Arena Three

This is the chance the other group needed. In the chaos and under the cover of thick, billowing smoke, they’re able to scurry away from their captors, many of whom are now lying groaning on the ground or rolling around in an attempt to put out the fires ravaging them.

“THIS WAY!” I scream, leaping to my feet, ignoring the aches and pains in my body from hitting the ground.

A little way ahead, Ryan manages to drag himself up. His bad arm dangles uselessly at his side.

All the prisoners begin to follow me. For the first time since being chained to the front of my group, I catch sight of Bree, way, way back. She and Charlie are attempting to liberate Jack and Penelope from their cages. I’m about to scream at them that there’s no time when they manage to get the cage open. The dogs leap down and start running toward me and Ryan. Bree and Charlie clasp their hands together and run at full speed through the fire and smoke, jumping over smoldering body parts and hunks of metal. I want to run to Bree, to sweep her into my arms, but I know I have to keep going forward. I have to trust that she’ll follow.

Ryan is right beside me as I run. Out of all the prisoners, we’re the only two completely free from our shackles. The others are still bound together. They’re all running at different speeds and attempting to maneuver in different directions around debris. It’s slowing us down, giving the slavers a chance to regroup. There’s no way we’ll be able to get all the prisoners free. But then I have an idea. Maybe we can use this to our advantage.

I tell Ryan my plan and he looks at me like I’m crazy. But when he looks back and sees the bikes racing toward us in a line, he knows this is the only chance we have of defeating our captors. We pass the message back to the prisoners and one by one they nod their agreement.

The bikes are gaining on us, and the slavers riding them swing their whips over their heads, ready to strike us down.

“NOW!” I shout.

All at once, the prisoners fan out in a long line, stretching the chains that connect them so they’re just level with the necks of the approaching riders. One by one the slavers are caught in the trap, the chains pinging them from their bikes and throwing them to the ground.

Some of the bikes keep rushing forward before crashing and exploding, while others skid to their sides and halt. Ryan and I rush forward and grab the spare bikes. Now it’s up to us to keep the remaining slavers at bay while the prisoners escape. Molly’s using a dropped axe to start smashing apart the chains and freeing the prisoners. Once they have their arms freed they’ll be in much better positions to steal bikes.

Ryan and I also grab discarded tools, brandishing them as weapons as we start circling back and forth on our bikes, facing off with the remaining slavers. We’re trying to keep them at bay long enough for the rest of our group to be freed.

The scene behind us is one of utter chaos. Prisoners are cowering as the slavers attempt to whip them into submission. Other robed men are running around on fire, screaming, trying to fan out the flames. More still lie dead on the ground, their limbs twisted and jutting out at painful angles. There’s thick smoke everywhere, obscuring my vision. Then, through the smoke, a figure emerges.

Despite being fully robed, I recognize him straightaway as the man who’d first spoken to us in the prison cell. He’s standing at the front of a group of slavers, leading them to battle. A red mist descends over my vision. I rev the bike, brandish the crowbar in my hand, and race toward him. I swing the crowbar back and, as I pass, bring it down with all my strength. I hear the crack of his skull, see him fall, dead, to the ground, and a sick satisfaction washes over me.

I loop back and see that Molly and the others have managed to get hold of bikes. As much as I wish we could liberate all the prisoners here, I have to be selfish and look after my own. I drive up to my group.

“Bree, get on the back,” I say to my sister, who is cuddling Penelope in her arms. “Molly, you take Charlie and Jack. Ryan, Ben, take a bike each. We’ll need the spare spaces for Zeke and Stephan once we find them. Come on, let’s go.”

Everyone gets into position and I lead the way through the compound, racing past burning structures and groups of slavers and prisoners, trying to find Zeke and Stephan amongst them. But they’re nowhere to be seen.

“We have to get out of here!” Molly cries from behind.

“NO!” I shout back. “We need to find Zeke and Stephan first.”

“There’s no time,” she barks.

She’s right. The slavers have noticed our little gang and they’re starting to follow. But the thought of leaving my friends behind makes my blood run cold.

“We can’t leave them!” I scream. “We have to rescue them.”

Molly locks her eyes with mine. “We can’t rescue them, Brooke. They’re not here. They’re dead.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN