CYPHER

The matter with Martha

Top dog led the way back in to the school , his men caging Dean's team as they walked .

They had been walking for over five minutes and were still not showing signs of stopping .

The school was bigger than Dean had thought and the basketball court had just been one of a lot of other gym type rooms .

It seemed that whoever Top dog worked for had made this place their base and had only commissioned the front part for use as the Arena probably to keep people from getting interested in their business at the back .

Their walk was surprisingly quiet , no one lingered around anywhere or jumped out at them, it could have been because it was still so early though and people might have still been sleeping .

Dean did find it a little strange that the people , including he too, slept , even when they knew that their days were numbered .

Dean needed for them to leave before daybreak , as long as their base was still a secret they were safe for a while .

He turned to May who had decided to walk only with Blade and observed her .

Her complexion had grown so pale , she was almost ashy and her usually red lips were now cracked .

Dean realized that he had never actually seen her apply her lipstick but it always seemed to be there , he was wondering if she kept it on her at all times when Top dog snapped his fingers in front of her face .

Dean looked up at the taller man and scowled before looking at May to see if she was okay , she had just rolled her eyes and reclined again on Blade .

Dean turned back to blade and glared at him .

" What is it ? "

Top dog's frown was so deep it could have passed for worry but Dean refused to believe that he was capable of worry , especially for people other than himself .

Putting him on such a pedestal allowed Dean to hate him as much as he wanted to while justifying his hate .

Top dog pointed ahead of them at a door that was closed .

" Hurry up , we are almost there ".

Dean rolled his eyes but began to walk faster even though he was suddenly getting a déjà vu feeling .

He got the feeling more times than the average person and had began to attribute it to his Paranoia .

He had hated his cellphone because of it .

When he received phone calls about Jaymie , it was always something bad because Jay otherwise hated to disturb him while he was at work .

When he received texts , it was usually the Utility companies threatening to do one thing or the other .

Or his landlady after running out of her coke .

So , now when Dean got the feeling , he just zeroed in on it and left it to take whatever shape it wanted to take .

They reached the doors that Top dog had been pointing at and Dean saw that the doors were quite large , almost twice his height and he was a five foot nine .

Top dog hesitated before opening the doors , fueling Dean's deja Vu sense .

When he did eventually open the doors and allowed them to step through , his hands were shaking slightly .

They had entered into an assembly room of sorts , it was large and narrow until the end that was wide enough for a long dinner table.

On closer inspection , it was not a dinner table but one of those fancy tables that people that fancied themselves decision makers usually sat around to make their fancy decisions .

The chair at the head of the table was slightly bigger than the others and more elevated , even the chairs had an obvious leader .

Lights began to come on and Dean saw why they had not noticed any of the hundreds of people from last night sleeping around the hallways or the empty classrooms that they had passed .

The players slept on rows adjacent one another and lined the narrow path that led to the end of the room .

It was like a subject trail , their bodies lined the way to the chair that was meant for their leader .

And they were all not deep sleepers because as soon as the lights came on , they all began to stand up , their different and all very crude weapons in hand .

They stood up on both sides and surrounded Dean and the rest on both sides , Top dog and his men were behind them leaving only forward for Dean to go .

Dean began to walk while looking around at the men and women in the assembly room .

Whoever the person that had found the school as a base was , he was very smart .

He had come here and made a solid base filled with armed people that were way more dangerous than the world's most elite forces just because they were all on a edge that they could easily tip over .

They were people that would follow anyone if he seemed to be confident enough in this mess that they had found theirselves and who could beat the confidence of a man or woman that had established the gauntlets within a few hours of commencing the game?

They stopped walking halfway when some guys pushed a table in to their way , the table had Martha on it , an unconscious Martha .

Dean rushed over and checked her pulses and the colour of her eyes , she was suddenly looking half of her former size .

Dean turned around to find Top dog , he was staring deeply at Martha .

" Where are the medical supplies you have here ? "

Dean watched in horror as Top dog's eyes widened and he opened his mouth .

" Are you not the doctor ? Where is your stuff ? "

Dean scoffed, unable to believe the situation .

" Are you dumb or slow or just weak brained ? Just pick one already !!! You already saw me empty handed and you still assumed I was carrying medical supplies ??? How exactly does that work you big oaf ?? "

Dean was yelling by the end of his short speech while Top dog's nostrils had flared and his eyes blazed but Dean could not care any less , they already did not have enough equipment to treat anything serious in the first place .

Top dog pulled Jade out by his collars and Dean frowned while Blade growled and would have done something if he was not tasked to holding May .

" This guy is holding a sack , so of course I assumed it was filled with medical supplies that you stole from us ".

Dean realized there was no need to argue with someone as dull as Top dog , they could argue forever and he would just stick to stupidity .

" Unhand him , now ! ".

Top dog frowned but released Jade who smiled and adjusted his collar while looking at Dean .

" Do you need me to run to the clinic ? "

Dean nodded and pointed at two of Top dog's men that were on the leaner side unlike the other trucks Top dog had gathered .

" Yes , take these men with you , they will probably know the way better and help you with all the heavy lifting . Bring anything that seems relatively useful ".

Jade nodded and pushed his sack into Blade's hand , he turned to leave when Dean moved closer to him, whispered another instruction and passed his gun into Jade's hands .

" Hurry and be safe , I do not trust any of this school boys ".

Jade chuckled and took off , surprising everyone with the speed he used to dissapear out of the room .

Dean turned towards May and Blade , May's eyes were closed so Dean nodded at Blade to know if everything was okay with them .

Blade nodded back while May slowly opened her eyes , she observed the situation and nodded back .

Dean turned back to the table to find Martha conscious and glaring at him .

She shocked him for a moment and Dean found himself yelping .

" Wh...What are you doing here ? You pathetic piece of s**t ? ".

Dean rolled his eyes and calmed his racing nerves before he smiled at her .

" For someone that can not move her body , you definitely have no business calling any other person pathetic ".

" And keep your mouth politely shut before I change my mind about treating the b***h that hurt my teammate ".

Martha's glared deepened while Dean began to touch her legs and arms slowly in search of broken bones .

Her phalanges were cracked and misshapen , leaving her hand swollen and misshapen .

Whoever had tried to put her shoulder in place had watched too many medical dramas and would leave her with a shoulder that was higher than the other .

" Do you feel sleepy ? "

She shook her head fiercely and then groaned with gritted teeth .

" I am in too much pain to feel any other thing ".

Dean nodded .

" If you do end up feeling sleepy , tell me immediately ".

Dean began to massage her shoulders, readying her .

" This is going to hurt because whoever fixed it in the first place did a terrible job . I will have to push it out and then back in again ".

Martha grimaced while Dean turned around to Top dog who had moved closer to him while he had been focused on Martha .

" I need sticks or any other thing I could wrap around her broken bones , I need tiny ones too for her fingers ".

Top dog nodded and turned around , taking off with one of the men , Dean turned back to Martha .

" What is your relationship with Top dog ?"

" There is none ".

Dean pushed the shoulder out of the socket and Martha screamed Into the assembly room .

" You asshole !!! Why did you not tell me to get ready ? "

Dean frowned and shrugged .

" What would that have changed ? "

He moved the shoulder again and back into the socket properly .

Martha screamed again and kicked Dean , sending him to the floor while screaming profanities .

" You f*****g bitchhh !!!".