Lest we lose our edens by Lia Faile

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Lest We Lose Our Edens, Part 7
by Lia Faile

Devon felt her way around another turn in the dank corridor. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest creating an answering echo that pounded in her ears. As if they couldn't' t get enough of the stagnant air, her lungs took in great gulpfuls. She longed to give into her childish fears and run pell-mell through the cave hollering for Danziger at the top of her lungs. Clamping down on her fears, she forced her legs to a slow and steady pace. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she fell and hurt herself in this dark unfamiliar lair. Only she wish she could at least have the false comfort of her lumalight, but it would merely draw attention and make her an easy target. That was the last thing Devon wanted.

The narrow passageway dipped down and opened into a larger room-like chamber. A small shaft of light penetrated a crack in the rock cathedral ceiling casting the chamber in an eerie twilight. The room was filled with debris from branches and leaves to rages and pieces of equipment that looked as if it belonged to the Eden Advance. The chamber was haphazardly decorated with stalactites and stalagmites of varying shapes and sizes. The floor was also littered with rocks and boulders that had originally been part of the the ceiling.

Satisfied that neither Gaal or Grendlers were lurking in the chamber, Devon entered. The room was cast in enough shadows that she wanted to make sure that Danziger wasn't here before she retraced her steps to where the passageway had branched off to the left a while back. If she was really, really lucky Danziger would be here, alive, and capable of self mobility so they could get the hell out of this rat's nest. Devon had covered three fourths of the chamber's perimeter and was about to give up and head back to the other passageway. Devon managed to keep her balance when the rock wall she had been running her hand along as she walked just disappeared.

The shadows were deeper in this part of the chamber and this smaller chamber hadn't been visible until she had practically fallen through it. It was pitch black in there and the stench emanating from it made all the previous odors smell like pot pourri. Devon took a few moments to calm her gagging reflex before entering. She also decided to risk turning on her lumalight. The looming blackness seemed to devour the tiny beam of light. Devon moved the light across the ceiling, the walls, and finally the floor.

It was then that she discovered why the stench was foulest in this small chamber. The one side of the floor was cluttered with bones and partially decomposed bodies. There was a mixture of animal, Grendler, and Terrian bones. Devon quickly averted her gaze and the light from that corner. Farthest back in the chamber, her light slid across a large lump. In the dark she first dismissed it as another boulder, but then the light caught a glint of gold. Concentrating the light on it, Devon felt both relief and dread wash through her soul. She recognized those dirty golden curls anywhere.

Hesitantly she walked over to the unmoving form of John Danziger. He laid on his left side facing the wall. His wrists and ankles were bound. That meant he had to be alive. You don't tie up corpses. Unless he'd been brought here alive and died later....

"John?" Devon whispered.

Getting no response, she reached out and shook his shoulder gently and repeated his name once more, a little louder. Still no response. Swallowing hard and bracing herself for the worst, she rolled him over. Prepared or not, a horrified gasp still escaped Devon's mouth at the sight that greeted her. Dried blood from a gash behind his left ear had caked in his matted hair. His face was puffy and discolored. She doubted he'd be able to open his left eye as swollen as it looked. His bottom lip was split, and his nose looked broken. What had Gaal done? Tied Danziger up and stomped on his face?!

She laid her hand on his chest. To her relief she felt it rise and fall, and his heart thumping steadily beneath it. There was an ugly wound on his collar bone. It appeared to be some type of claw mark. His wrists were so tightly bound that his hands had swollen and turned an lurid purple. Tucking the gun in her belt and setting the light down, she removed her utility knife and began to carefully cut away the cords from his wrists and then his ankles. He had remained unconscious for the entire time it took her to complete this task.

Taking his hands in hers, she began to rub them briskly in order to warm them and to get his circulation flowing to them again. As she did this his torn left sleeve fell back exposing a long cut, as if someone had taken a knife and sliced into him. Why didn't he wake up? *Please don't let him be in a coma!* The thought of inflicting anymore pain on him appalled her, so she didn't try to revive him by slapping him. Instead she continued to rub his hands and forearms. "John! Please wake up!"

