“Ok, what do we do?” I finally ask.
“We just have to get out of here a little faster than what we had planned.”
“Ok, what do we need to do?”
“We need to get the guns from boot camp. I don’t think we will be able to get the ones from the arsenal, but I’m pretty sure I know where to find a couple automatics.”
“How do we let the others know what’s happening?” I ask.
“Eli and I have a system planned out, he will know when we need to leave.”
Surprised that my brother and Jake have anything in common is a shock to me… I mean besides me.
On our way to boot camp, Jake pulls out a small white piece of cloth and a black marker. On the cloth, he writes 115a on it and stuffs it behind the trim of the door that enters into the room with the obstacle course.
“What’s 115a?”
“It means we are leaving at eleven thirty a.m.”
“And Eli will find that?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Jake says, in his low deep voice. “And he and Derik have a system of communication worked out too.”
I don’t say a word, I just wonder when it was that the boys made these plans.
While inside boot camp, we both fill brown and green patched backpacks. These are just like the ones that are weighted down for training, the ones that weight fifty pounds.
Mine is filled with ammunition and 5 guns. These guns are the most menacing looking devices. They are rifles but are only about a foot long. They are charged by fuel instead of powder like I am told the ones of the past were ran with.
Jake fills his with fuel, knives, and a spear that he straps to the outside. He also puts one of the guns in his bag and straps a knife to my belt.
It all goes by so fast, and all the while, I have Malachi in mind. I don’t know if he is alive or dead, and I don’t know why I should even care. He came near killing me on many occasions.
When we get to the door, I look down at my watch and it says 10:53. We have only a short time before time to leave. Outside of boot camp, Jake goes left which is towards the dorms… I stop dead.
“What are you doing?”
“We have to go back, Liz.”
“Why?”
“The automatics are in there.”
Begging my feet to move, I nod my head in agreeing that I will follow Jake. The dorms are only fifteen yards away, and I can already see that Levi and Sampson no longer lay in the doorway.
I grab my knife from its holster, as I see Jake take out his.
Jake creeps around the corner of the door, edging against the wall as he walks. I mimic his moves and fall in behind him.
As we round the corner into the dormitory, I can tell that the guard station is empty. “There is one in there, under the desk, taped to a panel that comes down from the bottom of it,” Jake says.
“Ok,” I respond.
“Can you get it?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I breathe.
I crouch down as I walk around the front of the guard station, wielding the knife in the way I was trained. Levi and Sampson could be anywhere, and I want to be ready.
When I get to the other side, there is an opening about two feet wide, and I slowly go inside. While inside I notice the only things in this four by four room is, a desk, a chair, and a window open up to the dorms. This is where Bill sat all those nights he allowed me to walk out with Jake.
I haven’t seen Bill in about three days. A traitor of The Force, or captured by The Elected, that’s the only thing I can guess.
I slide under the desk, and using my knife, pry the panel off the bottom of it. Just like Jake said, there is an M-16 taped to the underneath of the desk. Alongside the gun are four boxes of clips.
I slip the clips into my backpack, but not before loading one into the gun for good measure.
Suddenly, I hear a noise come from the dorms. Afraid out of my mind, I allow myself to look through the window.
When I look up, Jake is standing in the dorm. When he sees me, he motions me to come to him.
Reluctantly, I sneak back around the guard station and into the room that has been my home for a long time now.
As soon as I enter the room, I regret it.
Jake is busy filling his smaller backpack with cloths from mine, Eli, and Mar’s trunks. I start to walk towards him, but my fears are confirmed.
Crumpled in the pile I left him in, Malachi is laying lifeless on the floor. More blood halos his head, and his skin no longer looks human.
I killed him, I think to myself. Then I let the thought pass from me and walk on.
“I got it,” I whisper, to Jake when I reach him.
“Good,” he says, “There may even be some kind of weapons over there.”
He points in the direction of the three cots that belong to my two worse nightmares and the boy I just killed.
“I’ll check,” I say.
“I can do it,” Jake offers.
“No. I can do it.”
“Alright,” Jake says.
I hand him the M-16, “It’s loaded,” I say, before I walk away from him, and closer to Malachi’s dead body.
I look in Levi’s trunk and under his bed, but there is nothing anywhere, and then I rifle through Sampson’s stuff… Still nothing.
I inch closer to Malachi’s trunk, hyper aware of him lying on the floor just feet away.
The only thing I find in his trunk is a small knife. I pocket it and reach under his cot. To my surprise, there is an AK-47 strapped to it. I pull it down, along with the ammo that accompanies it, but then, a thought occurs to me…
Where are Sampson and Levi’s AK-47s? Malachi wouldn’t be the only one sent here with a gun would he… Better yet, where are Levi and Sampson?
Chapter Thirty-One
Looking up at Jake, I can tell he has the same thing in mind.
“We need to go,” he says, as he grabs my arm.
“Ok,” I barely get out.
Side by side, Jake and I walk the complex, dodging through doorways, and sometimes into rooms where we stay just long enough for a guard to pass, or to make sure everything is secure.
