Fliers

by Laura Mae

  “I’m not going to leave without thanking you,” Peter said shortly. Then a sound like a gun being cocked echoed in Sydona’s ears.

  Sydona caught a glimpse of Giovonna whose eyes turned wet from tears. Raoul looked up at Sydona longingly, stuck on how to get out of the sudden hostage situation. Sydona slowly and quietly equipped her knife on her hip and tied up her boots. She grabbed a black jacket with a hood and had Raoul hide inside of it.

  “Still there, Syd?” Peter stepped closer to the tent.

  “Yes. I’m coming out,” she said and took a deep breath.

  The sun blinded her as she unzipped the tent, but she could make out a large, bald man in a white t-shirt aiming a pistol at her.

  “Slowly now. This isn’t a race,” Peter said.

  Sydona’s eyes turned green underneath the contacts as she clenched her jaw. She put her hands up to show him she meant no harm.

  “The other two in there, too,” he said.

  “She’s injured. Can’t walk,” Sydona blurted.

  Peter looked her in the eyes and grinned. His skin was weathered and face covered in frown lines. The pistol was small compared to his massive hands, and his shirt stretched so much she could see his chest hair through it. He would be a good match for Willow.

  “What about the guy? Or is he injured too?”

  “That was me.” Sydona avoided eye contact.

  Peter didn’t seem to be easily fooled. “Who’s in here?” he pointed at Willow’s tent.

  “No one. It’s for our supplies,” Sydona lied.

  “Oh. So you won’t care if I open it then?” Peter walked towards it with his pistol still glued on Sydona.

  She stood silently and tried to come up with something quickly.

  “Wait,” Sydona shouted. “I lied. It’s not supplies. It’s my grandmother. She was recently widowed and is severely depressed. Plus, she hates when people wake her up. Gets a bit cranky.”

  Peter smiled wider. “Your grandmother. You expect me to believe that?”

  He laughed and bent down to unzip the tent regardless of her warning. As he pushed the flap back, he found Willow sitting on the ground with a loaded crossbow aimed directly at him.

  “Get off my lawn!” Willow cried out and shot the arrow into his shoulder.

  Raoul took the small opportunity to grab the gun from Peter and fly it back to Sydona. Peter clutched his shoulder and cried out in pain as he examined the arrow sticking through his body. Switching roles, Sydona held the pistol at Peter in case he tried anything foolish. This action only aggravated him further like a grizzly bear. He turned to face Sydona with bared teeth and growls coming from him. As he took a step towards her, Sydona fired the gun at his thigh and caused him to drop to the ground in defeat. Sydona lifted her chin, proud that she was able to disarm the threat.

  “Drop it!” a female voice called out through the trees.

  Sydona perked up and stuck the gun out straight as she circled in one spot around her, searching for the voice. Suddenly a younger man and female appeared from behind the trees in the distance. Both had guns in hand. As they approached the site, Sydona’s stomach twisted, and her hands shook, making it difficult to hold the gun steady. Willow exited her tent with the empty crossbow while Raoul hid back in Sydona’s hood.

  “You’re outnumbered. Just drop it!” the woman called out again, coming into full view. She was of Asian descent with dark eyes that matched her jet black, short hair. The man who accompanied her stood on the other side of the campsite, making it hard to watch both of them at once. The man had dark brown skin, short dreadlocks, and a murderous look in his eyes.

  “Did you really think I came without backup?” Peter groaned. Willow kicked him.

  “Who are you people?” Sydona asked, needing a confirmation.

  “Drop your damn gun!” the woman shouted and stepped closer.

  Sydona grinded her teeth, set the gun on the ground, and returned her hands to the air.

  The woman nodded her head but remained steady.

  “We’re with the NFA. We’re not here to hurt you. The guns are just a precaution,” she said calmly.

  The man grabbed the extra gun and put it in the waistband of his jeans.

  “How’d you know we were here?” Sydona asked.

  “Not important. Can she walk?” the man asked, looking inside the tent at Giovonna who sobbed uncontrollably.

  “Not well,” Willow answered.

