Chapter 15: Red

"Tom? Tom!" Thalia didn't waste a second into going to him, her cries filling the room as she tenderly touched his face with her hands; her lips kissing every wound on his face.

I winced from the effort to wheel myself towards the bed. He was alive. My brother was alive and he was sitting up in this bed in front of me.

I wanted so much to rush to him like Thalia, to hug him and cry because I was seeing him again, but the strain and burn from my back was preventing me to do so.

"Thalia, easy," his rough voice spoke and my heart clenched from hearing him. "Careful of the cuts." He told her, holding her small hands in his.

"I love you." Thalia sobbed, her accent she lost a long while ago was starting to sound as she cried.

"I love you too." He gently pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed, grunting as he did so. His hands finally landed on her swollen stomach and what sounded like a sigh of relief came from him. He placed his lips on her stomach, pausing there for a moment before looking up and staring right at me.

When I finally reached the bed, I smiled weakly, reaching over to grasp one of his hands as the other was placed protecting over his child. "I can't believe you're alive."

"Same. With all I've been through. I'm surprised I can even talk," He chuckled a bit. "How did you end up here? They didn't hurt you, did they?" He eyed the chair I was in.

"They haven't touched me but," Thalia said, looking over at me. "Aria was whipped. I still need to bandage her." She moved away from my brother and took the supplies in my lap to start the simple procedure.

"Whipped? Why? By who?" Tom moved closer to me. The small glimmer of light crossed over his face, allowing me to notice the gashes and bruises on his face. A deep cut dipped into the flesh of his lip while a red slit was sliced from his right eyebrow to the corner of his left eye.

"By the leader. I slapped him because he was touching me." I gasped as I felt the cool substance of the cream touch my back and I grasped Tom's hand even harder.

"That guy can never leave well enough alone," Tom sighed while he rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. "You have to play it safe, Aria. These guys aren't to be fucked with."

"Neither am I. I'm not letting some slimy asshole put his hands all over me." The feel of the leader's fingers dragging on my skin and his lips had me fill with anger, but seeing Harry's green eyes glare at him was a sight to see. The usual humour and hard set eyes I knew had changed. They were filled with an anger that scared even me and I was rarely intimidated, but right then, I almost lost myself.

"As long as you don't piss him off anymore than you already have." Tom shook his head in amusement. I bit down on my bottom lip as Thalia began to wrap the bandages around my torso, having to slip down the thin gown and making Tom turn his head so he didn't glance anything.

"How badly does it hurt?" My brother asked once Thalia finished and sat down next to him, entwining their hands.

"Very," I sighed. "How did you end up here?" I asked him. It was a joy to see Tom again, but knowing how he came to be here had me questioning.

"After we split back at the hospital, I was caught between a lot of Clickers. I had a few close calls, almost got bit in the neck a few times," He nodded, pulling Thalia closer to him as she looked scared. "I was being chased for a long while until a group of Hunters showed up and killed them all but grabbed me; said they were looking for two of their own and when I didn't answer them, they decided to have me as a prisoner."

Harry and Tyler. Their leader had sent a small search party for them but instead found my brother and by the looks of it, beat him up a good deal.

"What'd they do?" I asked. I was scared to know but me being my curious self, had to find out.

"Beat me until they realised I actually didn't have information on their friends. One of them wanted to kill me but the leader of this whole operation decided to keep me for something else." He shook his head, running a hand through his hair kind of how Harry does sometimes.

"I thought you were dead." Thalia whispered, once again on the verge of tears.

Tom cupped her cheek and leaned forward, kissing her trembling lips before pulling away and giving her a small smile. "I almost was until I saw you again."

I smiled a bit. I was happy my brother was back, but we were still in this death hole. With my back in pain and Thalia pregnant, it was going to be a while before we could escape.

_________

Harry's POV

"They did what?!" Felix yelled directly in my face.

"I wanted to stop them but they strapped me down." I told him.

I needed to see Aria , I needed to know how she was after what The Captain delivered to her. She looked so fragile once she finally fell to the ground and seeing her in that state was worse than being hit by a thousands fists.

"You got us in this mess, making this your fault!" Felix was giving me a fucking headache and having him pour guilt on me was making this situation worse.

"Calm down," Niall stood up from his seat on the floor, taking my side as he stood next to me and glared at the ex-soldier. "If you want to blame someone, blame the Captain. He's the one that held the whip, not Harry. What we need to do is figure a way out."

"We also need to find everyone else," I sighed, running a hand through my hair to push it out of my face. I really needed a trim. "With all the assholes guarding every point out there, it's gonna take some time to think everything over."

"We don't have time! I'm sure they're on their way to Aria's cell and raping her or she could have been put to death once she left that room!" Felix screamed out. My fists clenched as he brought up the image of Aria, her helpless as countless men took her purity.

"Stop. You're not making anything better." Niall rose his voice over Felix's to try and push some sene into his thick skull.

"At least I want to try. You fuckheads are too busy laying around and waiting for nothing. I want to get out, I want to kill them all, I want to make sure Aria isn't getting raped or dead!" Felix pushed Niall, causing him to stumble back.

I saw only red as I brought my fist up and swung it at Felix's face. I felt bone and flesh under my skin once it connected, a disturbing crunch filling my ears as I did so. Felix fell back on the floor, holding his nose as his blood crept out. But I wasn't finished.

