by Lucy Rains
Gavin let out a heavy sigh, “I don’t really warm up to people on first introductions.”
“We don’t know shit about this guy, Jade.” Alex said from behind me, tapping on his phone. “He could be a psychopath after being locked up and isolated for so many years.”
“He’s going to have some issues,” Kyson agreed.
“That’s fine,” I said. “We’ll deal with all that. But you can still be kind to him. Not jerkish a-holes with puffed up chests.”
“But what if he’s a jerkish a-hole to us?” Alex asked.
“Then I expect you to deal with it like a proper person that has been taught social etiquette. I mean, what if it was one of you?” I pointed out. “What if it had been one of you left behind, instead of him?”
This silenced everyone and gave them something to think about. “I know he is a stranger to us. But knowing it could have easily been one of you left behind? Just be patient, okay? I don’t expect us to have perfect harmony from day one, but do not purposely be rude or disrespectful to him.”
Alex grumbled his acquiescence while I shot a look to Pierce since he had not added anything to the conversation. He remained quiet, looking out the window at the darkened sky. Lost in thought about something that was terrifying him.
“What is it?” I asked him.
Without turning to look at me, his mouth opened, his voice low. “You need to be the first one he sees,” Pierce said thoughtfully. “It’s not enough just to have you with us.”
“What?” Kyson snapped.
Pierce looked at him, “Any of us will seem like a threat to him. Imagine it, a bunch of guys banging into his room with weapons and combat gear? We could send him into shock, which would slow us down.”
“So, what then?” Alex asked. “Jade goes front and center? Into his room? She can’t even walk!”
“Then we carry her in,” Pierce said. Nobody argued with him. His eyes met mine, and even though I appreciated his direction, I did not like the heavy fear that filled his mind with the decision.
“It will be okay,” I whispered, to no one in particular. They all needed an outrageous amount of comfort that I was unable to give to them.
“It damn well better be,” Gavin grumbled.
Chapter 31
Pierce clicked the last buckle on my bullet proof vest, pulling on the strap to check its tension. I tried to ignore the tremble in his hands. No matter how I moved my head, his eyes would not meet mine.
The other guys moved around us silently, strapping on their gear in the light of sunrise coming through the window. Their minds were swollen with tension. Charles had come in five minutes earlier to tell us we were leaving in twenty, sending the already tense mood up another level.
I didn’t think I would be able to sleep through the night, knowing my mind was running through all the possibilities, tragedies and triumphs, that could happen. But surprisingly I slept deep, undisturbed. My back had pressed against Gavin, his arm secured around my waist, with Kyson in front of me. Our hands had been pressed to each other’s chest to create the most calming sensation possible. The warm vibrations had spread to my mind and pulled me in peaceful bliss.
Now that bliss was gone. The reality of what was coming next caused a hum of excitement and fear within my own mind. Such high emotions from myself and the guys took a toll on my weak body. My legs shook and I looked for a place to sit down as the guys continued to prep.
The door opened again and Charles slipped his head inside. “Miss Jade? Would you like to come eat something?”
“No!” Pierce snarled, shocking me at the gutteral sound of his voice.
Nobody moved, as we all turned to look at Charles and then Pierce.
Kyson’s own eyes held a spark of wildness as he said, “She needs to be with us right now.”
My eyebrows raised, my chest heaving at the display of animalistic protection they could not control.
Charles bowed his head once, looking unfazed. “Whenever you’re ready.” The door clicked shut behind him.
The guys continued moving, checking their weapons and attaching them to their belts, vests, and bodies. Gavin came over to me, holding my knife holster.
I frowned, “It won’t work with this vest on.” My hands patted around the bottom of my vest to show how it covered my waist and hem of my pants.
He looked over me before unstrapping the holster from the elastic strap and securing it into a strap on the left side of my vest. My 9 millimeter was secured to my right thigh, reaching right where my hand lay when my arm was straight.
“Let’s head down,” Pierce called out.
I stepped over Alex’s pillow and followed Gavin. Our beds still lay spread out along the floor. Ready for our return. The plan was to sleep here tonight, and take the train out tomorrow with Roman.
If all went according to plan.
We had a bag already prepared for Roman. Basic clothing items, toiletries, shoes. I had insisted on bringing a pair of shoes with us, because surely he would have on nothing but socks or slippers. That was if the staff treated him nice, Pierce had pointed out. Gavin was sure he would be barefoot.
The guys made quick work of the hot porridge type substance laid out for them and warm milk. I managed to eat simple bread coated with butter and a glass of water. Harold stepped out as we were eating, dressed in olive green military fatigues and heavy brown boots. His bare scalp was covered with a black bandana and he had his own firearm strapped to his belt. My eyes widened at the intimidating sight he was.
“We go now,” he stated simply. “My vertolet is in back field.”
“Vertolet?” Alex asked.
“Helicopter,” Charles answered, placing the empty dishes in the sink. I eyed him in appreciation and something close to love. He was dressed in heavy protective gear with his weapons, and yet here he stood making us breakfast. Charles was always making sure his company was cared for.
