Sinners 01 - Branded (7 page)

The rooms are identical with one mattress on a wooden frame that’s supposed to resemble
a bed and a simple bedside table. A chair sits in the opposite corner near a four-drawer
chest made from corkboard and a bathroom you can almost stand in. White industrial-grade
tiles with small specks of color line the floors with multiple cracks and warping.
No light. Just a candle.

“This is the soiled linen closet that you’ll get acquainted with. It’s your new best
friend.” He opens the door and lets me look inside. “All new personnel start here.”

Two guards, in their typical stiff uniforms, walk toward us. They nod at Sutton as
they stroll by. As he turns to speak, one of them winks at me.

“There’re always guards coming and going. You have to be on your toes at all times,”
he says as if he knows what happened behind his back. He swipes his badge, and we
reenter his office. “The guards are cocky and will give you a hard time because they
can. They have no boundaries, even in the hospital. Just watch your back.”

He sits at his desk and leans back.

“Everything on this floor is under surveillance. The back staircase is the only exception.
Years ago, the cameras were damaged and fixing them isn’t within our budget. There’s
no way in or out of the building from those stairs. You can go to the basement or
the morgue—all of which are dead ends.” He pauses and says with a laugh, “Not a very
upbeat orientation, is it?”

I smile. “No.”

Finally, someone with a sense of humor.

I can’t remember the last time I smiled.

“Did you pick me or was I assigned to you?” I ask, remembering my earlier conversation
with Cole.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what their methods are,” he says as he pulls
something out of his desk. “Your keys.” He throws them to me.

I catch them with both hands, losing my balance and falling off my chair.

“Well, that was graceful. Are you all right?” He offers me his hand, and I take it.
“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Nothing I can think of off the top of my head,” I reply, even though I’m dying to
know why he’s been so nice to me. I dust myself off and try to pretend I didn’t just
make a fool out of myself again.

For rest of the day, I shadow a nurse’s aide and get to know the basics of patient
care. By the time seven rolls around, my feet throb. These slippers have no soles
and no arch support. My shirt sticks to my skin, and my hair is plastered to my neck.

Cole and Zeus arrive at the nurse’s station. Cole talks to one of the female nurses
and smiles his crooked smile. His dark eyes catch mine for a quick moment, but that’s
the only acknowledgement he gives.

Nauseous much? I can totally see him being a man whore.

“Talk to you later,” he says to the redhead.

“I’m looking forward to it.” She grins and flips her hair.

Oh barf.

He silently leads me out of the hospital. We’re back in the alley with Zeus in front
this time. The sun sets in brilliant hues across the sky, but the tall silhouettes
of the buildings obscure my view. Now and then, we run into a beggar. Cole ignores
them like he does the discarded furniture we step around, but one in particular haunts
me. On his neck, he’s branded red.

Wrath.

“Can you spare some change, ma’am?” he asks.

“I don’t have any money,” I say.

Cole yanks my arm, but not before I hear the beggar say, “I know you’re innocent.
Your eyes—”

I stop and turn back, about to question him, when a loud bang rattles my brain. Something
warm splashes my face. I wipe it off with my hand, which is now streaked with red.

Blood.

Cole shoves me to the ground, forcing a grunt out of my mouth as he lands on my back.
My ribcage feels crushed under his weight. Bullets kick up dirt in patches around
us and ricochet off the walls. Looking up, I see the beggar crumple. Blood pours from
holes in his torso, and a vacant expression is plastered on his worn face. My stomach
lurches at the violence of the shooting. We lay there for a few minutes as more shots
are fired and a troop of guards sprints past. We wait.

“Crap,” Cole says under his breath. A group of sinners flood the entryway. Some carry
crowbars and sunlight glints off the others’ knives. Zeus charges toward them.

“You have to run!”

“What?”

“Run! Now!” Cole points in the direction we were heading. “Go!”

I turn and run.

The streets all look the same. I bolt down the alley and sprint past a series of dead
bodies. I have no idea what I’m doing, where to run, and why I think I can get there
without getting killed first.

