Wanderer - Extinction

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Time was flying past but Nova was no closer to solving the problem of Blade. She worked on automatic, extracting anything valuable and sending the worthless rock on its way. The only weapons she could think of belonged to the guards. There was no way she’d even get her hands on one, let alone get a chance to use it on Blade. The moment she touched one all control collars within a hundred metres would activate.

Without a weapon she was dead. She couldn’t think of anything. Prisoners weren’t allowed knives of any sort. Spoons were made of a soft material that bent long before they could cause harm. The guards didn’t want prisoners having easy access to weaponry.

She picked up another chunk of rock and started to turn it gently this way then the other, searching for any signs it contained anything valuable. It was heavy in her hand, one of the larger chunks she would have to sort through. Nothing. She went to discard it, then stopped and stared at the rock. She’d found her weapon! It seemed obvious as soon as she thought of it.

It presented some problems though. All the prisoners were carefully searched when they left the area, to make sure they hadn’t taken anything valuable. The rock she held was worthless but it would still be confiscated. That meant she would need to take on Blade before they left the area. It would be dangerous, but she really didn’t have a choice. Moving the rock to one side she continued with her work. The last thing she needed was to attract notice from the guards.

“Form up. Time to go.”

Nova jerked at the guard’s shout. She’d been lost in her thoughts, thinking through what she would have to do. She’d had to fight on occasion, but she’d never set out to kill someone before. That was what she planned to do. Kill Blade. Anything less and she would be the one dying.

She grabbed the rock and managed to hide most of it up her sleeve. The rest was sitting in her cupped hand. She hoped no one would notice it before she closed in on Blade.

The other prisoners started to shuffle forwards. Nova went with the group, trying to spot Blade. His size made him easier to spot, but her own lack of height meant she had to peer past her fellow prisoners as they shuffled forwards. She had to find Blade quickly. It would only be a few minutes before they reached the checkpoint, and once there she would have to abandon the rock.

Gaps opened and closed but she couldn’t spot Blade. Most of the time she couldn’t see more than a few people in front. As time slipped away Nova found herself breathing harder, her pulse starting to pound. It was hopeless. She would never find Blade this way.

She glanced around. To her left was a prisoner whose name she didn’t know. He was tall, though. Not as tall as Blade but not far off it, though he was gaunt where Blade was bulky.

“Hey,” Nova said, touching his arm. “I need your help.”

The man jumped slightly at her touch, then eyed her suspiciously. Prisoners talking while being transferred wasn’t officially banned, but often the guards clamped down hard on it.

“What is it?” he asked quietly, eyes darting around.

“I need to know where Blade is. Can you see him?”

“Blade? Why are you looking for him? Do you want to die?”

“No,” Nova replied, thinking frantically. “I want to avoid him. But I can’t see where he is.”

The man relaxed a little, nodding to himself.

“Yeah. I can see that.” He glanced around, then motioned with his head. “He’s that way, about six people in front of us. He keeps moving around, though. I think he’s looking for you.”

“Thanks,” Nova replied. Ice flooded her veins and the rock suddenly felt too heavy to carry. Blade was looking for her already. She shook herself. This was it. This was her only chance. Whether Blade intended to finish her now or just remind her what he would do later, she had to deal with him. She moved forwards, slipping between two women in front of her.

“Hey, what you doing?” hissed the tall man.

Nova ignored him and kept moving, using her small size to slip forwards without causing a stir. The other prisoners would have complained if she’d been shoving them, but other than that they didn’t much care who reached the checkpoint first.

She caught a glimpse of Blade ahead. She could see his head turning from side to side. Then he was gone, hidden by the bodies in front of her. Steeling herself she slipped forwards past several men and two women.

She found herself behind an older looking man who struggled forward on a damaged leg. Nova knew he didn’t dare let it slow him down. One sign of weakness from someone so old and the guards would end his life, and not necessarily quickly or painlessly.

Blade was in front of the man. His attention was focused forward for the moment. Something had caught his attention. Maybe he thought he’d found Nova. That suited her. Let him keep thinking that. Let that be the last thought he had.