Once we reach the exit, all I know is that I am leaving my family behind. I hope they can make it out.
I pray they get Shawn out alive.
“We need to get Chi,” Jake says. “We moved him early this morning, he’s in the boulders a half mile away. On this side of the fence.”
“We need to wait for the others,” I say.
“No, come on, Eli knows where to find us.”
“How?” I ask.
“He and Derik helped me move Chi.”
I nod.
Again, my brother and Jake having a connection I never thought they would have.
As we move, I look at my watch and its five after eleven. Feeling the ground under my feet as we run, I feel free, but bound all at the same time.
Looking back at The Force complex for one last glance, I falter as soon as I hear the explosion…
And then I fall to the ground. Jake helps me up in mid run, and we take off in the direction of the boulders again.
Still glancing over my shoulder as I walk, I can see the entire left wing of the complex go up in flame.
Right where the medical compound is.
“Shawn.”
My steps falter again, and I can feel Jake grabbing me from behind, and I start to run again, not for the freedom I felt one minute ago, but for the fear for my life… for my family’s life… for safety.
When we reach the boulders, I am relieved to see that Morimoto Chi is still bound, gagged, and tied to a rock. It gives me a kind of pleasure that we have him. His people are killing my family, but we have one of them to do what we want with.
Maybe I don’t feel so bad for killing Malachi, maybe I don’t feel bad for any of it, maybe I am just as ruthless as they are, and maybe I just don’t care anymore.
But I do.
Jake shakes me from my own head.
> Jake is my strength, without him, I don’t know what I would do. I also can’t help but think my head is feeling a little cloudier than yesterday.
The Methrodine… It’s almost time for my dose… And we don’t have any.
“Shhhhh,” Jake says as he puts a finger to his lips. “Do you hear that?”
A faint sound comes from the direction of the complex, the sound of footsteps.
“Cover me,” Jake whispers.
He grabs the M-16, and that leaves me with the AK-47.
Slowly, I follow Jake around the outer facing of the cave made of rocks. My heart pounds, and I know this is do or die. On the other side of this rock is either a friend, or a foe, and we have to be ready for the later.
Crouched down, Jake readies his gun and rounds the corner before me. I expect to hear gun shot, but I don’t.
It’s a friend. I think to myself, and I let myself get excited for just a moment until …
I round the corner after him to see who might have made it out of the complex alive. Which of my family made it to us? Did all of them?
My breath leaves me as I see who stands before me.
Towering in front of me Paul stands with a knife to Jake’s throat. Jake’s gun is on the ground, and there is blood coming from the corner of his mouth.
I train my gun on the men, but I don’t think that I could be accurate enough to shoot Paul and not hurt Jake too.
“Hand over Morimoto or Jake dies,” Paul yells.
Jake looks at me with eyes of strength. I’m not sure, but I think he shook his head no, ever so slightly.
He doesn’t want me to turn in Chi, even though he knows his life hangs in the balance.
“Hand him over,” Paul yells again, even more forceful, as he pulls the knife blade even closer to Jake’s throat. I had no idea that Paul could seem so furious.
Again, I feel panic. At this point in my life, I feel like panic may be the only emotion I may ever feel again. I have felt it for weeks now, and I don’t think it’s going away.
“Now,” Bellows Paul.
“You’ll… Have… To… Kill… Me…” Jake says, between short breaths.
“That won’t be a problem,” Paul says as he presses the tip of the knife to the left side of Jake’s Jugular.
“No!” I scream with tears in my eyes as my gun shakes violently in my hand.
I try to steady the gun to shoot, put my finger on the trigger, and hear the blast and impact as I see a bullet go through Paul’s head.
Jake runs forward as Paul’s body falls to the ground.
“Good shot,” Jake grunts with a grunt of relief.
“It wasn’t me,” I say. “I never pulled the trigger.”
In a matter of seconds, Jake grabs his gun off the ground and spins around, putting his back to mine. Together we both ready our guns for a war, but there are no other shots… No war to fight… Just yet.
Then, my eye catches something. On top of the tallest boulder, the one that makes the roof of the cave, kneels a dark figure, gun in hand.
It’s Samantha.
“Jake,” I whisper.
“Yeah?”
“Samantha,” I say, as I point with the tip of my gun in the direction of the boulder.
Jake automatically turns his M-16 on her.
“Come down here,” Jake demands.
Slowly, Samantha backs down off the rock and rounds the corner.
“Put your weapons down,” Jake says when he can hear her coming around the rock face.
Two guns, two knives, and a spear come out from behind the rock and hit the ground just inches from our feet.
“Come out slowly,” I say trying to sound as tough as Jake. “Hands behind your head.”
Samantha inches out from around the rock facing, free of weapons, and then Mar follows behind her, doing the same thing.
I don’t wait for Jake to approve. I lower my gun and run to Mar, hugging her with all my might.
She cries a little.
“Where’s Eli?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she cries even more. “We got separated in the explosion… What’s happening?”