“Get her!”

Their words bounce off the walls and echo in my ears. I don’t look back when I reach
the end of the alley. Left looks like it takes me down more narrow alleys, but right
looks like it takes me back to where Cole is.

“Now what?” I say aloud. Frustrated and afraid, I tangle my hands in my hair. I wish
I had Cole’s map with me now. Just then, someone pushes me from behind. I should’ve
sensed danger when the noise around me ceased. I turn, and a group of sinners encloses
me.

I’m trapped.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t stop my head from spinning or the panic whizzing through my mind.

I’m petrified.

I see a red, a black, and maybe three green brands closing in on me. My heart pounds
in my throat at the thought of them killing me.
Should I plead for them to make it quick or will that just make it worse?
I’m about to scream when one smiles. His eyes linger a little too long.

Oh please, no!

“Where do you think you’re going?” asks the tallest man.

Laughter erupts behind him. “What are you waiting for, Sarge? Get her,” another says.

I clench my fists, unsure whether I should fight to my last breath or give in to their
demands. The ending seems inevitable either way. My eyes flood and the men become
blurry. I squeeze them shut, rub, and pry them open.

“Hello, dear,” Sarge says with a smile, stepping closer.

There’s a gap where his two front teeth used to be, and his tongue protrudes, resting
on his lower lip. He loosens his belt, yanks it off, and holds it like a whip.

He’s going to publicly humiliate me.

As if I haven’t already been branded.

My legs buckle and I plunge to the ground. Blood rushes through my veins like a rapid
river, and I’m drowning in fear.

I’m frantic.

“Leave me alone! Please. Leave me alone.” I place my hands defensively in front of
me, backing myself up as far as I can.

He pushes me to my back and leans over me. I kick at his chest.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Spit flies out of his mouth, landing on my cheek.
“It will only make me angry. And trust me, you don’t want me angry.” He slaps his
belt into his opposite hand and lets it unravel for the full effect. “This is what
loose women deserve.”

I don’t move.

I won’t move.

I can’t move.

But this is my only chance.

I shove my thigh into his groin, causing him to fall over on his side.

I jump to my feet and at the same time, he grabs my ankle. “Help!” I scream, hoping
someone will rescue me, but they stand there with blank faces. “Somebody help me!”
I shake my leg as hard as I possibly can, but he never loosens his grip.

“You stupid twit.” Sarge grabs my other leg from underneath me and pulls, slamming
my body onto the ground and instantly knocking the wind from my lungs. “Now I’m going
to cut your throat.”

He sits on top of my chest and startles me to my senses.

I gasp.

His knees hold down my arms and he flips out his blade.

I’m pinned.

I’m horrified and frozen under his control. I close my eyes and hold my breath.
Make it quick… Make it quick.

“Sarge, get up, man!
Now
!” someone screams.

My eyes snap open.

The crowd scatters.

Sarge looks up. “Oh my G—”

Out of nowhere, Zeus flies through the air, plowing him over while wrapping his mouth
around his throat. Sarge swings his arms and kicks his legs to no avail. Zeus jolts
his neck.

I hear a snap.

Instantly, Sarge’s body hangs limp.

Just as I’m about to scream, Cole plants himself beside me.

“Go.
Now
!”

Cole pushes me down just as a bullet flies past my head. He grabs my arm and drags
me along behind him. My ankle screams at me to stop, but I keep running forward. The
sound of feet pounding the dirt gets louder, the chanting gets closer, and the firing
of weapons in rapid succession makes my brain feel like it’s hemorrhaging. I know
this has to do with us.

“Why are they after us?” I shout between breaths.

Cole doesn’t respond. He just keeps running. I look over my shoulder and see people
bolting to shelter and screaming, leaping away from the men who rush toward us as
they pistol whip the ones who refuse to move.

Cole yanks me away from the main street and heads toward the hospital down another
alleyway. Every building has boarded-up windows. The doors hang off their rusty hinges
and glass crunches under our feet as we run. It screams death.

