The Race

010 | Cami

I couldn't go out in the open. It was too dangerous. The man that took Naomi could be armed, there could be others, or there could be traps. Who knew? I sure didn't.

I looked around for hints as to where the man was. There were only a few houses close enough that he could have hidden in. I suddenly remembered my heat vision goggles. If only I had my bag with me... It would have been much easier. Leaving it behind wasn't worth it.

I looked around for any signs of life. Most of the doors were shut, but there were two houses with semi-open doors. I stalked closer, going behind the houses instead of in front. I looked through the back window of one of the houses and, sure enough, Naomi was sitting there tied to a chair.

I opened the door quickly, which wasn't locked, and rushed inside.

"Naomi!" I said, ripping off her gag.

"The man is gone," she said, gasping for breath. "We have to go. Now!"

I nodded and quickly untied her knots, glad my mom sent me to that summer camp so long ago. Soon Naomi was free and we jumped to race to the door.

"Not so fast," a gravelly voice said behind us. We turned to find the man standing there, gun in hand.

"Let us go!" I yelled, anger burning inside me. "What do you want? Why would you do this?"

"You broke our painting," he said simply. "And... well... your friend will soon be my wife."

"I'm not becoming your wife," Naomi spat. "You're ugly and like thirty years older than me! And I don't speak Vietnamese."

"That won't be a problem," he said. "You can learn... and I want a young wife."

Naomi curled her fists. "You hideous rat! Listen to me! I'll never be your wife!"

The man lifted the gun up, aiming it at my head. "Tut, tut," he said. "You wouldn't want to kill your friend, would you?"

I froze once again. I hated guns. They gave too much power to the person holding it.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "I only take care of myself."

The man moved the gun over to Naomi, but she didn't flinch. "Tell your friend to leave!" he barked.

"I'd rather not," Naomi said. "But I will offer you something for my freedom..."

"And what is that?"

"My friend Cami here is much prettier than me. She doesn't have these wretched bandages around her head, and, I mean, look at her long red hair! She is truly one of a kind," Naomi said with a cruel smile.

I turned around and narrowed my eyes at Naomi. How could she do that? It was not only rude of her to only think of herself, but dumb to think her plan would work. Even with Naomi in bandages, she looked ten times better than me.

"Ah... I don't know... She is too boney and fragile to be a good mother. But you have the perfect body for a mother," the man said with a dirty grin. "And I'm sure your wounds will heal in good time. Your bandages wouldn't be a problem for long."

"Oh, sir, I'm no mother," Naomi said. "However, my good friend Cami is an excellent-"

"Stop it," I said to Naomi. "Stop it now. I'm not getting married to this kidnapper, and neither are you."

"How will you stop me?"

"This way." I lunged at him, knocking the gun out of his hand. He didn't fall though. Instead, he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back.

"Naomi, grab the gun!" I screamed, eyes watering from the pain.

"No!" the man barked. Naomi, however, had already picked up the gun. She aimed it at the man's head and didn't hesitate to fire. She hit him twice in the head. His grip on my hand loosed as he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"How did you do that?" I asked. How did she not even flinch as she took the life of another man?

"He was in my way," Naomi said. "I couldn't leave without you."

"But you just tried to give me away. Right?" I asked. Naomi didn't respond. Instead, she merely smiled and turned on her heel. I followed quickly.

It was eerily quiet outside. No gunshots rang out. There was no screaming, nothing. Soon, we arrived at the broken building.

"Naomi! Cami! Where have you been?" Harper asked, rushing toward us.

"We were kinda... kidnapped," I said. Harper raised her eyebrow, but she continued.

"All the people that were attacking us are dead... But it came at a price. Maybelle's arm is really messed up."

"How?"

"It was shot. Asia is helping her right now-"

"Did you find the clue?" Naomi cut in.

"Well, yeah, but Maybelle-"

Naomi pushed past her. "Maybelle will be fine. Where is the clue?"

"It's..." Harper trailed off. She sighed.

"Do you have it?" I asked.

"Yeah. If she had just waited for, like, three seconds, I would have let her see it. But she is late for her nonexist party."

I snorted. "What is the clue?"

"It was easy. Well, for Asia, anyway. We're going to Chapultepec Castle. It's somewhere in Mexico."

"Cool." We had started walking toward where Maybelle was sitting. She was passed out, propped up against a fallen column. Her arm was wrapped in bandages that were already stained red.

"I need to add more pressure. She might die of blood loss..." I heard Asia mumbled as she rifled through her medical kit.

"Do you need another set of bandages?" I asked.

"That would be nice, thank you."

I looked for my orange bag, finally spotting it near the wall. I fished out the first-aid kit and handed it to Asia. She nodded in thanks and continued to wrap Maybelle up.

"I hate guns," I muttered.