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Chapter 13:

"Ellie?". Cedar whispered, his fear blatantly obvious as he placed his hands up in surrender along with Ellie and Lev.

"It's okay, just follow my lead". Ellie whispered back before turning her attention to the lone woman of the armed trio. "Mel, let my siblings go and you can do whatever you want with me".

The woman called Mel, who was dressed in all black and had short blonde hair just stared at Ellie with an amused smirk as she cradled her swollen stomach with one hand and held her pistol in the other. "Siblings? How many kids does Joel have?".

Ellie narrowed her eyes at the mention of her father but kept her cool as she continued pleading. "Please, It's me you want, not them".

"C'mon Mel, Let's just get out of here before that old man and his brother find us again". A middle aged man with shaved brown hair and a green sweater cut in anxiously.

"What's the matter Owen? Scared that a little girl and two travelo's are gonna hurt you?". A middle aged Hispanic guy (Whom Cedar assumed to be Manny) taunted with a laugh.

Cedar flinched at the slur (He knew it was a slur since Miguel had been teaching him Spanish over the last couple of years) but kept his game face on as he looked at Mel. "So, what's your plan then?".

Mel smirked again before shoving a fearful looking Owen forward. "Search them".

Owen looked like he wanted to protest but the threatening cock of Manny's pistol was all it took for him to walk forward and search the three young adults before turning back to Mel. "They're good".

Cedar fought to keep his expression neutral as he subtly raised a brow in Owen's direction, trying to figure out whatever motives this guy had.

On one hand Owen was no saint since he was a former Firefly and obviously still riding with the WLF.

But on the other hand he had just blatantly lied to Mel and Manny about the three of them having no weapons when that was very much not the truth.

Mel eyed Owen for a second before holstering her pistol at her side and walking up to Cedar. "Do I have to do everything myself?".

Cedar was forced to stand stock still as the heavily pregnant woman patted him down before her hand came to rest at his left hip and she unholstered his pistol.

"For a trained Firefly your fuckin' useless half the time". Mel taunted, holding up the pistol for Owen to see before taking out some rope and tying Cedar's hands behind his back, a position his damaged arm did not appreciate.

Owen and Manny quickly did the same with Lev and Ellie before the former of the two men looked at Mel. "It's a thirty minute trip back to the QZ, are these three seriously worth slowing us up?".

"That one is Miller's kid". Mel said, watching in amusement as Ellie tried to writhe away from Manny's grasp. "He'll eventually be here to get her and then we can finish what Abby started".

"My father isn't that stupid!". Ellie spat as she once again tried to pull away from Manny's hold.

"You guy's really need to take up a hobby or something, cause this whole revenge thing is getting kinda old". Cedar remarked with a roll of his eyes.

Mel narrowed her eyes before harshly smacking Cedar across the face, her unrelenting grip on his arm the only thing preventing him from falling to the floor from the force of the blow.

"Can't we just let the other two go?". Owen asked as he held the crook of Lev's arm in a loose grip.

"Since this one is in a talkative mood he can serve as Ellie's replacement for questioning". Mel replied, nodding at Cedar as she forced him out of the cabin.

The trio were forced to walk through the streets of Seattle for what felt like hours, and Cedar could tell that Ellie was beyond worried about him even though they could not look at each other.

The three young adults had been forced in a straight line, with Ellie in the front, Cedar in the middle and Lev in the very back.

Some more time passed and Cedar's exhaustion was getting so bad he ended up tripping over a pothole in the road, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Keep moving!". Mel hissed as she grabbed Cedar's arm and dragged him back to his feet, causing the young man to whimper in both pain and fear.

Hearing the commotion, Ellie whipped her head around and glared at Mel. "Hey! Leave him be!".

"You mean her?". Mel taunted as she shoved Cedar forward, forcing him to continue walking through the barren and torn up streets.

They walked for a while longer until Owen finally spoke up. "Mel, we need to rest for a while".

"Owen -". Mel started off with a glare.

"We've been walking for hours, we need to take a break so we can think of a proper plan". Owen continued, implying that the trio having a QZ was probably a lie.

"Fine, we'll stay there for the rest of the day". Mel said after a brief silence, pointing over at a dilapidated hotel called Cedarbrook Lodge.

Owen nodded his approval and kept quiet as Mel led the way inside the old building and down the right hallway before stopping at one of the rooms.

Mel took out the key card and shoved it inside the metal slot, waiting for a moment as the little light turned green before Cedar, Ellie and Lev were shoved inside the large bedroom.

Judging by the sheer size of the room and the fact that there was a TV, a fireplace AND a coffee area, Cedar deduced that this hotel must have cost a lot of money back in the old world.

"We'll be back in a few hours, try to stay out of trouble while we're gone". Mel advised sharply as she and her companions broke the ties on the trio's wrists.

"We'll do our best". Cedar sassed as he sat on the large bed and rubbed his raw wrists.

Mel rolled her eyes and glared at Ellie as she headed back towards the door. "I wouldn't count on your old man to save you this time".

Unbeknownst to Mel and her companions, a trail of blood red hand prints were dotted along every available street sign and tree, leading whomever they would be noticed by directly to the hotel.

Chapter Cast:

- Ariela Barer: Mel Jackson.

- Spencer Lord: Owen Moore.

- Danny Ramirez: Manny Alvarez.