Cole turns abruptly.

“They’re after you!” He exhales.

“Then why are they trying to kill you?”

“I’m in their way.”

“But you’re a guard—”

He yanks my arms and we’re running again.

I guess they don’t care about that either. Psychos.

We dart down all the alleys we come across, going up one, down the next, and across
the other. I’m guessing Cole’s trying to throw them off course or confuse them as
much as he possibly can.

My ankle burns and I feel it pop. “Cole!”

He comes to a complete halt, turns to me, and meets me on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” He looks behind me.

I gasp for air and Cole pulls me behind an overflowing dumpster. His breathing is
unlabored, but he drips buckets of sweat.

“My ankle…” is all I can muster.

He puts his fingers under my chin and tilts my head back until we’re eye to eye.

“I want you to trust me. Can you do that?”

“I already do,” I say.

I can’t believe I just said that.
I don’t trust anyone.

Cole grabs my waist and flips me into his arms, taking off down the same alley we
just traversed. His arms are strong, secure, and wrapped around my small frame, and
I’m glued to his torso. I tuck my face into his neck, hiding from this sick world.

“Wrap your arms around my neck.” And I do as he says. “Tighter.”

I squeeze.

“Too tight.” He chokes.

I relax. He boosts me higher, closer, and my forehead rests against his ear.

I close my eyes.

He runs.

I hold on.

A new anxiety overwhelms me.

I don’t want them to hurt Cole—not because of me.

“Just leave me,” I whisper into his ear. “I won’t let you die trying to save me. I’m
a sinner. Let them have me.”

“Never,” he says in a short gasp.

The gunshots come from behind, but I can tell they’re far from us now. Cole seems
to know this place by heart because he never second-guesses his next step. I wonder
if he ever had to do this for anyone else.

Or am I his first?

“Hide here.” He drops me to my feet in front of a cellar door. “I’ll be right back.”

And just like that, he disappears, sprinting farther and farther away. I creep into
the cellar and close the door behind me. Zeus decides to stay with me, and I’m okay
with that. He’s proved his loyalty.

I listen for movement where Zeus and I hide, but I hear nothing.

Before I know it, the door swings open, but with the lighting, I can’t make out who
the person is. I hyperventilate.

“Lexi. It’s me,” Cole says, his voice low as he approaches. “I want you to keep breathing,
just like I am.” He grabs my hands and beckons me to inhale and exhale when he does.
I hear the voices getting closer again. His sweaty hands drop mine and I can tell
that his attention is directed toward the alley we just ran down. “We have to move.”
He throws me onto his back. “Wrap your legs and arms around me. It’s the easiest way
to hold you.” I cling to his neck, locking my ankles together above his hips. “Now,
hold on.” He sprints down the alley.

He comes to a sudden halt and drops me to my feet. In front of us stands a chain-link
fence. “Can you climb this?”

“I’ll try.” I climb, ignoring the constant throbbing in my ankle as I make my way
to the top. I swing my leg over at the bar and start my descent, letting myself drop
the last foot to the ground, and land on one leg to spare my opposite ankle any more
damage. I look up, but Cole’s nowhere to be found. My heart races.

“I’m right here.” I turn and he stands parallel to me.

“Zeus?” I ask. “What about—?”

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll get back. He always does.” Cole looks down at my feet
and sighs. “They could’ve at least given you sneakers.”

“Tell me about it.”

We move slower now but still at a brisk pace. I fight through the shooting pain in
my ankle because I don’t want Cole to carry me. Without warning, a loud gunshot penetrates
the area behind us. The bullet must’ve found its target because fiery objects fly
in our direction. Before Cole gets me to the ground, I hear a loud concussion… and
everything’s black.

*   *   *

My head pounds like a sledgehammer, making my thoughts hazy and my body stiff. I try
to sit up but can’t seem to get my muscles to do what I’m commanding them to do. There’s
a distinct smell of blood in my hair, but I can’t remember exactly how it got there.

Someone touches my hand. I pull it away and tuck it under my back.