Wanderer - Extinction

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nova woke with a start, gasping for breath. Her throat burned but she managed to draw down some air. The second breath was almost as wonderful as the first. Her head still felt fuzzy and something was hammering at the inside of her brain. She blinked her eyes and made out a rough rock ceiling above.

Was she still in the tunnel? And what had happened? She remembered the look in Blade’s eyes. The killing rage. He’d wanted her dead. Someone must have intervened, but who? None of the other prisoners were a match for Blade, not even if several ganged up on him. Was Blade still dealing with them now? Maybe. She could hear quiet groans around her.

She wanted nothing more than to stay where she was, but she had to move. Once Blade was finished with whoever had distracted him he would finish what he’d started with Nova. Despite that, a part of her wanted to stay put. To wait for Blade. To get it over with. She fought against it. She wasn’t ready to die yet, especially not at the hands of Blade.

Nova’s head was clearing but breathing was still painful, her bruised throat complaining with each breath. At least the hammering in her head had eased a little. Taking a deep breath she rolled onto her right side, biting her lip to avoid screaming at the pain.

Tears blurred her vision. All she could see were a few blurry shapes. Why did her body hurt so much? Had Blade switched to kicking her while she was unconscious? Normally she wouldn’t have been surprised, but he had been far beyond such control. She wasn’t dead so someone must have stopped him, but then why did her body hurt so much?

She could still hear groaning, but now she thought of it there were no hints of a fight or a beating. She couldn’t hear any blows being landed. She couldn’t hear Blade’s voice either, which was particularly unusual when he was in a fight. Hope flared in her chest. Could someone have actually beaten Blade?

The tears were easing off. She was still in pain but now she had stopped moving it had ebbed from burning intensity to dull aching. Shaking her head and blinking several more times cleared her vision. Lifting her head a little she stared in confusion at dozens of her fellow prisoners, all curled up on the floor.

A few were stirring but most lay still. The groans she had heard came from those who were starting to wake. One woman managed to lift her hand to her neck and pulled at the control collar there.

In that moment Nova realised what had happened. The guards had activated everyone’s control collars, and not for the normal short period of time. With so many still unconscious there was a good chance some of the weaker prisoners would have died or would be left with such serious complications that the guards would put a bullet in their brain.

That explained why her whole body was in pain. Every muscle would have been affected, tensing as the collar fired. She’d only experienced the collars being used for an extended period a couple of times before. It was horrific. Breathing had become impossible as her chest muscles spasmed. It had seemed to last for hours as she fought to survive. Then she had lost consciousness.

The aftermath was even worse. Agonising pain which had left her unable to move or think for what seemed like an age. Strangely she didn’t feel so bad this time. Was it because she had been unconscious when the collars were activated? She certainly seemed to be recovering much more quickly than her fellow prisoners.

She lowered her head again, groaning more loudly than she really needed to. She didn’t want to let on to the guards that she was recovering quickly. She needed to use the time to think. Suffering the effects of the collar would make Blade even angrier. She needed a way out before he became a threat.

Why had the collars been activated? Was it because of her fight with Blade? It wasn’t impossible; the guards would sometimes intervene in fights, but not normally when only two people were involved. Mass brawls led to injuries and loss of productivity. Having to replace a number of slaves created more work for the guards. Individual fights barely registered. Besides, the guards would only use the collars for long enough to break up a fight. This was something different.

So if the guards hadn’t stepped in to save her, why had they activated the collars? Try as she might, she couldn’t think of a reason. She heard a groan from behind. A deeper groan than most of the prisoners made. A chill swept through her body. Blade! It was Blade! And he was recovering.

She mentally kicked herself for wasting time wondering what the guards had been doing when she should have been thinking about Blade. She flopped onto her back with a groan, then rolled onto her left side. It was risky. None of the other prisoners had regained so much control yet, but she had to take the chance.

Tears blurred her vision again but the pain was less this time. She was quickly able to blink them away. As her vision cleared she found herself staring into Blade’s deep blue eyes. His face contorted into a snarl as he saw her. He tried to move but only managed a slight judder. Still, the hatred burning in his eyes warned Nova that she only had a little time to live.

Her brain went into overdrive as she tried to think of a way out of the situation. She could probably move now but that would bring the guards down on her. Even without the guards it would be pointless. There was nowhere to run to. She could probably avoid Blade for a few minutes once he was able to move, while his body fully recovered, but it would just be delaying the inevitable, and not by long.

There was only one other option. She’d been unable to kill Blade before, but something had changed inside. She could still feel his fingers locked around her throat. She could still feel the panic inside as she fought unsuccessfully to draw breath. She could still remember the look in his eyes. She would not, could not, allow that to happen again. Even if it meant killing him.

Blade had fallen only a couple of paces away. She started to wriggle towards him, wary of moving too fast and attracting attention from the guards but aware Blade was recovering. If she was going to do this then it had to be done soon.

She froze as a guard moved into her sight, walking slowly past the edge of the prisoners and studying them as he went. Blade has his back to the guard. He tried to move once more, body vibrating. This time his arms jerked a little. The guard’s attention snapped to Blade. He watched as the huge prisoner shook and tried to move. Nova saw the guard nod to himself with a slight smile, then move on.

As soon as the guard had moved far enough Nova grabbed her opportunity. She slowly reached out towards Blade to avoid drawing any attention from the guards. Heart hammering she placed her hands around Blade’s huge neck. Even with both hands she could only just manage to reach.

Then she started to squeeze. It was difficult. She was fighting against herself as much as against Blade’s strength. She knew this was necessary, she knew it was him or her, but part of her still recoiled in horror at what she was trying to do.

Tears blurred her vision again but she refused to stop. She felt Blade’s neck muscles tense and tried to squeeze even harder. Blade forced his chin down almost onto his chest.

Shaking her head to clear the tears she focused on his chest rather than his face. To her dismay his chest continued to rise and fall. It wasn’t working. Blade was still breathing. And soon he would recover enough to kill her.

Panic set in, robbing her hands of strength. She lifted her gaze back to Blade’s face and was met by a chilling smile. Blade knew she didn’t have the strength to finish him. It was just a matter of time now.

Anger flared in Nova. The smile was the final straw. She wanted to wipe it out. Obliterate it. Taking her hands from Blade’s throat she stuck one over his mouth, blocking out the smile. Blade shook slightly as he tried to move. Staring into his eyes she saw his confidence vanish to be replaced by fear. But why?

His breath blowing against her hand gave her the answer. She had covered his mouth, preventing him breathing through it. He was breathing through his nose now, dragging in air in short pants. Steeling herself against what she felt inside Nova reached out with her other hand and pinched Blade’s nose closed.

This was even worse than trying to strangle him. She could feel through her hands his desperate attempts to breathe. The pressure changes in his nose. His attempts to drag air in through his mouth. When those didn’t work he tried to move again. It was too soon. He couldn’t manage more than small shakes, nowhere near enough to dislodge her grip.

His attempts to breathe became more desperate but less and less effective. Nova found it horrific. She could feel his life ebbing away. Something within her was dying at the same time. She was crossing a line she’d never thought she could. She was becoming something evil. She was becoming a murderer, but there was nothing else she could do.