Pierce stepped in front of me, with a question in his eyes. The other guys followed Harold and Charles out the door. I knew what he was asking. He could have pushed his dominating presence into my mind. But instead he gave me the option. I gave a simple nod and in the blink of an eye I was whisked into his thick arms and following the others.
The morning air was chilly and bit into my exposed skin. I immediately began to shiver in Pierce’s arms. My hands curled in instinctively as if to protect my energy.
I eyed the flat plains around us, remote and peaceful. There were various trees that randomly dotted the land but the landscape was smooth and open until it sloped up to the base of towering mountains we were heading to. I studied the land along the ridges leading up to the peaks, and tried to draw on whatever energy I had left within me to push me through our impending mission.
We climbed up into the open entrance of the helicopter and settled down in the fuselage. Alex motioned me over to my seat where a 3 point harness was then strapped around my body. Harold and Charles sat up front in the cockpit, Harold directing Charles to various controls and switches. The guys were still getting themselves situated when the deep hum of a motor rumbled through the aluminum frame of the chopper.
Kyson handed me headphones and I quickly put them on. Alex sat on one side of me, while Kyson sat on my left. Pierce and Gavin were situated in front of us. No one spoke but I could feel their eyes on each other, their emotions searching for confirmation, assurance, encouragement. I sighed and nodded, trying to still my trembling limbs and chattering teeth.
The rotors were spinning at a high intensity, causing the helicopter to begin lifting off the ground. My hands shot out, clutching at both Alex and Kyson. The movement was jarring and I felt unsteady. With the open entrances of the helicopter, the sensation of flying was much more unsettling.
“Don’t these things come with doors?” I asked into my mouthpiece.
I could hear Harold chuckle, “Those fell off years ago.”
The ground below disappeared and the mountains began filling my sig
ht. The trees were becoming larger as we progressed. The air became colder as we gained altitude and I was unable to stop the shivers that took over my body.
“We’re about 35 kilometers from drop off point,” Charles reported.
“From there you will go five miles north,” Harold added.
“We know,” Gavin mumbled. “We went over this last night.”
I thought about getting out of the helicopter and what happened next. Carried. I would be carried through the woods. I couldn’t help the frown that creased into my face, hating how much I would slow them down. How would we get past an army of weapons with me being carried along?
An incredible jolt of regret and anxiety ran through my body. This was a mistake. How foolish I had been. I shouldn’t have come. The reality of the situation truly settling in and I couldn’t fight the tears that pricked my eyes, and my chest heaved in fear. Doubts swirled through my mind and I couldn’t stop them.
Jade.
Pierce’s voice rang through my head, pausing my internal storm. My head shook slowly, my jaw working.
We will do this, He said.
Suddenly all of the guys were looking at me and Pierce.
“I’m a burden,” I whispered.
The helicopter swayed suddenly and I gasped. Both Kyson and Alex reached around my wrists and gripped my hands.
“We are strong,” Pierce said, drawing my attention back to him.
“But you need me to be able to fight with you,” My bottom lip trembled, remembering his words long ago when he was trying to convince me to break into the lab with them. They were stronger with me, he had said. “And I can’t do that.”
“There’s no turning back now,” Gavin stepped in, drawing my attention to him. His words were not a rebuke, nor were they meant to offend. He was simply stating a fact. “Think of Roman.”
“Focus on what needs to be done,” Pierce added.
“We are righting a wrong that happened many years ago,” Kyson stated. “We finish it.”
“One by one we were freed, and now it is Roman’s turn.” Pierce declared.
Their words caused my chest to swell and my tears to dry. There was a bigger picture. It wasn’t just about my health or what I could not contribute in that moment. It was about all of us. About our future, and bringing us together.
Pierce could sense my self doubts retracting and he looked back outside at the landscape that flew beneath us, planning ahead, focusing on the task.
I leaned my head back and watched out the open door, unable to slow down my racing heart. My hands gripped onto Kyson and Alex, and they did not let go. Charles and Harold focused ahead of us, speaking to each other in military code I didn’t understand.
“10 minutes,” Charles announced.
A couple of the guys drew in heavy breaths, also trying to stay calm. They gripped the handles of the semi-automatic weapons strapped around their bodies and checked their other supplies.
A few minutes later, while resting my eyes in an attempt to remain calm, a spark flickered in my chest. A tiny prick of energy raised the hairs on my arms. Stronger than I had felt in weeks. My eyes flew open but I kept my head still.
The spark came again, only stronger, a pulse of energy that started in my chest and trailed to my limbs. When it came a third time, the sensation did not dissipate. A warm sensation blossomed in my chest and continued spreading through my muscles, into my arms and legs.
My shivers stopped. My head jerked forward, my eyes wide.
“Jade?” Gavin called out.
I didn’t hear him. Couldn’t hear him over the life I felt flowing through my body. The strength I had lost was returning, the light that had died within me was burning again. I let go of the guys hands, pulled off my gloves and flexed my fingers. They tingled with a burning heat that told me my energy was awake and ready.
“Jade!” Pierce shouted, finally breaking through my awe-struck thoughts.
My eyes met his, my mouth opened. Everyone stared at me, could feel the change in my emotions. “I can feel him,” I said in a daze, still caught up in the power I felt.
