Chapter Forty-Nine Faith

It didn't take Sarah long to find her. Stalking through the room, the rebel's face lit up when she came across Faith crouching behind the bed.

"You!" Recovering quickly, she called back over her shoulder. "There's a real surprise waiting for us in here."

There was nowhere to run. Faith stood up, raising her hands above her head.

"Move it." Grasping her by the elbow, Sarah shoved her towards the door.

Faith kept her steps small. Her head was far from clear, and until the effects of the femgazipane wore off, she needed to take it slow. But her captor's iron grip was punishing.

She had a horrible flashback to her last experience with Sarah. The woman didn't have a compassionate bone in her body. She was fiercely loyal to her leader. And her son. But her cruelty towards her adversaries was legendary. The grip she had on Faith's arm was so tight it hurt, and she showed no signs of easing up as she thrust her prisoner through the doorway.

As she emerged into the warehouse, Faith took her time looking around. There was no sign of Danforth, Susie, or Hammond. Were they hiding? But she had no more time to wonder as Sarah urged her forward.

"Found ourselves another useful hostage." Her tone was triumphant. "And she only had one guard."

"Well, well." A horribly familiar figure stepped forward. "Danforth's other favourite. This is fortunate." As Jacob studied her, his tone changed. "Better be on our guard, though. Could be a trap. I can't believe they've left her here with a single medic for protection."

Jacob was still a formidable figure, but he looked exhausted. His eyes were hooded and his face paler than Faith remembered. But the multitude of weapons he had strapped to his person filled her with terror. Tired or not, Jacob was dangerous.

Tearing her eyes away from him, Faith forced herself to take stock of the other people in the room. There were only two others, standing in the centre of the space. One, clearly, a prisoner.

Avery.

The other, her jailor. The man who stood behind her had a hand clamped on Avery's upper arm. With a start, Faith recognised Karl. Remembering the moment Diane had knocked him out to enable their escape from the Eremus cottage, Faith winced. Like the others, he was heavily armed. His face twisted in recognition, his eyes piercing Faith's cruelly.

Avoiding his gaze, Faith looked back at Avery. The change in her old adversary was shocking. Gone was the shiny blonde hair, the manicured nails, the perfectly made-up face. And missing, too, was the permanent sneer. Avery's skin was grey, her eyes bloodshot, and her figure almost skeletal. Her hair had been hacked short. She gazed down at the ground, her shoulders hunched.

"Avery?" Faith called out.

The older girl raised her head. Her eyes registered Faith's presence. There was a flicker of recognition, but she didn't speak.

"Are you alright?" Faith tried again.

Avery opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything she doubled over. A hoarse cough echoed out across the warehouse, the high ceiling amplifying the sound.

Faith attempted to move towards her old enemy, but Sarah's hold on her tightened. She struggled, but found herself being jerked backwards.

Faith glared over her shoulder. "What have you done to her?"

"She hasn't been harmed." Jacob took a step towards Faith. "We've all had to go without over the past few weeks." He narrowed his eyes. "Since I was driven out of Eremus."

"That's not what happened and you know it." Faith felt her anger flare, despite the dangerous situation. "You gave them no choice, the way you were acting."

"What would you know?" Sarah hissed.

A stab of fury lanced across the ex-leader's face, but he quickly masked it.

"Let's just say it's been… tough on us all. We've struggled to find food, supplies, safe places to sleep. And this little princess," he jerked a thumb in Avery's direction, "doesn't like being without her luxuries."

Faith kept her gaze on Avery, who sagged against her captor now the cough had subsided. "And her hair? Was it necessary to cut it all off?"

Sarah laughed, the sound unpleasant. "It isn't like we've had the facilities to wash properly."

Jacob nodded. "Long hair was just not… practical."

"Not to mention the little vixen tried to escape." Sarah was practically snarling. "We had to find a way to punish her."

"Without her coming to any harm, of course." Jacob added.

That made more sense to Faith. A sanction for disobedience. It struck her, not for the first time, how similar Jacob and Danforth's leadership styles were. And how vindictive.

"Never mind that." Jacob shook his head. "We now have two valuable hostages. Things might finally be coming together."

Faith ran through Jacob's group in her head. More than four people had fled Eremus with the ex-leader. Where was Harden? Sil? And there was another man whose name she couldn't remember, she was sure of it.

As the outer door of the warehouse opened, they all turned. A man Faith did not recognise slipped inside. Perhaps the man she'd been thinking of. Tall and dark haired, his expression was steely.

"Trouble, Denton?" Jacob tensed.

Denton. That was his name. Faith glanced around the warehouse again. Were Harden and Sil guarding other entrances?

"Maybe." The stranger kept his gun trained on the door. "Thought I heard voices. Saw some figures in the shadows. Might be nothing, but…"

"We're not taking any chances. Not when we're this close." Jacob gestured to Sarah. "Take them both in there. Keep them out of the way ‘til we work out what's going on."

Grunting her agreement, Sarah manhandled Faith inside the smaller room again.

"Don't try anything." Sarah's voice was harsh, quashing Faith's optimism. "Or I'll make sure you regret it."

Faith tried not to look at Sanders' body as Sarah shoved her down on the bed and fastened her wrists together with twine. Pulling it taut, she seemed to take pleasure in Faith's wince of pain.

