panacea (6)

“That’s stupid,” Arch huffed. He had seemingly come to the same conclusion as of Par. “If this is a scam, it isn’t working.”

It was rare, but in-person scams still happened if certain people in the slums were desperate enough.

“Oh! A scam. That would make sense, considering what a stupid name Barrow is,” Red agreed. She turned to the man. “Really, sir, you should come up with a more believable name.”

Scott—if that was even his real name—visibly stuttered a little, as if he had finally been caught off guard. He frowned, looking offended. “Barrow is a regal name.”

“It sounds like a six-year-old made it up,” Red dismissed the man’s claims with a toss of her copper hair.

“Actually, it does.” Par groaned. “Nyx below, why did I even let you into this shack in the first place?” 

Arch patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Par. Everyone makes mistakes. No matter how stupid they are,” he added under his breath.

Fortunately, Par didn’t hear. She was shaking her head at herself, obviously relieved that the man had been nothing but a fake.

“Yeah, so we are going to have to ask you to leave.”

The man sighed. “See, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” He produced something out of his pocket. A radio? What, was he going to threaten them now by playing the daily news?

He clicked something. “Now, all you have to do for the next five minutes is to cooperate,” he told the trio. “And no one will get hurt. Well, hopefully no one will get hurt.”

“Hurt?” Arch snorted. “Sir, can you get out—”

There was a bang. Red shrieked, leaping behind Par to grasp her by the arm as the door fell over.

A hulking figure of a man entered. walked through. He had to duck his head as he came through the door, and his shoulders were broad enough that he had to walk at an angle to fit through the door. 

The hell?

“Uh…” Par glanced backwards at the doctor, who was looking at them with an almost saddened expression.

“As I said, just cooperate, and no one will get hurt.” He shook his head, sighing, patting the tall man on the shoulder as he ambled out. “Try to be gentle, Hector. Anita will have my head if you get the girl hurt. The taller one, that is.”

Par’s stomach twisted. If Hector did work for Scott, then was there a probability that any chance he was telling the truth?

She didn’t have time to think as Hector rushed forward.

“Red, move!”

She threw herself against the couch, and Hector made another swipe at her. She ducked, dropping to the floor, rolling out of the way. Hector was fast, but there was just no way that he could match her speed, especially in a shack of this size.

Clang!

The man swayed for a moment, eyes wide as he turned around to stare at Arch, who was holding a wrench in his hands.

Arch gulped.

Par got to her feet. Without missing a beat, she raised her elbow, driving it into the back of the man’s neck with all the force she had. Hector crumpled, nearly falling on top of Arch, who rushed out of the way at the last moment.

“Nyx below, I wasn’t expecting that to work.” Par stared at the man’s slumped body, a bruise developing where she’d hit him, a little dumbfounded.

“Hurry!” Arch grabbed her by the elbow, dragging her to the back of the shack, where Red stood waiting by a smashed window. Red was holding her left hand—slippery with blood—in her right.

“Red! Couldn’t you smash the window with anything else?” Par turned around, grabbing Arch’s hand and ripping off his sleeve, ignoring his protests as she wrapped it around Red’s hand.

“Ow!” Red snatched her hand back.

“If you’re done with that, we have to get going,” Arch reminded them.

“Where are we going?”

As soon as Par made it out, the three of them began running for the forest. At least they were more familiar with the terrain than the doctor was.

“Bryce’s office,” Par called back to Arch. There was a gleam of silver on a branch ahead of them, aimed right at Red. Her eyes widened, recognizing the gleam immediately.

She lunged forward, grabbing Red. There was a bang, and a cloud of dirt shot up as they rolled forward a few feet.

A gun? The doctor had more people in the forest?

Before Par could react, Arch was crouched beside them, pulling them to their feet. “Hurry up! Run!”

There were a few shots behind them as they ran, but the branches of the pine trees surrounding them was were dense enough to block the the shooter’s sight. After a few minutes of running, the sound of footsteps behind Par had stopped.

Par stopped as well. Red was holding her shoulder, the sore one that Par offered to fix all those months ago. She jogged back to Red, Arch right behind her. They were far and hidden away enough that they should be fine pausing for a few minutes, she thought.

Red peered behind them, panting. “Did we really make it—”

There was a bang.

Par never saw the exact moment Red died. Could it have been the splatter of blood in the air, or the way her knees buckled as she collapsed to the ground? Or maybe it was the way Red had stayed, completely still on the ground as Arch dragged Par away, kicking and screaming?

She did remember one thing, though. There was a single second in which Red’s eyes had lit up with surprise, one final time.

And then the light had gone out.