Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 28

I pulled the talkie off him, searched him for anything useful, and then made a makeshift pouch with the man’s jacket before slinging it over my shoulder, straightening, and looking around. I peered in every direction through the light drizzle, trying to get some idea of where I was and where I needed to go. The cabin, maybe? That made the most logical sense, but what about the helicopter? Had it crashed? Where were Chloe and Astrid?

And did I know the direction of either?

I stood looking around the massive forest, unable to tell which way was north thanks to the cloud cover and unable to detect smoke or any other signs of human life. I turned and looked in the other direction. Where was I going to go?

I gingerly massaged my hands through the bandages as I glanced back at the unconscious man tied to the tree. What if he knew something?

“Fuck,” I muttered.

______

I did the only thing I could think of: go in the direction my would-be assassin was heading. It wasn’t a perfect plan. There was the very real possibility that he’d simply been heading in the direction he saw me fall. Still, he was also possibly heading in the direction he saw the helicopter crash. After realizing I had no real clue, I tried waking up the man I’d left tied to the tree, but that proved impossible. I’d done a lot of damage to the man.

So I went with the best-educated guess and set off in the rough direction I’d seen him heading. I didn’t know which cardinal direction I was heading, and the steady, constant drizzle made the already cool weather feel much colder than it was. The combination of fear, uncertainty, and creeping cold made the experience the second most unpleasant of my life. It could become the most unpleasant, depending on how long I was out here. At least getting pissed on by Roger in Vegas was warm.

Gross.

I don’t know how much time passed or how far I walked, but my alertness paid off when I heard faint voices in the distance to my left. Sneaking forward, it took me a little over five minutes to find the people who I heard talking. Sure enough, as I peered around a thick tree trunk and through some brush, I spotted three men in a small clearing about thirty feet away from me. One of them was facing to my left, seeming to scan the trees to keep an eye out for any trouble. Another was talking into a walkie, saying something quietly and ignoring the rainwater gathering on the tip of his nose and dripping off at a constant rhythm. The third had his back to me, but as he turned to look at the man with the walkie, he took a couple of steps to the side, and I had to remember not to gasp out loud.

I spotted Chloe… on her knees with her hands tied behind her back and a gag tied around her mouth. The button-up shirt she had been wearing had been removed, and all that remained was a white tank top with the strap of a black bra peeking out as it was beginning to slide down her shoulder. The poor woman must be freezing with so little on out in the rain. Even more worrisome… the guys in front of her must have been pretty badass to bring someone like my bodyguard down. After all, she’d walked into a warehouse full of armed men to rescue Natashya and me.

Rolling back around the tree to remain safely out of view, I wiped the moisture from the drizzly weather out of my eyes as I hugged the gun to my chest, contemplating what the hell I was going to do. Three men were guarding the woman, and there was only one of me. I had started training with Tara and Chloe but was hardly Bruce Wayne. How the hell was I going to take on three men at once without endangering Chloe? How was I going to take them on without eating a bullet?

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the creeping cold eating at my bones and joints. It was obvious that I had to do something. It was also obvious that my options were limited. I’d gotten lucky in the confrontation under the tree I’d landed in, but there was no way I would get that lucky twice in a row. I couldn’t rely on getting lucky, either… not with Chloe’s life at stake. I wasn’t a killer, and I didn’t know enough about shooting guns to feel confident that I could take out all three of them before one of them killed my bodyguard.

And would Chloe be able to help somehow? Was it unreasonable for me to expect her to? I mean, what could she do while trussed up like that?

Setting the gun down, I fished the walkie-talkie out of the makeshift knapsack and turned it on but kept the gain low so that I could barely hear the hiss of static as I considered my options.

Finally, I pressed the button on the side of the walkie. “Hey. English?”

A moment later, a voice crackled over the speaker so quietly I had to hold my ear to it. “Nanda?”

“English,” I said quietly.

A moment passed in silence, and I peered around the side of the tree to see that the man standing closest to Chloe had taken the walkie and was conversing with the man who had initially held the device.

“Hello?” the man eventually said into the walkie.

“Hey,” I said. “Do you speak English?”

“Yes,” came the reply.

I almost asked him what he would do with Chloe but stopped myself. Wouldn’t that let them know I was nearby?

“Did you shoot down my ride?” I asked.

“Where is Jin?” the man replied, ignoring my question.