To Love, To Fight, To Win

Chapter 11

Reif and I made it to the end of the tunnel with me leading the way. We stopped at the bottom of a ladder, and Reif looked at me with a raised eyebrow, silently asking me what we were supposed to do now.

"We climb up the ladder and then leave through the other warehouse that is connected to this," I said and gestured toward the ladder. "We will be a few miles away from the other warehouse, so hopefully we will not find someone waiting for us at the other end."

Reif pressed his lips into a thin line and slowly nodded, and worry flashed through his eyes. "Do you think that someone will be there?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and I couldn't help but shrug and grimace.

"I don't know," I said, biting back a small sigh and moving my beanie a bit toward the front before I shook my head and cleared my throat. "I am hoping that no one will be there, but I can not be so sure."

Reif nodded and set his jaw, and he looked the way that we had gone before he looked at me again. "Do you want me to go up first?" he asked, and I shook my head no. "And why not?" He scowled and narrowed his eyes while he stared at me.

"Because you do not know where to put the key to open the trapdoor so that we can escape," I said and looked toward the lights before I looked at Reif. "We are almost out of time, so you might want to go ahead and put your hand on the ladder. However, you might want to do that after I start to climb up so that I do not step on your hand."

Reif bit back an annoyed sigh before he slowly nodded and pursed his lips in annoyance. "Ok," Reif said and shook his head before he cleared his throat. "Go ahead and climb up the ladder, please so that I am able to do it before the light turns off."

I bit back a small laugh and slowly nodded. I didn't say a word while I pulled the keys out of my pocket and started to climb up the ladder, and Reif placed his hand on the ladder as soon as I was past him.

"Where will you need to leave the key?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question, changing the subject. "Or are you able to tell me?"

I sighed and shook my head. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you," I said while I continued to climb up the ladder. "I do not want you to get hurt."

Reif pressed his lips into a thin line and slowly nodded. "Do you think that I will get hurt now?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Especially since I haven't really done anything that normal people have done?"

"No," I said and shook my head. "Jack "knows" that you are somehow connected to me. If you keep away from the areas, then you will be fine. No one will try to follow or try to find you."

I hope...

I set my jaw and pressed my lips into a thin line with my heart aching because I had no idea if that was the truth or not.

"And what if someone does?" Reif asked. "What will happen to me if they do?"

"Tell them you're a friend of Myers. It'll basically be the first time that someone says that, so they will be surprised, but they will know that you are telling the truth."

"Are you sure?" Reif asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes," I said and nodded, silently praying that they would believe him because I knew that they wouldn't believe it at first, even though it was the truth. I stopped when I reached the top of the ladder and started to unlock the trap door when the lights turned off, surrounding us in total darkness.

"Shit," Reif said with a small hiss, and I bit back a small snort. "You could have warned me that that was about to happen, Myers," he grumbled, and I shrugged and grimaced.

"I didn't know that it was going to happen," I said and finished unlocking the trap door and slowly pushed it open but didn't push it all of the way because I had no idea if someone was there or not. "Now, come on and start going up the ladder, Carter. I'm going to check to see if anyone is there before I let you go all the way. Ok?"

Reif bit back an annoyed sigh before he started to do what I told him to do. "Can't we have light?" he asked while he grunted and grumbled something under his breath. "Why are you making me go up the ladder in the dark?"

"Because we don't need light, and it'll be a waste of money," I said with a shake of my head. "Now, shut up. I want to check to see that there is no one there."

Reif didn't say a word while he continued to climb up the ladder, and I bit back a small sigh of relief, knowing full well that he was going to listen to me, even though he wasn't happy about it.

I pushed open the trap door some more and climbed further up to see that the main area was clear. I didn't say a word and pushed the trap door open all the way before I looked around some more, making sure to be as quiet as I could be.

Darkness greeted me, much to my relief, and I knew that it meant that no one was there, especially since if someone was in there, then there would be a light in a corner because it was common for us to do it.

"Well?" Reif asked, his voice barely above a whisper, sounding from underneath me, and I couldn't help but flinch, startled because I had no idea he was there. "Is it safe?"

"Damn it, Carter," I hissed, and Reif bit back a small snort as if he knew that he had scared me. "How the hell did you climb up the ladder so fast?"

"Magic," he said sarcastically. "But is it safe? Can we get out the tunnel?"

"Yes," I said and started to clamber out of the tunnel with a small sigh of relief, and Reif followed me without me having to tell him to do it. "Go to the door and stop there. Let me close this and then put the key back where it needs to be, Carter." I pointed to the door in the room, and Reif looked at it and then looked at me, pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Is it safe?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and scowl. He scowled and narrowed his eyes while he stared at me. "I am serious, Myers," he said coldly. "Is it safe?"

"Yes, it is safe, Carter," I said sarcastically while I rolled my eyes and scowled. "If it wasn't safe then I wouldn't have told you to do it."

Reif bit back an annoyed sigh and slowly nodded, pursing his lips in annoyance. He didn't say a word and walked over to the door, and I had a feeling that he was "muttering" a slew of cuss words in his mind.

I bit back a small smirk and quickly closed the trap door after I had taken the keys out of the door so that it wouldn't dangle and indicate that we went that way.

Biting back an annoyed sigh, I quickly walked over to where Jack would look for the keys and placed them in their normal spot, making sure that no one would be able to see it.

After I was done with placing the key into its spot, I quickly walked to a different area and then walked toward him. "Ok," I said, and Reif jumped a foot in the air.

"Shit!" he exclaimed while he jumped, his voice barely above a whisper.

I bit back a small smirk and cleared my throat to hide a chuckle while I continued to make my way toward him, my footsteps silent against the concrete floor. "You are able to turn around, Carter. I am done."

Reif did what I told him to do and turned to look in the direction that I had said something. He scowled and narrowed his eyes, and my smirk grew deeper while I tucked my head closer to my chest. "Seriously?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and I nodded in confirmation. "What the fuck was that for?"

"No reason," I said with a shake of my head. "Come on and let's go. We aren't going out that door but a different door."

"Why?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question while he walked over to me, and I continued to walk over to him. "Why aren't we going through that door?" He gestured to the door that I had told him to stand at.

"Because, there is a door closer to the woods, and I don't know about you, but I do not want to be seen if someone is out there waiting for us."

I raised an eyebrow in question and cocked my head to the side while I stared at him with a small smirk on my face. "Now, don't you agree?"