“Not bad, Holloway.”
“Me? How about you? Do you ever miss?” I sound impressed, but really, I feel a bit afraid of him. If he’s this good with a paintball, how good is he using a real gun? How many people has he shot?
I leave those fears behind as we rush out of the room. Ethan leads us back down the stairs. We’ve taken out three teams, and since no siren has sounded to alert us the round is over, it means there is still one left. I thought for sure we would be taken out first. Now that we’re close to winning, I feel an excitement rising in my stomach.
“Do you see anything?” Ethan asks me. He has jogged us through the bottom level of the shed and we haven’t come across anyone yet.
I run behind him and a few moments later, I sense we’re falling into a trap. I stop moving, but in the rush, Ethan keeps jogging forward. A few steps later, a gun points at the side of his head, so close it rests over his cheek, under the protection of his helmet.
“Now, this is going to hurt,” a rough voice grunts mirthlessly.
My legs spring to action on their own and I crash into the crates, blocking the man from my view. They crash down and his arm flies forward as he fires the round at Ethan. He misses and Ethan quickly fires off a shot at the man now trapped beneath the crates. In the same breathe he turns, one arm on the gun, one arm grabbing me. He pulls me up and we run. We don’t need to look to see the man’s partner will be firing at us in retaliation.
Splats of paint shoot passed us, and I trip on some piping, which saves me from taking a hit in the back. Ethan yells at me to stay down then lets off a tirade of shots. He fires until he is out of paint and, without him needing to ask, I pass him my gun while he throws his to the ground. He takes my arm to help me up again and we run a few more feet, hiding behind some crates.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know.” I know I’ll have some interesting bruises tomorrow from my crashes, but right now I have so much adrenaline pumping through me that I’m not truly aware of any pain.
“You saved my skin before, Holloway.”
“Above.” I sense her before I see her and Ethan points my gun upwards just as she comes into view. She had climbed on top of the crates. Ethan quickly gets a shot off before she manages to aim hers.
“Damn, I thought I had you for sure.” She looks down at the green shot over her vest and growls in anger before jumping down and landing easily.
“Looks like I owe you another one, thanks.”
“Let’s just call it even.”
When we walk out of the shed as the siren sounds, Ethan is practically skipping. He can’t stop smiling and twice he slaps me on the arm and tells me we won our round.
“Anyone would think this is the first time you’ve won this,” I comment.
“I’ve won rounds before; it’s the next one I can’t seem to win.”
“Next one?”
“Yeah, it’s like the grand finale. All the winners from the rounds will play each other now, but they usually throw in a curve ball.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno, like you’re blindfolded or something.”
“Blindfolded?”
“Don’t worry; once they handcuffed us to our partners and it was hilarious because they lost half the keys. They had to cut them off us in the end.”
“Sounds hilarious,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
We walk into the hall, my eyes scanning for Charlie. I find him with Rose and Will and walk towards them.
“How did it go?” Will asks me.
“We won.”
“Cool, so we’ll be going against each other.” Will smiles.
“I guess so. How did you do, Rose?” I ask her.
“Lost.” Rose doesn’t look up from her food. I notice she seems to be more playing with it rather than eating it.
I share a look with Charlie as I sit down next to him, Ethan moving to my other side.
“So I guess this is you making up for failing to look after Zoe the other day?” Charlie asks him, annoyance tinging his voice. He is still angry at Ethan for Corby attacking me.
“Hey man, I didn’t fail exactly. And actually, she was more protecting me. Holloway is my secret weapon.” Ethan grabs two sandwiches from the center of the table then passes one over to me.
“You just told Will I’m your secret weapon, way to spread the word.” I roll my eyes at him, feeling that I’ll be doing that a lot, the more I get to know him.
“Got it, take Zoe out first,” Will jokes to which he gets a glare from Charlie. “Kidding.”
“Are you bleeding?” Charlie reaches out and takes my arm. I have long scratches up my arm from when I crashed into the crates. They aren’t deep and already the blood has dried.
“I wonder how that other guy is.” I feel pity for the guy trapped under the crates.
“Sully is going to be pissed he got knocked out by a girl, and an untrained one at that.” Ethan smiles.
“You knocked a guy out?”
“I keep telling you, man, she’s got skill. She might as well just protect herself.” Ethan smiles at Charlie. I wonder why he has so much faith in me. The others, myself included, don’t have any faith.
I feel eyes on my back and I turn around to see Corby eyeing me off. He hasn’t approached me since he attacked me, but I’ve continued to feel his eyes on me since he returned last night at dinner. I know it won’t be long before he snaps again.
“Please don’t tell me Corby made it through to the finals.”
“Oh, yeah, he always makes it through. When he and Reader were a team, they won every round they ever went in.”
I look away from him when he uses his finger to draw a line across his neck. I suddenly don’t feel very hungry.
Charlie’s hand finds mine under the table and he squeezes it hard. I know he didn’t see what Corby just did, or I would be fighting to keep him at the table. So far, Charlie has stayed away from him, and I want to keep it that way.
“Mac is right, you’re good. Trust your instincts and stay close to him.”
