The Rebel & The Guard

Section II: The Beginning

Dominic Waters POV

The ride to the Prison was filled with many different versions of Sloan. First part she spent analyzing maps and files, circling sections of the prison in different colors, and writing notes in the margins of the files. Other times she was left attached to the radio, bouncing off conversations with Elijah and Sirius. I hadn't quite realized the comfort that Sloan had been showing towards Elijah, and vice versa. The question itself circled in my mind, while my hands tightened around the steering wheel.

The road ahead was nothing more than a forest covered in lively trees. Their tree leaves, slowly fading out from a bright outspoken green to timid yellows and oranges, as the summer season came to an end. We drove through the trees and dirt hidden roads, rather than the mapped out common roads in order to keep hidden.

We'd been on the road to Riverbend Prison for a day and a half now, word spread quickly throughout the kingdom that Sloan had gone missing along with Seraphine, Amery and a good amount of soldiers. We had to stop mid-drive, throughout the night because of military vehicles scouring the area. The second radio connected to all vehicles, informing the other troupes Sloan had disappeared. The first report, came a few hours after we had departed. A siren had played through the speakers, later followed by the voice of Derek Black "All troops come in. Princess Sloan has been reported missing. All troops on route are now ordered to forget their mission and focus on finding Princess Sloan; all except for missions personally assigned by King Anthony.

"Officer Grambs, cover West. Officer Calore, cover North. Officer Twist you will cover the North East. The rest of you will be assigned to groups and will cover Swindon Town, as well as the kingdom's capital."

There was a slight change in the wording of the messages. Something Black had done knowing we would be listening, letting us know ahead of time who would be in our area. And once we realized what he had done, the radio connected to the other cars was never off. Elijah, Sloan and Sirius all exchanged tactics they knew Officer Twist would do. How he travels, how long he'd travel, everything that came to mind was shared. And sightings of other military vehicles were quickly acknowledged.

There were sixteen people in this team. DB-2287 carried Sloan, four soldiers and me. Car behind held Elijah, Seraphine and three more soldiers. And the end of the line carried Sirius, Amery and three more. DB-2287 had eight seats in total, two in the front, two in the middle, and three in the back. I drove in the front, a soldier to my right, Sloan in the middle seat behind me, someone filling the spot next to her and a final soldier sat in the middle of the final row in between boxes full of equipment and weapons.

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"We should stop for fuel, if we're planning on making it in zero one hundred hours." She looked up from her lap for the first time in hours, looking at me from the mirror. "If that's what's best." She breathed locking eyes with me for a split second before reaching for the radio. "We're stopping for fuel, then switching drivers for the rest of the ride. Keep an eye out." Her hand returned the radio grazing my arm in the process. A slight touch that broke the barrier between us spiking my mind.

"Copy that." A reply was heard from both sides, pulling me out of deep thought. I signaled the turn towards the trees and out of the dirt road keeping us in hiding for the exchange. I held my spot for a while longer waiting for the others to settle in beside us. "Erik, switch" I shut off the engine stepping out the car towards the trunk for the fuel tanks. Elijah and Sirius came out of their cars, following the same routine as me. "Princess didn't feel like coming out." Elijah remarked pressing the tank up to the opening of the car, "I suppose not."