Rose nods at me and she leans in to whisper to Will. I tell Charlie what I told Rose and we all skip lunch to try and pack some clothes up. Since I’ve been here, no one has mentioned anything about washing to me. We don’t have a washing machine in any of the rooms we have access to and Martha hasn’t collected our dirty clothing. So far, mine is just sitting in a corner in my room. I still have a few clean clothes I’ve yet to wear so I grab them and fold them down and put them into my large handbag by my bed. I’m not sure what the boys are going to use to pack their things, it’s not like we’ve been given bags. I assume Rose still has her handbag if she was taken with it. I’m lucky my bag is so massive so it’ll fit quite a bit in it. I hold out my cell and resist turning it on to look at my photos. The urge to see Dana again is strong, however the fear of using up my battery is worse. I need to save looking at them for emergencies only because I might not ever get a chance to go home and look through my many photos of her again.
When it comes to my closet, I feel torn. Drew’s ashes are still in there, folded into my quilt. It feels wrong to leave him here. He risked so much coming back and he lost Dana, too. By changing the future and changing whatever horrible things we all did, he lost his future with the woman he loved so much. I’m not sure where we would be if he hadn’t broken into The Windmill. We would only have heard Stan’s version of this story, we might have fallen straight into the same path we were on in his timeline; all of those people who had loved us enough to try to end that devastating future for us would have done it for nothing. He doesn’t deserve to be left here in this place.
I look around for something to put him in and jump when Charlie walks through my door.
“You okay?” He looks at my packed bag sitting on the floor.
“I want to take…” I point at the quilt showing through the open doors.
“You sure?” Charlie appears worried, perhaps wondering how sane I am.
“Yes. I’m just not sure how?”
Charlie glances around, too, and I appreciate that he’s not calling me crazy.
He leaves the room and returns a few seconds later holding an empty Pringles container. He holds it out and shrugs at me. I don’t think it’s the most respectful place for someone’s ashes, however without an urn handy on me, nothing here is going to seem all that appropriate.
I nod and he helps me pull the quilt out. I can’t help the shivers I get all over my body as we unfold the quilt and find the ashes there. I’m again surprised by how little is left of him. I don’t know if that’s a normal amount or if there is less because Drew’s body broke down quicker.
I try to scoop him up into the container and wish I was able to say something about him, some nice words, but with everyone listening, I keep my mouth shut. Instead, I think of Dana and feel like she might be here with me right now, saying her goodbye, too.
Charlie helps me as much as he can and, when I’m nearly finished, he lets his hand rest on the small of my back which brings me the comfort I need to keep going. When I’m done, we put the quilt out on the bed and I place the container in my bag wrapped up in a shirt. I blink away tears, feeling raw from my thoughts of Dana and Drew, so Charlie pulls me in for a hug while I cry. I know it’s silly to feel this incredible sadness, especially since Drew is still alive back home, yet I can’t help it. In the past two weeks I’ve seen two of my closest friends die.
I cry myself out sometime later and finally feel the grief slowly receding downwards. I know it’ll creep up another time, although for now, the wave appears to have passed and I wish I had a tissue to blow my nose. I’m sure I don’t look at all attractive to Charlie and he’s most likely wondering how to get away from me as quickly as possible. The thought reminds me of my earlier discussion with Martha and I lift up on my tiptoes to speak into his ear.
“I told Martha that I agreed we should cool it off together. She definitely was mad.”
“I wonder what she’s up to,” Charlie whispers back.
I shrug and grab hold of my bag, placing it back in the shelf by my bed. Rose barges in then and in her hands she’s holding two piles of money. She hands one to me and one to Charlie.
“What is…How did…” I leave my questions hanging in the air.
“You’re missing out on lunch, guys. Hurry up.” Rose nods at my bag and I quickly bend back down and place the money in there. I think it must be close to two thousand dollars. Charlie takes his and leaves to go in his room. I wonder if Rose had the money on her when she got here. If not, where else would it have come from? Who carries that amount of money on them?
