“I can’t wait for that day!” I beam. This moment feels like another turning point in our relationship. It is a confirmation that Jake sees a future for us. I pray we do have a future together and it won’t be taken from us due to this war.
Jake and I turn towards each other, knowing this is perhaps the happiest we have been together. He leans in and kisses me long and slow, pulling me in even closer. He allows his hands to graze my side, running them up and down my arms, back, and neck. I look up at him and smile. We kiss again with an electricity between us like we have never felt before. We allow the beauty and splendor to be a part of us for as long as we can. My hands slip under the back of his shirt, reminding me of how muscular he is. I lose my breath in between kisses.
As we pull apart to look at the splendor and grand view, we are caught off guard by the shrill screams piercing the woods from the direction we had come from. As the noise startles the deer and they turn to run, we do the same, hoping to make it back to camp in time.
Chapter Seven
We run as fast as we can in the direction of the screams. We must have gone further than I thought because it is taking forever to get back to camp even at the speed we are going.
We finally reach camp to something we could have never expected. Everyone is gone, their guns, backpacks, everything. There is blood puddled on the ground in various locations, but not so much as a medical supply left behind.
We both throw our guns up, rounding back to back due to instinct, our backpacks touching ever so slightly.
“They wouldn’t have just left us,” Jake says, confused.
“Jake, where are they?”
“I don’t know,” he replies.
For the first time since I met him, I can sense an edge of panic in his voice, our tender moment long lost to fear. We both know none of them, except for Samantha maybe would willingly leave us behind.
“The truck,” I say.
He gives me a look as the sick feeling of doom creeps in.
“Cover me,” Jakes says, as he begins the trip to the truck. “I can’t be sure exactly where it was parked because it was dark.”
“We’ll find it,” I say, trying to reassure myself more than him.
I cover him as we creep back through the woods towards where we had left the truck. We reach the road,, not seeing it anywhere. Slowly, we begin to walk back and forth, up and down the tree line a hundred yards in either direction.
No truck to be found.
“Something must have happened,” I say, feeling hopeless.
“I should have never taken you away from camp.”
“Don’t say that,” I say. “I was talking like that last night, and you didn’t like it.”
“Sorry… I can’t believe it.”
“They didn’t leave us… You know that, right?”
“I don’t know anything, Liz.”
“Jake, they would have never left us on purpose. If they had to leave, they will be back… Unless…”
“Unless what?” he asks.
“What if the man woke up and got the upper hand or had an accomplice we didn’t know about?”
“Well, then he would be looking for us now, and so would his accomplice, if there is one. According to him, we are all needed.”
“You’re right,” I say, half excited. “If our friends had to leave for some reason, they will come back, and if the man took them…”
“Then, he will come looking for us,” Jake finishes my thought. “That is if we are as important as what he says we are.”
“Either way, we should stay close enough to the road to see it, but far enough into the woods we can’t be seen.”
“Or,” he begins, “we climb a tree and take lookout.
“Good idea,” I agree. “They will be looking into the tree line or woods, but never up in a tree.”
Without another word, we scale a large tree near the road, resting at least a hundred feet in the air just above it.
We wait silently for an eternity when we finally hear the hum of an engine. It sounds far away at first, but the closer it gets, it is unmistakable. It is the IOUSC truck for sure.
“We will let it pass a couple times before we show ourselves,” Jake says. “Take a mental note of anything you can see.”
I nod my head, keeping my eyes trained on the road where it curves back our direction. I don’t know whether hope or fear should be the appropriate emotion, but I am overwhelmed with it…Whatever it is.
The truck slowly passes, but from our vantage point, neither one of us can see who is driving, but as it drives under our branch, we know it must be the stranger. Magi and Samantha are the only other drivers, and they are both in the back of the truck. Magi is tending to a bleeding Mar and Leah while Samantha and Eli lay bloody and lifeless beside them.
Shortly after passing the tree we are well hidden in, the truck pulls to the edge of the road, stopping in its tracks.
“Did he see us?” I whisper.
“I don’t think so,” Jake answers.
The stranger slides out of the driver’s side dragging Zac with him.
“Where are they?” he yells at Zac.
“I…I don’t know,” Zac answers.
“Where’s Shawn?” I whisper to Jake.
Jake shakes his head confirming he doesn’t know either.
The man keeps yelling the same thing over and over at Zac.
“He doesn’t know,” Mar yells from the back of the truck through a tone of fear.
Jake raises his gun to his eye, looking for a good shot, but it would be near impossible from where we are to shoot him without getting Zac too. Also, with the man wearing a vest, about the only good shot Jake or I could take would be a head shot.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure moving through the woods. At first, I think it is an animal, but as I get a better look, I can tell it is human. I get Jake’s attention and point to the person moving just inside the tree line.
“I AM TELLING YOU THAT I MEAN YOU NO HARM!” The man is having a fit on the side of the road. Jake and I peer into the back of the truck where our friends lay lifeless. “I mean no more than what has already been done,” he finishes after giving better thought to what has already happened.
