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Chapter 11

A stinging sensationon Jude’s cheek forced him to open his one working eye. He peered blearily at the shadow blocking out the dawn light.

“Jude! It’s Lincoln. Shit! You need to wake up.”

Jude struggled to fight off the fog of unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered was trying to get away and making sure the State didn’t find him while he waited for backup.

“Can you stand?” Lincoln’s hands were already under his arms, forcing him up.

Gritting his teeth, Jude nodded. He bit down on a curse as his ribs protested but made it to his feet.

“Give him a shot of serum now.” It was Annie.

“What are you doing here?” Jude slurred out.

“Saving my man,” said Annie. “There was no way I was going to wait behind at the base.”

Lincoln pushed up Jude’s shirt sleeve and injected him with a shot of dragon serum.

Instantly, some of his pain subsided. Jude scraped dried blood from his closed eye, inching it open. He looked around and saw Lincoln was also accompanied by his other brother Tobias, and Zane Blanchard, from Hive One.

“Are you sure you’re fit to be out here?” Jude noticed the way Tobias held one arm to his side. He was still suffering from the Dinnorm attack.

“Anything to save you from this mess.”

Jude snorted a laugh. “Thanks for coming to save my butt.”

“As if we’d leave you out here to rot,” said Lincoln. “We didn’t expect you to be sleeping on the job, though.”

“What can I say? I got tired.” Jude tested his ribs and winced. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any more of that serum? I need to heal in double quick time.”

“Let the first shot get to work,” said Annie. “Sophia’s given us six vials. We have no idea what condition the others will be in when we find them.”

Jude nodded. “Of course.” He could feel heat trace through his system as the serum healed him.

“What can you remember about the attack?” asked Lincoln.

The wall of fogginess slowly lifted as Jude focused on the events of the previous night. “I went to the air raid shelter to collect equipment with Octavia. In the time we were away, Heath and Malachi must have been ambushed. Maybe a State patrol passed by, or a drone spotted us. Whatever happened, by the time we’d got back to the location, they were gone, along with the Foxhound. The militia came out of the trees and took us. I got separated from Octavia.” His breath caught in his throat as he remembered seeing her dragged away by the soldiers.

“They’ll want information,” said Lincoln. “The others will still be alive.”

“But not for much longer,” muttered Tobias. “Once they get what they want, they’ll execute them.”

“They haven’t yet.” Annie’s voice was laced with concern. “We’d know if they’d done that. They’d be bragging about it all over the comms channels.”

“And we’ve heard nothing,” said Zane. “Everyone is listening to see what their next move will be.”

“You’ve heard nothing from the others?” asked Jude.

“No comms from anyone,” said Lincoln. “We’ve got a signal, though.”

“What is it?” Hope grabbed at Jude.

“We’re getting a signal from Heath’s wrist comm,” said Lincoln. “He’s only ten miles from this site.”

“Then we need to go.” Jude turned, and the world spun. He cursed under his breath. This damned serum needed to work faster.

“We all want them back.” Annie grabbed his arm and held on tight as they hurried toward the vehicle. “Me more than anyone.”