Chapter 20

The first thing I noticed as I barged into the room was the slamming of a door to my left. Then as my eyes swept the room, I saw her.

Keri.

She was curled in a small ball, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She wasn't moving and I swore loudly, realising that it must have been Benjen making a hasty escape.

"GO AFTER HIM!" I roared at Matt and Suriah, who rushed past me and disappeared through the door. I threw myself onto the floor beside Keri, my stomach recoiling at what I saw.

Her face was a mass of bruises, so discoloured it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. I could tell one of her arms sat at an odd angle, almost certainly broken. Resting one hand gently against her back, I could feel she was breathing, although it felt heavy and laboured. My heart broke.

"Keri?" I moved closer to her, my voice gentle. She stirred a little.

"Keri, can you hear me? It's Ali." I hesitated, "I need to get you out of here. Can you walk?"

She moaned in response, trying to roll over in search of my face.

"Ali?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but I could tell it hurt her. I was suddenly worried about her ribs.

"Shhh it's okay. I'm here." Moving as slowly as I could without forgetting the urgency of our situation, I slid my arms underneath her. Each motion caused a sharp inhale, or brief moan of pain from her that tore at my soul. As gently as possible I stood, cradling her to my chest to absorb as much movement as possible.

It was very clear that I would be unable to take Keri out the way we'd come in - the window was not an option. I stood, weighing up the likelihood that I could sneak, or fight our way through the front door when Matt burst back into the room.

He took a long, concerned look at us, his breath heavy. "...is she?"

"She's alive." Even me talking caused her to tense with pain, making me flinch. "We need to get out of here."

He nodded. "This staircase leads to a back door. Benjen was long gone by the time we reached the bottom, but it's a safe route out. Suriah is guarding the entrance." He gestured gently at Keri. "Do you need a hand? Your shoulder…"

I shook my head, perhaps a little too vigorously. I wasn't letting go of her until we were safe. "I'm fine." I said gently so as not to disturb her further.

Whatever Matt saw in my face, he thought better than to argue with me, simply nodding and gesturing me past him and down the narrow staircase beyond. As I passed through the doorway, he followed closely, pulling the door closed behind him. The staircase was narrow, and as the adrenaline wore off I felt every step in my injured arm, but I moved slowly and methodically, keeping Keri as still in my arms as possible. It seemed to take an eternity, and I was grateful when I finally saw the back of Suriah's head. Clocking the grim look on her face as she turned to face me, my joy was short lived.

"It's absolute mayhem out there " She turned her attention back to the door, and I could tell she had it held open a centimetre or two.

Keri stirred in my arms, and I summoned as much strength as I could. "I don't think we can wait here. Someone is going to come looking for Keri, or for Ben. Is there a path out of the compound?"

"No. We're going to have to make one."

The journey to the fence and to safety was perhaps only 500 yards. Barely any distance at all but I was an open target, both arms burdened as they were. Trusting my life, and Keri's, to Matt and Suriah, we wasted little time once the decision was made. Fires burned brightly despite the heavy rain, and the sound of men shouting filled my ears. No need to be stealthy now, I had let Suriah take my pistol, and she put it to good use as I tore along behind her, head down. Every step caused Keri to whimper in pain but I couldn't stop, I couldn't even check if Matt was still behind. We kept running, and Suriah kept shooting. It was impossible for me to know if she hit her targets, but I supposed she must have, for eventually we made it to the fence. I slid to a stop, breathing heavily as Matt came up alongside Suriah, pulling open the hole I had made just a couple of hours ago. I ducked through the gap, trying desperately to keep Keri as still as possible, then started running again, straight into the treeline towards the vehicles I hoped were still waiting. We reached a truck with a dark green trailer and I threw myself onto the back of it, twisting as I did so to land on my back, softening the blow. Matt's frame hit the bed of the truck right next to me, and a moment I heard the engine roar to life. As we shot off through the forest and into the safety of the night, I pulled Keri closer instinctively as everything went black.