, holding
her breath as she heard the crunch of a boot and her shaking hand reached
towards the pistol in her holster.
Please don't come this way.
Please don't come this way...
The boot scraped again and then she heard the
footsteps fading away and she risked a glance round the corner. The guard was
walking away from her, disappearing around the other side of the building.
Come on. You've got to move.
Now.'
Rising from her crouch, she sprinted across
towards the low building where she had seen Rahd go and tried the handle, but
it wouldn't budge.
Locked...D****t it, I can't stay
here...alright, calm down...it's locked, so get it open...
She glanced around quickly, dropping to her
knees and opening her tool pouch, setting to work.
...okay, okay...simple
mechanical mechanism...just remove this cover, unscrew this and...got it!'
With a faint click, the door and opened and Ras
risked another glance over her shoulder, before slipping through and closing
the door behind. On the second try, it stayed shut, but she knew that anyone
coming through would see what she had done.
alright...need to make this
quick...
As quietly as she could, she set off down the
darkened corridor towards the door and the end.
Rahd
opened his eyes when he heard the sound of a boot scraping on the floor and he
froze, listening intently. There was silence and then he heard it again, the
faint scrape of a boot on the metal floor. As casually as possible, he turned
over, hoping that whoever it was would think that he was simply shifting in his
sleep and looked around. However, he could see no-one in the room. As quietly
as possible, he pushed back the covers and slipped out of bed, not noticing the
cold floor under his bare feet and crept towards the door, pressing his back
against the wall just as a shadowy figure entered the room and he struck. His
arm snaked out around the intruders neck, who gave a cut-off shriek that was
higher-pitched than he'd expected, but very familiar.
'Ras?'
He asked, loosening his grip, slightly. 'Is that you?'
'Yes,
it's me, you bloody idiot.' She snapped. 'What the hell were you doing?'
'Sorry.'
He said, releasing his grip and stepping back. 'I thought you were...never
mind. What are you doing here?'
'I'm
here to rescue you, what the hell do you think I'm doing?' She hissed. 'Come
on. I've got the Tank parked on the cliff nearby. If we hurry, we can get out
before anyone notices us.'
'Not
without the others.' Rahd said, moving towards the bunks and starting to wake
the others up.
'Rahd,
what are you doing?'
'I'm
not leaving them here, Ras...'
'All
clear.' Rahd said, from where he was crouched inside the doorway. 'Come on.'
He gestured with one hand, a quick chopping
motion and the others followed him out of the door and across the compound like
shadows. Ras, bringing up the rear, couldn't help noticing that he moved
differently. He moved more like a snake, with a fluid grace, his head always
moving to look around him. Then, he held up his hand again with a clenched fist
and, as one, they all froze where they were. Rahd looked round at one of the
other recruits and pointed into the shadows. With a nod, he set off and Ras
followed were he had been pointing, spotting the guard a few metres away.
I didn't even see he was
there...
The man that Rahd had sent out reached the man
and grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms around his head and twisting,
the man falling to the ground without a sound. Ras fought back her revulsion
and turned towards her brother, meeting his gaze. She expected to see the same
revulsion that she felt, but all she saw was...nothing.
Oh, Rahd...what have they done
to you?
Rahd gestured again and they continued on,
reaching the cliff wall without incident, Ras leading them to the rope.
'Go,
go, go.' Rahd hissed. 'Shift it.'
One by one, they grabbed the rope and started
climbing. It was slow going and Ras kept glancing around, but there was no sign
that they had been discovered and the number slowly dwindled until the last
recruit began to climb.
'You
next.' Rahd said, gesturing to the rope. 'I'll bring up the rear.'
'I'm
not leaving...' Ras began, just as a klaxon rang out across the base.
Searchlights flared to life, sweeping the compound and Ras could hear shouts
and the sound of running feet.
'Go!'
Rahd said, shoving her towards the rope and Ras began to climb as fast as she
could. Adrenaline gave her a boost and she was soon scrambling onto the ledge,
reaching round to pull Rahd up after her.
'Alright!'
She said, launching herself to wrap Rahd in a hug. 'We made it.'
'Maybe
not.' Rahd said, extricating himself and pointing behind him. 'Look.'
Ras followed to where he was pointing and her
eyes widened as she saw the bridge rising from the compound towards the top of
the ravine. As she watched, hanger doors at the other end ground open and tanks
emerged, starting their inexorable climb to the top.
'That's it.' Rahd said. 'They're going to cut us
off...'
'Not yet.' Ras said, scrambling into the Tank's
cockpit and powering up, swinging the turret round to aim at the bridge,
Only going to get one chance at this...
Ras pulled the trigger, the recoil of the man
gun making the cockpit shake as the High Explosive shell was fired towards the
bridge. Ras held her breath as the shell streaked towards the bridge,
detonating with an explosion that she could hear even inside the Tank. The
bridge held together for a second and then, with a metallic grinding, it
collapsed. The Tanks that were crossing were caught completely unawares, tumbling
into the ravine where they exploded.
Oh, yeah. Ras thought, with a grin. That's how it's done...
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