Evelyn and Samantha laid quietly in the pantry together. The room was fairly large with metal shelves reaching to the top of the ceiling, stocked with canned foods and drinks. A small light partially illuminated the room, leaving plenty of shadows to hide in the corners. Evelyn stirred on the ground as she was still dazed from being kicked in the head. She could somewhat make out her environment and sounds around her but her body told her to stay still for just a moment. Samantha sat in silence, her eyes red from her silent cries and pleas.

Suddenly the door burst open and two guards entered dragging Io. They tossed her to the ground and slammed the door shut. A lock could be heard turning from the otherside.

“Good heavens!” Samantha cried out as she gingerly moved over to Io, her leg still pulsing with pain.

“Don’t worry, Blondie. I’ll get em next round.” Io said as she slowly waved her hand in the air only for it to fall back down onto the floor.

“How’s Blu?” Io said as she lifted her head in Evelyn’s direction.

“She’s still dazed. Not making sense. She was babbling something about the pudding and scones.”

“Eh she’ll be fine. I think.” Io said as she rested her head on the floor. Samantha dropped her head down.

“Were we betrayed? Was it wrong of us to put our trust in Doctor Parker from the beginning?” Samantha asked. Io blinked with uncertainty. She didn’t know. Better yet, she didn’t want to know.

“No…” Evelyn spoke in a drawl tone. She blinked a few times and slowly turned her head towards the others. Her vision was slightly getting better.

“Jane is a good kid…” Evelyn said with a bit more haste than her previous sentence. “Just...misguided.”

A sour expression covered Samantha’s face. “How can you defend her? What supports your word?”

Evelyn took a deep breath. “Because...I wouldn’t still be technically a doctor if it wasn’t for her. She covered my ass. Saved me a whole lot of trouble. She’s a good kid. Just needs a good kick every now and then.” She said as she raised her freed hand in the air. There was a small bruise wrapped around her wrist.

“When did they cut them off?” Evelyn asked. Io lifted her head up.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“After they took our phones they asked for ‘volunteers’. Io said as she made air quotes with her fingers. “It was either gonna be me or blondie here. They wanted someone awake. They wanted someone to scream for them on the radio. Scare the troops outside from coming in. They were going to go pick blondie, until I kicked one in the shin.” Io said as she leaned her head back onto the ground. A look of abject horror melted onto Samantha’s face as she realized what her fate could have been. “Heh, not on my watch.” Io said.

“Thank you, Io.” Samantha said with a grateful look on her face. Fear was hanging on her shoulders. A grin cracked on Io’s face.

“Hey, no problem.” Io said. She closed her eyes for only for a second before they shot open and she scrambled to lift herself up. “Tiny...Where’s Nyssia!?”

“She’s fine. I saw her duck into the vents.” Evelyn said as she looked up into the grate that hung above her.

“Ah shit. I hope she’s alright. Probably got scared and headed back. Far away from us now.” Io said. A wild smile stretched across Evelyn’s face as she laid her arm down on the ground.

“Actually...more like twenty feet above us.”

All at once both Samantha and Io jerked their heads up as the grate above Evelyn was shifted off to the side revealing Nyssia’s face.

“I’m not a scaredy cat.” She said as she stuck her tongue out at Io. “I’m a wizard.” Io gave a small chuckle.

“And a powerful one at that.” Io said as she picked herself up.

Nyssia worked her way to the ground by climbing down the shelves of food, carefully making sure she didn’t knock anything over. She was greeted by hugs from all but then stopped and looked around.

“Dónde está la bruja?” Nyssia asked as she looked back to Io. Io sighed and looked up at Evelyn. Despite what it looked like before. Io was ready to give Jane the benefit of the doubt and turned back to Nyssia.

“She got captured, tiny. Got a rescue mission in the mix.” Io said with confidence.

The light above them started to flicker.

“The heck is going on out there?” Evelyn asked.

“Oh oh oh oh I know!” Nyssia said while doing little jumps. “It’s the big thinga ma bob. It’s about to go boom.”

“Going boom?” Evelyn asked.

“Thinga ma bob?” Samantha asked.

“Oh crap. The generator.” Io said. “Tiny, how big is the boom?”

“Hmm…” Nyssisa started as she looked around. “Here to the gas station.”

“That's about a few blocks from here.” Evelyn said as she put her hands in her pockets. “Fuck…”

“Alright new plan. Turn the generator off. Save Red and save the day.”

“And the men with the firearms?” Samantha asked as she rubbed her injured leg.

“Need a good distraction.” Evelyn said as she leaned up against the wall.

Suddenly a burst of static sound echoed throughout the room. Nyssia quickly pulled out the walkie talkie she had and switched it off.

“Stupid button.” She said. A loud bang came from outside the door.

“Keep it down in there, you mutts.” Said a booming voice.

“Come here and make me you coward!” Io shouted. Everyone else froze in horror, awaiting the door to open. But the door didn’t open, just a scoff sound coming from the man outside. Silence once again fell upon the group. Io turned back and was met with disdainful gazes from everyone. Io gave shrugged and said, “What? It’s a reflex at this point.” She said in an apologetic whisper tone.

“Huh” Io said. “Okay tiny, I got a new plan. But first let's get out of here.”