Chapter Eight

Lena was devolving into a full-on breakdown, sobbing into her bloodied hands. Vivian stood guard over her, knife and wok at the ready just in case the new visitors weren’t actually friendly.

It didn’t seem like the new group was trying to be quiet, the footsteps pounding closer as whoever it was ran in their direction, stopping abruptly as they reached the courtyard door and surveyed the scene.

Five men in camo surveyed the carnage as Angie and Liane had the presence of mind to duck behind tables upon seeing their guns. Vivian stared them down as one of the men spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Most of them are unconscious, but we’ve got a situation…”

Sighing, Vivian lowered her weapons as she called out in the quiet, “I don’t know what kind of drug you guys gave me or how long they’re going to be out, but you should start tying them up now.” Looking at the people passed out, she shook her head and said, “Besides the ones in the guardhouse and here, there’s another in the kitchen. Otherwise it should just be the women locked in the houses. Angie, Lena, Liane, come out. They’re not going to hurt you.”

They’d tensed at her movement and words, but were slowly relaxing as the leader walked forward, looking at her implements as he asked, “You were the one who contacted us?” She simply nodded, and he sighed, looking at the Lena and the bloody body. “And this…?”

She sighed, finally putting her wok and knife down on a nearby table as she pulled on Lena until she clumsily got to her feet, explaining to the dude who was clearly an officer, “Er, this was a miscalculation. After all, we didn’t drug the victims…” Seeing his frown, she said sternly, “Temporary insanity, which is completely understandable considering the situation.”

He looked at the sobbing woman she was holding upright, then sighed and gestured to his men. “Get moving.” Angie and Liane had come out, but they were still crouching low as Vivian gestured to the gate. “I’m going to take the girls outside, if that’s all right.”

He looked at them and then sighed. “Yes, that’s probably for the best.” The others had pulled out zip ties and were starting to move and tag the unconscious people in an open area on the other side, so Vivian pulled Lena towards Angie and Liane as the officer continued, “But one of my men will stay with you for safety.”

She paused, then nodded. “Of course. Is Aiden Williams still around?”

He seemed to hesitate before he answered, “He’s at the doctor’s house.” He frowned, listening to something in the earpiece she just now noticed he was wearing before he continued, “You should head over there, actually. The Doctor is apparently fairly agitated.”

“Right. Girls, with me now. We’re going to go pay Doctor Tang a visit.” Angie and Liane were both far more present than Lena, and Angie silently took her other side to help support the woman. Liane…took her discarded wok and knife before following diligently. Passing Mother Vance and Leo, Vivian side-stepped slightly to grab the string of coins Mother Vance dropped on the table, pocketing it. The soldiers gave her a side-eye, but said nothing.

As they exited the gate, one of the men breaking off to follow them silently, Angie finally pointed out, “You… you’re not stupid.”

Giving her a small smile, Vivian replied, “No, no I’m not.”

“So all those years, you…” She hesitated.

“I was acting. Well. It’s true that they knocked me silly when I was kidnapped and I still don’t remember where I came from. But I wasn’t actually handicapped, just feverish. Once I recovered and realized what kind of situation I was in… it was safer to just keep pretending.” She was stretching the truth a little, but Vee hadn’t been stupid. The girl truly had kept up the act for six years, until she finally couldn’t handle it anymore.

“It was smart.” Liane finally chipped in, shaking her head. “Doubt it would’ve worked in any other circumstance though. You got lucky.” They all fell silent at that, brooding as they walked. She wasn’t wrong. It was only because Leo was young and stupid that she’d escaped a worse fate. The one all three of the women she was with had lived through. Liane was still clearly jittery, flinching at every sound.

Glancing at the soldier, she considered trying to ask him some questions, but they’d turned the corner to the doc’s house. “Tell me, what did you feed him?” The voice was angry, and she could see Aiden holding the doctor by the throat against the wall. There were three men in camo guarding the perimeter, and they tensed as the girls came round the corner, softening only when they noticed their comrade.

Leaving the girls behind, Vivian ran forward as she called out, “Aiden Williams, you let the poor doctor down right now!”

He’d looked up at her voice, and Doctor Tang looked entirely relieved to see her face as Aiden finally loosened his grip, letting him slip to the ground. “Vee, you’re back! Tell these men that I didn’t do anything to the child!” He protested to her, looking like he’d finally found his backing.

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Glancing between them, she asked, “Calm down for a moment and tell me what’s going on.”

Glaring coldly at the doctor, Aiden replied, “Alex won’t wake up, but the doctor claims he doesn’t know why and didn’t give him anything that would cause this.”

She rolled her eyes, letting out a long-suffering sigh as she told him, “He didn’t. You know better than him what Alex was dosed with. After all, you gave it to me.”

