Wanderer

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nova stood frozen to the spot, mesmerised by Blade’s eyes. Waiting for him to recognise her. Waiting for the hatred to blaze from those eyes.

The moment stretched on… and on… and on. Blade’s blank expression didn’t change. Nova didn’t realise she was holding her breath until the burning need to draw air overwhelmed her and she dragged a lungful of fresh air down.

Still Blade didn’t react. Confusion started to overcome Nova’s fear. She slowly raised a hand, waving it in front of Blade’s face. No response. Surprising herself she reached up and pinched his cheek, hard. Still no response. Not a twitch.

Blade blinked. Nova stepped back, heart pounding as the fear flooded back in, but he didn’t move or react. Nova took another step back then moved around him. Still no reaction.

She stepped in again, heart pounding for a different reason. Reaching up she placed one hand over his mouth. No reaction. Then she pinched his nose with the other. The memory of Blade’s hands around her throat was still sharp in her mind. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she wasn’t about to pass up this chance. Now she was with Blade again her survival once again depended on his death.

It wasn’t any easier than the last time. Once again she could feel him trying to breathe. Passive though Blade was, she still had a fight on her hands. A fight against herself, against the urge to simply let go.

A few seconds passed. Then Blade reacted. Fast as lightning his arm flashed out and swept both her arms away. Nova gasped in fear then leapt backwards, half crouched and ready to flee.

Blade did nothing. He didn’t move towards her. He didn’t even look at her. He simply carried on staring vacantly ahead. The only movement came when he blinked, once, then he was still again.

Heart still hammering Nova inched around Blade, still wary of any sign he had noticed her. She stopped behind his back, then took several steps further away in case whatever had him so mesmerised suddenly ended.

Only then did she glance around. She didn’t take in her surroundings. All she noticed were the missing prisoners, scattered around the room. And every one was standing stock still. Just like Blade.

Moments later a door swung open on the far side of the room. Several guards walked in, followed by someone else in uniform. Nova didn’t recognise the uniform but the way the guards deferred to him showed he was important.

She stood still, not wanting to draw any attention. She noticed the others from her group doing the same. They weren’t quite as still as those frozen in place, but there wasn’t much in it.

The man in the uniform walked through the statue-like prisoners, examining them. He stopped, gesturing towards the old man from Nova’s group and saying something Nova couldn’t catch to one of the guards.

“Yes, Captain,” replied the guard in a louder voice.

So, he was a captain. Before Nova could ponder his presence any further he spoke again, this time more clearly.

“You, you and you,” he said, pointing to three of the frozen prisoners. Two women and one man.

“Yes, Sir!”

The three snapped out their reply in unison. A chill raced down Nova’s spine. Something felt very wrong.

“Kill him,” the captain said, pointing to the old man again. “Rip him apart.”

“Yes, Sir!”

Once again the reply was snapped out in unison. Then they rushed forward, showing no signs of stiffness from their long inactivity. The old man barely had a chance to move before they were on him.

Nova stared in horror as the three dragged the old man to the floor. Then they proceeded to carry out the captain’s order. Working as a team they held the old man down and started to tear at him. His screams were terrible. Tears blurred Nova’s eyes, but they didn’t hide what was happening.

The worst part was the expression on the three attackers’ faces, or rather the complete lack of expression. There was no rage, no hatred, no sorrow. Nothing. They were literally tearing the old man apart with their bare hands yet were showing less emotion than most would have while kicking a stone along the floor.

The old man’s cries quickly subsided into silence and his struggles stopped. He was beyond pain now, beyond caring, but the three attackers didn’t stop. Covered in blood they continued to carry out their orders until the Captain gave a curt order to stop.

Then they stood, returning to their statue-like poses. Only the b****y mess at their feet and the blood staining their arms and clothes marked the horrific act they’d just committed.

The captain was smiling, nodding his head at what he had seen. Nova felt anger rising. How dare he smile after what he had ordered. Life as a slave was often brutal but this was far worse than anything Nova had ever seen before.

She glared at the captain, fighting the urge to storm over. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to look away. To avoid attention. The anger was too strong. She had to clench her hands to stop the shaking.

The captain spoke to the guard again then turned. He caught sight of Nova as he did so. As their eyes locked Nova felt ice flow into her body where it fought with the fire of her anger. She couldn’t move, couldn’t show the captain what she thought of him, but she also couldn’t back down. She stood frozen for what seemed like long minutes.

Without breaking eye contact the captain spoke to the guard, while gesturing towards Nova. The guard nodded, looked at Nova, then looked slightly to each side of her. He glanced down at a screen in his hand.

“Seventeen and ninety-one,” the guard barked out. “Secure the woman between you.”

Nova sensed movement to each side and her instincts kicked in. She dropped low and lurched forward. With her short height the move put her out of easy reach of most prisoners. Guards too, but she’d never used the move on them. Guards controlled the collars. You couldn’t cross the guards.

Even as she started moving she realised she’d made a mistake. The prisoners weren’t grabbing for her for their own reasons, they had been ordered by the captain. That meant she was disobeying an order, and that meant she was in trouble. A lot of trouble.

The thought was cut short as a hand clamped around her right bicep, dragging her to a halt. Moments later another hand grabbed her left. The two prisoners had caught her. How had they moved so fast?

Glancing to each side she saw two women. Neither looked particularly healthy or athletic. Neither looked particularly strong either, yet their grip on Nova’s arms was like steel. Worse, though, were their expressions. Like Blade, they showed no awareness of their surroundings, no understanding of their actions. The sense that something was terribly wrong returned.

“You didn’t enjoy the demonstration?”

Nova hadn’t noticed the captain approaching and jumped at his question. His voice was soft, gentle, but Nova wasn’t fooled. The demonstration had shown her all she needed to know about this man.

She shook her head, not wanting to speak and get herself into even more trouble.

“That’s a shame. We need more demonstrations and you’re going to have a front row seat.”

He chuckled but Nova hardly noticed. She felt shaky inside. The captain wanted another demonstration, and she was going to be it. She started to struggle, pulling against her captors as hard as she was able. She couldn’t even shift their arms, let alone break free.

The captain stepped back slightly, watching with a smile. Finally, as Nova started to tire, he nodded to the guard.

“Form up,” yelled the guard. “Exit through the north doorway and follow the corridor until you are told to stop.”

Nova had only been half listening. Her brain was busy imagining what it would feel like to suffer the same fate as the old man, to be ripped apart like that. When the two women holding her started to move she yelled in fear and tensed against the coming pain. But there was none. She was whisked across the floor, struggling to keep up with the pace the taller women set. As she went she caught a few final words from the captain.

“Load the Limited aboard the ship. The rest of the prisoners too. We need to test them against the Taint. If they fail that test then this has all been for nothing. They had better not. I don’t want to report failure to…”

The rest was lost to Nova as she was marched away, but she’d heard enough. It seemed she wasn’t going to share the old man’s fate, but what she now faced could be even worse.

Even slaves had heard of the Taint, though the stories were distorted by untold retellings. Some themes came through in all the stories. The Taint enslaved your mind. It stole your soul. It turned you against everything you ever loved. It made you do the same to others. The thought of it had always filled Nova with horror. Now she was being sent to face it head on. She strongly doubted she’d survive the experience.