AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hands him over, which causes him to burst into tears. Lenna sits back on her haunches. Her mind is numb. The spark moves hungrily. It won’t be long now. She closes her eyes, trying to find strength within herself. A minute, maybe. Sarah’s chains rattle. Fifty-nine seconds.
And then a shot rings through the air.
Lenna’s eyes snap open just as Coral shrieks and slumps awkwardly to the ground outside the cave, Jacob still in her arms. “Jacob!” Lenna screams, rising up awkwardly on her knees. The way Coral crumples, she has broken the baby’s fall, but now Jacob is lying awkwardly on his side. He starts wailing even harder.
And Coral…she’s writhing in pain. More blood spills across the rock.
“What the hell?” Rhiannon screams.
“Someone fucking shot me!” Coral screams.
A figure steps over the body. She’s in silhouette for a moment, but as she turns her head, Lenna recognizes her short stature and glasses.
“Matilda?” Coral shrieks.
The young girl stares at the shotgun in her hands like it’s a rattlesnake. She sets the gun down on the rocks as though she’s afraid it might go off again. Then she scoops up Jacob.
“What are you doing?” Coral screams.
“I didn’t…?” Matilda looks completely confused. Then shelooks more steadily at Coral. “Iknewsomething was off. I asked you, again and again, and you wouldn’t tell me.”
“You wouldn’t get it,” Coral argues.
“Matilda, run!” Lenna cries. “It’s going to explode!”
“No, get us out of here!” Rhiannon screams.“There’s still time!”
Matilda looks at Coral for a beat. “They don’t deserve to live,” Coral growls. “And, anyway, you won’t be able to untie them. You have an illness, don’t you? Even if you’re better, you shouldn’t push yourself. Your mom’s always saying that.”
Matilda eyes the women in the cave, then looks at Coral again. “I’m not sure I am sick,” she says in a small voice. “I’m not sure I ever was.”
She walks over to her friend, looming over her body. Then she squats down. For a moment, it seems like she might sit right next to Coral to become part of the explosion, too. But then her hand reaches for something at her hip. She extracts a Swiss Army knife from her pocket. Her gaze rests, for a beat, on her friend’s face. Lenna swallows hard. Matilda looks like she might be sick.
Then she stands. Scampers into the cave, the knife blade raised.
“We’re tied around the waist!” Lenna instructs. “Get that first!”
Matilda rushes to them, sawing at the twine that connects the three of them together. It snaps quickly, and Lenna lurches forward.
“We have zip ties,” she says. “On our ankles.”
“Lenna,” Sarah’s voice trembles. “She won’t be able to get all of us. She should go. The baby…”
“I can do it,” Matilda insists. Awkwardly, while still holding the baby, she starts on Rhiannon, who is closest to the mouth of the cave. “I have to try. This is my fault,” she adds sadly. “I should have seen this coming.”
“This isn’t your fault!” Lenna cries. “How could you have known she’d do something like this?”
“I’m her friend. I’m supposed to look out for her.”
“And asyourfriend, I’m telling you that you need to leave!” Coral screams.
There’s aclick,and Rhiannon is free. She scampers over to the sparking fuse, though when she tries to blow on it, it’s useless.
Matilda snips Lenna next. Her hands tremble. When Lenna’s ankles and wrists are freed, she darts from the cave on wobbly legs. Sparks from the fuse lick her ankles. She yelps in pain. She grabs the baby from Matilda and steps over Coral, who lies in a heap on the ground, felled by the gunshot. Lenna makes the mistake of looking at the depth of her injury—it seems the bullet has sliced the bottom part of her leg cleanly off. She is hemorrhaging blood. Her face has grown pale.
Lenna hesitates, then stops above Coral and extends her hand. “Come on. I’ll help you. There’s still time.” She isn’t sure why she does this. Maybe because everyone is capable of mistakes. Maybe because she understands Coral’s misguided rage, just a little. Mostly because she can’t have another thing to feel guilty about.
But Coral’s eyes are dim. She already looks like she’s somewhere else. She shakes her head, bottom lip protruding, a single tear pouring onto her cheek.