Seconds later, Karl brought Avery in. As he thrust her on to the bed next to Faith, she could see that the other girl's hands were already tightly bound. Noticing Sanders, Avery paled, but she clamped her lips shut, saying nothing. She was a different girl. The old Avery squealed at the slightest discomfort, yet here she was bearing the sight of a dead body without a sound.

Satisfied their captives weren't going anywhere, Sarah and Karl backed away, pulling the door closed behind them. Faith's heart sank as a key turned in the lock. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think things through. Much as she wanted to hope that the disturbance outside was the Resistance coming to rescue her, Danforth was a more likely candidate. The chancellor had been here only moments ago. The intruders had spooked her, but she would never abandon her only remaining trial subject so easily.

Danforth's disappearance had to be a ploy. Perhaps she was, even now, surrounding the building with guards. Preparing to storm in and execute Jacob's entire group. The thought didn't bring Faith any relief. With Jacob gone, she'd be right back in the chancellor's clutches.

At least the interruption had bought her a little time. She fingered the syringe in her pocket. Now was not the time to use it. But she felt comforted knowing it was there.

Becoming aware of her laboured breathing, Faith turned to face Avery. Her old adversary hadn't spoken since they'd entered the room.

"You okay, Avery?" There was no response. "Look at me!" Avery dragged her gaze upwards. "I'm so sorry you've had it so rough. But you can't lose hope."

A flicker of the old spirit lit Avery's eyes for a moment. But it died away as quickly as it had appeared.

"What's Jacob planning?" Faith angled her head towards the door. "What can we do?"

Avery stared at her. The skin on her lips was chapped and broken.

"We can't do any–" her voice cracked. She dragged in a wheezy breath. "Anything."

"There must be something–"

"There. Is. Nothing." Avery shuddered. "These people are… they're so…" She didn't appear able to string a complete sentence together. "Not just… the men." Her eyes were wild. "The woman is worse." She broke off, coughs racking her body again. Her eyes were watering by the time she regained control. "Once Harden left, Sarah–"

"Wait!" Faith grasped her arm. "Harden's gone?"

"You don't know?" as Avery raised an eyebrow, realising she had something over her old adversary. "He didn't come back from a mission. Couple days ago." She nodded at the sound of raised voices on the other side of the door. "His mother's livid about it. His friend Sil disappeared a couple of days later, too."

Aware they were running out of time, Faith tried to bring the focus back to their situation.

"We have to find out what they're planning. You haven't overheard anything?" Faith wanted to shake the older girl. "Caught sight of any documents?"

But Avery's gaze had wandered towards Sanders's body.

"Who's…" she paused, fighting to keep herself from coughing, "t-that?"

"A doctor. One of Danforth's best." Faith felt no sadness at the woman's passing. "She was about to–"

Avery averted her gaze. "Trust me, it's easier to just… let it happen." She drew in another shaky breath. "Otherwise, we'll end up like the doctor there."

"You can't give up." Faith nudged the other girl with her elbow. "You're their hostage, right? They're holding you because you're valuable. It's why they've kept you alive all this time." She leaned a little closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Danforth's here. Somewhere in this building. At least, she was, not long ago."

Avery's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I don't know where she is right now." Faith glanced at the door. "But I think it's safe to say she's coming back. And that there'll be trouble when she does. It would be great if we could get out of here before that happens."

"Get out of here?" Avery's face had brightened. "But if Danforth's coming, she'll save us."

"You really think so?" Faith wanted to slap some sense into her. "After all this time, you think she actually cares about us?"

"Us? No." Some of the old arrogance returned to Avery's face. "But me? Well, let's just say I'm a little…" she paused to cough, "d-different than the rest of you."

Faith's heart beat a little faster. Did Avery know?

"If you say so." She considered her next words carefully. "Look, Danforth has bigger things on her mind, right now. Jacob is just one of her problems. How can you think she'd waste time saving two random girls from–"

"Because I'm not a random girl. I'm special." Avery tossed her head, then grimaced at her lack of hair. "She and I have a…" she hesitated, as though she knew she was sharing a secret, "a bond, of sorts."

Both girls tensed at the sound of shouting on the other side of the door.

"You think because she's your biological mother she'll protect you?" Faith felt a stab of satisfaction as the other girl's eyes flew wide. "Yeah, I'm aware of your connection to her."

"Well, if you must know, yes. Why do you think I always got better treatment at the academy?" Now that she felt she had an ally on the way, Avery's sneer was back. "I was only there to report back to her. K-keep an eye on the rest of you."

Faith had suspected as much, but the confirmation was still shocking. "So you were a spy?" She couldn't keep the contempt from her voice.

"I was." Briefly, Avery looked shamefaced, but the expression was quickly quashed. "Danforth didn't trust the girls at the academy. Some of the staff, even. But she trusted me." Again, she paused, wheezing, but determined to finish her sentence. "She needed me t-there. And she n-needs me now."

"Does she?" Insecurity flashed across Avery's face. "You think she truly cares about you? Or that you're even still useful to her?" Faith could see the impact her words were having. "Did she go out searching for you when you were first kidnapped? No." She pressed on, hating the pain she was causing. But she had to make Avery see sense. "What makes you think this will be any different?"

Avery opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, the door flew open.