I walk out of my room with her, along with Charlie. Will meets us in the hall and we all go into the meals area to have lunch.
***
Back at training, Martha makes a point of hanging around and Stan decides to do one-on-ones again. He pairs Charlie with me and I feel like Martha might have had a say in that, even given Stan has already paired us up previously. I assume she is hoping to see us bonding again. The question of why she wants us together nags me even further. If in our old timeline I had been married to Joel, then Charlie and I wouldn’t have been together. They obviously hadn’t cared about that then, so why are they caring now in this timeline? What’s different?
“I believe I’m only two away from winning that bet, want to stage another wager?”
“Well, I’m only one away from winning, you sure you want to risk it?” I smile back at Charlie, leaving my thoughts alone to focus on the here and now. My heart rate picks up, seeing his smile directed at me, and I briefly wonder how I was able to resist it in the old timeline. There surely could be no version of me who would not be incredibly attracted to Charlie.
“I think I’m willing to risk it if you are?”
“What do we have to do?” I ask. I already know that, whatever it is, I’m sure to lose. The only reason I won last time we were doing one-on-ones was because Charlie was going easy and I got a lucky punch. This time I won’t be getting that chance.
“First one on the floor loses?” Charlie suggests innocently.
I keep my hands up to protect myself and consider his idea while we slowly circle each other. “Okay—”
I don’t get time to react before Charlie swings out his leg and swipes me off my feet. I fall backwards and land flat on my back.
“I win.” Charlie leans over me and laughs, offering me a hand to help me up.
“You didn’t even give me time to react!” I exclaim, trying to sound indignant, but unable to wipe the smile from my face. I give him my hand and let him pull me up. He keeps hold of it when I’m standing and I can practically feel Martha’s watchful eyes on us. I bet she is pretty happy right about now. I can talk as much as I want to her that I don’t like Charlie, it’s all too obvious how I really feel when I’m around him.
“Want to do another one for the winning round?” Charlie finally let’s go of my hand and we start circling each other again. To our left, Will and Rose are actually properly going through the motions of fighting. Stan is egging them on and stopping them every once in a while to show them something ignoring Charlie and me. I imagine that also has something to do with Martha.
“Fine.” I quickly decide and as I say the words, I swing my leg out like he had just done and try to trip him up. I’m not as successful as he was and I instead kick him hard in the side of his calf. He doesn’t even flinch as he takes a step past me and pushes me so when I try to step back to catch my balance, his leg is there and I simply fall to the ground.
“I win.” Charlie again holds his hand out and I roll my eyes at him. I try to seem disappointed, but really I wouldn’t mind delivering Charlie his prize right this moment. Besides, with us leaving tonight and separating, having a day of Charlie and Rose not fighting wouldn’t have meant all that much.
“I guess I should pay up?” I step closer to him and watch his eyes quickly dart to Stan and Martha.
I feel a quick sense of embarrassment, however I swallow it down an
d stand on my tip toes to get closer to Charlie. We both move closer to each other and I feel his warm breath graze my face. Anticipation lights a fuse inside me and my heart beat quickens in excitement. I reach out and my fingers brush his chest just as his lips gently touch mine.
“What the hell are you two doing? Have you already forgotten our little talk earlier? No blackouts. If you’re not going to fight, then go and run the bloody circuit,” Stan yells out to us.
We pull away from each other and I groan, wishing Charlie and I could go back to merely walking around each other in circles while chatting. It would put a lot less strain on the body.
I watch Martha leave and I can tell she is more relaxed. She assumes she’s rekindled Charlie and me so I guess she thinks her work here is done.
The rest of training is brutal and a while later I lose Charlie to Martha and I’m left jogging the circuit alone. By the end, I’m barely able to walk it and I’m so out of breathe that when Stan tells me I can finish for the day I lie on the mats for over ten minutes, breathing heavily. When we get out of here, I’m never exercising again.
