***
I wake up in a cold sweat, my breathing coming out harshly and my heart racing a million miles an hour.
Flashes of my nightmare come back and a cold fear grips my body. I can only remember glimpses of it, but it’s no less terrifying. I saw the men in the black SUVs chasing us. I saw Joel waving a gun wildly, surrounded by Charlie, Will, Rose and Dana. I watch as he shoots and kills them all no matter how much I beg him to put the gun away. I watch as Stan and Martha come into view and a cold chill enters my body when Martha tries to grab my arm.
Waking up ends up being a relief and I’m too afraid to even attempt trying to sleep again after that. I grab my bag that I have left on the ground by the bed and find my cell phone at the bottom. I pull it out and look at it. I’m so close to being able to look at photos of Dana on here, however I’m not sure if I should. Can I be tracked by turning it on? Is the GPS on it separate to the sim card? By turning it on, will I expose our location and sentence Charlie and I back to The Windmill?
I close my eyes and picture Dana’s smiling face. I remember everything I can about her.
There is a groan from Joel in the other room. I stand up, dropping my cell back into my bag and slowly tiptoe away from Charlie to reluctantly move over to look into the next room. Joel is thrashing in his bed. I move closer to him.
“Joel? Joel, wake up.” I can’t bring myself to touch him to get him to wake up. Instead, I call his name again and he jolts awake.
“Zoe?” Joel squints in the darkness and I take a step backwards, regretting coming in here. “Zoe, wait, please.” Joel sits up in his bed and I stop close to the open doorway.
“What is it?” I hate how my voice shakes. I want it to sound strong.
“Thank you for getting me out of that place.”
“You should thank Will, he is the one who carried you out.”
There is a pause while Joel processes what I said. “I thought that guy was called Charlie?” I hear the confusion in his voice, but also tiredness.
“He is. Will is someone else we left with. He’s with Rose, they took a different car and a separate route to us.”
“What’s going on? They wouldn’t tell me anything; they just kept asking who had paid me to try and kill you. They wouldn’t believe me when I said no one had.”
“It’s a long story and it’s late.” I don’t think he deserves any answers.
“Are you okay?” I hear his concern and it makes my blood boil. He’s concerned for my wellbeing after trying to kill me?
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I cross my arms over my chest, fearful he is about to bring up Dana. I definitely never want to talk to him about her.
“I saw that guard hurt you.” He’s referring to the kick I had taken to my side from the guard when Joel had been interrogated.
“I’m fine.” I’d already forgotten about that bruise. It’s still sore when I touch it, but I’ve noticed the color is already getting lighter.
“Zoe, I’m so sorry about—”
“Please don’t. I don’t want to hear it.” Tears are falling down my face and I’m grateful it’s too dark to see them.
“Okay. What is going to happen next?”
“We’re meeting Rose and Will in Nebraska. I don’t know what’ll happen after that.”
There is another long pause and just as I’m about to leave, his voice stops me.
“That guy in there, Charlie. He seems like a good guy.”
I can’t figure out what his tone means. He seems off, but I don’t know why.
“He is.”
“Are you guys—”
“Don’t. I don’t want to talk to you about that, either.”
Joel remains silent.
“What did they do to you?” I remember all the bruises covering him and I’m curious about what was done to him. Maybe I can feel some sense of justice in how he was treated, and maybe thinking that way makes me a bad person. Or maybe I’m just curious how ruthless P.A.G.E. really is.
“It might be quicker to say what they didn’t do.” Joel’s voice hitches and I feel a small amount of sympathy for him, however the sympathy is quickly lost when I think of Dana bleeding out.
“You should get some rest.” I turn away, wanting to get back to Charlie and away from the bad memories trying to suck me in from being around him.
“If only my nightmares would let me,” Joel mutters to himself.
I wonder if his nightmares have Dana in them, though I can’t bring myself to ask.
Taken By Surprise Page 74