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Hayden swore he’d heard a gunshot echo in the distance but, that couldn’t be… could it? The image of his fiery Anna warmed a piece of him, pushing him through the throbbing in his head, in the left side of his face.
He spit some more blood out, nearly out of the final rope behind him. The man before him was so angry, so hyper-focused on inflicting pain, he hadn’t even noticed that Hayden was nearly free.
His father was intelligent, but he had a major flaw. Bloodlust. The moment he’d begun inflicting pain, all his wisdom left him, leaving a vacuum for Hayden to attack. Just the final bit of the rope… that’s all he had to get through.
“You know,” Greene panted, “I’m the reason you’re still conscious right now.” He gave a smirk. “My training paid off after all, didn’t it, son?”
The man Hayden was now knew that Greene was only trying to elicit a reaction, that the best thing he could do was stay silent, but… the child inside of him, the one who’d yearned to please and be treated with kindness, took a hold of his tongue, feeding in and giving Greene what he’d wanted. “Training? That’s what you’re calling it?”
He grinned widely, the sight making Hayden’s stomach twist. “Look how much stronger you are now. Just like your father.”
Hayden raised a brow. He thought not only of himself, but of Anna. Of the others like them. “You’ve made a career out of torturing children. Women. Innocents. I’ve made a career out of protecting them. We are not the same.”
The vein in his forehead popped out, a sign that told Hayden in childhood to run and hide. As an adult, it only served to please him. To tell him he was getting to him. “Justify it however you want, but you’re just as violent as I am. You have just as much blood on your hands.”
Hayden grinned. “I’m about to add your blood to my collection.”
His father snarled, grabbing onto Hayden’s dislocated shoulder and twisting, sending a searing pain shooting down Hayden’s arm, his neck, his back. He winced, desperately trying not to show the pain he felt. “You will tell me what I want to know, or you’ll die.”
More gunshots rang out, sounding like they’d come from the floor beneath them. Greene’s eyes widened at the same time that Hayden smiled. “You hear that? That’s my real family out there. That means you’re the one who’s going to die today.”
He dropped the ropes, then surged up, using every one of his energy reserves to attack.
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Anna pushed upstairs, adrenaline pumping through her veins, making it feel like her blood was pulsing in her ears. She shouldn’t have, but… damn, she loved a good fight. Loved it even more now that she had Resistance weapons on her side instead of nothing but knives and a freaking baton.
An officer ran at her from behind, grabbing a fistful of her hair before she’d heard his approach. Anna reached up, pulling his fist to her head at the same time that she jerked up against his elbow with her own arm. A loud crack filled the thin hallway, followed by his scream.
She spun quickly, kicking his knees and watching him fall before her. “And that is why I keep my hair short.” His pleading eyes met hers for only a moment before she slammed the butt of her gun into his head, watching him fall to the ground.
Searing pain shot through her shoulder, nearly knocking her forward and on top of the officer she’d just knocked out. Spinning around as quickly as she could, Anna caught the stare of a female soldier, her hair tied into a tight bun atop her head, a second throwing knife in her hand, which reared back, ready to throw.
“Stop!” she yelled, holding up a hand.
The woman hesitated.
Pain shot through her arm, the small knife still buried in her shoulder and demanding she take out the woman before her. But she’d remembered Hayden’s words, his distraught demeanor after he’d killed the man who had threatened her.
This woman was just like her, had been tortured and tormented in the same way she was, most likely by the same man. If she’d hear her out, then maybe… maybe she could find peace, too.
“I was a part of Governor Alan’s personal guard. I can help you—”
The woman scoffed, cutting her off. “You’re a traitor. That makes you even worse than the scum I thought you were.” She raised her arm once more to throw.
“I know what they did to you!” Anna’s hand flew to her lower stomach, to the area that still felt tender sometimes when she got too lost in her memories. “And you know what they did to me. We can make sure they never do that to any other girls…”
She simply laughed. “They made me strong.” Then she threw her knife.
Anna knelt down, the knife barely missing her. She needed to pull out the one in her back, but then she risked heavy bleeding. It didn’t seem like it hit anything vital, but… dammit. She needed her strength. Needed to stay alert.
She left the knife in, surging forward and grabbing the woman by the shoulders, knocking her back before planting her fist in the woman’s face.
Her lip curled before she lunged for Anna. They both grabbed for each other, throwing and blocking punches and kicks, both trying to find an advantage. They’d had the same training, both learned the same techniques for getting by as a woman in the UNR army. Anna nearly growled at the thought, but she took a page from Hayden’s book, deciding to try one last time.
“I can help you. We can get out of here together. Nobody has to die.”
