Why did he want the nukes, you ask? Well, in short, they were his ticket into office. He wanted to aim them at certain important locations, and he planned to threaten to launch them if he was not immediately put in a position of power. It was crazy, really, to think that he was insane enough to think up such a plan.
I'd called SeeD that morning to inform them of his plans, and Squall had promised to send at least six to help me out. I prayed that they were able to arrive on time, and make it to the Silo before me.
As it were, I didn't even make it inside.
"Someone here is a traitor," Danau said, as he paced before his Valkiere and I, looking at each one in turn. "Someone here has been named, and identified. I'm going to give you a chance to step forward now, if you're the traitor. I might just spare your life if you do so."
My stomach turned. I thought of Gideon's parting words to me. He'd make me suffer for what I'd done to him. He'd get me back and make my life a living hell. I knew it was me that Danau was talking about. I was certain he'd made a phone call following our altercation in FH, and that he'd ratted me out. Still, I refused to step forward and identify myself as the traitor.
"Sasha," Danau said, and I saw the girl tremble under his gaze. "Is it you?"
"No sir. I work for you and only you," she replied.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm being truthful sir. I work for you and only you."
"Very well," he said, and he stepped back and began to pace again. He then stopped in front of the girl to my left. "Maxine. Is it you?"
"No sir." she replied.
"Who do you work for? And don't lie."
"I work only for you, Danny," she replied, and I heard her voice crack.
"Rogue?" he asked me. "Are you the traitor?"
"No sir." I said, and I was pleased to hear my voice sound confident.
"You wouldn't lie to me would you?"
"I haven't lied to you yet, Sir." I said.
"Are you positive of that?"
"Yes sir."
"Rogue, why did you come to work for me?"
"To make money, sir."
"Is that the only reason?"
"No, sir."
"Explain yourself."
"I came to work for you to make money, of course. I also came to work for you because I was told you were the best, sir."
"Answer me again. Are you the traitor."
"No sir," I replied.
"Who do you work for?"
"I work only for myself, sir."
He chuckled and yanked the helmet off of my head. "I'm disappointed in you, Rogue. I trusted you."
The girl to my left lifted her rifle and slammed it into my face. I saw bright stars behind my eyes, and my thoughts were clouded with pain. I tasted blood, smelled it, but I wasn't sure where it had come from. My nose? My mouth? I didn't know.
"Take her back to the compound, Sasha," Danau said. "The rest of you. Let's get going. We don't have much time to get in and out of there."
Something hard hit the back of my head and I was sent to my knees. I couldn't think, and it hurt to breathe. All I could think of was Gideon, and how he'd spilled my secret. I hated him. I wanted to rip his guts out and make him eat them. I wanted to cut his throat and watch as he bled to death. I truly, truly hated him, daddy. I know hate is a terrible thing. I know feeling that way about him was wrong, but I couldn't help it. I thought they were going to kill me, and it would be all his fault.
Rough hands seized me and dragged me back to the truck, and I was thrown inside like a bag of garbage. My head hit the floor and I remember it bouncing a little. It hurt, but not as much as what came in the following hours.
I saw the boot a second before it smashed into my face, and the world around me went black. I don't know how long it was before I woke up. Maybe hours, maybe days. I don't know. I guess it couldn't have been more than a few hours, but still, when I woke up, I had no idea where I was or what had happened.
My hands were bound to the arms of an old wooden chair. My feet too, were bound to the legs of the chair, and I had been stripped to my underwear and tank top. I could barely breathe. There was a terrible throbbing pain in my nose, and I couldn't see well out of my left eye. The room was bright, too bright, and I couldn't quite make out my surroundings, but I knew I had to be somewhere in the compound.
"You're awake," Danau said, and he took a handful of my hair and lifted my head. "Good, because I want, no, I need some answers. And I need them now."
"I'm not telling you shit," I spat out at him.
He backhanded me, and my head jerked to the right. I felt the bones in my neck crack, and spirals of pain rippled through my head. "Oh, you'll tell me. I have ways of making you talk. You want a taste?" he asked. "I'll give you a taste."