I flipped him over with my shoe so that he laid on his stomach. The only sounds were groans of pain from his busted nose. I crouched down so I was level with him and as I grabbed his hair, he gasped while I pulled his head back, glaring deep into his fucking eyes.

"I fucking swear I am one second away from bashing your damn head into the ground but I won't, for Aria's sake. You talk all high and mighty but truthfully, you're a little pussy who couldn't even fire his own gun at a few Hunters that made their way into your camp. I've given you enough chances to get on my good side but you're really starting to make me wish I killed you that night back at the apartments. You think I'm not trying to get out of here and save our asses, I am! I hope to God you come to your senses to realise I've done more for your group than you have so you better step the fuck up and appreciate me, you son of a bitch."

I pushed his head down before standing back up and glancing at Niall. A small smirk was on his face as he chuckled a bit once Felix sat up, still cupping his nose that gushed blood.

"I swear, man. You get scarier and scarier each time I see you." He laughed and I even cracked a smile, the sting in my knuckles fading away.

The door to our cell door opened and I watched as the man of the hour, the Captain, stepped in, his eyes immediately falling to Felix on the floor.

"Little bit of a misunderstanding?" He asked to everyone in the room.

"You could say that." Niall said, rubbing the back of his neck. The Captain always made him nervous, but to be honest, who wouldn't be?

"What now?" I asked, stepping up and around Felix. "You can't seem to give us a break. We're either requested or visited in less than an hour."

"Before I talk to you about something I have in mind, I promised your little girlfriend a few minutes with you. Seem fair?" He held his arms out and raised his eyebrows.

"Is this a trick?" I narrowed my green eyes at him. A small smile played on his pale lips and he chuckled from my hesitance.

"No, Styles. She's right here for proof." He nodded his head at one of the guys behind him. The man in the red bandanna pulled Aria into view and I saw how her legs shook from trying to stand. She still wore the same dress she was lashed in, making it very loose and almost revealing to everything else. Even though what she wore was trashy, her hair was still the same dark waves and her eyes didn't change their colour of midnight storm.

The man holding her pushed her my way and she collapsed in my arms, clinging onto my shirt to steady herself.

"Harry." She said and I looked down at her. I didn't want to touch her back because I knew it would hurt. I see she was bandaged and I'm grateful these dicks at least had the decency to provide her medical attention.

"Ten minutes. That's all." The Captain said before he closed the door.

"Are you okay?" I asked her and I mentally hit myself as I asked such a stupid question.

"What do you think?" She said, her voice muffled since her face was buried in my chest.

"You're right. Stupid question." I smiled a bit and rested my chin on the top of her head. I said I wouldn't allow a moment of weakness to her again, but right now, as she was like this, I couldn't help myself by rubbing my fingers on her waist and threading my fingers in her long hair to provide some sort of comfort.

"I'm glad you're still breathing." Niall came up behind me, a huge smile on his face as he kissed the side of her head.

"Same goes to you," She nodded, a smile also on her face, but it quickly disappeared as she looked down at Felix and gasped. "Felix." She dropped from my arms and crawled to him, placing gentle hands on his face.

"Aria," He breathed out and pretty much crushed her body in a hug, causing her to shiver from pain. "Oh God, I'm so sorry." He apologised and pushed her back immediately.

"What happened?" Her grey eyes took in his damaged nose and dried blood. His eyes moved to me and I gave him a warning glare that made him change the answer he was going to give.

"One of those assholes took out his anger on me. I swear they need anger management classes for them." He rolled his eyes. I silently huffed out my annoyance because I knew his secret message was directed at me.

Aria lightly laughed. In the midst of all that happened, she still laughed and smiled, making the sight warm me and my anger to become subtle.

The Captain was right. I did like her. I was just forcing myself to ignore and disagree with these thoughts and feelings to remember her and to make sure that all thoughts like this were dedicated only to Matilda, the first girl I grew close with after all of this.

"Harry," I looked down to see Aria holding out her hands, needing me to help her up. Once I did, I made sure she was fine by keeping my hands on her shoulders and rubbing my thumbs against her skin. "Tom is here. My brother."

"What?" I furrowed my brows.

"After the night in the hospital, he was taken by the group that came searching for you and Tyler. He's been here ever since." She nodded.

The fact that her brother was here was a definite bonus, but also a burden. It meant that it's one more person I have to help get out.

"I'm still figuring out a plan to get us out," My voice dropped to a whisper, afraid that the people outside our door will overhear. "It's gonna be difficult, so please be patient with me."

"Seems like I don't have any other options." Aria chuckled and I smiled a bit.

The door opened once more to reveal The Captain again. "Sorry to cut it short about five minutes, but time is of the essence. I'll need Styles. Make sure the rest are brought to the stands. Except for her," He pointed to Aria and I felt my fingers tightened against her waist. "Bring her to my balcony. She'll get a better view." He smiled and soon two men came in, one grabbing Aria, the other taking me.

We were separated, but at least I knew that what was going to happen next didn't involve her getting hurt.

Instead, I would be fighting my way through.

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a/n: yeah yeah, shitty chapter, i know *sigh*
ive been so busy with school that it's hard to even write, i bet some of you can vouch for me haha

i promise next chapter will be amazing, spectacular and beautiful (kinda)