Page 76 of Juniper Unraveling

I’ve seen the truck before, getting loaded with materials to take out. Papa once had me deliver medicine for one of the guards, who burned himself on the panels.

A vibration of panic still runs through my body as I sit shivering, and when Six reaches for my arm, I startle at his touch. He lifts my hand to his face, closing his eyes as he breathes in the scent of my skin, and the sight of him takes me back to the first night, remembering how fragile he looked to me.

Through a blur of tears, I grip his nape and press my forehead against his, hands clasped between us. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again, Six. I promise.”

* * *

Dusk is falling when the supply truck finally comes to a rolling stop in front of the gate. I give Six’s hand a squeeze and push to a stand, stepping out from the bushes. Rounding the building, I take the sidewalk, so as not to rouse any suspicion, and approach the tower, where Arty sits with one other guard, drinking coffee.

“Wren? It’s almost curfew. What are you doing out here?”

I position myself in Arty’s line of view, while Six slips into the back of the truck. “I need Papa. Do you know where I can find him?”

His eyes slide to the other guard and back to me, the action setting my teeth on edge. “Sure, kiddo. Hang tight, I’ll get ahold of him. You just stay put right here.”

With a whistle, he looks beyond me and signals the truck through the wall, which slides to the side.

A hand grips my arm, and I startle, instinctively flailing back, and glance up to the Legion guard standing behind me. Another takes hold of my other arm, and I squirm and pull, twisting my arm to break their hold.

Arty raises a walkie-talkie to his face. “Where do you want her, sir?”

“Put her in the holding cells.” The voice that answers is unrecognizable, and as the wall slides closed, I catch sight of a Legion guard opening the back of the supply truck.

“Six! No! Oh, God, Six!” Tears flood my eyes, as I kick and scream, trying to break loose. My heels dig into the dirt, as the guards drag me toward the station ahead. Fighting them is futile, but the agony that washes over me won’t let me give up. “Six!”

The door shuts him out of my view, and I break into a hysterical sob.

Chapter 23

Dani

With one hand clasped over my mouth, another banded around my waist, I twist and writhe in the guard’s arm, screaming into his palm. Hands bind my ankles, swiping the floor out from under me, bridging me between the two of them. Through the dark hallway of cellblock B, they carry me toward the exit, following closely behind Ivan and Doctor Ericsson. Once through those doors, it’s only a short walk to the Ragers.

Oh, God, the Ragers!

To be burned, stabbed, shot is one thing. But thrown into a pit where I’ll be eaten alive is unthinkable. My breaths arrive hard and fast in a panic, and with snot gathered at my nose, and tears in my eyes, I can hardly suck in enough air. A numbness crawls over me, blanketing my skin, and I can only pray it’ll remain when the Ragers claw flesh away from my bones and sink their teeth into my muscles.

Maybe it’ll be quick. Maybe they’ll rip my heart from my chest, and I’ll die in seconds.

Still, I kick and squirm in the soldiers’ grip, desperate to get away. Even if they shoot me, trying to escape, it’s better than being fed alive to the monsters.

We breach the door, to where night has settled over the camp. The low hum of growls sets my heart beating faster, and our approach sends them into a frenzy. The clamor of them slamming at the fence beats down my spine in a terrifying rhythm.

An ice cold sensation settles in my chest, when Ivan grabs a staff with a sharp point that’s propped against the fence. At the opposite end of the yard, where fewer Ragers are gathered, he opens the door of the fence, prodding an approaching Rager with the stick.

I scream into the guard’s palm, sobbing.

My body flies through the air, until my spine collides with the dirt, kicking up the dust around me. Air blasts from my lungs, and I turn to the side to catch a breath.

That’s when I notice the smaller fence, fairly easy to scale at the other side of the yard that leads to the open desert.

A growl diverts my attention toward a mangled woman limping toward me, half her face scratched away. Three more block my path toward the low fence—all males, chattering their teeth in that terrifying click-click-click.

Laughter draws my attention toward Ivan, where he stands beside his father on the camp side of the barbed fence.

I push to my knees to crawl toward them, and a larger male, whose eyeball is missing from one of his sockets, steps in front of me, twitching and jerking.

I back myself toward the building’s wall behind me, scanning it for a window that I can break. Nothing but solid concrete. The heavy tromp of feet close in on me, a tight circle surrounding me, and I tuck myself into a ball. The unified movement draws the attention of others, who also circle around me.