Danziger's body jerked and he moaned in pain. "Aaaw...no more...please..." Devon felt renewed hope. "John, it's Devon. Get up! We have to get out of here!" Danziger turned his head and opened his one good eye. He blinked several times before he could bring her into focus. He swallowed before croaking out her name. "Devon...."

That one word was full of emotion. He reached out his hand and cupped her cheek in it. Trying to verify that she wasn't just a pain induced fantasy by making physical contact. Tears threatened Devon again as she stroked the hand that cupped her cheek. "It's okay, John. It's really me. Come on let's get out of here."

Danziger sunk his hand into her thick auburn hair. He seemed more aware of his surroundings. Again he said her name. Then he curled his hand into a tight fist and yanked her towards him by the hair until their faces were mere inches apart. "Ow! John you're hurting me!"

"Devon?! What are you doing here?!" He hissed out. "Are you nuts?! Get out of here! Break camp and run like hell!" Devon untwisted his hand from her hair and glared back at him. "NO! I won't abandon you! I'm responsible for too many lost lives as it is. Now get up! You're going to have to walk out on your own power, I can't carry you out of here!"

Beaten, weak and disheartened Danziger tried to roll back towards the wall already resigned to his fate. Devon jerked him back, no longer concerned if she hurt him or not. "I'm not going back to that camp and tell True that I *saw* her dad, he was *alive*, but I *left* him there!"

She twisted his shirt in her fists and tried to pull him up to a sitting position to no avail. "Listen to me, John Danziger and listen good! If I leave you here to die, you can forget it if you think I'm going to look after your brat! I'll give her to the Martins to raise! Think about that for a moment! Your True calling Morgan Martin 'daddy!'"

Devon had been shaking him the entire time. A meaty hand came up and engulfed her fists. Danziger squeezed them just hard enough that she got the message to stop. He glared at her, his jaw muscles clenching and unclenching. "You're a real bitch, Adair. Ya know that?"

"Yup, one of the biggest! How do you think I got us this far?" She waved her hand about in a royal yet sarcastic gesture. "Now are you coming?"

"Okay, help me up. I don't think I can walk though. They pounded me pretty hard. My legs have been tied up for so long I can't feel them."

Bracing her feet apart, Devon tried to help leverage him up. Groaning in pain, he managed to stand. He was swaying slightly but was vertical. Devon pushed him against the wall in an effort to steady him when it looks as if he was about to pitch forward. Because of his injuries and blood loss, Danziger's eyes rolled back in his head as he started to lose consciousness again.
"No! John you can't faint! You got to help me here!"

Danziger nodded and leaned against the wall once more. "I'm okay. Just give me a moment, alright?"

"We don't have a moment, John." Slowly, painfully they moved across the floor to the outer chamber. Devon alternatively giving words of encouragement and threats.

"I just hate it when guests arrive unannounced."

Devon looked up to see Gaal blocking the way. She reached for her gun but it wasn't in her holster. *Damn! Where was it?!* Looking down, she saw it lying on the floor a few feet from her. It must have been knocked out of her belt when she was struggling to get Danziger out of the smaller chamber. Now she faced a dilemma. Stand there holding up Danziger and let Gaal kill them. Or make a grab for the gun and and let Danziger fall to the floor at the risk of further injuries?

Gaal advanced towards them grinning his death's head grin. Making her decision, Devon let go of Danziger and lunged for the gun. Her fingers started to close around the butt when Danziger toppled down onto her, knocking both the wind out of her, and the gun from her reach. She struggled to free herself from beneath Danziger dead weight. Gaal rushed up to her and grabbed her by her scarf and dragged her across the floor putting the gun even farther from her. Devon quickly scrambled to her feet and spun around to face her attacker. Only that caused the scarf to tighten even more.

