Agent 34 (Book 1)

34. Do try to stay alive, Daggers

So . . . a lot has happened. And yeah. Well, I can't say what I want to about all of it freely, so I won't say anything. Let's just say certain events have left me very . . . detached lately. Took some time to get my head back on straight. Also, I will say in regards to the stuff I've been dealing with, well, I have more free time on my hands once again. And that's all I will be saying on the matter. I can't freely say everything I want to here, so I won't be.

Anyway, enough about my boring life. Enjoy the chapters! And sorry it took so long.

Everly's POV

I swore as I shoved to my feet and immediately ran toward the pile of rocks. I started pulling away some of the smaller ones, but it did no good. I swore again and slammed my hands onto the rocks, pushing away from them. I backed up and looked around. There had to be a way around this.

"Over here!" Sam shouted. He'd had the same thought as me, to look for a way around.

There was another gap in the cliffside wall, but this one was much more narrow. Sam made it about halfway through before swearing and backing out.

He shook his head. "I can't get through that way."

I looked at the narrow gap. "You can't," I replied. "I can." My arm was grabbed before I could make a move.

"Don't," Sam said. "As good as you are, just one person is not going to make a difference. You have no idea how many more of them are on the other side."

I shrugged out of his grasp. "I'm not completely stupid," I replied. "I'm well aware just me by myself isn't going to make that big of a difference."

Sam let out a breath I don't think he even realized he was holding and nodded his head, taking a step back from me.

I nodded back at him, took a mental count of the weapons I still had on me, and then locked eyes with Sam. "So hurry up and find a way around," I told him before bolting into the narrow gap.

He swore a blue streak. His fingers just barely brushed my arm before I was completely out of his reach.

"Daggers!" I could hear him shout as I wiggled myself as quickly as I could through the narrow gap and to the other side.

"Everly!"

I ignored him as I ran off in the direction where I could see footprints and other signs that someone had been through that way. I kept running for what felt like forever, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do when I caught up with Alejandra and the mercenaries . . . if I caught up.

The way I saw it, there were two ways this was going to play out. Either I caught up with them before anything serious had happened, in which case I'd need to figure out a way to make sure myself and Alejandra were able to get away from them. The second way, was that I didn't catch up with them in time and Alejandra had either been killed or taken.

I could see movement ahead of me, as well as a clearing through the trees. A road. I was coming back up on a road. There were five large black vans parked along the side of the road and I could see mercenaries loading up into each of the vans. The other thing I could see as I came closer and closer, was a single mercenary standing in the tree line, about twenty feet from the nearest van, and Alejandra lying at his feet.

I crouched low as I ducked behind a tree before I was spotted. I pulled my two longer knives from the sheaths on my legs and peered out from my hiding place to try and get a better understanding of the situation.

From where I was, I couldn't tell if Alejandra was dead or just unconscious. I would need to get closer. Problem was, that wasn't going to happen without getting caught and there were at least twenty mercenaries around the vans that I could still see. Not to mention the ones in the vans. Still, the one standing over Alejandra was . . . off. There was something different about him. Something about him was making me even more wary to approach.