Part of Jane wondered where the hell the militia found these people to recruit them. A pained exclamation escaped her as the officer's fist connected with her head, jolting her as her head smacked stone once more. A thin stream of blood began to trickle from her nose. Combined with the fatigue that burdened Jane's, the force of her hand made Jane's vision blur, bringing her dangerously close to losing consciousness.<i>This one certainly packs a punch, that's for sure.</i>Another blow like that and Jane would be out cold, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what would happen to her after that.<br/><br/>She watched as the woman raised her fist again, and while she mentally braced herself for impact, she never broke eye contact. Those eyes looking down at her were cold and uncaring, and they seemed to lack any ounce of humanity. They were terrifying. For a moment, the sound of their breathing, wild and furious, drowned out everything else.<i>This is it.</i>Jane's eyes trailed over to her attacker's raised fist, staring as if it were the weapon that would seal her fate. Yet, the strike never came.<br/><br/><i>"Lavonne, stop!"<br/>
<br/>
Victor.</i>The mention of that name alone was enough to make Jane forget about the pain she was about to receive, and the sound of gunshots and struggling that came along with it were nothing reassuring. Jane's eyes went wide, and from head to toe, her entire body urged her to get<i>away</i>. Her limbs moved of their own accord, and although she was being dragged, she was just as eager to escape as her pursuer was. At first, she hadn't even realized that she was being dragged. It took several moments for her to process the strangeness of the situation.<i>Why is she so afraid of Victor? </i>Jane thought that, if anything, this woman would want to hand her over to Victor. She considered herself lucky that that wasn't the case.<br/><br/>As the two of them flew through the door, Jane found herself wincing as she was pushed down. She landed on her rear with a thud and shifted a few feet backwards, away from the door, before propping herself up on one knee. Before she could say anything, there was a hand over her mouth, and the taller woman was crouching before her. Jane shifted her face so her nose wouldn't be blocked by the her grip. Breathing was already difficult enough in this situation, and Jane didn't need it to be harder. The closeness made Jane uncomfortable, but if it took being face-to-face with one militia dog to avoid being torn apart by Victor, so be it.<br/><br/>The entire room shook, and there was an intense squelching sound, preceded by the most visceral cry of agony that Jane had ever heard. She grew queasy at the thought of seeing the aftermath of what...whatever just happened on the other side of the door.<br/><br/>Slowly, Jane let out the breath she was holding as the officer retracted her hand, only to replace it at her neck. It was only then that Jane took in their surroundings. They were in a storage room, stocked full of bottles of various liquors. The door must've been the back entrance to store, or a bar, perhaps, but at least that meant there was another way to exit. Finally, she took a moment to study the other woman's face, her harsh features, her dark eyes. She couldn't help but wonder, if underneath the chill of her exterior, there was a human being. Jane decided it was unlikely.<br/><br/>Jane's attention returned to her captor as she began to whisper. She scoffed at the name calling, but bit back just as hard, with hushed retorts of her own. "It isn't our fault that you don't have him on a leash," she spat, gesturing to the door with her chin. "The man they condemned to death was innocent, so we set him free. It's called 'justice,' in case you've never heard of it." Deep down, Jane wasn't so sure of that. They had saved Connor - actually, she didn't know if that had been a success or not, anyway - but how many others had to die in his stead? Maybe the rebels made the wrong choice, the sloppy choice. Jane swallowed the uncomfortable thought.<br/><br/>She changed the subject, hoping to take her mind off of the notion. "Why are you so afraid of him, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be on the same side?"