Emily didn’t know how long it had been since they’d arrived. It was impossible to know. There was no sun or moon, just the dark gray of the ceiling glowering incessantly over everything. Still, if she had to hazard a guess, she would’ve estimated they’d been there about two weeks.

In that time, Zach had continuously come and gone, ultimately spending more time away than with Emily, who had to strain to contain the overwhelming sense of boredom that continually swamped her. Just as instructed, she’d kept her head low and tried to avoid leaving their hideout unless necessary.

Once or twice she’d considered abandoning the place, but she always managed to persuade herself against it. They were in a precarious enough position without creating more escapades on top of everything else. So, Emily was forced to content herself with staring out the entrance of their den, yearning for what was out there.

Every now and then, she thought she saw some people moving out there, forcing her to shrink back hastily into the shadows. She knew there were men that were set to guard the hideout, though she had no idea what they looked like; forcing her to treat everything that moved as a potential threat.

It was with just such a mindset, that she watched from the shadows as a pair of sturdy looking men made their way nonchalantly down the street. Emily might not have been too concerned if they walked with the same listless gait of the hopeless vagrants of the undercity. These people had no such issues, striding confidently but easily down the street.

Internally, Emily fumed as she realized they were plotting an indirect course straight to her hiding place. She supposed it was possible that they could just be passing by, but inwardly she strongly doubted it. Despite their relaxed postures, they moved with purpose and understanding. They knew exactly what they were doing.

Hastily, Emily readied herself to bolt, giving herself just a little bit of time in case the men would be intercepted by her protectors before they came near. If not, then she would have to pull off a tight getaway. For a moment, Emily was furious that there was only one way in and out of the den. If she was going to have to run, it was going to be close.

Just before the men reached the tiny tunnel that was the entrance, where Emily was crouched and ready to bolt, Emily made out the hurried figures of two men rushing to intercept the others as they approached. Some words were exchanged between the two pairs in tones too low for Emily to make out. What mumbled tones she could make out didn’t seem hostile, though they didn’t seem cordial either.

Emily could feel an itch inside her, screaming at her not to trust these people and just run. Yes, it would compromise their base, but it was just temporary and they could find another one. Still, it would complicate things. There was no saying how long or far she’d have to go to lose them, and then she’d have to try to find Zach again. She was confident he’d scour every nook and cranny of the city looking for her, from the lowest sewer to the office of the governor, but she didn’t want to risk making him do that if she didn’t have to.

It didn’t take long before the decision was taken away from her, as all four men suddenly turned, staring straight at the tunnel where she was hiding. Without a second thought, Emily shot from the den and out into the gloom of the street. Without so much as a glance at the stunned expressions of the men she passed, she blurred out into an alley between two piles of rubble. She only vaguely knew where she was going, everything looked the same. Still, she’d tried hard to commit the path back to the world above to memory.

It was risky. If they’d thought to guard the entrance, she didn’t know another way out. She was sure there was one, but without any idea where that was, she would be as good as trapped. Still, she had to do something.

Her lungs burning, Emily took a series of sharp turns. Behind her she could hear the panting grunts of the men behind her. It seemed they weren’t in as good of shape as they looked. Still, they were gaining on her, even if it was slow.

It wasn’t long before Emily lost track of the turns she was making, in the winding, narrow, streets. All she could focus on was her need to keep running and the sounds of the men behind her. They were getting closer and closer, it seemed like she could feel their breath on the back of her neck.

Realizing she was hopelessly lost and running out of time, Emily dug her foot in and whirled. She hoped to catch the men off guard, but they just barreled into her, sending her careening off her feet.

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She twisted as she fell, hoping to soften the blow, but she landed hard on her leg. There was no snapping sound, not that the fact provided much comfort. Emily was down, and was quickly being circled by four very hostile figures.

She tried to quickly rise to her feet, but her leg buckled underneath her. It was no good, she was trapped. In a last-ditch effort to extricate herself from her situation, Emily screamed at the top of her lungs. It wasn’t anything specific, just a long drawn shriek that echoed sorrowfully throughout the chamber that was the undercity.