Eventually Will comes over to me and helps me stand up. He walks me back to my room and I thank him before collapsing into my shower.
Dinner is a bit more upbeat than usual, but I assume it’s because of the fact that we’re all aware we will hopefully not be spending another night here. I can’t tell if they’ve placed cameras in our rooms since I’m not really sure what I’m looking for, although we all will have to assume they have, which means Charlie is going to have to cause a blackout. We’ll have five minutes to get out of here before our escape is caught on camera.
I feel a buzz going through me, knowing what is coming up. If we fail this, then our chances of escaping anytime soon are practically nil. They’ll up security for sure and, while I might not get separated from Charlie, chances are they’ll split us up. I can’t leave knowing Will and Rose are still somewhere hidden and it’ll be rather difficult to stage a breakout when you have to try to find everyone first.
This is our one and only chance and we don’t have any options to screw it up. No pressure right?
Martha watches a movie with us and, afterwards, Charlie and Rose play pool again. Will and I watch and eventually are roped into playing each other. Will is a quick learn and after his abysmal effort against Rose on our first day here, he’s already improved. I barely manage to get the ball into any of the holes and, when I do, it’s usually Will’s and not mine. He’s happy to win and I try to enjoy this moment, of us all together, smiling. I haven’t known these people long, but already I feel a connection to them. I only hope I feel this because I know we’ll get to spend happy times together in the future. I hope my instincts are leading me right and not setting me up to get hurt.
We stay up late and, without saying a word about our plans, we go to bed. We can’t risk someone overhearing us.
I brush my teeth and eye my room one last time, glancing over to my bag. I’ll have to run in here and grab it before we leave. I can’t take it with me now to Charlie’s room in case I’m being watched.
I climb into bed and lean on him as he wraps his arms around me. I allow myself to feel comfortable like this and close my eyes, wishing I could sleep, however knowing my mind won’t shut off long enough to allow me any peace. I try to savor this moment with Charlie, instead. Even though I doubt Martha will want to separate us if we’re caught, I know things won’t be like this. I’ll worry about Rose and Will if they’re taken away and I’ll always wonder why Martha wants us together. What does it benefit them? If anything, having us together is causing them headaches since Charlie has given them the assumption that us together is causing the blackouts. There isn’t an explanation I can think of that explains it.
Goosebumps run over my body when Charlie moves his fingers along my arm and I focus my mind on his touch.
After what feels like seconds later, I wake up. After blinking my eyes several times, I feel Charlie leaning over me. I must have fallen asleep.
“What—” I mumble, but Charlie leans in so close to me that our lips are almost touching.
“You owe me a kiss,” he whispers.
“Now?” I wonder what the time is, though I don’t have to look at a clock before I figure it out. It must be nearly four in the morning. If anyone can see us right now, then the connection between us kissing and the power going out will seem obvious to them.
I lift my head up the small amount needed and our lips touch. It quickly escalates to feeling so intense that all thought of escaping this place leaves me for a moment and I pull at his shirt urgently. My mouth opens to him and he hungrily enters it. He bites on my lips and a groan erupts from me, my legs automatically moving around him and pulling him closer to me. When our bodies are flush against each other, it’s Charlie’s turn to groan.
I don’t hear any noises, but when he pulls away breathing heavily, I know why. He caused a blackout. We don’t give ourselves any time to recover, we both simply bounce out of bed and I run across the hallway to grab my bag. I pull on my shoes with the laces already tied and when I run back out, Rose and Will are already there. It’s dark, but I see their shadows from the moon shining outside my window coming through the open door.
Rose leads the way around the corner and I wonder if one of us should be counting.
Less than three hundred seconds before the cameras come back on and we’re seen escaping.
Chapter Thirty-Two – The Extra Man
Thursday, April 19th
We don’t wait for Rose to pick the lock, there isn’t time. Will crashes through it like he did before and we sprint down the hallway, only slowing down to be quieter as we approach the corridor that the guard will be down.
