Dead Days: Season 8 Part 27

Then there was Mattius, too.

Riley's skin burned when he thought of Mattius. When he thought of all the things he wanted to do for him for what he'd done to Chlo and Jordanna.

He wanted to. Of course he wanted to.

But he might not get the chance to.

He had to be brave enough to accept that.

"You know, Kane let me go."

Riley turned to Melissa as they approached the final steps to the fifth floor. "What?"

"He came into my cell. I thought he was going to hurt me, like he'd promised. But in the end he just got up and left. I realised he'd dropped an arrow. Just like... just like I did for him."

Riley's focus intensified, then. "You let him go from your camp?"

"I let him go because I wanted to believe he could leave. I wanted to believe he could redeem himself, somehow. And in a way... in a way I guess he did."

Riley lifted his hand. "He took two of my fingers."

"And then he died," Melissa said. "I killed him. And... I dunno. Part of me wonders if that's what he wanted, all along."

Riley took a few seconds to digest what he'd just heard. If Kane had let Melissa go-if he had repaid her for letting him go in the past-then maybe there was some good in him after all. h.e.l.l. Maybe he'd even expected Melissa to step in and take his life, just before he could do any more serious damage to Riley.

But he was gone now.

He was gone, and he'd served his purpose.

The circle was complete.

"Fifth floor," Amy said. "We want to be careful here."

Riley looked down the corridor of the fifth floor. The memory of seeing Mattius was so vivid that he could remember exactly which room he'd seen him standing by. He'd imagined coming up here so many times, only in his mind's eye, it was Jordanna and Chlo by his sides, not Amy, Carly, and Melissa.

But they were here.

They were here, and they were getting Kesha.

Then, whatever happened, happened.

Riley walked down the corridor. His heart pounded. Every muscle in his body tensed.

He walked to the third door on the right. He gritted his teeth as he reached for the handle. He held his breath.

When he turned the handle, it didn't budge.

He sighed.

"What?" Melissa said, walking up to the door. "Don't tell me you actually expected Mattius to leave the door unlocked?"

Riley tilted his head. "I guess not."

Melissa pulled a card out of her pocket. "Just a good thing I'm good at picking locks of hotel doors then, right?"

She messed around with the card, sticking it between the door and the lock.

"What're you..."

"Just trust me," Melissa said. "I know a thing or two."

Riley looked at Amy. Amy raised her eyebrows, as if gesturing Riley to show some trust.

The footsteps got closer.

The shouts got nearer.

And then the lock clicked.

The door opened up.

And as it opened, initially, Riley expected to be blasted with a round of bullets. He expected to be stabbed in the chest or to taste the blood of someone else standing beside him, just like he had everyone else's.

But all of that fear and apprehension faded away when he saw the cot right in the middle of this room.

He felt his eyes building up with pressure as he approached. He felt his jaw shaking. His heart raced, and his throat wobbled.

Beside the cot, he saw their outlines. Their smiling outlines. And even though he'd seen Jordanna and Chlo in the past, this time, it really felt like they were here in the room with him.

It really felt like they were real.

He walked over to the cot and a whole host of horrible thoughts crossed his mind. What if Kesha was dead? What if she wasn't here? What if Mattius or Kane had done something to her?

But again, all those questions and apprehensions disappeared when he saw her looking up at him.

Her eyes were big and bright. She was wriggling her hands and toes.

When she saw him, she made a little chuckling sound and smiled.

"Kesha," Riley said. He reached into the cot and lifted her. Some of the blood from his chopped fingers spread to her, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was they were together.

He held her softly, like the precious thing she was, and her warmth transferred right through to him. And as that warmth pa.s.sed into him, the l.u.s.t for revenge faded away. The urge to punish Mattius for what he'd done to Jordanna and Chlo disappeared. Because he'd done what he had to do. He'd succeeded at Chlo's final, dying wish.

Keep Kesha safe.

"I'm going to keep you safe," Riley whispered. "I promise. I'm going to keep you safe."

"No," a voice said.

Riley spun around.

Mattius was standing by the door.

He was holding a canister of gasoline in one hand, and a lit match in the other.

He was sweating. He looked at Riley, bottom lip twitching, much more rage-filled and vengeful than when they'd last met. He didn't look totally there. And that scared Riley. It scared him because there was no guessing what he might do. What lengths he might go to.

"Mattius-"

"You aren't going to keep her safe," Mattius said. "And you aren't going anywhere with her. Because she's mine now."

Chapter Twelve.

Riley looked at Mattius.

Mattius looked back at Riley.

