Page 18 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 1

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Violet challenged.

Twisting the key, the engine roared to life sounding deafening in the quiet. “Guess we’re going to find out.”

I didn’t know if there were headlights or if they even worked but I didn’t bother. All I needed was to get us far enough away to give us a head start. We’d be heading to the north part of Oscad that curved around Asturg. Neither section of the country was very populated but that's exactly what we needed. The fewer people we had to deal with, the fewer problems we’d have. Wrapping my hand around the gear shifter, I pushed in the clutch and prayed to god I wouldn’t stall it out.

The truck lurched into a jerking motion wildly tossing us around. When the engine started screaming, I shifted again and things smoothed out a little. Thank fuck, my father always felt it was best to learn on the most challenging version of something, otherwise, I’m not sure if I’d ever know what to do with a manual vehicle.

“Hey, stop that truck!” someone shouted. “We can’t let anyone get away! Call for backup!”

The hailstorm of bullets flying our way had my heart in my throat as I hunched down as far as I could while still being able to see. “You two get on the floor, hide in the footwell,” I ordered as I shifted into third picking up speed as I aimed right for the fence.

A panel had been cut which allowed the intruders entry, but I was about to see who was going to win in a fight between fence and truck. Gunning it into fourth then shifting it to fifth gear, we made contact with the fence. I shut my eyes and braced. The sound of metal slamming into metal was thunderous and the truck jolted and rattled yet still managed to keep going. The impact had slowed us down some so I had to downshift to get us moving faster.

The engine groaned and spluttered, not at all pleased with the abuse it was going through but as long as it kept moving I didn’t care. The sound of shouting and gunfire grew more faint but all that changed the moment I realized I drove over a landmine.

Chapter ten

Everything was chaos. The world was spinning as I was slammed around the inside of the vehicle, only to be tossed out. Landing in the dirt was a welcomed pain since it meant I’d come to a stop. My ears rang, vision blurred, but I knew I couldn’t stop moving. Feeling like a newborn trying to learn how to crawl, I got on my hands and knees, floundering as my vision cleared enough for me to see the truck on fire.

“No,” I screamed, shoving to my feet and stumbling toward it.

There was a sudden second explosion that knocked me flat on my ass and took the wind right out of my lungs. Looking up at the stars as I gasped for air as tears pooled in my eyes at the pain I was experiencing. The mere thought that Violet and Tori might still be in the truck felt like a knife thrust into my chest. How had I failed them so badly? We’d finally gotten our chance and I’d fucked it up by getting them killed. Then unexpectedly, Tori’s dirt and blood-covered face appeared over mine. She was yelling at me, shaking my arm, then pulling as if trying to get me to my feet.

“—you need to get up,” Tori begged, as my hearing finally seemed to snap back on. “Please, you need to help me. I can't lift you on my own and Violet’s hurt.”

That had me fighting to pull my shit together as I helped Tori get me to my feet. Taking quick stock of myself, I didn’t see any major injuries, just cuts, scrapes, and the pounding in my head that I prayed wasn’t a concussion.

“Where is she?” I managed to get out, my voice rough and raspy.

“Over here, I think she broke her arm,” Tori shared as she led the way.

Violet was leaning against a thin tree that didn’t look like it should have the strength to hold her up. She cradled her arm against her chest as tears streamed down her face making tracks in the dirt and grime that covered it.

“Let me have a look, okay?” I said, giving her what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

Taking hold of her arms, I gently squeezed to see if there was anything broken. When I got to her shoulder, I let out a sigh of relief— she’d only dislocated it. This often happened with soldiers when they were training or during battles, so I’d seen Jan fix them a dozen times. I’d never personally done it, but he always talked his patient through what was happening as he did it to keep them calm.

“Good news, nothing’s broken,” I assured Violet. “I’m going to work as fast as I can to get us out of here. Try to keep as still as you can. Tori, grab her other hand so she has something to hold onto.”

Wasting no time, I began to shift the arm into the position I needed as I tried to remember everything Jan had said. Traction, slow movements, keep the patient calm and relaxed… that wasn’t going to happen, but I’d do the best I could. With the arm at ninety degrees, I rotated it outward slowly, and when I felt it shifting, I started to pull the arm straight and lift it up. Watching the shape of her shoulder, I saw when it finally slipped back into place and breathed out a sigh. Thank god that had gone perfectly, or I’m not sure what I would have done next. Yanking off the belt from my pants, I wrapped it around her to make a sling of sorts.

“You need to keep your arm close to your chest for a little while. It will also help with any pain you might have. We can’t stay here much longer. The fire from the truck is going to attract attention, and that’s the last thing we want,” I explained, as Tori and I got Violet to her feet.

Looking around at the ground, I prayed we’d made it past the last of the land mines. I was betting we had since shrubs, weeds, and other undergrowth that refused to shrivel up and die littered the ground. I spotted the hills that we needed to head toward as well. When we got closer to them, we’d have to head north, but cutting up too soon would land us near another large city, and I couldn’t risk that. On the other hand, getting too close to the mountains would take us far too close to the wild people who’d abandoned civilization and become feral versions of themselves.

“We ready?” I asked, trying not to push them too hard after the crash, but time wasn’t a luxury we had.

Swiftly as we could move, we guided Violet who still wasn’t fully back to her senses, though we managed. The sound of shouting had me urging the girls to move faster—they found the truck. The beam of flashlights told me how close the soldiers were and that there were more of them than I wanted to deal with.

“I can’t keep up at this pace,” Violet whimpered, an Omega whine leaking into her words.

Slapping a hand to her mouth, I cut off the whine in exchange for a gasp. “Don’t you dare let out a whine. Even the faintest echo of that will have Alphas crawling up our asses. That is the last thing we need.”

Violet’s eyes filled with tears at my harsh words, nevertheless I couldn’t feel bad about it. I was going to keep us alive no matter what.

“Dani, give her a break,” Tori bit out, glaring at me.

Growling in frustration, I turned my back to her. “Climb on. If you can’t walk, then I guess I’m going to have to carry you.”