Page 72 of Marked for Execution

What? What the hell is happening right now?

The doctor grabbed my arm and I saw red, throwing a fist. He dodged, and the stranger grabbed me from behind.He was in on it, too? He acted like he didn’t know Hannah earlier.

“He threatened Samuel, Fitri. You have to understand! I never wanted to do this!” she cried, her sobs echoing around us.

Growling, I shut out her voice and kicked the doctor in the head, knocking his mask off, while twisting in the arms of the stranger and elbowing him right in the eye.

“Ahh!” He yelled, his grip loosened around me enough for me to slip down and sweep his feet from under him, taking him to the ground. He grunted but jumped back up quickly, tackling me.

Hannah’s light footsteps got farther and farther away as she removed herself from the situation, too guilty to be a witness. I felt so betrayed.I trusted her. Samuel trusted her.But she said the doc was threatening Samuel. I was so conflicted about how I should take this.

The doctor grabbed a blowtorch and rolled his neck before smiling down at us both.

“Get your ass up, Rick. You’re embarrassing me.” The doctor kicked the stranger, forcing him to roll away from me.

He leaned down and I grabbed his neck with both my legs, twisting and taking him down in a choke hold. The cool air down here barely made me sweat as I held on tight.

The stranger pulled me off right as the sound of other boot steps entered the tunnel.

Schwink. Thud!An arrow landed on the doctor’s left thigh, making him scream. I let go, but the stranger didn't, still pulling me up to standing.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” Gunner growled, pointing a crossbow right at his face, the one he picked up from his last supply run.

“Chill, my man. I was just helping her up. The doctor was going nuts, and I had to intervene. I accidentally walked in on all this.” He let me go, backed up, and put his hands in the air.

What the hell? Am I going crazy? Wasn’t he with Crazy Otis on this?

“What the fuck, you assholes!” the doctor yelled out, but no one paid him any attention. All of them stared at the woman chained to the metal bed frame with confusion.

“What the hell is this? What exactly do you do down here, Doctor?” Eliseo growled, his prosthetic tapping louder on the concrete than his other foot.

I ran to him, and he pulled me in an embrace, never taking his eyes off the stranger and the doctor on the ground with a bolt sticking out of his thigh.

“Ah. Seems karma made an appearance,” he chuckled towards Crazy Otis, indicating his injured leg. “Does the community know she’s down here? Where the hell did she come from?”

The girl in question moaned, her eyes fluttering open and closed.

“That’s my business. She’s a bloodsucker. I’ll do what I see fit to keep the community safe. If I decide to have fun along the way, what’s the problem?” The doctor pulled the bolt out of his naked thigh, groaning. He got fully erect as he stood up, a grin plastered on his face.

Reed and Samuel both had their hands wrapped around a pistol, standing behind Eliseo.

“Who the fuck are you?” Gunner barked.

The stranger, Rick, crossed his arms and didn't say a thing.

“Rick is my assistant. He doesn’t go out much,” the doc said as he booted the prisoner’s cauterized stump to rouse her. She groaned in pain but didn't open her eyes.

So, hewaswith the Doc? I was so damn confused if Rick was fighting to get me away from him or to him.

“Is that right?” Eliseo narrowed his eyes and held me tighter. “I’m only going to warn you once, Doc. Stay the fuck away from us. We completed your stupid mission and owe you nothing.”

“Indeed, you did.”

We turned to leave, Gunner being the last to follow. Four more chambers in, we reached the doc’s normal bunker entrance and climbed up the concrete steps. Thank goodness there wasn’t a ladder here because Eliseo wouldn’t make it up, but I didn’t voice this out loud.

Once we were all back on the surface, Reed slammed the door shut with a loud bang. It was already dark outside, and I felt a loss of time.How long was I down there? Shit, where’s Hannah?

“Eliseo!” I grabbed the front of his shirt to pull his attention. “Hannah, she—”