The figure in the tree line moves further out of the woods and closer to the road. They are almost so close to the truck, it is surprising the stranger doesn’t see them yet.
“That’s not one person,” Jake whispers, “it’s two.”
I hold my breath as I see another stranger emerge from the woods with a knife to Shawn’s throat.
“See, I told you,” I whisper, “an accomplice.” I try to take aim at the newcomer, but he is using Shawn as a human shield. He is most likely wearing a vest as well.
“I got one of them,” the new stranger says with a smile full of missing teeth as he yanks around Shawn.
“Good,” the man with Zac says. “Where are the other two?”
“I don’t know,” the man with the knife says. “And this one isn’t talking.” He looks to Shawn.
“Okay, I have had enough of this!” The man with Zac says. “Get them in the truck.”
Zac runs, jumping into the bed of the truck. Mar wraps her arms around her brother. The man with the knife inches Shawn closer to the cab. He begins to put up a fight, and the new stranger brings the butt of his knife down on Shawn’s head.
He drops to the pavement.
Both strangers hoist Shawn into the bed as Magi helps lower him down. There are so many in the back that the only place to put him is half on Samantha and half on Eli.
The new man pockets his knife and stands by the truck while the other man takes a stand in the middle of the road, putting his hands cupped around his mouth. I aim my gun at the man in the road, ready to pull the trigger.
“Elizabeth, I know you can hear me,” he begins. “My name is Johnathan, you don’t know who I am, but I know your father.”
I lower my gun as Jake puts a hand over
my mouth. I told him I would try not to risk my life anymore, but when I promised that, I didn’t expect this. I look at Jake as if pleading for him to let me find out more information, and to not kill these guys on contact. My father’s name was on the list of intelligence for The Elected.
“I know this must take you by surprise,” the man we now know as Johnathan begins, “and I know you thought your dad was dead, but he is alive.”
I want to shout I know that and ask him how he may know all our names, even Shawn’s before he became Shawn, but he doesn’t know we know Robert Towers is alive. Also, I find it suspicious because Robert would not know my new family at all…So how does this man know all of us?
Jake slowly releases his hand from around my mouth, and I remain quiet.
Johnathan opens a folded piece a paper he pulled from his sock. We had searched him everywhere but in his shoes. He holds the pages high into the air.
“This letter is addressed from Robert Towers to my children Elious and Elizabeth Towers,” the man says, still holding the pages into the air.
I lean forward to get a better look. This man must be lying, but how would he even know my father’s name if he weren’t telling the truth?
I lean forward a bit too much causing my backpack to shift weight towards my head. I try to gain enough strength in my shoulders to keep it up, but it is no use. The pack slips even more, and before Jake can grab me, I tumble off the branch and out of the safety of the tree.
Chapter Eight
Jake catches me at the last moment. He barely grabbed me, and now I am hanging by one hand, our fingers slipping every second. I can’t help but wonder if this is going to be the end of me.
“Don’t panic,” Jake says, while trying to make eye contact.
“Ah ha,” Johnathan yells, “I knew it was only a matter of time before you gave yourself up, Elizabeth, after all you were the first one to step out yesterday.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Jake grunts, trying his hardest to not lose his grip. “Look me in the eye, and don’t look at anyone else…trust me.”
I swing my gun up towards a fork in the branch, hoping I can prop it up there. It takes me a few times of swinging it, but eventually it rests on the branch beside Jake. I do as he says and look him deep in the eyes to try to steady my nerves.
“Now what?” I ask breathlessly.
Jake lowers his gun, resting next to mine, teetering on the branch. He reaches down and unclips my chest strap off my backpack.
“Ged rid of your bag, that will make you lighter.”
I do as I am told and let the bag fall from my free shoulder, but now I am realizing I can’t get it off the arm Jake has a hold of. I reach down and pull a knife from the outer pocket of my sack and cut the strap off my bag. We watch it tumble to the ground, hitting the road hard, the knife slips out of my hand, crashing to the ground beside it.
To my surprise, it didn’t bust apart. The stranger with no name scurries over and picks it up, throwing my bag into Mar’s lap in the back of the truck, pocketing my knife after.
Jake was right, with the fifty-pound pack off my back, I feel as light as a feather. This is not so different from any of the obstacles we tackled on the course in boot camp. I can easily lift my leg, sliding it onto the limb beside Jake. Unfortunately, my foot kicks the barrel of my gun, sending it spinning into Jake’s and they both tumble from the tree.
They hit the ground, and Johnathon’s minion retrieves them as well, only this time he does not hand them over to Mar. That would be a mistake.
With Jake’s help, the rest is easy, and I am upright and on semisolid ground once again. Once I am in a somewhat safe position, we analyze our situation. The guns are gone, my bag is gone, and our location is compromised.
“What do we do,” I ask Jake, “do we try to run for it?”
“I don’t think we can, but we might be able to compromise.”
“What do we have to compromise with?” I ask, clueless with an exasperated laugh.
“If he wants us so bad,” Jake begins in hushed tones.
