Once by Anna Carey Read Free Book Online Page A

weeds sprouting up through the cracks in the pavement. Heddy was snarling. Frantic, Arden grabbed me under the arms and pulled, trying to get me out. Then a hand was on my ankle, fingernails digging into my skin as one of the soldiers dragged me back into the warehouse.
    Heddy bolted through the door beside me and sank her teeth into his leg. “It’s on me,” the young soldier screamed to the others. Heddy was growling, a low rumbling sound that filled the air as she shook her head back and forth, tearing through his pants and into his flesh. She knocked him down and he finally released me. I turned to see his head smash into the floor, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. “Shoot it!” he yelled.
    Arden kept pulling, my blood soaking her sleeve, until I was out in the open air of the parking lot. It was nearly fifty yards to the road. Woods spread out behind the warehouse; the dense trees would provide cover. I got up and ran toward them but Arden was frozen, staring at the doors. Heddy was still inside. She had the soldier pinned down and was barking in his face. When the other two came out of the darkness she bared her teeth, as if guarding a fresh kill. “Heddy, come, come here,” Arden urged, smacking her hand on her thigh. “Get over here!”
    The soldier dressed as a Stray pulled a gun from his waist. He aimed at the dog but she lurched suddenly, biting into the young soldier’s arm. “Just shoot it!” he yelled from the floor.
    â€œWe have to go,” I said, pulling Arden away.
    â€œCome, Heddy!” Arden tried again as she ran backward, away from the store. “Come—”
    A shot sounded. Heddy let out a horrible whimper and staggered away, her side bleeding. The soldier helped the boy up, then shot the chain holding the doors closed until it broke. The three men walked out into the parking lot.
    I grabbed Arden’s hand, pulling her toward the woods behind the warehouse, but she dragged her feet, staring at the building. Heddy had started limping after the men, her hind leg completely paralyzed. “Arden, we have to go,” I urged, yanking her in my wake. The men followed us, but Arden was barely moving, her neck craned backward at the suffering dog. “Come on,” I pleaded.
    But it was no use. Within seconds, they had caught up to us. “Lowell, get her,” the young soldier said, pointing at Arden. The pale one grabbed Arden’s elbow and yanked her arms behind her back. She kicked wildly but the other one grabbed her legs, tying a plastic restraint around her ankles. In one swift motion he tightened it and she stopped kicking, her legs twisted and trapped.
    As they held her down, the young soldier came toward me. His steps were unhurried. His leg was raw where Heddy had bitten him, a bloodstain spreading over the thin green fabric of his uniform.
    â€œI’m taking you in,” he said calmly. His face was more angular than I remembered. His nose had a large red bump on its bridge, as if it had been broken recently. He grabbed my wrist but I pulled my fist downward, just as Maeve had shown me all those weeks before, when I’d first arrived in Califia. It slipped out from underneath his thumb. Then I leaned down, levering myself against the pavement, and landed my elbow into the soft nook of his crotch. He doubled over, his bloodshot eyes watering.
    I ran at the two others. The one with the scar looked surprised right before I punched him, as hard as I could, in the neck. He made a wheezing noise and staggered back, releasing Arden’s legs. The pale one dropped Arden on the ground and sprang on top of me, pressing me to the pavement. “You’re lucky,” he whispered in my ear. I could feel his breath, hot and wet, against my skin. “If you were anyone else I’d slit your throat.” He took a plastic restraint from his pocket and looped it over my wrists, pulling it so tight the blood throbbed in my