Pierce’s eyes darted to Kyson and back to me. I closed my eyes again to focus on my body. My mind was clear, my anxiety gone. My chest hummed at a level I had never felt before. I rolled my head around and shrugged my shoulders.
I wanted out of this helicopter.
“What is it, Jade?” Pierce asked.
I looked at him, not knowing how to explain what I felt.
“Dropping altitude, be ready for disembarking!” Harold called out.
I looked outside the helicopter, watched the trees come closer, the branches pulsing backwards in the wind created by the rotors.
Alex and Gavin unbuckled, coming to a kneeling position on the ground.
“Ready!” Gavin called out. Alex nodded.
They watched outside as the helicopter continued to lower.
I became antsy in my seat, shifting around to be free. My adrenaline was rising with each minute, my body desperate to be on the move.
Alex and Gavin both stepped out of the chopper and jumped the last several feet to the ground and hurried away from the chopper.
I ripped my headphones off, cringing at the thrum of noise that beat into my ears from the rotors. Kyson was beginning to say something but I was too fast. My belt was unbuckled and I was flying out of the helicopter before anyone could touch me.
I flipped forward, twisting mid way to face the direction we need to go. The direction I could feel pulling me. The direction where I was aching to run.
My feet landed with a satisfying thud and I crouched to the ground, closing my eyes. Everything around me disappeared as I felt the new presence within me. My head raised and I smelled the earth around me, my mouth opening to exhale.
We were close.
So close.
The sound of the chopper disappeared and I stood, turning to face the guys.
“What the hell?” Alex shouted, eyeing me with blatant confusion.
I stood motionless, blinking once. “He is here.”
“What just happened to you?” Gavin asked.
“She’s just like she was before,” Kyson said quietly. “If not better. Her blood flow, oxygen levels, the balance of chemicals in her brain, I mean…” He looked to Pierce, “I could go on. But she’s better than before.”
“Just like that?” Alex asked incredulously.
“Nara was right.” Pierce mumbled. “She needed him.”
Bored of talking, my mind elsewhere, my body restless, I turned and looked towards the trees. My head tilted back again, smelling again at the air around me. Pure but tainted. My senses were back to their heightened state, only better, as Kyson had pointed out. I could see every line in the pinecone 100 meters away. The dust particles drifting off a branch where a bird had landed.
My energy sparked again with in my chest and I could wait no longer. Not with Roman so close.
“Jade, wait!”
I ran. Ran at a pace I had never pushed before. Trees flew by me at a dangerous speed, my feet jumping over every log, stump and rock. The air through my hair was freeing, my heart pumping blood through my body that had laid dormant for so long.
The guys were yelling for me, screaming at me, calling for me to stop. It was like a leash had been snipped from my body and I was free for the first time. Pierce began entering my mind, forcing his dominance through me to stop.
I allowed my feet to slow, my eyes scanning the area for threats as I waited for the guys to catch up. My fingers traced over a nearby tree, wisps of bark coming off under my nails. My eyes narrowed on the distant trees, my ears pricked to hear any nearby threat.
“Jade!” Alex barked, breaking my thoughts. “You don’t know the plan! You can’t just run your ass off into the middle of nowhere, into the middle of Russia!”
Pierce stepped over a pile of rocks, putting a hand to his hip.”Something has shifted inside of her,” Pierce explained.
T
he other guys looked at me for confirmation but I stood quietly. Unable to put what I was feeling into words. And not wanting to take the time to do so.
“I don’t need a plan,” I growled, pivoting around. Something pricked my senses.
Gavin cursed and complained to Pierce. “I think I preferred her before.”
“Charles can’t keep up with you,” Kyson explained, “with us.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “It’s better we take care of things before he gets into the middle of it.”
Pierce started to say something but I held up my hand and snapped my fingers. “Shh.”
A low motor. An emotional presence coming closer. Three of them.
“Someone’s coming,” I announced. “Find cover!”
Pierce grabbed his radio and called out a warning to Charles.
“Jade, come here,” Gavin motioned towards him.
The motor was becoming louder, by now all of the guys heard it and were beginning to move. I turned away from Gavin and jumped up, grabbing onto a low branch of the nearest tree.
“Jade!” Gavin hissed after me.
I pulled myself up, stepping onto the branch and then jumping up to the next. Over and over until I was close to the top, with the rows of branches blocking my visibility. The trunk had thinned and the tree swayed under my weight. I crouched low and close to the branch I was on, my eyes searching the terrain in the direction of the oncoming presence.
An all terrain vehicle appeared from the east, moving at a steady pace along a rough yet distinct path. The three men were alert, attentive, scanning around the area for any trespassing threats. I counted their weapons, smelled the fuel tinged air. They had probably heard the helicopter and came out to investigate.
My teeth ground together and my energy itched under my skin. I held back, clasping my hands closed. Watching. Waiting.
The ATV continued on its path, turning north east and disappearing from my view. The emotions I felt from the patrolmen vanished with the noise of the motor.
I hopped from branch to branch, swinging on the last one to land on the ground once again.
“Jade,” Pierce said, a warning in his tone.