Erin!

Josh's voice was echoing through my head. He sounded so desperate and in pain. I needed to get to him. Let me get to him.

I struggled against the blackness to reach him, swimming as hard as I could but his voice got further and further away.

My arms and legs felt like lead not to mention the ever increasing pain in my stomach. What do I do? Josh isn't here to help me. I'm on my own now.

"Come on we need to get out of here!" A voice cried out in the darkness. I wanted to scream that I was trying but then another voice started up.

"There are too many of them, sir," it said. "They have us surrounded with far more superior weapons."
They weren't talking to me, I realised. These were people on the outside.

"This way, sir," the second voice said. "I see a way through."

Arms lifted me up gently. I felt the thumps from below as someone's footsteps pounded the ground, their breathing ragged.

"I should have known they would target them," the first voice muttered. "I should have known." I heard someone scream in pain and a thud as they fell.

"Charlie!" A new voice yelled. "This way!"

"What are you doing here?! I told you to leave!"

"Your welcome, boss. Nice to see you too."

Again I fought against the darkness. I had to get up. I had to find Josh and protect him. They were targeting us.

Open your eyes, Erin.

Open.

Your.

Damn.

Eyes.

Finally they flew open but they squeezed shut straight after that. The pain was too much. I was in Charlie's arms who was running as fast as he could after...Harry! It was Harry leading Charlie and I away from the battle.

"Ahhh!" I cried out as Charlie jumped over a block of concrete.

"Erin?" he shouted. "Oh god I thought you were dead."

"I won't be alive for much longer," I groaned. Charlie set me down by a wall then crouched down next to me, trying to put pressure on my wound. Blood was gushing out of me like a waterfall, soaking my clothes and making Charlie's mum's necklace slick with blood.

"Where's your super assassin partner?" Harry asked, not looking at me directly. He was carrying a machine gun in his arms, pointing it towards the way we had just come from. The sounds of gunfire and the battle were far in the distance now but I knew we weren't safe. I had to find Josh and get Charlie and Harry out of here. Josh was probably behind us, covering our tracks.

"Harry," Charlie said, his voice showing every ounce of warning. I tried to move but pain shot through me again. Stupid bullet. Real inconvenience.

"Charlie," I said. "Where is Josh?" Charlie bowed his head. Harry started cursing.

"I'm sorry, Erin," Charlie whispered. "Triple got him. They used you to get to him. I managed to get you out before they grabbed you because Josh told me to."

"We've got to go back, we've got to save him," I said, breathing heavily and almost hysterical.

"Erin, Erin, listen to me," Charlie said, putting his hands on my shoulders. "He's gone, alright? They've taken him."

"He can't be gone... He's never gone..." I whispered. "No..."

I screamed aloud, whether because of the pain I was in from the bullet wound or because of losing Josh, I don't know. Though it was most likely the latter. I didn't care if Triple's soldiers heard me.

"Charlie, we've got to get her out of here," Harry said. "It won't be long till the Triple soldiers come down here to find her."

"We can't move her far without getting the bullet out of her," Charlie said. "We can't cause her any more damage."

"It would be so much easier with the freaky healing powers of theirs," Harry muttered.

"Well we don't have them," Charlie snapped. "We'll have to do it the very old fashioned way. Come on, I know a place we can camp out safely but it's a few blocks away."

"There's too much blood," Harry said. "Even if by some miracle we make it out of here alive and without being spotted and without her dying of blood loss and us surviving the journey at all, then what?"

"We get that bullet out of her," Charlie said, scooping me up. "Then figure out what the hell we do next."

***
"In here," Charlie said, leading Harry and carrying me still into a small warehouse. "This was my first safe house," Charlie explained. "It's got running water and food so we can hide out here as long as we need."

There were two parts to the warehouse. The first bit was almost like a living room with a small knee height coffee table in the middle of two mouldy sofas. Around them were shelves covered in plastic sheets.

The second part had a high work top at the front with more shelves lined up like soldiers heading back through the warehouse.

"What did they use to store here?" Harry asked, tossing his gun on a table and stretching out on the ratty sofa.

"It was like a tool shop," Charlie said, setting me down on a high platform in the second room.

"Cool," Harry said, putting his feet up.

"Harry get the hell over here right now!" Charlie shouted at him.

"All right mate, no need to shout," Harry said as cool as ever.

"Yeah well she's like, dying right now!" Charlie continued. Harry stood from the sofa and fetched whatever Charlie told him to fetch: water, bandages, towels, needle, thread, pliers, a knife, matches and a tin of gas. It was the last four that worried me.

Charlie boiled the water using the tin of gas and matches to sterilised the pliers, needle and knife. Harry peeled off my jacket and rolled up my vest top. "No peeking," I joked weakly. He smiled lightly but it faded when he saw the condition I was in. I could hardly look at the gruesome wound. There was a jagged hole in my abdomen oozing blood. It didn't look infected yet but I wouldn't put my bet on it.

"This is really going to hurt, Erin," Charlie said grimly, holding up the knife and pliers. I didn't even have the energy to reply. "Harry, hold her down. I'll try and make this as quick as possible, Erin but I just need you to do your best to stay still." I took a deep shaking breath and nodded. "Ok, here we go."

