No Peace for the Damned

entrance. My heart burned with every step. The healing had already begun. But the knitting of the wounds inside me was painful. Each heartbeat a fresh ache.
    Blood and bodies littered the barn floor. The tools and fallen weapons that Markus had thrown at me were mixed in with the debris. Someone opened the garage door. The storm outside showered the room, muddying the already dirty floor.
    Why open the door? Weren’t we risking exposure?
    Then I saw. The tarp had fallen from the heap Markus had used as a platform. An old Chevy pickup truck, rusted beyond its years, left abandoned by one of the maintenance crew. Shane was buried under the cab’s hood. Jon and Thirteen moved the injured hostages into the truck’s bed. Theo lifted me and carried me across the barn, I was so shaken.
    The storm helped our cover, and since Markus had disconnected the monitors on the barn, the fight hadn’t been picked up by the guard station. But once we were out on the main property, the cameras would see us. We had to be fast. I had to get myself together.
    Reluctantly, I shrugged off Theo’s hold. I still couldn’t look at him. Jon laid the unconscious Network member in the truck bed. He’d straightened her bloody clothes, brushed her hair from her battered face.
    Cordele.
    A loud sob escaped me. They must have captured her just today. She hadn’t even been reported missing yet. Her hair matted, her eyes swollen and crusted with blood, her shirt torn to shreds with thick welts covering the exposed skin. Jon turned from the truck and gripped his own shoulder, where shreds of his shirt were used as a tourniquet.
    Shane roared the truck to life. Thirteen came around the rear fender. My chest clenched. I looked away. He had seen what I had done to Markus. I wouldn’t blame him if he just left me here.
    He stepped right up to me, towering over me. Then he gathered me into his arms. He held my face gently to his massive chest. Ran a hand through my matted hair.
    “Shh,” he whispered. “It’s all over now.”
    I lost it. Tears began streaming, nose running. I couldn’t catch my breath. I sobbed and Thirteen held me. Accepted me. Forgave me.
    “We need to move,” Jon said softly.
    I was suddenly exhausted. I wanted to go home to my little farmhouse. To curl up in my yellow quilt and cheap sheets. I leaned into Thirteen, laid my forehead against his chest. He lifted the hem of his tattered shirt and ran it over my mouth, back and forth.
    “Will you be able to mask the truck from detection?” he asked me.
    His hand moved to my neck. He was wiping away Markus’s blood. I nodded weakly.
    “Well, don’t mask everyone,” Jon interjected. His hand still clutched his shoulder. He leaned against the truck for support. “We want the cameras to capture the hostages and some of us as well, don’t we?”
    “Yes, of course,” Thirteen said.
    “If you want, I’ll only mask myself.” I turned to those lying in the truck. “Should I heal them?” I asked.
    “No,” Theo said from behind me. “We need their injuries as proof.”
    I looked at Cordele. Fresh tears welled in my eyes. From my back, Theo took my elbow and guided me away from Thirteen. A hand at my waist, he lifted me into the truck bed with the others. His touch was quick, but there was no hesitation. “Let’s get outta here,” he called over his shoulder before crawling into the truck bed beside me.
    I’m a Kelch. Why do you want me? I’m a monster. You saw what I did to Markus
.
    He snaked his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. “I got you, Mag,” he said, his voice husky, reassuring. “You’re OK now.”
    For the first time since that horrible moment on the couch, I looked Theo in the face. He looked over my body, scanning mefrom head to toe. Frowning. Then he met my eyes. His gaze softened. There was no disgust, no fear. Only concern. Genuine concern.
    The tears came once again.
I’ll never understand anything
.
    Shane tapped on the cab’s back window. “Where am I going?” he shouted.
    I was too overwhelmed to speak out loud.
    Follow the path from the barn to the east entrance. Stay to the left at every fork and you’ll end up right at the gate
.
    My mind was still shut tight. If he tried to respond with his thoughts, I didn’t hear.
    The truck pulled out of the barn. Rain poured down on us. I made myself invisible. Theo pulled me in closer, and the connection between us hummed. I knew the moment the cameras picked us up