  “Can you carry her?” the woman asked.

  Sydona squeezed her fists until her knuckles turned white.

  “We’re not who you think we are,” Sydona blurted. “Look at our eyes. If you’re looking for fliers, you’ve got the wrong people.”

  The man and woman looked at each other with uncertainty.

  “Yeah! We’re just out here campin’, mindin’ our own business. How can ya be so sure?” Willow said, going along with Sydona.

  “Shut up!” the woman yelled. “Get that girl out of the tent. You. Carry her. Let’s go!”

  She directed Willow to carry Giovonna.

  Sydona was out of options. If these people were from the NFA, they wouldn’t want to bring in dead fliers, but what was stopping them from hurting her and her friends? And how did they find her? They were in the middle of nowhere. She made sure of that.

  “Did Harold send you?” Sydona asked as she began to walk away from the campsite with a gun at her back.

  “Stop asking questions.” The man jabbed her harder in the back.

  Willow helped Giovonna out of the tent, and Giovonna held onto Willow’s side and limped beside her. Her face was covered in tears and her forehead with sweat. Giovonna’s cries made Sydona’s stomach twist. The man directed Sydona as the woman herded Willow and Giovonna in front of her.

  “Where are we going?” Giovonna sniffled.

  “Our van, about a mile away,” the man answered. Giovonna cried out once more.

  “I don’t think so,” another man said from behind the group.

  Sydona turned around to find a younger man with shaggy black hair had a gun to her captor’s head. What stood out more than anything, though, were his violet eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  “Nobody move.” The new guy gritted his teeth.

  The woman turned around and gasped at the site of her partner being held up by a gun. “Jordan…” she cried, pointing the gun at the stranger.

  Sydona froze, unsure of what exactly was going on. Where did this mysterious stranger come from? Judging by his gangly appearance, he could possibly be homeless. His hair was so long and unkempt that it covered most of one eye. The hand he gripped his gun with looked rough and filthy, matching his moth eaten and baggy clothes.

  “Let him go!” the woman yelled, bearing her white teeth.

  “Not until you drop your guns and let them go,” the stranger said calmly.

  The woman shook with anger and fear, trying to hold back tears. As she tried to decide what to do, Sydona remembered the dagger on her hip and slowly worked her fingers to the handle.

  “Meg, just do what he says,” Jordan said.

  “No! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!” Meg yelled.

  “Meg, please. They’re going to kill us like they tried killing Peter… Nathan will never get the help he needs if you’re dead,” Jordan said.

  The woman began to cry harder but still kept her gun aimed. Giovonna and Willow stood quietly behind Sydona as they waited for a chance to change the outcome. Sydona took the opportunity to walk backwards, away from Meg, and get behind her without her noticing.

  “I need this money, Jordan! For Nathan… Which is why I can’t let them go,” she yelled.

  “Drop your gun, now!” the stranger bellowed.

  Meg screamed at him as tears poured down her face, and Sydona moved closer behind her and kicked Meg’s feet from under her. Meg went flying back as the gun shot into the air, making everyone jump. She landed on her back with a thud. Sydona kicked the gun from her
hand as Meg arched her back in pain. She pressed her dagger against the hysterical woman’s neck, and as she straddled her to the ground, Sydona stared into her eyes.

  “How did you know we were here?” Sydona tightened her jaw. She could faintly hear Giovonna sniffling and Willow comforting her.

  Meg wrinkled up her nose and lips, then hacked up a wad of saliva and spit it right in Sydona’s face. Sydona wiped it off with her sleeve, grinned, and punched Meg square in her temple, hard enough to knock her unconscious. Taking a deep breath and cleaning her face more, Sydona looked back at Jordan who was still in the stranger’s control.

  “Meg?” Jordan asked, trying to peek over Sydona.

  “What do ya think we should do with them?” Willow spoke up.

  “Please. Let us go. We won’t come back. I promise,” Jordan begged.

  “Now, why don’t I believe you?” the stranger asked, still holding a gun to Jordan’s head.

  “I swear on my mother’s grave that we won’t. You have to believe me. Please!” he pleaded more.