I lifted my head, though the effort brought tears to my eyes, and I watched him produce a cattle brand shaped like a crescent moon, glowing in the feeble light afforded by the single bulb overhead. Without any hesitation or any threats, he pressed it against my upturned palm. For a second, I thought I smelled roasting pork, and realized that the smell was that of my sizzling flesh underneath the hot brand. The pain came less than a second later. A searing, icy pain. I couldn't help but scream, and I didn't like the sound of it. It was one of pure pain, agony, and it came from deep within my soul.
When he removed it, he asked, "You like that? There's many other things I could do to you, sick things. Talk, and I'll spare you. Resist, and I'll do whatever it takes."
"I won't tell you anything," I hissed through clenched teeth.
Danau knelt before me and said, "Here's the deal, Rogue. You're going to tell me who you work for. I need a name."
"Do what you want to me," I said and glared at him through one eye. "I'm not telling you shit."
"You will tell me. See, I didn't get my missiles, and I'm a little pissed off, so if you don't tell me who you work for so that I can get them back, I might just have to take it out on you."
"Go ahead. I'm not telling you shit," I growled back at him, mentally willing him to burst into flames.
He retrieved the brand from where ever it had been, and he pressed it into the upturned palm of my other hand. I could feel the searing heat in every cell, in every inch of my skin, and I screamed as the flesh of my hand cooked and sizzled beneath the glowing crescent moon.
"You can start by telling me your name, and who you work for."
"My name is Rogue. I work only for me," I said
"Tell me your real name," he growled.
"I'm not telling you shit." I knew I was repeating myself, and I couldn't stop or else I might slip up in the midst of my agony. Those words became my mantra, and I said them as often as it took.
"Listen little girl, this is not a game! I'll make you wish you were dead if you don't talk."
"Go ahead, kill me, because I'm not talking."
"Fine, have it your way," he said and he produced a hammer, and without
hesitation, he brought it down hard on my right hand, crushing the bones
of my fingers beneath. He did this several times, and I screeched
as each blow was struck. I was dizzy from the pain, ready to slip
back into the black, but I willed myself to be strong and take whatever
it was that he had to give. "Who do you work for? Esthar?
SeeD? Galbadia? Tell me, or I'll make you suffer so badly,
you'll want to die, I promise you that."
"N . . .n . . .ot . . . t . . . t . . .talk . . . ing," I stammered,
as I tried not to throw up.
"Then you leave me no choice," he said.
As I sat there, in the worst pain of my life, I prayed that Squall knew I was in trouble. I prayed that this high tech equipment he'd supplied me with worked. If it did, he'd know that I was in dire straits. I prayed that someone would come soon, should I live long enough for them to find me, and that if they didn't make it in time, that I'd die in my sleep. Through the agony, I could only think about my family, and how much I wanted to live long enough to see you all one last time.
After he pulverized my left hand with the hammer, leaving me on the verge of consciousness, I realized that for whatever reason, he wanted me alive. I was their bargaining chip for the missiles. I was sure of it. Otherwise, I would already be dead, and it was comforting to know this, even though death would have been less miserable. If I could just hang on until someone came to get me.
"Who do you work for?" he asked again.
"Fuck . . . you," I said as clearly as I could.
Danau was furious. He growled through his teeth at me and raised the hammer once more. This time, it smashed into the top of my head and I fell into blessed unconsciousness.
When I awoke, my head throbbed and I could barely lift my chin from my chest. My shirt was coated with dried blood, either from the swelling knot on my head, or my broken nose. Both hands were swollen and purple, and each had a red, crescent shaped welt in the middle. They ached worse than anything, and the tiniest movements made me nauseous.
"You're awake. Ready to talk?" Danau asked.
My head was fuzzy, and he was hard to hear, but I managed to croak out a couple of obscenities before he revealed a pair of metal spikes and the hammer. I don't actually remember him driving a spike into each hand, but it must have happened because I remember seeing them there, and I still have the scars. Perhaps the pain was so exquisite that I blocked that part of it out, but the spikes were there, and I remember feeling the blood pooling underneath my hand and watching the way it dripped to the floor below as I hunched forward, ready to pass out once more.
When I regained my senses a bit, I was alone. Danau had either retired for the night or had grown so frustrated that he had to cool down to avoid killing me before I told him where he might find his precious nukes.
I had a choice. I could either sit there and wait for him to kill
me, or I could try to figure out how to escape.
****notes****
Hmmm....Seven chapters and three reviews....that's pretty pathetic. I'm guessing that no one's interested?
Should I just scrap this project or re-write?