Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 33

Two gunshots went off, sounding relatively close to where I was standing and made me drop to a crouch as I looked around, all the weariness leaving my body in one fell swoop. More birds than I’d realized were around took flight, flying away from the abrupt blasts. Once it quieted down and no one came charging around the tree to kill me, I slowly worked my way around the edge, keeping low.

Nothing. Not even the sound of footsteps or the rustling of anyone moving through trees. It was just as quiet as it had been a few minutes ago… quieter without the birds, actually.

It took everything in me to stay where I was. I didn’t know if Chloe was okay or if she’d just been gunned down by some of Hiro’s goons. Were they going to retrace her steps and find me? Did I really care if they did if Chloe was dead? Sure. I had a lot to live for and a lot of people waiting for me back home, but the thought of Chloe dying out here and never getting to see her alive. She was terse, stoic, and not always the most fun person to be around, but in considering the possibility I could lose her, I felt a tightening in my chest.

“Fuck,” I whispered and slipped behind the tree again. I’d give her another ten minutes, then I was going to have to decide what else to do.

I didn’t have to wait ten minutes.

I heard noisy rustling through the trees, and my heart immediately lept into my throat. Remembering how quietly Chloe had walked through the woods, I was sure that wasn’t her. The fucking goons were tracking me, and it was only a matter of time before they found me. I could run for it, but there was a good chance they would be able to catch up to me or possibly get a clear shot.

And what if it was Astrid… or what’s-his-face—her guard?

Leaning to the side, I peered around the side of the tree trunk, trying to get a visual while exposing myself as little as possible and saw Chloe.

She was walking carelessly through the woods toward me at a languid pace, skirting a small tree and coming into full view just a few feet away.

“It’s me,” she called, stopping short of the tree. “We’re good now.”

“What was that?” I asked as I came around the evergreen, sighing relief at hearing the good news. “The gunshots.”

“Three of Tanaka’s men were waiting for us at the helicopter,” Chloe said. “I’m guessing since they didn’t hear back from the ones who caught me, they decided we would try to find it next.”

“They’re dead?” I asked as I fell in beside Chloe. She turned, and we headed back in the direction she came.

“Yep,” Chloe said, offering me no more information.

“And you found the chopper?”

“Yep,” Chloe said again.

“What about Astrid?” I asked.

“Didn’t get a good look, but I think there’s someone in the wreckage,” Chloe said. “I’m gonna need your help checking.”

Chloe quickly led me back the way she’d come until we reached a small clearing. Well, it wasn’t a clearing, exactly. It had been a regular patch of forest with several younger trees flattened and mowed down by the remnants of the helicopter we had ridden in on our way out here.

“Fuck,” I breathed as we approached the wreckage. There was a large burn spot on the ground where it looked like some kind of fire had started, but it looked like it hadn’t lasted long. I glanced up, squinting into the drizzle still coming down on us.

“Yeah,” Chloe said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder so the strap ran across her chest, creating a valley between her breasts. “Come on. Let’s see what we can find.”

My bodyguard led the way to the wreckage with the lack of caution she’d shown up till now. She must have been pretty sure that there was no one else to worry about because, up until this moment, she’d barely made a sound since we took out the three thugs holding her hostage. I followed along, having difficulty managing the same carefree steps, considering how we’d spent the last couple of hours sneaking across the forest at a snail’s pace.

Chloe made a circuit around the helicopter, and I went in the opposite direction. It was in complete shambles. The front had smashed into the ground and caved in, leaving shards of broken glass everywhere as it rested at an angle due to the mangled sleds that were partially buried in the ground. A stump with blackened, ragged edges was all that remained of the tail, and one of the rotor blades was missing while the rest were bent to hell. I could still smell the rancid odor of burnt electronics.

As I made my way around it, I tried to peer inside the cockpit, but the windshield was almost completely buried. While the pilot’s door was slightly ajar, it looked severely mangled, and the window was so webbed with cracks that it was impossible to see anything. I noticed that both sliding doors were completely missing and approached the pilot’s side—opposite the one I’d been pushed out of. I reached out and placed my hand gingerly on the side of the helicopter and gave it a little shove, making sure the thing wouldn’t fall over on me at the slightest breeze. It didn’t budge. Another couple of experimental shoves promised that it wasn’t going anywhere without some serious outside intervention, so I peered inside.

“Find anything?” Chloe said, appearing from around the other side of the helicopter. I jumped a little, half-expecting her to tell me it was too dangerous. She didn’t. I guess Chloe thought I was smart enough to ensure a wrecked helicopter was stable before approaching it. Something about that made me feel better about our dynamic. Until this moment, I felt like a damsel in distress that needed watching over. Even though she claimed that I saved her life, it was a little emasculating. Knowing that she wasn’t treating me like a little kid every step of the way did quite a bit to soothe the bruised ego I was trying to ignore.

“Not yet,” I said as I turned back toward the interior of the wreckage. Peering into the darkness, I could tell the seats had been completely demolished. Two of them had been torn off the floor and had crashed into the seat nearest the pilot’s partition, leaving most of the passenger space relatively bare. I could feel my lips compress in disappointment; initially, I’d hoped to find Astrid here, but it was hard to imagine her surviving something like this.