“Which he obviously does,” I agree.
“Then, he will listen to us,” Jake finishes.
“He’s not going to shoot us,” I say, “or he would have already.”
“But he doesn’t mind knocking some of us around,” Jake says, pointing at our group in the truck.
Shawn, Eli, and Samantha are still unconscious, but Magi has stopped Mar and Leah’s bleeding, it would appear.
“What’s taking so long?” Johnathon yells while looking up into the tree. “I don’t have all day.”
“We are preparing our negotiation,” Jake counters with a deep voice of authority.
“What negotiation?” Johnathan laughs. “You are in a tree, with no weapons, and no way to escape, you have nothing to negotiate with.” His laugh echoes through the air.
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Jake says.
I am not sure if he is bluffing or has a plan. If he has a plan, he hasn’t revealed it to me yet, and I am sure our only knife is now in the hands of Johnathan’s minion.
“We will come down,” Jake begins.
“What?” I squeal but stop myself when I remember we have an audience, and Jake is most likely counting on me to play along.
Jake looks at me as if a small reminder that he is in control of the situation.
“We will come down,” Jake begins again, “and we will go with you, but you must agree we get our weapons and ammo back, and after we hear you out, you take us to The Elected headquarters personally.”
Jake tries to convey confidence, but I can feel his heart pounding in his hand, I am still holding.
“How bout I have a counter offer for you,” the man says, “seeing how you have no real leverage that is.”
“Make your counter offer,” I say, “but that doesn’t mean we will accept.”
“You are going to have to accept at some point, after all, you can’t stay in that tree forever.”
“You might be surprised,” I say.
“What’s your counter offer?” Jake asks, growing tired of the man’s games.
“Let’s say you come down and let Smith and I take you with us,” he points at the other man we now know as Smith. “Let us tell you what we have to tell you, and then you can decide if you want to go to The Elected or not. If you do, then you can go yourselves, because I won’t be going.”
“Is that all?” Jake asks.
“Pretty much,” Smith pipes up.
I look at Jake, and he squeezes my hand, letting me know this may very well be our only option.
“Can I add a contingency?” I whisper to Jake.
“Sure,” he nods.
“We will take your deal,” I yell down, “but we have a contingency.”
“Which is?”
“You let Magi get everyone out of the truck and doctor them. We won’t come down until everyone is awake and we see they are ok.” I finish as firm and confident as possible.
“Deal,” Johnathan says.
At the acceptance of our deal, Magi hops out of the truck with her backpack and mine. With the help of Zac, Leah, and Mar, they get all the members of our group which lay unconscious out of the truck and put them on the side of this deserted highway.
Jake and I watch for what feels like a lifetime as Magi works her magic on the members of our family. The ones who are awake take instruction, helping her the best they can. I can see from the side of the road that Johnathan continually rubs his shoulder blades together sure to relieve some pain. Smith stands by with an ere of being overly impatient.
Samantha is the first to come to, feisty at first but calming down a bit each moment as Mar tells her what is going on. Samantha spots us in the trees, confirming the story Mar is telling. Eli is the next to wake up. He is sure to have a headache, because he has a lump on his head. I can see it from here. After the longest time, Shawn wakes up.
“You happy?” Johnathan yells up towards the tree.
Neither one of us says anything. We are nowhere near happy, but at least now we know everyone is responsive. They all load into the back of the truck, awaiting our next move.
“We stayed true to our word,” Smith begins, “now are you going to stay true to yours?”
He pauses for a moment to allow time for Jake and me to deliberate.
“I will go down, and you can stay up here,” Jake begins.
“It’s me they want,” I counter. “I will go, and you stay behind, maybe you can figure out a way to find us.”
“How about we both go like we promised,” Jake interjects. “At least then we will be together, and we are bound to find our way out. Neither one of us are very good when we are apart.”
“Either that, or these guys will keep their word and we will eventually go free,” I snicker.
Jake laughs out loud, not trying to mask his voice.
“Something funny?” Smith asks even more agitated.
“Yeah,” Jake responds, still snickering. “You!”
Smith’s sarcastic smile quickly fades to a frown. No more words are spoken, no gun shots ring out, no one fights anyone else. Jake and I climb out of our tree, and with our hands up, we walk slowly to the truck, climbing into the bed, hoping we haven’t just signed all of our death sentences.
Chapter Nine
As we travel down the road, I pull my parchment map out of my backpack. We try to make sense of some landmark on the road versus the markings on the map, but there are no consistencies. It is hard to compare wasteland on a map to wasteland around you.
We have gotten to a point in our journey where there are no more trees. The once lush woods are now flat land as far as the eye can see. Zac has taken an unusual interest in the map, studying it as much as he can by my side.
“This use to be an ocean,” Johnathon yells out of the window at us.
“Where’s all the water?” Mar asks with a terrified look on her face.
“There hasn’t been any water in the Atlantic for twenty-five years now,” Smith contributes.
THE ELECTED (Fighting Freedom Book 2) Page 4