  Sydona unstrattled herself from Meg and grabbed the gun off the ground. Placing the dagger back in her holster, she glanced at Giovonna who looked traumatized. Approaching her like a timid deer, Sydona had to know if she was alright.

  “You okay?” Sydona whispered. Giovonna nodded with tears glistening in her eyes.

  “Are you good to go back to the site alone?” Sydona asked.

  “No, what if more come?” Giovonna sniffled.

  She was understandably scared, but she needed to do something with the other two first. Killing them might be the only solution, and she didn’t want to expose Giovonna to that. This new stranger guy seemed to be able to hold his own, but he was still the only one pointing a gun at anyone.

  “Go with her,” Sydona told Willow and motioned her head to the campsite.

  “Ya sure?” Willow placed her hand on Sydona’s shoulder.

  “Yeah. I’m fine,” Sydona said.

  As they limped back to the site, Sydona turned her attention back to the guys.

  “What do you wanna do with them, then?” the stranger asked.

  Sydona looked Jordan in his brown eyes. “We can’t let you go. You’re bounty hunters. It’s your job to hunt us down. What would they say when you come back with one less person and no fliers?”

  Jordan dropped his head in defeat.

  “What if they don’t go back?” Raoul asked from inside Sydona’s hoodie.

  Both Jordan and the other man stared at Raoul’s orange glow with awe. Raoul landed on Sydona’s shoulder and stretched his body like a feline.

  “What do you mean?” Sydona asked.

  “I mean, what if they don’t go back? We keep them here. I’m sure Willow has rope or something.”

  Sydona flashed a smile as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head.

  “Willow! You have rope in your bag?” Sydona called as Willow helped Giovonna back into the tent.

  “Of course I do,” Willow answered with a matter of fact tone.

  “Great. We’re gonna need it. And grab that douchebag by your tent, would ya?”

  Willow grabbed Peter and forced him to stand up. He whimpered in pain. Willow searched through her bag for a thick rope and wrapped it around her other arm.

  “Can you at least take this arrow out of my shoulder?!” Peter exclaimed.

  “Sure, if you wanna be in even more pain and bleed out. It would be my pleasure!” Willow smiled as her large hands gripped him so tightly that Sydona could see the indents from twenty feet away. Peter responded to her with a grumble and continued to limp towards Sydona.

  Sydona nodded as Willow approached with the bleeding bounty hunter. She then turned her attention to the new stranger. “Hey. Would you mind, uh--”

  “Silas,” the man spoke up as he waited for Sydona’s instructions.

  “Would you mind taking him this way, Silas?” Sydona asked and nodded her head away from the camp.

  “Lead the way,” Silas answered with a small grin, making Sydona unintentionally smile in return. She refocused.

  Looking at Meg on the ground, she noticed movement and quickly returned to her. Sydona pointed the pistol at Meg as her eyes finally opened. Meg quickly stood up with furrowed brows as she glanced at the defeated men in her party.

  “Walk.” Sydona glared at Meg who returned the glare but did as she said.

  Sydona led the group deeper into the woods until they could no longer spot the artificial green and blue of the tents. With the help of Willow and Silas, Sydona tied each bounty hunter to separate trees, so it would be more difficult to untie each other. Sydona used her blade to cut each section of the rope, and Willow made sure to tighten the ropes until each hunter could barely squirm against the trees.

  Once they were secured, Sydona bent down in front of Jordan, hoping he would be the reasonable one in the group and give her answers.

  “How did you find us?” Sydona asked.

  Jordan avoided eye contact and looked less angry than the other two. He took a moment to answer, almost as if he was willing to say but didn’t want his companions to overhear.

  “We tracked you,” Jordan answered softly.

  Sydona rolled her eyes. “I assumed that--”

  “No. I mean, we tracked you. With a device.”

  “A device?” Raoul asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Sydona narrowed her eyes and glanced at Raoul and Willow who both had no idea what device he was talking about.

  “Who sent you?” Willow spoke up in her raspy voice.

