Violet

Chapter 14

             I run into the room crying. Carter stares at me looking very confused. "I didn't fight him. Please don't hurt them."

             "What are you talking about? Where's Jackson?" I sniffle and run to Carter. He backs up and looks terribly confused.

               "They beat him up! They saw him holding onto me and beat him up. They were trying to help me. I told them not to but they did." I stop crying and wipe my nose with my sleeve.

              He grabs my arm and asks, "Where?"

            "Thirty floors down. They left him down there. I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen to me. They tried to get me to run, but I knew if I did you would kill Conner."

            He pushes me towards a man and shouts orders. "Tie her up! Everyone else get downstairs! Find them! Find Jackson!" I feel my arms pulled behind me and a cord pulled tight around my wrists. The men all begin to push through the doors. I'm thrown down onto the floor next to Conner.

           "Why'd you come back?" Conner asks. I can see the shine of the blood on his forehead in the faint light.

           "I couldn't leave you guys to die."

          "You should have left when you had the chance." He says before sighing and leaning against the wall. I shift to a sitting position next to him. I lean forward to see Brian and Josh. Brian sits quietly and gives me a sad look. I then notice the Josh is laying unconscious on the floor.

         "What did they do to Josh?" I whisper.

         "He made a desperate attempt to get to you a few seconds after you left. They knocked him pretty hard on the head. You really should have left when you had the chance." He whispers back.

         "Just wait." I whisper. He turns to me his eyes searching for an explanation.

          "You'll see." I whisper. The last man runs out of the room and only Carter stays.

           "Very wise of you to come back." He says. He turns on his heel and smiles at me. "As soon as they find Jackson, I'll knock the other two out then we can go somewhere else. You'll have a new life with us." Wait for the signal. Then I hear it. The three bangs come from the stairwell. I jump up and run towards him. Conner catches on, and attacks with me. I ram my shoulder into Carter's stomach and knock him to the ground. I fall to the side and wince as my arm scrapes on the concrete. Conner jumps on top of him pinning him to the floor. I reach into my back pocket and pull out the small knife Jackson gave me. I slit the zip-tie and pull my arms in front of me. "Flip him over." I tell Conner after I cut him loose. Conner flips Carter onto his stomach and pins his arms to the floor. I drop to my knees next to him and lift up his shirt. There it is! I pull the thing Jackson called a gun, from under Carter's belt.

           "No way!" Conner says. By now Brian has made his way over to us with his hands behind his back. "It's a gun!"

          "What does it do?" Brian asks.

            "You clearly didn't pay attention in history did you?" Conner says.

           "No way. I was sitting next to my friend, the popular kid, and two super talkative guys. I couldn't hear anything the teacher said." Brian defends himself. Conner rolls his eyes and I hand him the gun.

         "Do you know how to use it?" I ask.

        "Get the *@#^ off me!" Carter growls.

        "Dude, watch your language.' He raises a hand an places it on Brian's shoulder. 'There are little ears in the room." Brian shakes his hand off, and looks to me.

         "Mind to help me out here, Chris?" He looks back to his tied hands.

        "Yeah, sorry." I stand and walk over to him and cut him loose. I look over to Josh who is laying still on the floor. I walk over to him and kneel down next to him. I lift his head into my lap and push his hair off his forehead. "Josh? Josh wake up." After a few seconds his eyes flutter open.

        "Chris! Chris, How did you- Ahh!" He pulls his hand up to his forehead.

         "Shhh. I'm here. We're going to get out of here. I made a deal with Jackson and he's going to help us get out." He tries to sit up and I pull him back down. "You've just woke up from being knocked out. Take it easy. We've got time."

          "We do?" Brian shouts.

         "Yeah. Jackson told an enemy gang where they were so when those guys reach the bottom of the steps there'll be a gang war."

         "Jackson did what?!" Carter shouts. I ignore him and keep speaking.

         "In return we have to take Jackson with us."

       "That sounds like a fair trade. We seem to pick up all kinds of people this week." Brian says.

        For some reason I think of my sister. I push the thought from my head as I place my hand on Josh's head. "So what are we going to do now?" Conner asks from his position on top of Carter. He has one leg on either side of him and Carter seems to be staying still with the gun pressed to his neck.

         "We wait for Jackson. When he gets here, he'll help us get out of the building far enough away from the war to be unnoticed."

         "Sounds good." Conner says. I hold Josh's head in my lap as we wait, and I lean my own head against the wall.

         "Chris." Josh's voice says. I open my eyes and realize I fell asleep. It doesn't seem to have been to long since I fell asleep. Josh is crouched in front of me and has a hand on my shoulder. I look around the room and see Carter tied in the corner. His eyes are closed. I see Conner and Brian grabbing bags and shoving stuff in them. Jackson stands in the doorway staring at Josh and I.

       "Is it time to go?" I ask.

       "Yeah." He stands up and offers me a hand. I take it and he pulls me to my feet. Brian hands me my bag and I sling it over my shoulder. I walk over to the doorway and rub my eyes.

       "Thank you, Jackson."

        "No problem.' he says. 'I'm glad I could help. So where exactly are you guys going?"

        "Outside the fence."

       "Seriously?"

        "Yeah." Conner, Brian, and Josh come to the doorway, and Conner shifts his pack.

        "Ready?" Conner asks. I nod and we all start down the steps.