I felt the hot sting of the knife press into my stomach, cutting it's way in to find the bullet. I heard me screaming, my throat being ripped raw. I felt myself thrashing and writhing but it was a rather out of body experience. "It's going to be over soon," Harry whispered in my ear. I was gripping his wrist so tightly his whole hand was turning white.

"Almost got it," Charlie muttered."Almost there." He pressed the knife in further. I screeched, my back arching off the platform.

"Damn it, Harry!" Charlie yelled. "Hold her still!" My hair was plastered to my face, my vest top soaking and gasping for breath between screams.

"Found it!" Charlie shouted over my screams. He brought up the pliers and yanked the bullet out as fast as he could. I was shaking and soaked in blood, sweat and tears as Charlie finally started to sew up the wound. I passed out about halfway through and gratefully welcomed the darkness again.

***
"How long till you think he'll crack?" Steve asked the Master as they watched something from the viewing platform around the arena.

I realised that I was dreaming but something wasn't right. This had never happened before to me. This wasn't a memory.

"We've trained him to be resilient his whole life," the Master replied cooly. His eyes were fixed on something in the arena but I couldn't see what. "He's very strong...but like everyone he has a weakness. It's just a matter of time before T11 drive him insane...or we'll finally have control."

"What if it's the former?" Steve said. "What if they do drive him insane? Will it effect her?"

"We have to assume that it will affect her," the Master said. "She won't feel the process at all now. But perhaps if he breaks too far."

"So then we're screwed," Steve said.

"No," the Master said sternly. "I have a plan  if that does happen. It may not be what I had in mind, but it will work. Hunt doesn't realise that by deactivating their kill switch, it may have helped us even more."

Steve looked back at whatever was in the arena and winced. I tried desperately to crane my neck and see but darkness prevented me for the moment. I could hear sounds though. A crazy and manic laugh. A low desperate sounding sob. And worst of all:

The sound of Josh's cry of agony.

Suddenly, the murk became clear and I could see what was happening in the arena.

Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were standing in the middle with one hand each raised in front of them. They were awfully pale and thin with hollow cheeks. What was more terrifying was the bright red eyes.

They were facing Josh who was pinned up on the wall with...nothing. With a shock, I realised that these kids were using telekinesis and we're holding Josh in place. They can't have been very strong as Josh was still moving his head and legs, kicking out as he thrashed.

His eyes were squeezed shut and he tossed his head around. His shirt was plastered to him, soaked through wirh sweat. Every so often, he let out a moan or a grunt or a scream of pain.

They invading his mind, showing him visions. I could feel them in my own head...well Josh's. They were finding his deepest desires and darkest wishes, using them against him. I just knew what they were doing without seeing it myself.

"Why use T11 now, sir?" Steve asked. "Why not years ago when they first resisted us?'

"They needed a relationship," the Master murmured. "And I had to make sure that T11 could survive long periods. Only six have."

"But they were failed experiments," Steve protested.

"But I recycled," the Master said. "They are now convincers, persuaders, guards and controllers. All my children. They're new purpose is to contain and constrain Erin and Josh. There's only one way to do it." I turned back to Josh and the two others. The girl looked up and nodded at the Master. I held my breath. Please don't hurt him. Please no more.

The girl closed her fist. There was a horrible crunching and snapping sound and Josh screeched an animal like sound. I tried screaming myself but I couldn't move or make a sound.

The other two teenagers let Josh drop and he crumpled in a heap on the concrete floor.

"Leave him for a few hours," the Master told the girl and boy. "When he wakes, he'll be ready to join T11. Go join the others now and prepare to move out. We have his partner to catch."

***
"Josh!" I cried, sitting only upright on the platform, smashing into Charlie as I did so.

"Woah, Erin relax," he said. "Lie down or you'll tear the stiches."

"No Charlie, you don't understand," I gasped, trying to ignore the pain. "I saw Josh. I know what T11 is!" Charlie froze.

"What...? How...?"

"We have to move now," I said. "Or we're all going to die."

"Erin," Charlie said, gripping my shoulders. "You're not well enough to move for one thing. Secondly you need to tell me what's going on." I took a deep breath.

"T11 are the Master's failed tries of us," I said quickly. "They didn't die like Josh and I thought. The Master kept them alive but they still have some powers but not like Josh and I. They're meant to be our guards."

"Oh my God," Charlie said. "No wonder they kept them secret. How many?"

"Six, I think," I said. "But Charlie, they've done something to Josh. They're coming to find us...to get me. We can't stop them."

*********************************************************
Hello you lovely lot!

Right I know it was late but this was a big revealer of a chapter so I had to make sure I got it right.

Also I'm on holiday with a lack of Wi-Fi so I think I have an excuse there.

So don't forget to comment and vote. Especially comment because I really want you guys to guess:

What they did to Josh.

Why they did it.

What Charlie is going to do.

What's going to happen next!!!

So looking forward to hearing from you!!!

Love y'all!!!