  Jordan looked over at Meg who was thrashing around like an angry hornet glued to a tree.

  “Don’t you tell them, Jordan! Don’t!”

  Jordan looked down at the ground and shook his head.

  “Was it Harold?” Raoul asked shortly.

  Jordan kept still except for one single nod, and it was all Sydona needed.

  “Son of a bitch.” She stood up so quickly that Raoul almost fell off her shoulder.

  “I knew it. That man is the biggest thorn in my side…” Willow huffed.

  Sydona went over in her head how on earth Harold would have put a tracking device on her. When he arrived at the cabin, the closest she ever got to him was in the doorway, and the shotgun was closer to him than her. He never touched that gun to put anything on it, and if he did, Willow surely would've seen it. The only other encounter she had with him was in the diner in Mayfield, and even then, he didn’t touch her at all. Except for...

  “My sunglasses. That has to be it!” Sydona exclaimed and ran back to the campsite. Raoul flew directly behind her.

  She headed to the tent that Giovonna was in and rifled through her bag.

  “What’s going on?” Giovonna sat up in her sleeping bag with wide eyes.

  “Harold’s been tracking us. Ever since Mayfield!” Raoul informed her.

  “Seriously?! How?” Giovonna asked.

  “With these.” Sydona held her glasses up.

  Feeling like an idiot, she immediately noticed the device on the face of the glasses. In the upper right hand corner laid a small, black sticker that blended in well with the plastic of the glasses. It shone in a different way than her glasses, and it seemed so obvious looking at it now. Using her nail, she peeled off the sticker and revealed underneath a red, barely visible blinking light. The new technology fascinated her but she felt infuriated for being so oblivious. Harold placed it so perfectly and quickly, she wondered how he accomplished this with such precision. He must have been doing this bounty hunting thing for a long time.

  Just then, she had an idea. She stuck the tracker back on the glasses and exited the tent. Walking briskly back to the hostages where Willow and Silas stood guard, she put the glasses on Meg.

  “Tell Harold we said ‘nice try’.” Sydona grinned and turned away from her as Meg haucked another wad of spit that just missed her shoe. Raoul responded with pulling Meg’s hair and jerking her head backwards. He then stuck his
tongue out at her.

  “And you,” Sydona looked at Peter, sweating bullets and breathing heavy. “I try to be nice and look where it got me. I hope you bleed out.”

  Sydona wiped her brow as she took another moment to tighten their restraints again.

  “Well. If all is good, I’ll be taking off,” Silas announced as he walked away from the group.

  Sydona’s heart jumped; she completely forgot he was still there.

  “Wait up,” she called out.

  Sydona followed him with Raoul on her shoulder and Willow slightly behind them.

  “Can I ask what you’re doing way out here, too?” Sydona pried, still suspicious of how he was there at the same time as the hunters.

  “Well, I’m not with them if that’s what you’re worried about,” Silas said as he adjusted the hatchet that hung from a loop in his jeans.

  “So where’d you come from, huh?” Willow asked with a sharp tone. She was just as untrusting as Sydona, even if he was a flier.

  “Seems awfully convenient,” Raoul said.

  The man laughed as they continued walking. “Yeah, it was convenient that I saved you all from being slaves. I don’t think I heard a ‘thank you’ yet.”

  Sydona scoffed. “I had it handled.”

  “Right,” Silas chuckled.

  Sydona didn’t respond because she knew she owed him a token of gratitude. If he hadn’t been there for whatever reason, they would be in serious trouble. The walk back to the tent was quiet and tense. The crunching of leaves and twigs were the only sounds between them. Sydona battled with herself over thanking the stranger. Anymore communication with him would make him stay longer, and she wanted to head out right away to continue on their mission. When they reached the camp, they found Giovonna sitting on a log messing with a fire she made.

  “Oh good. There you are!” Giovonna exclaimed, her face bright with joy. “What happened to the other guys?” Willow silently agreed with Sydona that she would talk to her about it. Sydona didn’t know how to tell her that they basically left them for dead.

  Silas cleared his throat. “Welp, take care,” he said as he continued to walk away from the site.