End Wars: A Hi5 Studios Story

Secrets: Chapter 9

*Wood's P.O.V*

All the air was suddenly sucked out of me. I couldn't breathe. My heart dropped, like a stone sinking to the bottom of the ocean. My breaths came in shallow, and my eyes widenened in fear. My pupils dilated, my heart hammering against my chest. 

My arms were still above my head, palms out, facing Brandon. 

And you know what he did? He smiled. 

"W-Why? Why kill me? It won't help. My friends will find out what you did to Matt." I paused, looking over at Tanner, Bryan and Joey, whose eyes were wide with concern. They had been trying to shove past the guys with guns, with no apparent luck.

"No matter if they have to do it without me," I continued, staring at Tanner. 

He shook his head, tears in his eyes and then turned away. "I can't watch him die," I heard him whisper.

Choking with emotion, I turned to Brandon and glared at him. "Go ahead Brandon. Kill me." But Brandon just stared blankly at me. "Oh, are you too much of a coward to do it yourself, huh? You have to get your friends to do it for you!? KILL ME YOU COWARD!!" 

I started to stand up in my anger but got a fist in my face, knocking me back toward the grainy sand. Blood started pouring out of my nose, but I ignored it. I grabbed Brandon's gun and put it to my temple, the cold metal sending shivers down my spine.

I stared into his eyes as I held the gun to my own head. "Do it," I whispered, then closing my eyes. Even though shooting me in the head would be a fast death, I was too scared to face it head-on.

I heard the click of the gun as Brandon cocked the gun, and I squeezed my eyes even tighter, a tear escaping and falling down my cheek, mixing with the hot red blood. 

"Wait! Stop!" A voice said, startling me. I gasped audibly, then opened my eyes. I started to get up again but then got back on my knees when I saw a gun coming toward my face. 

"Matt," I sighed with relief. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. So he wasn't dead. I had a feeling though that he'd seen something or been through something terrible, but I didn't know what it was. 

"Let him go," Matt said, glaring at Brandon. 

Brandon motioned for the group surrounding me with guns to step aside, and Matt walked in the center of the circle, where I was. I jumped up and hugged him so tightly he probably would've died had I not let go. 

"What happened, Matt? What did he do to you?" My voice cracked as I said that, and I hung my head, embarrassed. 

Matt looked at me, confusion in his eyes. "What do you mean, what did he do to me? I'm fine, Woods." 

Apparently I had a look of apprehension in his eyes because he touched my shoulder. "I'm fine Woods, I promise."

I nodded, then let Matt take me out of the circle. He then noticed the blood running down my face, and he immediately got out some tissues he found on a table and started wiping my nose. "Are you okay, Woods?" 

I nodded, then a disgusted look came on Matt's face. "Why did Brandon even do that to you? You didn't do anything."

I chuckled softly, in too much pain to laugh fully. "I tried to go with you and Brandon, but it seems like the guards didn't take too kindly to that."

He smiled, but didn't laugh. "Why were you so worried about me? He was just showing me the base." He paused, looking excited. "It was really cool, Woods. Basically, about a third of the base is a giant hospital for people who got hurt during the explosions, then about more then half is like, a military training grounds. Then we went down a few floors, and there were crates filled to the brim with guns, explosives, TNT, whatever. Then we went down another floor, and there was this room filled with computers, and people were working on the computers."

It shocked me as to why Brandon even showed Matt all of the base, but I shook it off. "Wow. I didn't think there was that many floors here," I said, staring up at the large, looming building.  

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." He paused, looking at me seriously. "Woods?" 

I glanced at him, my eyebrows perked toward my forehead. "Yeah?" 

"Can you promise not to tell anyone this? Even under threat of torture?" 

"Torture?" I said, gasping. 

Matt glared at me angrily, putting a finger to his mouth. "Sorry! Torture?" I asked, this time keeping things to a hushed whisper. 

"Yes, torture! Do you promise, Woods?" 

I staggered, concerned for what he was going to tell me. "O-Okay. Fine, yeah!" 

He leaned in really close to my ear, and then said, so quiet I could barely hear him, "I saw something on one of the computers." He paused, as if for dramatic effect. 

"Really? You could've told me that without telling me I might get tortured for that information!" 

Again, Matt put a finger to his mouth. I rolled my eyes, putting my hands up defensively. "Sorry!"

"It-It had pictures of what I think was the White House. Or the Capitol building. I'm not sure. I didn't get a close enough look."

I backed away from him, shocked at what I had just heard. "Is Brandon crazy? Attacking the White House?! That's going to kill him!"

Matt nodded vigorously, agreeing with me. "That's what I thought too, but I didn't want to bring it up because then he might kill me." He paused. "He might kill all of us. Or torture one if not all us to get us to tell him that we know about it."

"What do we do, Matt? We can't leave! He'll get suspicious if we leave without telling anyone."

Matt's eyes suddenly widened, looking not at me, but behind me. 

Oh no.

"I think it's a little too late for that."