I nod, my eyes drifting to Rose. I haven’t had another chance to talk to her and I’m noticing a definite drop in her enthusiasm. I’m used to her being vocal and angry. She leads us and gets us into gear. She should be firing me up, she should be paying attention to guards and security. She should be trying to get us out of here. Instead, she looks down and depressed. Almost like our talk about her wedding didn’t sink in. She either doesn’t believe me, or doesn’t want to get her hopes up. I can’t really blame her for that, either.
We eat in silence for a few moments longer before Rose gets up and leaves. The boys watch her go as I get up to follow.
“Rose, talk to me.” As I catch up to her, she shakes her head at me. “Come on, have you noticed any holes in their security?” I hope to get her mind off Dean.
She thinks about my question and I see the fight between her depression and determination taking place. Determination wins out.
“There are security cameras eliminating any blind spots. I would need to alter the live feed and replay old footage to get us through easily.”
I smile at her, grateful she is giving this some thought.
“Good, that will keep us from having to get Charlie to use his ability and giving away what we’re doing.”
“It’ll be getting my hands on a computer to change the feed that’ll be the hard part,” she admits.
“Maybe we can get Charlie to cut the feed earlier in the day, make them panic. While they think we’re escaping, you sneak in and change the footage then we move later in the night?” I suggest, letting myself get lost in the very rough escape plan.
When we make it to Rose’s room, I sit down with her on the bottom bunk. The room is small, smaller than the one I share with Charlie.
“We’ve still got the problem of the tracking devices they’ve put in our arms. How do we get out of that?”
“Well, I was thinking; Martha told me that if
we try to get them out ourselves we can cause a lot of damage, so basically if we want any hope of getting this out, we need a surgeon, or at least a doctor.”
“So where do we get one of them?”
“Maybe we can turn one of the doctors here? If we can get one to help us, then we can eliminate that problem entirely. Doctor Pratt seems nice, maybe we could turn her.” I recall Ethan’s words of her interest in Stan. If she does like him, then she won’t help us. “Anyway, we can work on that one.”
“We’ll need to leave the country. There is no way we can stay in America when they can track us.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll have to meet up with Blake and Dean and then go. Don’t suppose you know any smugglers?” I half joke. With Rose, you can never know.
“I don’t, but they can’t be that hard to find, or Dean might know someone from being a cop.”
I nod, but feel my heart sinking. If we do leave the country, then we won’t ever see our family or homes again. I know I’ve never seen Rose’s dad, but my instincts tell me that he’s the man I’ve seen holding her arm in my vision of her wedding. If I’m right, and if that vision is part of a true future dream, then she can’t be on the run. It means either my vision is wrong and I’ve given her false hope about Dean, or that we don’t go on the run after this.
“The guards outside this place might be a problem. We’ll at least need to be covered in darkness when we leave.”
“Yeah, and we need to find a car quickly,” I agree.
“This time will be more dangerous than last time. I think they’ll be willing to kill us this time. We’ll be proving too much trouble for them and we know too much now,” Rose worries.
“Look, we’ll promise ourselves not to move too early. We make sure we have a solid plan before we do this, and if we can’t get out of this place, then we wait. They want us for missions, all of us. They’ll send us out together, and we can get away together.”
Rose nods, more resolve coming through now.
“That is the Rose I know and love.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders.
She smiles weakly at me. “I don’t think I truly understood how you felt before, when Charlie was taken. I’m sorry you went through that.”
I’m surprised by her apology. “You were just what I needed Rose. You got me through that and helped get me to Charlie. Without you, I would have just given myself up in the hopes that they put us back together. So thank you. And I promise I’ll do the same for you. I will get you back to Dean.” I wholeheartedly know that I will be able to deliver on this. Dean must be alive. I wouldn’t set myself up like this.
“Thank you. I know you will. I just hate not being around him. I also hate myself a little for feeling that way. I never thought I would be one of those girls—the ones who can’t function without a guy—but I just love him so much. It’s like I can’t breathe properly because he’s not here. I can’t focus because I can’t see him. I just wish you would have a dream about him, about all of us where you see us all happy, alive and together somewhere safe.”
“You heard what Ethan said about Blake always winning these stupid mock missions. He’s good and he’ll have gotten to Dean in time.”
Rose nods, but I can tell she is still stressing about it. I try to think of something else to offer her comfort. She beats me to it. “Tell me about our wedding, about what you saw.”
I hadn’t really seen much else, however I close my eyes and picture Rose in her dress.
“You’re wearing a strapless dress; it’s tight until it gets to your hips and then it swishes out. You have your hair tied up and a long veil. You look so beautiful, Rose.”
“What about Dean? How does he look?”
I look passed Rose and see further down the aisle and my eyes land on Charlie. Charlie is here! If this is a memory of a future dream, then it means Charlie must get out, too. I take in his sight and my heart quickens seeing him look vibrant in a tuxedo. His features look stiff, though, and he appears to be nervous. I see his eyes skipping around the room, over the large crowd, standing in what appears to be a large, open tent. I rip my eyes away from him and look next to him at Dean. Charlie is obviously Dean’s best man.