Riley held Kesha in his arms.

Mattius held a canister of gasoline in one hand and a lit match in the other.

He had poured some of that gasoline all around the doorway and in the entrance of the room.

"This place will go up in flames," Mattius said. "You don't know how it feels to go up in flames. Do you?"

Riley's jaw shook. He saw that Amy, Melissa, and Carly had their weapons raised. And as much as he wanted them to take down Mattius, he couldn't take any risks. He nodded at them to lower them. They sighed and obliged.

He looked back at Mattius, right into his eyes. "This doesn't have to end this way," he said.

"No," Mattius said. "No, you're right about that, Riley. You're totally right about that. There's a way it can end much better for both of us. For all of us. And that's by you handing Kesha back to me. Right this second."

Riley felt his chest tightening, a sickly taste filling his mouth. He'd come so close to saving Kesha, to getting her out of here. Now here he was. Pinned back by Mattius.

And a Mattius who was threatening to burn this whole place down if Riley didn't hand Kesha over.

"You're not going to drop that match," Riley said.

Mattius' eyes narrowed. "And how can you be so sure about that?"

The words Riley was searching for were hard to reach. But deep down, he believed them. In spite of everything Mattius had done, everything he had proved himself capable of, he believed them. "Because... because you care. About Kesha."

Their eyes met then. It was a strange moment. Like shaking hands with the enemy. Finding common ground that made them both seem more human to one another.

And it was then too that Riley saw things from Mattius' perspective. He saw the things he'd done to Mattius' people. He saw the people he'd killed.

He saw Mattius' viewpoint.

"I care about Kesha," Mattius said, his voice breaking. "You're right about that."

"Then put out the match and let us leave this place."

"And what? Send her out there into that world outside?"

"She's safe with us."

"See I don't think she is safe with you, Riley. I mean, we got to you. We got to you, and we took her. If we could do it-and we're good people-then it breaks my heart to think of some of the bad people out there. What they might do to her."

That was another moment where realisation dawned on Riley. Mattius didn't think he was the bad guy. He didn't think his people were the enemy.

He was just as concerned about Kesha as Riley was.

"I hate you," Riley said. "For what you did. To Jordanna. You know, she was an amazing woman. So caring. She was like a mother to Chlo. But more than that, she was a leader. When I couldn't be strong, she was there. When I fell, she pulled me back up. She was my moral compa.s.s. And you took her away. You took her away just to get to me."

"And I'd do it again in a heartbeat after what you did to my people," Mattius said.

"Then there's Chlo," Riley said, trying not to let his instinctive emotional reaction to Mattius' words get to him. "She... I'd known her since the start. She was scared, at first. Then she forced herself to grow up. She lost her sister. Then her mum. Then she-she killed someone. Killed someone very close to all of us. And G.o.d knows what life was like when she was out there on her own, but it changed her. In some ways for the worse. In others, for the better. But she came back. She came back from the bad things she'd done, and she kept this little girl safe. Did you know that? Did you know how f.u.c.king far she went to keep this little girl safe?"

Mattius' eye contact dropped. For the first time, it dropped. And Riley sensed that he was thinking through his actions.

"Yes, I killed your people. Yes, I burned down your f.u.c.king camp. And I'm sorry. Truly. But this right now isn't right. Kesha's special. You know she's special. We both do. So the fact you're standing there with a match threatening to burn this place down rather than have her survive somewhere else says everything I need to know. And I'll fight. If I have to die to keep her alive, I will. But I'm done with you. I'm not fighting you anymore."

Mattius looked back up at Riley. For a moment, Riley saw that understanding there again. "When my wife was dying, she told me her one biggest regret was that I wasn't able to reproduce," he said. "It hurt me. Ate up at my soul, as the cancer ate away her body. And when she finally went away, I felt so alone. I couldn't help thinking of what she'd said, and it tore me up completely."

"We all have our demons."

"You're right. I killed those two people. But you killed my people. And you're right. I care about Kesha. But you're right about something else, too. I'd see Kesha die before she left this place with you. Because I believe this is the only place she can be safe. So you hand her over or you die. Right here. We all do. What's it going to be?"

Riley looked at Amy, Melissa, and Carly again. Everything they'd fought for. Everything they'd battled so hard for.

All of it coming to a head, right here.

He looked down at Kesha, then. She stared back up at him with those big eyes and that smile on her face.

"Do what you think's right."

He heard that voice somewhere behind him. Or maybe to his left, or right.

But there was no mistaking who that voice belonged to.

It was Chlo's voice.