He looked furious as he stepped towards her menacingly. “You gave it to Alex? Why?”

She pushed him aside, entering the building and grabbing a spoon, then heading straight towards the child. The doctor was checking his pulse and heartbeat, frowning as he looked up and saw her, Aiden towering behind her as he asked, “Did you figure out what he took?”

She glanced at Aiden, a ‘well, what are you waiting for?’ look on her face.

Grumbling, he replied, “Taphenol.”

Frowning, the doctor quickly started checking Alex’s vitals again as he asked, “How did he get dosed with that? How much did he take and when? Go ask the doctor.”

Scooting in between the doctor and the wall, she sat on the bed, her fingers brushing Alex’s hair back from his face as she held up the spoon in her hand. “He had two doses. Both about a quarter of this spoon, one last night with water and one at dawn with porridge. Doc also gave him a fever reducing concoction last night, but he seemed fine this morning.”

The doctor frowned, but nodded as he said, “If that’s the case, he should wake up in the next few hours.”

“Now tell me why you fed my nephew the drug meant to knock out the village.” Aiden’s voice was still icy, but at least his anger seemed to have toned down a little bit.

Meeting his eyes, she kept her tone especially neutral as she replied, “He was sold to Levi Stevens. Levi, like most of the men in this village, particularly enjoys watching people scream, and also has a special interest in little boys. Last night, Alex threw up on him and developed a fever, so he was brought here. This morning, Levi planned to take the day off. So why don’t you stop glaring at me and say thank you instead?”

She glanced at the bamboo tube in his hand, which was clearly starting to splinter because his grip was slowly crushing it, he was holding it so hard. Taking a deep breath, he said softly, “Thank you, Vee.”

Giving him a small smile, she gave Alex’s hair a few more pats into place as she stood up again, informing him, “I’ve decided I prefer Vivian. Also, I told Alex you were coming to save him, and that you’d be there when he woke up. I’m glad you didn’t let him down. He’s a very brave little boy.” Dusting off her fingers, she kept going, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make sure the rest of the women get out. They’re probably terrified.”

She walked out of the room without a backwards glance, only to hear Aiden ask, “Is it safe to move him?”

Exiting the building, she detoured towards Doctor Tang, who was still resting against the wall under the watch of four soldiers. Lena, Angie, and Liane were also sitting nearby, huddled together as the warmth of the day leeched from their bodies in the crisp night air. Angie was using a wet rag to try and clean off some of Lena’s blood, so she turned her attention to the legless man. “You doing okay, Doc?” She asked softly, looking around for the man’s makeshift chair. It was overturned in the kitchen, so she let it be.

“Vee… what’s going on?” He asked, clearly still shaken.

She smiled gently at him as she replied, “We’re finally free, Doc. These people came to save us. You did good today.” While she hadn’t been there, she knew Levi wouldn’t have taken the news that Alex wasn’t waking up well, and she could see a couple bruises that weren’t there this morning.

He seemed to relax, muttering, “That’s good, that’s very good.”

She gave him another pat on the shoulder as she said softly, “It’s gonna be okay now. We’re all going to be okay. Have faith.” Knowing there was little more she could do for him, she looked at the soldiers standing guard, standing up straight again as she addressed them, “I believe at least one of you is able to spare a moment to help the doctor off the ground.”

She’d do it herself, but even without legs, the doc was a bit too heavy and unwieldy for her malnourished frame. There were perfectly strong soldiers there, so it was clearly better to delegate the job than struggle alone.

“Two of you take him to the vans.” Aiden’s voice ordered from behind her, and she glanced back to find him carrying Alex in his arms as he and the doctor exited. She raised a brow and he continued, “We’ll come with you to check on the rest of the women.” She’d half expected him to go check on the unconscious people, but the women were clearly higher on the priority for needing medical attention, so she approved.

“Are there already people extracting them?” She asked curiously.

He nodded, clearly more at ease as he decided to explain to her, “There’s a team of three for every house you told me.”

She paused, then muttered, “In other words, they’re probably confused and terrified if they’re not unconscious.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “That about sums it up. Let’s get going.”

Sighing, she looked at the three women nearby and asked, “Do you want to come with us for the others or go to the rescue vans with the doctor?”

They exchanged glances as they stood up, and Angie looked worriedly at Lena. “I think we’d better go somewhere we can keep her warm.” She kinda looked like she was going into shock, so Vivian was inclined to agree.

“There are two more doctors there. She’ll be in good hands.” Alex’s doc said from the side, and Angie nodded in mild relief.

“I’ll stick with Vee.” Liane stated, gripping the handles of her kitchen weapons.

“That’s fine. We’ll meet you soon at the vans.” She paused, reaching over to give the two women a small hug as she said softly, “It’s going to be okay.”

She kept saying that, but she was actually starting to believe it herself.