Chapter 11

Sacrifice

Esperanza's POV

I took Royce's hand, but I was yanked away from him.

"ESPERANZA!"

It was Noland! He had me and he wasn't letting go. I felt him put a gun to my head.

"Let her go! Give her back to me! NOW!"

"I don't think so."

He started to drag me away, but no matter how much I fought back, I couldn't get away.

"ROYCE!"

I could see and hear him trying to get past the bars. I heard a very loud noise and Noland stopped. I bit down hard on his hand and he screamed. I took his finger off and then ran back.

"You little bitch!"

He fired at me but I quickly rounded a corner. I pressed myself against the wall and tried to calm my breathing. I could hear Scorpion cursing.

"Royce!?"

I guessed he couldn't hear me over Scorpion. I put my fingers to my lips and whistled loudly.

"What was that!?" the doctor asked.

"It has to be her!"

I ran towards their voice and once more found the bars.

"There!"

Royce turned and ran to me. I quickly took his hand and he pulled me back through the bars. The second I was through, he pulled me to his chest and didn't let go.

"Did he touch you?"

"No. But I took off his finger."

He looked at me and I winked.

"That's my girl."

I suddenly heard a loud bang, and it wasn't Scorpion. He scrambled backwards and I pulled out my gun. A piece of the wall bent in towards us. I looked at Royce and he took out a flare gun. He squeezed my hand and then walked forward. He knelt down and then pressed himself against the wall. I kept my gun on the wall, ready to shoot whatever came in. Royce peered through the hall and then looked at us. I nodded and he nodded back before firing a flare. Nothing happened and he held out his hand to me. He kicked the wall out and then crawled out. He pulled me out behind him and I looked around.

"Lets move." He said quietly.

I went quickly but quietly. Noland was nowhere to be seen and I was glad of it. It was completely dark, our only light being the one of Royce's gun. Even though my eyes were always able to easily adjust to darkness, this was different. Royce kept a tight hold on my hand as we walked through. The shot to the ceiling would surely bring those beasts here.

"Hey!"

We all stopped and turned. The doctor was trapped on the other side.

"I lost you guys." Nikolai went to him. "You gotta get me out of here man. Come on, please."

"Let's move baby."

Royce pulled me along and I sighed. We kept going but Nikolai stopped again.

"Nikolai?"

He nodded and then went back. I had no choice but to keep going. We found a wall with holes in it and Royce pushed me through. We all kept running and soon the doctor joined us again, but no Nikolai. We kept going until we reached a tunnel.

"This is our way out. You first baby, come on."

He lifted me up and then followed close behind me. The ground shook and I went faster. I pulled Royce up after me. Then Scorpion, Yakuza and the doctor. I saw the fire coming up and I jumped back. I covered my eyes and Royce pulled me closer to him. When the fire cleared, I knew that Nikolai had sacrificed himself to help us.

"We killed it….we fucking killed it! Whoo!"

I stood up and looked at Royce.

"Whose your daddy now motherfucker!? Whose your daddy now-"

I screamed as he was thrown forward. I slowly looked up and saw one of them. Their red lasers were now on Royce.

"NO!"

I pushed Royce aside so the lasers were on me.

"Esperanza no! Run!"

I stared at the beast.

"No te tengo miedo!" (I'm not afraid of you!) I hissed.

It growled at me and I looked at Royce.

"I love you cariño." I said.

He started to get up but then Scorpion jumped the beast.

"You motherfucker!"

He looked at me.

"Go! Don't wait for me! Get your fine ass out of here! Run!"

Yakuza grabbed me and we all ran. I'd misjudged Scorpion. He had a good heart.

Royce's POV

I stopped running for a minute when I heard a roar. Scorpion didn't make it, but he'd saved Esperanza and the rest of us. For that, I'd always be grateful. I kept going and Esperanza tripped. Yakuza picked her up and kept going. We came to a field of tall grass and Yakuza stopped. We all stopped and I looked at him. He nodded and I nodded back. Esperanza looked at him.

"Go. Fight with honor."

"Please come with us!"

He shook his head.

"No. This is what I'm meant to do. If I can give you time, then I will. Now go…don't look back." he told her.

She bowed her head and then we left. Yet another sacrifice, I wish never happened. Esperanza saw the good in all of them, even Scorpion. I knew this was hard for her. We kept running until I heard a mechanical click and the Doc's scream. He was caught in some sort of bear trap.

"Fuck!" I said.

Esperanza knelt down and got him out of it.

"One more inch and it would've hit my tibial artery. I guess this is my lucky day."

I shook my head.

"No. It's not."

Esperanza looked at me.

"He's dead weight now."

"We've lost everyone else! We can still save him cariño!"

"No. He'll slow us down."

"Now wait, I can still walk."

He tried to stand but there was a crack and he fell back down.

"Shit!"

I walked closer to Esperanza.

"You and I can still make it."

"You can't leave me here! I have a family, kids! Little kids!"

He held up a picture and I shook my head.

"You'll slow us down, and then you'll be asking us to carry you." I looked at Esperanza. "We can use him. We booby-trap him."

She was looking at me with disbelief.

"Why are you saying this? This isn't the man I love."

"I told you, you're my priority. All I care about is getting you home. I won't let anything compromise that."

The Doc was screaming for us to take him with us. I held out my hand to Esperanza.

"Please, baby."

She looked at my hand and then back to the Doc. She looked at me again.

"Go. Go get that ship ready. I'll be right behind you."

"Esperanza no!"

She grabbed me by the front and looked into my eyes.

"Confío en ti, ahora necesito que confíes en mí. I trust you, now I need you to trust me mi amor." she said.

I looked into her silver eyes and saw the pleading look. I sighed in frustration.

"I can't!"

"You must! Porfavor mi amor!"

I put my hands on her arms and she put hers on my face.

"You know I'll be alright. I'm strong enough to do this, you know I am."

"I almost lost you once. I can't lose you again." I told her.

"You won't! I promise you I will be right behind you. Now go!" she said.

I kissed her hard and passionately. When I pulled away I looked into her eyes once more.

"I'm gonna get you home. If he slows you down….you better leave him."

"You know that I can't."

I smirked.

"Go Royce. Run!"

"I love you."

"Tu tambien te amo." she told me.

I kissed her one more time before running off.