Undesirable

Chapter 32

Matteo sneaks Cesare and I out the back of his house, careful not to draw attention to ourselves in the midst of all the chaos. Kanan's men swarm the village like locusts, tearing every tent and house they come across to pieces. They drag people out of their homes by their hair, their legs kicking against the ground as they try to fight their attackers off. Most are killed on the spot, whilst they hold others for questioning, scaring them into giving up the location of where Cesare and I are hiding. We are lucky that no one down here can link our faces to our names, or we'd be goners.

Leading us to the edge of a forest, Matteo hands us directions to a tunnel's entrance closest to our location. Cesare says he's only ever used it once, but is sure he can remember the layout of the traps.

Why do I have the feeling that this is going to go very, very wrong?

"Ok, now remember, once you get to the other side, you have got to ask for Freyja. She is leading operations over there, now." Matteo reminds us for the tenth time. "You know who she is, right?"

Cesare refrains from rolling his eyes, irritated by the man's constant pestering. "Matteo, I have been helping the Resistance for nearly two years. I have met Freyja before."

"Ok. I will try to hold off the hounds as long as I can, but you need to get through those tunnels fast," Matteo says, giving us our final warning.

"Thank you." I nod. He's taking a huge risk in helping us, and he's only one of many. Luca is putting his life in danger on the Higher Tier, and now Matteo is doing the same on the Lower; it makes me wonder how many more are going to follow. Matteo gives me a weak smile, but it's not one of gratitude or belief that we will make it out alive. Pity dances across his features. He doesn't expect us to survive this.

"Go! You've wasted enough time as it is," He says, pushing us into the forest. "Make sure you stay alive; I hope to see you again." He wasn't the most pleasant of company, but I'm grateful for his help. We have to have faith that he's enough to make our escape.

Cesare follows the instructions that Matteo wrote out, directing us to a small door on the forest floor. We both kneel to brush the leaves off its surface, and Cesare opens the hatch. A frail ladder drops down into the dark, dank hole, as the smell of damp moss and rot rises out of it. And if it isn't already bad enough, the bricks and wood are all covered in a thick layer of slim, making everything slippery and difficult to grab onto.

"Ladies first," Cesare says, holding out his arms to me, offering help to get down. I lower my legs into the hole and shuffle across the forest floor, ready to be climb down the ladder.

"Cesare, wait." I stop him, my fingers digging into his shoulders. He looks at me worried, scared I'm about to change my mind and back out of our plan. "I'm sorry."

A frown burrows its way onto his forehead. "For what?"

"I know I haven't been the easiest of people to deal with over the past two months, and I just want you to know, in case we don't make it..." I start, but he swiftly cuts me off.

"Savanna, you have nothing to be sorry about," He assures me, his eyes drifting to the ground, the way they usually do when he's embarrassed. "I should have been more open with you from the start. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Resistance, I was wrong. I understand why you don't want to give them a chance, after what happened with your father." I've got to admit, it feels pretty good to hear him say that, but I can't allow him to take all the blame.

"If we get out of this," I make him meet my gaze, "maybe we can start again, from the beginning?" I want to go back to the excitement I felt when we first met at the meeting, back to when we spoke without arguing and we both had aspirations for our future together. I don't need to know all his secrets right away, just the important ones, and I will do the same for him. We got into this mess together, so we will make it out the same way.