When we stop, I realize Rose never explained to us what she plans to do. She doesn’t wait around to give us a heads up, either. She just throws her bag to Will and rounds the corner. Her bag is as big as mine while the boys have used pillow cases tied up at the end to house their own clothes.
I hold my breath, straining to hear what she is going to do.
“Hello there.”
“Ma’am, what are you doing out here?” There is panic in the guard’s voice.
It’s completely dark here because of the blackout and my eyes are taking longer than normal to adjust to the darkness. A light shines against the wall and I assume the guard has a flashlight pointed at Rose.
“Ma’am? Are you saying I’m old?” Rose giggles and I can picture her moving her hair around her finger, perhaps even giving him a blinding smile. Rose is beautiful and there’s no doubt she has made a lot of guys in her time do whatever she wants.
“No, of course not. You shouldn’t be here, miss.” The guard now sounds nervous.
“Miss? I don’t know if I like that one any better.”
“Please, we’ll both get into trouble—”
“Shh, it’ll be okay. I won’t tell if you don’t.” Rose’s footsteps stop and I assume she has reached the guard.
“I’ll have to escort you back to your rooms and report this to Agent Goodings.”
“I don’t know if that is even possible…”
“Why?”
I hear a grunt and then a loud noise like someone heavily collapsing onto the ground. Both Charlie and Will rush around the corner with me close behind.
“…because you’re going to be out cold for a while.” Rose rolls her eyes at the man and quickly grabs a key that’s sitting along his belt.
She opens up the door and I peek inside, feeling uneasy about having the guard just lying on the ground.
My eyes have begun adjusting to the darkness and I see a figure passed out on a cot. The desk from the video we had watched is directly in the center of the room. Paying more attention to the figure on the small cot, I know its Joel. I can’t tell if he’s breathing and I’m not brave enough to go in and check. I notice one of his legs is chained to the wall. I can only assume that there definitely isn’t a key
for that. Joel is mostly covered in complete darkness that my eyes can’t penetrate so I can’t see how injured he is, but I suddenly hear a wheeze as he breathes in slowly. He’s alive.
Will passes me and pulls at the chain around Joel’s leg. The metal that had looked sturdy and unmovable before starts to pull apart and soon it’s big enough to move Joel’s leg out of it. Will picks Joel up and chucks him over his shoulder like he is nothing more than a light bag and moves back out of the cell. I make sure to step away so I don’t have to be near him. Knowing how close I am to him right now feels like a slap in the face. I forget to breathe as an image of Dana hits me so hard that I want to curl up in a ball and cry forever.
“We have to go.” Charlie takes my hand and pulls me along. Rose and Will have already been sucked up by the darkness. If I have to guess I’d say we’re well over the hundred and fifty second mark. Halfway through our time. We have to hurry.
I shake the image of Dana away and try to focus.
At the stairs Charlie and I are surprised by the guard that is patrolling there. He’s rushing down the stairs after Will and Rose as we come crashing into the doorway. The guard tackles Charlie and they fall down one flight of stairs in a giant blur of black.
“Charlie!” I gasp, rushing down to the bottom to see them both lying in a heap. Charlie is on top of the guard and as I lean down I feel a warm substance pooling around them. A strong urge to vomit emerges, but I swallow down on it, knowing my concern for Charlie is more important. I shake Charlie trying to rouse him. He doesn’t answer me.
“Charlie!” I grab hold of his shoulder and dig my nails into his skin.
“Ouch…” Charlie groans and I pull him up, forgetting to be careful in case he has any broken bones.
I wrap him up into a hug and he groans again. “Zoe…”
I let go, moving away from him and grab his arm as he tries to stand up straight.
“Are you okay?”
“No…” Charlie leans on me as we pass the dead guard. I refuse to look at him or think about the blood surrounding him. The last thing I need is to start freaking out right now; well, any more than I already am.
Taken By Surprise (Taken Trilogy Book 1) Page 34