Free Redemption (Dawn of the Damned Book 1) by Connie Chance Page B

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    The moment her feet landed on solid ground, she took off running, ignoring the bullets now raining on her back, that would not kill her but the blood loss would considerably weaken her.
    There were more guards than she previously estimated, and her blood rations had seen to it that she wasn’t as strong as she could be. However what she lacked in strength, she easily compensated for with her quick thinking, darting between the trees dotting the lawn, running in zigzag motions so as to confuse her shooters, and reserving her energy for that last sprint before she tore off the ground and made to leap over the fence.
    A well aimed throw star caught her mid-air, embedding deep into her shoulder before unlocking in place, shredding her flesh in the process to cause so much damage that the blood loss effects was almost instantaneous, bringing her down from her yet incomplete jump to land on the over 3000 voltage fence, instantly shocking her system into an extreme case of ventricular fibrillation.
    But even then, with her muscles and insides spasming out of control, and the idea of safety in captivity right there were she to choose to fall back into the compound, she chose the elusive freedom beyond, and did the unthinkable. She began to attempt to scale the highly charged wall.
    Astounded Draugrs waited for her to fall behind. But the worst happened, a pair of guards waited for her on the other side of the fence, and more were coming.
    She then realised that even if she made it up and climbed over the fence, the moment she landed on the other side, the two guards would have her in custody. At the moment she was far too weakened to fight the Draugr guards, even though they were half-bloods like her.
    Anja also knew that the current running through the fence would not be cut off, as they intended to keep her in here, and cutting it off would allow her to recover and maybe even get away. As her teeth rattled away, her limbs quivering involuntarily, she pondered over her options. To climb down and give in to justice, which would now be considerably worse after her decision to not only attack a pure-blood but to feed on one too. Her other option was to remain on that fence and let the electricity fry her to her death. Few things can kill a Draugr, but she was sure this one could, for the electricity would dry out the blood in her system, and starvation is the surest way to true death. And with that she’d made her decision, using her last ounces of energy to hook her arms and feet into the webs formed by the thick fence bars, even going as far as to break her bones so as to make sure her limbs were hooked in securely, and that not even the violent spasms could dislodge her.
    It was then that all began to go dark, the pain growing so strong, but she chose to welcome it with open arms.
    “I’m coming to you, mama,” was the last thing she whispered before all went black.
     

IX
    “This is outrageous..!”
    “Lords of the court, I ask that you practice your humanity in this case..” Kjeld attempted again.
    “You dare defend her, yet she fed on you as though you’re just a..” half-blood , he meant to say, but luckily stopped in time.
    These were the troubled times of reform. On the brink of war, with the half-blood population grown so much that though considerably weaker than the pure-bloods, they could effectively overpower them, the only thing left to happen had. The hardliners had caved in, and half-bloods were now essentially equals to pure-bloods. They may even now hold office in the Draugr political system.
    There were no half-blood governors as yet, who are automatically also members of the High Council. But as per the new laws, a third of the council must be half-bloods at all times, so before him sat five half-bloods listening to his account, and in the crowd, witnessing all this, were half-bloods triple the number of pure-bloods present. Times had changed a great deal, and old timers like Mazu Mazoki must now