Ryder swung for the next general, who ducked out of the way. His didn’t miss and it connected with Ryder’s ribs, which were still burning from the fight with Sergei. She wasn’t going to let the generals know she was in pain. Her years in the bunker had taught her to hide any weakness that would get her killed.
Ryder returned his punch with another, this one was a better shot that landed in his ribs. The general was strong, and he wasn’t in pain like Ryder. He doubled and recovered, but Ryder had thrown that one as a distraction to get him looking down for a moment. Ryder scored another punch right in General Dickhead’s face, and Ryder knew that one stung him like a motherfucker. His jaw snapped sideways, but Ryder wasn’t done. She launched herself at him and followed up with more punches.
Hands gripped Ryder’s arms, stopping her from punching General Dickhead anymore. She fought against the generals who were dragging her back and kicked at General Dickhead. He was able to move out of the way, since unlike Ryder he wasn’t being held back by a group of overzealous men.
She thrashed, and their grips tightened. She sneered at Finn. “Hey, General Fuckface, getting others to do your work for you again? Why don’t you fight me on your own? Or are you scared?” One of the generals pulled her bow and quiver off her back and threw them across the floor. Those idiots! “You better hope you didn’t break my bow, asshole.”
General Finn moved closer to Ryder and narrowed his eyes, which were already mostly shut from the swelling in his ruined face. Ryder laughed at him. “How can you even see me?”
“I can see you well enough.” He grunted. “Let her go. She’s mine.” General Finn waved them off, and the other generals did as they were told.
Something—no someone—caught Ryder’s eyes. The men on Level Five, the ones she’d lived and worked with, looked surprised. They’d never seen Ryder as a female, and they’d never seen anyone stand up to the generals like she was doing. She wasn’t sure if they were going to be on the generals’ side or hers. Possibly neither, since they were just standing by and watching. One person wasn’t paying attention, Decso. He was pointing at the floor.
Ryder glanced to where Decso was looking, it was a pile of Mad bodies. Finn punched Ryder in the gut, sending her backward, and she gasped. A few men from her level cheered. Dammit, she’d known them all of her life, those jerks! Was Decso just trying to distract her to give General Finn an easy target? She’d finish Decso off after General Finn was dead.
She wasn’t going to let Finn throw all the good punches. “Is that all you’ve got?” She spat blood at him. “Fucking pathetic.”
“Hold her. Once we’ve gotten rid of you, we’ll move on to your friends.” He grinned, looking down at the floor and then up at the ceiling. She had friends trapped on both levels now.
The generals came back to grab Ryder and she tried to get away, but she couldn’t. They had her.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Decso yelled. “Look, they are cheating. They are holding Ryder’s arms stopping her from fighting.” A few were nodding with Decso, some were scratching their heads, and others were questioning how they hadn’t worked out that Ryder wasn’t a man.
While Decso was distracting General Finn and the other generals, Ryder looked to where Decso was pointing. He was trying to help her. By one of the Mad bodies there was a knife, which was hard to see because it was covered in blood and guts.
She needed to get to the knife.
General Finn hit her in the jaw, and she sagged in the arms of the generals restraining her as a black wave washed over her vision.
“The knife, Decso. Get me the knife,” Ryder pleaded between punches. Decso stared at her, scared. A part of him wanted to get it, but the other part didn’t know what to do. “Decso, please!”
Decso got a look of determination in his eyes. He was going to help, so she could take a few more punches. Decso moved to climb over the barricade to help her, but General Simon pulled him back. Simon was twice the size of Decso, and Decso didn’t stand a chance against him. Decso was thrown back down the tunnel.
There was no other choice. She drew in a breath between blows and screamed. “Leandro! Massimo! Help!”
General Finn sneered and drew his arm back again. “Your screams are futile. No one can hear you.”
Leandro leaped through the air at a Mad on Level Two. His teeth snagged the Mad’s clothing and pulled it back to give his Pops room to snap its neck. Massimo was getting weak. Leandro knew that his dad needed blood if he was going to win a fight against Afana.
“Leandro! Massimo! Help!”
Leandro and Massimo looked at one another. They both heard Ryder screaming for help. Leandro wanted to go but didn’t want to leave his Pops to fight the Mad on his own.
“Go, Leandro! Go!” Massimo yelled. “Ryder would only call for help if she really needed it.”
Leandro bolted through the door and down the stairs. He had to take out the Mad as he went, which was slowing him down. There was no way he could leave them to go up to Massimo, not a chance in Hell.
He bounded down the stairs two and even three at a time. Leandro wanted to shout that he was coming and for Ryder to hold on, but he couldn’t.
When Leandro got to Level Four, his friends were all there fighting against the Mad. They looked like they were winning. Why would Ryder call for help if they were winning?
“What’re you