No help came, though, as Emily was grabbed roughly and everything turned dark as a bag was thrown over head. Her hands were quickly tied behind her back as she struggled to get free of their clutches, but to no avail. Her attackers had won, and victoriously they hauled her roughly away from the street, kicking and screaming at them as they went.

Eventually, she stopped struggling. Her body was worn out, and the fatigue of sustained panic washed over her. She let her body go limp as it was carried, for how long, she didn’t know. She already didn’t have a good sense of time in this miserable place, and now she was completely lost in a shroud of darkness. Everything felt like forever down there, never seeing the sun. It was no wonder that everyone was so downtrodden. In the undercity there was no time, everything lasted an eternity, the good and especially the bad.

Vaguely, she wondered what Zach was doing. He was probably on some secret mission for the man who’d just betrayed him. She knew he’d figure out what had happened. He’d dig to the bottom of the Earth to find her and rescue her. If she’d been strong enough to fight, or fast enough to get away, it wouldn’t be an issue. She’d already be working on a way to reunite with him. Instead, she was trapped, held prisoner by these strangers who were taking her somewhere she didn’t know. All she knew was she needed help, and she desperately hoped some would come.

At some point during the journey, Emily felt a cool wash of moist air suddenly envelope her, and she quickly realized that they were above ground. She could hear the muffled sounds of her captors grow lighter with the shift, but also more hurried.

Judging by the feel of the air, Emily figured it was night, and that meant that all of the worst of the street scum were likely stalking the streets. It seemed that Emily’s captors had no desire to tangle with any of the roving street gangs at the moment, though there could be any number of reasons why. She vaguely hoped that not wanting to get her hurt was one of them.

She bobbed uncomfortably in the firm grip of one of the men, who complained loudly about her weight. She’d been handed off between members of the group several times. None of them were evidently fit enough to handle carrying a person for an extended period of time, even if that person was a sixteen-year-old twig of a girl.

They scurried in silence for a time, until Emily suddenly heard a loud shout a short ways from their location. This was followed by several more, and the man carrying Emily suddenly took off into a sprint, causing Emily to bounce quite unceremoniously as they went.

She could feel a rush of adrenaline course through her as they went. She had no idea what was going on, only able to piece small bits together based on the sounds around her. It seemed that some sort of fight had broken out between the men and a gang that had spotted them, one that the man carrying her was desperately trying to get away from.

It seemed to be working too. That is, until Emily felt a sudden force as something collided into them with a painful cracking sound. She went careening off the man’s shoulder as he hit the ground with an audible thud. This was followed by another series of crunching sounds accompanied by a short scream, before everything went silent.

Emily, for her part, did her best to stay calm. She clawed at the bindings around her wrists, trying to tear them loose. They were tight and hadn’t budged a bit when she suddenly felt a hand grasp firmly onto her. She squirmed in its grip and tried to get away, but she was still tied up and her leg was still injured, so she couldn’t do much more than move like a caterpillar as she squirmed.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work. The hand’s grip held firm, and she was wrenched onto her back. Helplessly, she laid there as another hand grasped the bag just in front of her face, and pulled it. There wasn’t much light outside, only the pale yellow of a dying streetlamp, still the sudden flow of light into Emily’s eyes temporarily blinded her. She instinctively tried to move her hands in front of her face to block out the flood, but her hands were still tied behind her back.

Instead, she winced helplessly as her eyes attempted to readjust to her surroundings. It was quite painful.

“What do we have here?” She heard a voice say. It was thin and harsh, with a nasally bite to it. She looked around as best she could, sprawled as she was on her back. She couldn’t see much except for the dark shadows of the rundown buildings of the city’s slums.

As her eyes adjusted, she found herself staring face-to-face with a single man. He wore a tattered coat with a hood that blocked most of his face, but Emily could make out the pale glint of scar tissue underneath.

“You’re a pretty one.” The man hissed as he gazed at Emily. His eyes gleamed in the light of the streetlamps with a steely, vicious glint. “Just the kind we’ve been looking for.”

The man reached a hand toward Emily, who’s eyes went wide as she struggled furiously against her bonds. She tried to crawl away as best as she could. It was no use. She thought she heard a shout, a strong masculine voice rending the air, just as the scarred tissue of the hand brushed ever so faintly against the skin of her cheek. Before she knew what happened, everything blurred and then faded to black.