We pull apart, and I walk back over towards Jake. I kneel down to check Paul’s pulse, making sure he is dead, and I shake my head in Jake’s direction, confirming that nurse Paul is in fact dead.
“It’s The Elected,” I say as I stand back up by Jake. “They’re doing all this.”
“What if he didn’t make it?” she asks.
“I can’t think that way… I won’t think that way,” I say, dryly.
“So, you’re with us?” Jake asks Samantha.
“Duh. I just shot someone in the head for you,” Samantha says, in her usual sarcastic tone.
“Yeah…” Jake says, looking down. “Thanks.”
“Yeah,” Samantha says. “You owe me.”
The four of us go back into the cave to join Morimoto. “So, what’s the plan?” Samantha asks, as she sits crossed legged on the floor.
“We get to safety,” Jake says.
“No, we can’t leave without knowing what happened to Eli,” Mar demands.
“No. We have to go,” Jake says firmly.
“He’s right,” I say, as I try hard not to cry. “We have to get out of here.”
I know that we have to leave, but I also know that if we do, it means leaving without Eli, without Shawn, without Derik and Leah, and without any food or supplies.
“Wait. Did you get any Methrodine? What about Magi? Is she on our side…? Or theirs?” I ask.
“We got to the Methrodine with the help of Magi,” Mar offers. “I don’t think she went bad like Paul… But… The Methrodine was in Eli’s backpack.” Then, she looks down at the ground. She starts to cry. I know our love for my brother is different, but I know how I feel about him not being with us, and I know how I would feel if I lost Jake.
“Eli knows the plan,” Jake says. “He’s smart… We can camp at the truck till tomorrow morning, but then we have to get out of here.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The truck was a good two miles from the cave.
The voyage took almost an hour and a half to make. For one because of our un-willing prisoner, and secondly, because there were the dogs to deal with.
They’re dead now.
Hauling Morimoto was more of a problem than I thought it would be. It took all four of us to do it.
We had to cut a hole in the fence on the far side of the rock facing in order to force Chi through. There was no way we could have gotten him over the fence.
Once through, Mar, Samantha, and I carried him, while Jake shot the dogs, and picked them off one by one. There were five dogs he killed in total, and who knows how many more there might be out there.
When we got to the truck, Jake drove it to a clearing surrounded by rocks and thick green trees about three miles from the complex.
It’s the middle of June, so the trees are full of leaves which help conceal our location and provide some shade for us.
It’s hot, being the start of summer, and the only water we have are the few bottles Samantha was smart enough to bring with her. She also has ten protein bars and some dried beef.
That won’t last the five of us very long, so for now, we are on rations, both with the water and food.
Making sure that Morimoto gets food and water is not a priority, however, we need him alive for the time being, so we allow him some food and water.
We don’t want to kill him or let him die just yet, although, Jake has already killed the dogs, I killed Malachi, and Samantha killed Paul.
It‘s almost like we are in a battle, a fight for survival.
For now, Morimoto is valuable, and even though his death would be a satisfaction for me, it can’t be carried out at this time.
My head is buzzing with thoughts of the past few days. Paul was supposed to be a good guy, and Malachi, in retrospect was supposed to be just another phase member who was abducted by The Force.
Nothing is how it’s supposed to be, or even how it seems. I keep thinking that I don’t even know what to believe in anymore.
The only thing I have ever been able to count on, and know I still can, is my family, with the addition of Jake and Samantha. I don’t even know if I can count on myself to help us survive. I would hope I wouldn’t let my family down, but I couldn’t keep them from being taken by The Force, how am I going to keep them from The Elected?
What the hardest thing to think about is the fact that I know they already have half of my family. Syl, Shae, and Zac have been gone for weeks now, and I don’t even know if they are still alive. For that matter, I don’t know if Eli, Shawn, Leah, and Derik are even still living.
I think it is becoming normal to be disappointed. My dad let me down, Jake’s dad let him down, and Captain Samuels let us all down.
Samantha breaks my train of thought.
“There’s going to be a war,” she says. “Not like the fake war that The Elected says we are in… but a real war.”
“How do you know?” Jake ask.
“When I was reporting to your dad two weeks ago…” Samantha looks at Jake, “I saw a file on his computer. It looked suspicious.”
“How so?” Jake asks.
“I was supposed to be filling out phase reports, like you and I do each week for him to review, and I accidentally opened the wrong file. It looked like a phase report icon, but it didn’t have the same format.” she says.
“What did it have in it?” Mar asks.
“It had documents from The Head of Intelligence of The Elected.”
“How do you know they were war plans?” I ask.
“Because I know war plans when I see them,” she says, in a tone of irritation. “Anyways, I went back three days ago when I knew Cole wasn’t in his office… and I downloaded the files to a disk drive… I’ve got it here,” she says, as she pats her pocket.
“Have you looked at them?” Jake asks.
“No,” Samantha says, looking just as irritated as she sounds. “I read a little in his office, enough to know that The Elected plans to start a war with The Force. They are calling the war The Division. It looks bad.”
The Force (Fighting Freedom Book 1) Page 16