She let the rock slip down and clear of her sleeve, then tightened her grip again. Her hands were suddenly slick with sweat and she was certain Blade would hear her panting for breath. Her heart hammered in her chest. This was it. She wouldn’t get a second chance. She had to make the first swing count.

Nova darted around the old man, then swung her arm back preparing for what she hoped would be the killing blow. She stared at the back of Blade’s head, her arm trembling, and prepared to strike.

Her arm trembled and a huge weight seemed to have settled on her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Her vision was starting to pulse in time with her rapid heartbeat. She started to swing… and stopped.

She couldn’t do it. Despite everything, she couldn’t do it. It wasn’t fear. Yes, she was scared of Blade, terrified even, but that wasn’t what stopped her. She just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t strike him down, especially from behind.

Nova didn’t realise she had stopped until the old man bumped into her. He cursed loudly, giving her a shove forward. Blade’s head shot round, seeking the disturbance. When he spotted Nova a huge grin split his face.

“There you are. What’s the matter, did you miss me?”

He stepped close, towering over Nova once more. Staring into his eyes Nova realised this was it. She thought of trying to run, but her legs were filled with lead and refused to move.

“What’s the matter? Too scared to talk? That’s fine. I’ll soon have you pleading for me to stop. Or screaming.”

He reached out with one of his powerful hands, grabbing her chin and squeezing hard. Nova gasped in pain. Blade just grinned and squeezed harder.

“Oh, this is just the beginning. I’m going to take my time with you. You’ll be an example to the others.”

He squeezed even harder. Nova felt her legs try to buckle, but Blade’s grip prevented her from dropping to the floor. The pain was forcing tears from her eyes. Blade laughed, eyes alight. Nova realised he was really enjoying this, that causing her pain was fun for him.

That was the turning point. All the terror, all the pain, was swept away by white hot anger. She let out a strangled scream, focusing her rage. It was muffled by his iron grip and he seemed to take it as a further sign of her suffering. He was too focused on what he was doing. He didn’t notice her arm start moving, swinging faster and faster as the rock in her hand accelerated towards his head.

Something must have tipped him off. Maybe it was a flicker of Nova’s gaze. Maybe he caught the movement from the corner of his eye. At the last moment he shoved Nova away and tried to pull back.

He wasn’t fast enough to avoid the rock. It clipped the side of his head, just above his eye, opening a nasty cut, but it didn’t cave his head in as Nova had hoped. It didn’t even knock him out. He shook his head, slightly dazed, but he’d survived the first blow.

Nova desperately tried to halt the rock’s swing so she could reverse direction. Maybe she could land another blow while Blade was still dazed.

Her bad luck continued. Even before she’d stopped the swing Blade had recovered enough to step in again. He grabbed her elbow and her wrist, then twisted sharply. Nova couldn’t help but drop the rock as pain spiked through both joints.

Releasing his hold Blade grabbed Nova by the back of her neck with one hand and wrapped the other around her throat. His grip immediately tightened, cutting off her breathing. His muscles tensed and he lifted her off the floor.

Nova struggled desperately in his grip. Her vision was already dimming at the edges. She kicked out, landing several blows to his body, but he didn’t even seem to notice. She tried to reach out for his eyes, planning to gouge at them, but his arms were too long. She couldn’t quite reach.

She reached up to her neck, trying to prise his fingers free, but she couldn’t shift any of them. He was far stronger than she was at the best of times, and now her strength was flowing away along with consciousness.

The ringing in her ears became deafening. The darkness closed in on her vision. She found herself staring into Blade’s eyes, saw the anger and the hatred there, and knew he wasn’t going to relent. There would be no dragging out her death now. Blade was caught up in a killing rage.

“Die b***h!”

She saw his lips move and faintly heard his words. She thought he must have shouted but it only registered as a whisper. Her mind felt heavy now, sleepy. All panic had gone. Her vision narrowed down so all she could see was Blade’s eyes. Such deep blue eyes. Then the blackness closed in completely and swept Nova away with it.