Free Fury Rising by Jeyn Roberts

looked in the cupboards. There was still a bit of food left. She picked up a box of saltines and a half empty jar of peanut butter and put it in a plastic bag. Adding two bottles of water, she grabbed the second key hidden behind the toaster oven and made her way over to the hallway.
    She paused at the door. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She’d promised the others last night—Clementine, Michael, and even Raj, that she wouldn’t go alone. It was a chance they took, knowing that opening the door could lead to problems. They always came as a group. Picking up the baseball bat leaning against the wall, Aries took a deep breath and unlocked the deadbolt. Without giving herself a chance to talk herself out of it, Aries descended the steps down to the basement.
    She was always amazed at how much light seeped through the tiny storm windows. The unfinished room was large and empty. Sturdy wooden supports suggested someone once planned on making the place into a small apartment, but had never gotten around to finishing. A washing machine and dryer waited in the corner, a small pile of dirty clothes piled beside it.
    And in the middle, a woman lay on the cement.
    Aries approached her carefully, unsure if she was sleeping or faking. A glint of silver confirmed that their captive still wasn’t going to get up and walk away. Michael had rigged the whole thing. He’d wrapped bicycle chains around the wooden support beams and attached handcuffs to the end. The skin around the woman’s wrists was rubbed raw, and even though she shouldn’t, the guilt always made Aries want to sit down and comfort her.
    Not a good idea.
    “You’re back.” The woman’s voice broke through the silence. Aries jumped, her fingers clenching the baseball bat.
    “I am.”
    The woman sat up and looked right at Aries. “All alone. Where are your friends? Have they grown tired of you too?”
    Aries sighed. She could see the black veins in the woman’s eyes from five feet away. “Does it matter?”
    The lady grinned and ran her fingers through her hair. Aries remembered she’d said her name was Olive. The handcuff rattled against her wrist. She pointed up towards her face, making an effort to show Aries that the swelling on her cheek hadn’t gone away. “I’m having trouble seeing you. I think your friend messed up my eye the other night. Can you come a little closer?”
    “Nice try, Olive,” Aries said. “You did that to yourself and you know it.”
    “I’m bored of you. Why do you keep coming back? Just kill me and get it over with. I’m tired of all of this. This…” She paused as if searching for the right word. “These memories. I don’t want them.”
    “It’s called humanity.”
    “It’s cruel. I don’t want to remember. You keep making me remember.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    Olive suddenly jerked forward, moving to the end of the chain, but still out of Aries’ reach.
    Aries didn’t flinch.
    The woman sighed and leaned back against the support beam. “If you’re not going to kill me, than what are you going to do? Stare at me some more? You could at least give me something to eat.”
    “Catch,” Aries said and she tossed the plastic bag. Olive tore into the crackers, stuffing a bunch in her mouth before even bothering to opening the jar of peanut butter. She washed everything down with half the water while Aries waited.
    Afterwards, she grinned through a mouthful of cracker mush. “Thanks. But I don’t have anything else to say. I’ve given you everything.”
    Aries sat down crossed legged on the floor, still keeping a five-foot radius from the Bagger. “I know,” she said.
    The woman paused, a half chewed cracker between her lips. “Then why are you here?”
    Aries sighed. She didn’t know. How was it possible that something inside Aries calmed the Baggers? She’d discovered this months ago, back when she had her back to the wall and a Bagger ready to kill her. The murderer changed before Aries’ eyes, turning back