Tears streamed down his face as the shock faded away, though he still moaned in pain.
“Dancer!” she yelled grabbing his shirt and shaking him. “We’re going to get out of here, but you need to tell us the code. What is it!”
“N-nine, five–”
“Kara!” Salvi yelled, seeing her picking up Salvi’s taser, away from the console.
“Wait! Wait, start again!” she yelled, moving back to the console.
The world turned again, and Salvi and Bronte fell to the floor, as this time pain filled their skulls. Salvi breathed through it, then looked up to see Bronte’s taser had spilled down a few steps. He shook off his pain, thanks to the Fyte within him, and stumbled down to get it.
“Dancer,” Salvi panted, looking back at him. “Dancer, get up. Lean on me. Get up.” Salvi moved over to him on all fours and pressed her weight against him. “Use me. Get up. Bronte, help us!”
“They’re coming!” Bronte said as he moved up the steps to them, using the clear-headed moment to lift Dancer to the console.
Dancer clung to the console, glancing at Kara.
“Go!” Kara yelled.
“Nine! Five! Six…” Dancer yelled, as the world turned again for Salvi and Bronte. They groaned as the world spun and they fought hard to hold Dancer in place, but they all fell again, making Dancer scream in pain once more, and yet another taser went over the side of the stairs.
“Get up!” Kara yelled. “Get up!”
“We gotta stop ‘em, Salv,” Bronte said, getting to his feet and moving for the stairs.
“No!” she said, grabbing his arm. “You need to get outside!”
“We won’t get out like this!”
“You help him!” she pushed Bronte to Dancer again, grabbed Dancer’s taser, and fired it over the stairwell railing once more. She was too far away for it to hit its target, but it made Travis and the guards pause and cower. Anything to hold them back.
“Nine! Five! Six…” Dancer began again, “Four, three–”
The world turned more violently, and Salvi fell to the floor again, rolling down the first few steps, her stomach churning.
“Salvi!” Kara yelled, as Bronte dropped Dancer again with another scream of pain.
“Go..!” she managed, swaying as she dragged herself upright, before vomiting all over the steps.
“Goddamn it!” Dancer yelled in frustration. He pulled himself to his feet, standing on his snapped ankle, growling in pain as tears streamed down his face. “N-nine, five, six, four, three, seven, two!” he screamed, punching the digits on the console.
“Got it!” Kara yelled, as the door unlocked. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open as gunfire sounded. Salvi looked up and saw Kara’s arm spray with blood. Kara dropped to the ground, seeking shelter.
“Kara!” Salvi yelled. “Bronte, run!”
Bronte was on his feet, grabbing on to Dancer to aid him.
But the world turned violently once more.
Salvi fell, hitting the back of her head on the steps. She hissed in pain and felt the blood staining her fingers. She looked up to Bronte, saw him vomiting on all fours.
“Kara! Get Bronte out of here!” Salvi yelled as she moved to the stairwell handrail again and fired down. She saw that Travis and the guards had pressed forward and were almost upon them now. Their tasers were put away and real handguns took their place. “Go!” she yelled back at her team. “I’ll get Dancer!”
Kara, arm bleeding, scrambled to grab Bronte and pull him toward the door, as Salvi moved for Dancer. She hauled the wounded man to the doorway, watching as Kara and Bronte disappeared through it.
But as they did, more blood sprayed the doorway. She heard Bronte yell. His side had been hit and both he and Kara fell to the ground.
“Bronte!” she yelled. She looked back to Dancer who crawled toward the doorway.
“They’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me,” he whimpered, one hand clinging onto the cuff around his neck. Salvi eyed it, fear filling her.
“We just need to get outside, Dancer,” she said, eyeing the doorway right in front of them.
Again the world span and pain twisted inside her skull. She released Dancer and slammed her hands against her head, screaming.
They were so close to freedom. They just had to hold on a little longer.
“We’re not going to make it,” Dancer said, more tears pouring down his face.
“We are,” Salvi said, dizzy. She wiped her nose and saw blood on her hand.
“We’re not,” he shook his head with hopelessness.
Salvi grabbed onto him, ignoring her throbbing head. “We’re are, goddamn it! We’re going to fight our way out if it’s the last thing we do, now move!”
She got to her feet and dragged Dancer through the doorway into the sunlight.
When Salvi hit the sunlight, she cried in pain at the brightness. She instantly shaded her eyes, dropping them to the ground, but when she made out blood splatter, she looked up again.
“Bronte! Kara!” she glanced around for them.
“Here!” Kara yelled.
Salvi saw Kara peering out from behind a large air vent. She looked around at Dancer’s pale, pained face, and grabbed him again.
“Come on, Dancer!” she said, hauling his arm around her shoulders. “We’re going to make it. Hold on.” She pulled him to stand and they began moving haphazardly for the air vent.
“Just leave me,” Dancer said. “Come back for me.”
“No. You know too much. You have to come with us.”
“If I go, they’ll kill me,” he said, dropping to the ground.
“Dancer, no!” Salvi stopped too.
“I thought these cuffs were a placebo,” he said, clasping the one around his neck. “I couldn’t find any trace of them in the system, so I thought they were fake. But they’re fucking real! They kept the details from me so I couldn’t figure out how to disarm them. They’re fucking real and if I don’t stay, they’re going to use the one around my neck and kill me!”
“Dancer, no!” Salvi said. “You can help us end these gu–”
The world turned again, and Salvi fell to the ground. She shook it off and looked up to see