Dean looks equally as good looking in his own tuxedo, and much calmer than Charlie. His eyes are taking in Rose as she makes her way slowly down the middle of the crowd. I notice his eyes tear up seeing her approach. The love he is openly expressing for Rose takes my breath away.
“He looks great in a tuxedo, no surprises there. He looks happy. You both look happy.” My voice hitches. I try to find Charlie again, but everything blurs.
I open my eyes and discover Rose is crying next to me. I wrap my other arm around her and bring her in for a hug.
“We’re getting out of here and the first order of business will be to find Dean, I promise. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
A knock interrupts us and I look up to find Ethan standing at the doorway.
“Sorry, but it’s time for the final.”
Chapter 10 – The Grand Final
I stand outside the shed at a different door than last time, tapping my hand against my leg nervously. We’ve been told our only ammo is what was left from our first round, which luckily, my gun has barely been used. Each team also has one pair of night vision goggles. Ethan insisted I be the one to wear them, so I currently have them sitting on top of my head. The others are watching from the grass area Ethan and I had spent our morning watching from.
The feel of Charlie’s good luck kiss still lingers on my lips. Once we’re in, they’ll go inside, where they’ve set up a screen to view the final on. They have cameras set up everywhere so Stan, Shane, Martha and whatever other trainers are here can view how we’re doing. For the final, everyone can watch.
“I say we find a good position to defend ourselves and possibly hide. We’ll let the others shoot themselves out and waste their paint. Once they’re low, we can make our move.” Ethan mutters to me, his gaze watching the light above.
This final has eight pairs and one of them has Corby in it. I know he’ll be gunning to get to us. The thought terrifies me and, now that Charlie isn’t around, I allow myself to accept how bad this might go.
“Are you gonna vomit?” Ethan complains, watching me carefully.
“No… at least, I hope not.” I swallow back my anxiety, trying to appear more ready for this than I feel.
“Listen, I get that you’re feeling nervous, but don’t sweat it. If we lose, then we lose. Just follow your instincts and whatever happens…” Ethan shrugs.
“I’m more nervous about having to face Corby,” I admit.
“Yeah, well, the guy is pretty brutal.” Ethan winces when he no doubt realizes he’s said the wrong thing. “But I won’t let him near you. If you get uncomfortable or whatever, we’ll leave. We can forfeit.”
“We could just forfeit now,” I suggest, already knowing he won’t agree to it.
He shakes his head. “No, you run away from this now and you’ll be able to add another fear to your list. It won’t be so bad. Face him, win, and then he won’t have a hold over you.”
“Yeah, or face him and get killed,” I mumble, but Ethan isn’t listening to me. The light has turned on, the bright red making me think of blood, and the fear that we might be shedding some tonight.
Ethan charges through the door and I quickly follow behind him, wanting nothing more than to hide behind his large frame, however I am his eyes. I move the goggles down to cover my eyes and everything changes to a bright green haze. I search around us and find everything to be similar to earlier except we’re not near the stairs like we’ve been before. There are a lot more crates and broken pieces of wood along the ground as well.
“To the left; a pile of crates,” I whisper, leading us to cover. We stay here for a few moments, listening for any further noises.
I hear quiet footsteps approaching from nearby and under my hand, which is resting on Ethan’s shoulder, I feel him tense. I look a
round us, trying to find the noise, yet I don’t see anything. I tap his shoulder and pull his shirt lightly and then turn. This time, I feel his hand on my shoulder as I lead us around the edge of the crates. I quickly peek around the corner and see two men coming our way.
“Two men; dead right,” I whisper, moving aside. Ethan takes two quick shots as he rounds the corner. I peek afterwards and see he hit both of them with no sight. Amazing.
“Got them,” I whisper. We lean against the crates again, listening to the two men muttering to themselves.
“Let’s move somewhere else,” Ethan suggests.
I let him rest his hand on my shoulder, understanding this makes more sense than me following him, and make our way around to where those two men had been. Once we reach the edge, I take a peek at the area around us. Seeing nothing, I decide to run across the open area to another area full of wooden crates. I make it halfway when I know something is very wrong. Seconds later, I know why.
The lights turn back on in the shed and I’m blinded from my night vision. I throw them off my face, but my eyes sting. I keep them closed, hoping that when I open them I will be able to see.
“Zoe, look out!” Ethan calls out and I hear him fire his paintball gun.
I duck out of instinct, fearing a hit of paint. Instead, I’m pushed hard and lose my balance, falling to the ground. I open my eyes, even though it stings to do so. Corby is standing over me and although Ethan has delivered a direct hit of paint to his chest, he isn’t walking away.
“I didn’t do anything to Blake,” I yell at him, hoping to quell his anger straight away.
“Liar!” he growls at me. He brings his foot back and I know he’s going in for a kick. I roll away just as Ethan body slams him into the crates we had been aiming for. Corby is strong and is quick to right himself. He looks angry. I try to swallow passed the fear rising in my chest when the lights go back out again. We’re covered in darkness and I no longer have the night vision goggles to see anything. A hand takes hold of my arm, which I assume quickly is Ethan’s when I’m pulled away from where I last saw Corby.
Taken By Choice (Taken Trilogy Book 3) Page 10