Purple | Cole Stewart

Chapter 3

//This is a heavy one. if anything in this chapter triggers you please don't keep reading. If anyone would like me to, I am more than happy to write a summary and post it at the end of the chapter. Just let me know!

The doors of the van swung open, allowing a small amount of moonlight to spill into the van. Only one of the three PSF's stood in front of me, the smallest of the three. He had clearly drawn the short straw, because he looked none too happy to be checking on me.

In the first few seconds after he opened the doors, neither of us did anything more than stare at each other, probably out of sheer shock.

I broke first, scrambling away from the doors on my hands and knees. The PSF regained his senses as I fumbled to sort out the chains that had wrapped around wrapped around my leg.

He called for the other PSF's, and I remember the truck stopping because the floor stopped shaking but my hands didn't and I couldn't figure out why.

The pounding in my ears- was it combat boots on the road below me or just my heart beating like a racehorse- and good god were these chains braided together or something it felt like I had been pulling at them for hours please I don't wan't to die-

The dull clang of the chains finally hitting the ground melded together with the cocking of a gun, creating a sound that sent a chill down my spine.

I looked up towards the door slowly, unsurprised when my eyes are met with the sight of all three PSF's standing just outside the doors, guns all pointed at me.

Well, shit.

The tallest of the three was the first to speak- he was also the one standing in the middle, and had clearly self proclaimed himself as the leader. "Hands up, bitch." He cocked his head to the side. "And slowly. Wouldn't want my finger to slip, would we?"

Dammit dammit dammit-

I did as I was told, raising my hands from where they had been resting next to my legs, ready to propel me into a standing position. Once my hands were high enough, the PSF nodded with a satisfied grin wide enough to reveal two gold teeth, and shoved his gun into the hands of one of the other men before moving towards me with his hands out in front of him like he was about to catch an unsuspecting rabbit around the neck.

His mistake was that the gun he handed to his colleague was still locked and loaded. As the man fumbled to get a grip on the weapon, he set it off, sending a bullet into the wall of the van.

That abrupt noise caused the one creeping towards me to lunge instead. My hands moved to cover my face, my eyes squeezed shut involuntarily, and I'm pretty sure that I screamed.

But nothing came: no punch to the stomach, no bullet to the chest, no cuffs relocking around my wrists.

There was nothing but road in front of me when I forced my eyes back open. You might think I'm exaggerating by saying that, but it's true. None of the PSF's were anywhere I could see, the doors of the van were gone, and the metal of the walls and ceiling was bent backwards, like something had ripped it as far away from me as it would go.

I jumped out of the van, stumbling slightly as my foot met the dark body of one of the pistols that had been pointed at my face not 30 seconds ago.

I reached down to pick up the weapon, hands shaking as I switched the safety on. My dad was a hunter. He didn't actually go out hunting very often, but he talked about it all the time so I knew more about guns at that age than the average teenager.

I tucked the gun into the waistband of my standard issue camp uniform, and then I-

And then I turned left.

[silence]

I could- I could just tell, you know? That he was dead. As soon as I saw him, I could just tell. The puddle of blood around him was just too big. The tree branch sprouting through his chest was a pretty good clue as well.

A glance to the right of the van showed a similar scene- one with less tree and blood and more neck twisted at an impossible angle, and concave chest that made his uniform seem oversized.

It's burned into my brain- that image. So many other things are fussy, and only come back to me in bits and pieces, but their bodies I remember like it was yesterday.

After that, things start to get fuzzy again. I ended up with one of their jackets, somehow- one of them must have left it in the van, because I know I at least didn't pull it off of a dead body. I got back into the van- the front this time, the drivers seat- and drove until I couldn't anymore because of a lack of gas. The sun was beginning to rise when I turned off of the main road I had been following and just literally into the woods. At least thats what I think I did, because thats where I woke up the next morning, lying across the three front seats with an empty bag of pretzels next to my head.

I walked the entire next day, trying to get as far away as possible from that vehicle and the memories it carried.

###

Carter and Vida stood side by side, the latter tapping her foot impatiently as they watched Ruby search through the memories of a very unlucky man.

"Where is Prisoner 27?" Ruby asked.

"Hurry the hell up!" Vida hissed, receiving a nudge from Carter in response. They both knew Ruby needed to be able to concentrate to do her job, Vida just didn't care.

"Two stories down, room Four B," Ruby said a few moments later, letting the man drop to the ground limply.

Rob only grunted in response, turning towards the keypad lock that had been blocking our path and allowing Ruby to feed him the code she had pulled from her victims head.

Ruby then pulled Vida and Carter away from the door, the both of them shoving off her grip- Carter doing so slightly more gently(it was more for her own sake- she was nursing the start of what was sure to be a raging headache).

As the doors slid open, Carter started a mental countdown for 15 minutes. 15 minutes to get in, get the hostage- Prisoner 27- and get the hell out, but even that was a rough time estimate.

Ruby, Vida, and Carter made it all the way to the first landing at the bottom of the stairs before they were forced to push themselves against the wall and let the rest of the agents pass them.

"Cover us until we're through, then monitor the entrance. Right here. Do not leave your position.

"We're supposed to-" Vida was interrupted as Ruby stepped in front of her, effectively shutting down her protests.

Carter frowned, rubbing at her temples as Ruby and Vida argued next to her. Why did she have to get a headache now, of all the times?

She opened her mouth to mention that they were doing a pretty shit job of monitoring the-

Carters hands flew up to cover her ears, a reflex in response to the terrifying explosion she had just heard, and then she was falling falling falling- 

//Ayo I'm not dead! yay! anyways I stared at my computer for a solid hour before I finally figured out how to write this. hopefully I can... not disappear for 2 months again, we'll see how it goes. hope you enjoyed!