《Endsmouth: The Tower》30. The Engineer

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TK Gabriel lay supine on the cot, a thick layer of gauze wrapped over his midsection, a deep red circle growing on his right side, seeping through the pristine white of the wraps. They had dumped him off in the cell without a word, but thanks to her visit from Will, she knew what had happened, at least most of it. Why TK felt the need to jump into the stands and go after Branch—beyond the obvious—was a mystery to her. He was out cold; the guards left a bucket and rag for her to place on his head in case he broke out into a fever, not that it mattered if he did. If he did, there seemed to be very little chance of them helping him.

Demoreo was in the cell across the way, a steady, low rumble of a groan emanating from him she had grown accustomed to during her brief imprisonment. Everyone down there was damaged, to some degree or another, and served as a serious threat to Branch's grasp on the power of the wasteland. While Demoreo might be under Branch's control, Vera's plan could be the key to unlocking his memories, to somehow bringing back Demoreo, the person from the abyss and anguish of being the Crusher. Chances of him ever looking normal again were slim to none, but maybe a sliver of his humanity could return to him if he just saw his wife and child again.

There had to be something inside of him, something left that wasn't mutilated and trapped inside of a living horror. She had seen the man inside of the beast and knew what he was capable of, knew how horrified he was at what he had become. If he had only known what Branch would do to him, he would have never gone there. Maybe he would have found his own way to care for his family. Instead, here he was, just like the rest of them, a prisoner of Branch's devices. Only Demoreo was the avatar for everyone's deepest fears of what Branch really was.

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"Arg," Gabriel groaned. "The fuck."

"Whoa there," Vera turned back towards him, holding him down by the shoulders. "You've been shot. Stay still and don't move much. You are lucky that they patched you up at all, that they didn't just kill you right there and then."

"I've gotta get out of here."

"No, you've gotta rest. We don't know what else that bullet couldn't hit. You were lucky that it passed through you."

"There's nothing lucky about any of this."

"No, I suppose not, but you still have your life. Rushing into Branch's box like that wasn't the smartest move."

"You didn't hear, did you?" He picked himself up, Vera no longer trying to hold him down but instead helping to prop him up against the bars. He wore a pained expression but was trying to hide just how much pain he was in.

"Hear what? I heard you rushed into the box like a madman and took Branch on headfirst. I'm not sure if it was brave or stupid. After your escape attempt, I'm not even sure why he's keeping you alive."

"My wife," he said. "They took my wife."

"Your wife? I didn't know you had your wife with you..."

"She was on my bike, in a bag. I was looking to give her a proper burial."

"Oh." The gravity of the situation hung on her, the weight of the next question only bringing her down further before she mustered up the courage to ask it aloud. "What... did they do to her?"

"What they did to that poor fucker…" he motioned towards Demoreo. "Was nothing compared to what they did to her."

"My god," she gasped. "She was there, in the arena?"

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Gabriel nodded, avoiding eye contact with Vera while they bought sat in silence inside of the cell. She knew Branch was a monster, knew that he had brought about the end of the world through his machinations, but she has been face-to-face with these monsters, she had spoken with Branch himself and seen what he was capable of. Bringing back a dead man's wife to haunt him shouldn't have surprised her, but that thought still gave her pause. That was what happened to those that dared to cross Branch in public, to undermine his society built upon the ruins of the world with him mounting that world with his gilded throne.

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