Gaal slammed her against the wall. Clawing at his fingers, she knew she didn't have much time before she lost consciousness. Gaal's harsh breathing echoed in her ears as well as her own feeble gasps for air. He leaned into her pressing his body against hers forcing what little air she had left from her burning lungs. Gaal's fetid breath caressed her cheek. She felt something prodding her. Gaal had become sexually aroused during their struggle. He rubbed himself against her as he slowly squeezed the life out of her.

A rage built within Devon. She stopped wasting her energy to loosen his hands and instead brought her knee up and drove it hard into his offending groin. Gaal's mouth opened on a silent scream and he fell to the floor clutching himself. Devon collapsed to her knees and took deep gulps of air. She crawled over to Danziger. Snarling, Gaal grabbed her ankle and dragged her back towards him. Flipping over onto her butt, she brought her free foot up and smashed the heel of her boot into his face. Gaal's nose exploded in a shower of blood. Howling with pain and rage, he flailed about blindly for her.

"You BITCH!" He screamed. "I'm going to make you *beg* me to kill you!"

Devon slide backwards along the floor on her rear, trying to avoid his grasping hands. Her own hand brushed across a cool familiar metal object. Gaal had stumbled into Danziger's inert form and began to kick him viciously in the stomach and ribs.

"Stop it or I'll kill you!"

Gaal turned to see Devon sitting on the floor with her gun aimed at him. He made a laughing snort and wiped his bloody face on his filthy sleeve. "You won't shoot, you're too hung up on virtues. You don't have the balls."

He turned back to Danziger and drew his foot back to deliver a final death kick to the unconscious man's head. A shot rang out and reverberated around the chamber. Gaal was thrown against the wall by the impact. Slowly he turned around until his back was against the wall. He stared incredulously at the bloody wound in his shoulder. His left arm hung useless as his side. Looking up at Devon, he started to say something when she pulled the trigger again striking his chest. He slowly slide to a sitting position on the floor and slumped over. He didn't move. Neither did Devon. She sat there frozen with her gun extended staring at the pile of rags and flesh that had been Gaal. Her shocked mind could not accept what she'd just done.

"Devon...Devon put down the gun."

Either Gaal's blows had had the strange effect of reviving Danziger or the sound of the gunfire had penetrated his mind causing him to rouse himself to come to Devon's aid if possible. He crawled across the floor to her. Gently he pried her fingers from around the gun. Devon gazed at him. Her grief stricken face slowly collapsed inward on itself. He pulled her to him and laid her head on his uninjured shoulder. Held in his embrace, she sobbed. He stroked her hair and spoke to her as if she were a child who'd just awakened from a bad dream. "Shhh...it's okay...it's all over now...the monster's gone now."

Danziger heard the sound of running feet headed this way. He hefted the handgun and waited to see who or what emerged from the passageway. Baines and Julia came rushing in. Relieved he lowered the gun.

"We heard shots! Who's wounded?!" Julia demanded.

Baines saw Gaal's body first. Looking at Danziger and the gun he held in his hand, he wrongly surmised that Danziger had shot Gaal. "You shot him!"

"No, I did." Devon had managed to pull herself together, although she refused to look at the body on the floor. "Come on lets get out of here. Baines help John out."

"Are you sure he's dead?" Julia asked as she reluctantly headed for him. "Did you check his respiration and pulse?"

Danziger quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from examining Gaal. "He's *dead*. Let's keep it that way, huh?"

Julia stared at John for a moment while she waged a medical ethics battle with herself. This murderer could possibly be still alive and resuscitative. It was her duty as a doctor to make every effort to save everyone, regardless of who or what they were. By performing her medical duty, she would endanger the group once more. Gaal would not give up or chance his ways. She had been asked once before to ignore ethics in the interest of the greater good. In the end she didn't comply with that request. How was this situation different? *The difference was these people had never lied to you. Had never used you. They gave you a sense of family for the first time. Gave your life something other than a duty to fulfill.* Making up her mind she nodded and headed out of the cave.

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