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Chapter 16
Wing reached the hatch first and hurriedly ascended the ladder up to the little door. He heaved the heavy metal up on its hinges until it was lying flat against the ground and scrambled out of the facility. His friend raced up after him, stumbling as the ground shook beneath them from a nearby explosion.
"Which way?" Otto asked, scanning the area. He was breathing heavily, worry lining his eyes.
"Over there." Wing replied, pointing out the direction. His friend plunged into the trees, without hesitating, leaving the tall boy to follow after him with a frown.
"Stop!"
Rick's eyes burned with rage. He had Francisco pinned to a tree. The man's face was a bloody mess. His nose broken in several places, dripped red liquid. A bruise puffed up his cheek, black and blue. His breathing was laboured and he could only see out of one eye.
Rick gritted his teeth and pushed Shelby away as she tried to stop him. She had tears streaming down her face and was pulling at his arm as he continously hit the Colonel.
Thump!
The sound of his fist striking the man's abdomen.
"There's people coming!" Alianna's voice rang out in the clearing. It stopped Rick in his anger. Who could it be? Nero? Raven? Wing?
Otto?
The boy released his grip on Francisco and the man slid to the ground, gasping as he clutched at his stomach. Then Rick bent down and lifted up the gun that lay discarded, aiming it in the direction the footsteps came from. He slowly moved under the canopy, licking his lips, his heart pounding. The gun slipped in his hand and he realised that he had Laura's blood smeered all over him. But there was nothing he could do about that. The boy hurriedly wiped his hands on his pants and gripped the weapon tighter.
"Rick!" Otto said, eyes wide. He'd walked out of the trees to the boy's right, causing him to spin around and fire. Luckily his brother had ducked before the bullet had time to leave a hole in his head. "Calm down! It's only me and Wing. Where did all that blood come from?"
Rick relaxed, dropping the weapon. "You scared me. Where's Raven?"
"With Nero. And we also have the old Otto back. His memory has returned." Wing replied with a grin. Rick's eyes widened in horror. Otto loved Laura. That had been obvious to him from the start. And now Otto would remember that. But she was dead...
"Yeah yeah yeah. Whoop - dee - do. Now where did that blood come from?" His brother said, unaware of the blood draining from Rick's face.
"A guard. I got into a bit of a physical fight with one and well he... he didn't fair so well. We should get to the shroud." He replied, gulping.
"You're lying." Otto whispered. "Where are the others?"
"Back at the shroud. Where we should be." The boy replied, gesturing to a direction that lead away from the clearing. His brother suddenly pushed past him and Rick gripped his arm, swinging him around. "Wrong way."
"Wing? Which direction is the shroud? Don't lie." Otto asked. His friend looked from one to the other. Rick had his eyes wide, pleading to him. While his brother was staring hard at him.
Wing fidgeted. Should he tell the truth or should he lie? It was obvious that something was wrong and that Rick didn't want them to find out about it. But what could it possibly be? Was someone hurt, hence the blood? But if they were then why not lead them to the person so that they could help? Unless someone was dead... someone they knew... someone who's death would best be left unsaid for the time being...
"The shroud... it's in the direction... the direction..." Wing stumbled over his words, speechless for the first time in his life. With a trembling hand he pointed towards the clearing.
Rick's eyes shut in despair and he gripped tighter onto Otto's jacket, trying to pull him back. But the boy just shrugged the jacket off and ran, disappearing into the smoke.
"Why did you lie to him?" Wing whispered, dread rising in his stomach. Rick clutched at the jacket and then slipped it on, zipping it up against the cold.
"Because... because..." The boy faltered, tears welling up and streaming down his cheeks. He hiccupped, trying to calm himself and wiped his face.
"What's happened?" Wing asked again, louder, gripping Rick's shoulders and forcing him to look at him.
"I didn't know what to do. There's was a shot and blood and... I'm only sixteen! What did you expect me to do? I'm not a doctor! I'm sixteen! You can't blame me for her death. You can't..." He cut off abruptly, watching the tall boy's reaction.
"Her death? Who's her?" Wing asked, heart thudding rapidly. If it was Shelby...
Suddenly a shout split the air. It lasted about thirty seconds, full of pain and grief. They both flinched from it, like the sound could actually hurt them. Then as suddenly as it had started it stopped.
Rick and Wing looked at each. They both knew who had screamed.
The taller boy spun around and raced ahead, his friend's brother limping behind him. He reached the clearing within seconds, halting just within the edges.
Otto was on his hands and knees a couple of metres away. He was tensed, his fists clenched. Wing couldn't see his face but what he could see was the body lying in the centre of the area.
Blood surrounded the corpse in a pool. It mingled with her red hair so that it was difficult to tell where it ended and the liquid began. The girl's face was turned away and she wasn't moving.
"Laura..." Wing whispered. The sound carried on the wind and Shelby looked up from the tree she'd been sat against. A smile lit up her face and fresh tears made tracks down her cheeks.
"Wing!" The girl cried, staggering to her feet. He swung his head round and almost began crying himself as he saw her, alive and unhurt. She ran over to him and gripped him a hug that he returned with just as much enthusiasm.
"It's okay." He muttered into her hair as he stroked it.
"Who killed her?" Otto whispered.
"He did." Alianna replied, pointing at the Colonel.
Otto suddenly leapt foward, like a panther for the strike. Rick, anticipating the move, lunged after him and grabbed his brother from behind. He pulled him back, trying to restrain him from attacking Francisco.
"He killed her! Let me go! He deserves to die!" Otto screamed. His brother's grip slipped and he stumbled forward.
"Wing! Help!" Rick cried, jumping onto the boy's back. They collapsed under the weight and Otto tried to roll free, but his legs were trapped under his brother.
Francisco opened his eyes and watched them struggle. Then he slowly pulled out a gun from his jacket and aimed. Rick saw the weapon and his eyes widened.
Otto chose that exact moment to sit up, straight into the gun's line of sight. Francisco pulled the trigger and it hit him square in the back.
The boy was motionless for a second. And then in slow motion he fell over backwards, his eyes rolling up into his head.
"Otto!" Rick scrambled to his feet and threw a kick at the man's head. His foot impacted with a crunch and Francisco slumped to the side.
Rick lifted his foot to deal another blow but was stopped by a shout.
"He's not dead!"
The boy spun around and found Alianna, Wing and his girlfriend clustered around his brother.
"He's not dead. It was a sleeper stun pulse." Shelby explained.
Rick relaxed. Then suddenly there was a snap. He glanced up and watched Nero and Raven step into the clearing.
"What happened?" The man asked, surveying the small area, the injured teacher, the unconcious boy. His eyes widened as they rested on Laura. "Please tell me she's not..."
"Dead?" Rick finished. He gulped and then hurried behind a tree to throw up.
Raven glanced around at the chaos. If only she'd been more careful... maybe then there wouldn't have been any corpses to deal with.
Nero walked forward and knelt beside Laura. He gently checked her pulse. There was none. Then he looked over to Francisco. The memory of what had nearly happened to Franz came to mind. He knew exactly who'd done this. But there was nothing he could do about that now.
"This is all my fault..."