The Apple

Chapter 5

We hiked through the night in battle silence. By dawn, we had reached the enemy compound. We decided to wait for cover of night to rescue the others. This wasn't something people did in broad daylight. While the sun traveled ever so slowly across the sky, I formulated my own plan.

We readied ourselves for entrance as the sun set. Stretching our cramped muscles and standing up. We decided to let Garrett go first since he was an expendable, and furthermore, a sevie. He crept towards the cabin, and looked in a window. He motioned for the next lowest rank to come. Liam came over and motioned for the next. This went on until everyone was over. We broke in by scaling the wall and going in through a skylight.

Everyone went to the right, but I went left. I was going to find Nathaniel. I searched for his mind for a long time, entering every door, until I was completely finished with the top floor. So I went down a floor and did it again. Still no one. I looked out the window and the moon was high in the sky.

Crap! I needed to find him now. I went down three more floors, and still nothing. Damn it! Where in the hell was he? I raced down another staircase, and whirled around the corner. Stifling a squeak of terror, I swung back to the staircase. I had just barely missed a guard. The guard passed, and I pressed myself against the first door in the hall. Come on Nathaniel. Come on! I felt nothing. No, wait! I felt-something. It was very faint, almost to the point I couldn't feel it.

Stepping carefully away from the door, I felt him grow stronger and went down the hall. Oddly, it was still pretty faint when I reached the furthest door in the hallway. Opening it, I saw Nathaniel on a table with a gas make on. Walking over to him, I pulled it off. Finally, he opened his eyes, and his mind strengthened. His face has scars on it that I feared I had inflicted.

He focused on me, and his eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Get outta here dammit! It's a tr-"

The door slammed against the wall, and I whirled around. "Shoot." It had been a trap.

"Well boys," the leader said "Lookie what we have here." He smiled at me as a scooted back to stand by Nate (Nathaniel). "Aw. She thinks that her little boyfriend can protect her." He clicked his tounge. "Too bad he can't."

"The hell I can't!" yelled Nate, maneuvering me behind him. I stared out the window, and saw the guys retreating, Taylor no doubt back, once again, in their ranks.

"Very funny. Now move." The big man said mecingly.

"No." Nate was being very brave. I was cowering in fear behind him.

"Listen, I know you want to look good and brave here in front of your lady friend," he said, "But you know we'll get through you eventually."

Nathaniel got his logic, but he was very stubborn. "You'll have to go through me first."

"Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." He yelled, "And I suggest you pick the easy way."

"Yeah, me too. Wouldn't it be easier?" the boss ignored the henchman, who obviously wasn't firing on all cylinders, if you know what I mean. The boss started to advance.

"Move." Nathaniel shook his head, making the boss desperate. "Please move?" again, Nate shook his head. Nate was walking backward, maneuvering us into a corner. Great, now we're trapped.

The man advanced menacingly and quickly now, and two of his henchmen were flanking him. One of the henchmen came to the front and reached down to Nathaniel. He kicked the advancing thug where the sun don't shine. He went down, and formed a small barrier between us and the enemy. How long could we hold out? I pressed myself as hard as I could into the corner. We were completely outnumbered, so we would be overwhelmed eventually. The next thug started advancing, but suddleny, the door swung open again.

"Is this the room for-" Taylor trailed off. "Oh. Hi guys." Then he backed out of the door, and we heard him running through the hall.

"Who's side is he even on?" I whispered to Nathaniel.

"Good question. Maybe he changes allegiances regularly."

Now that I knew Taylor was still here, I wondered why my guys had left. Someone else must have been captured, 'cause those guys weren't people to suddenly give up. At least, not most of them.

The guys in here started advancing, and Nathaniel tensed. One of the thugs lunged, but Nate used his simple, but effective, kicking of the jewels. This guy went down on top of the first, and formed a higher wall. The wall had started out as a good thing, but now it was restricting our movement, as well as our vision.

So when a hand groped in through the gap between the two bodies, we weren't expecting it. the and grabbed Nate's shirt, and slammed against the wall so hard, the wall cracked. A thin line of blood ran down his face, and when his eyes glazed over, I knew I was in this alone.

The man grabbed at me, but missed. I screamed loudly and ducked. His hand swiped the air where my arm had just been. His hand was backing up for another strike with the door slammed against the wall again.

"Help me, Taylor!" I screamed as the man grabbed for me again. I ducked, and Nate's eyes un-glazed.

"Yes!" He shouted to Taylor as well.

"No!" the enemy demanded.

"Maybe. I'm thinking about benefits here." Said Taylor.

"Come on!" I shouted as the man punched where my throat had boon.

Taylor must've made up his mind, because he charged. He took a running leap onto the enemy's back, and grabbed him in a choke hold. The enemy backed up, and slammed Taylor's head into the wall. The shock and energy of the move made Taylor's head go back and forth between the man's head and the wall. His nose started to gush blood, but he squeezed tighter. The man started turning purple, then blue, then finally going to the ground. Strangely, his last move had been to set his watch.

"Did you seriously switch sides?" I asked in disbelief, as I climbed over the carnage. "The guys and me came to get you."

"Phhhhf. Of course I didn't switch sides. I just pretended."

"Uh-huh. Sure." I made my way over to him. "Your nose looks aweful."

"Guys, that's the least of our worries. Look." Nathaniel pointed to a timer mounted into the wall. We had 1:59 until whatever the timer triggered. 1:58 1:57 1:56

"What's it counting down to?" I asked worriedly. We sat in a circle in a corner, waiting for whatever was going to happen when it reached zero. When it got to zero, it beeped, and a pressurizing sound filled the room, surrounding us. We stood up, ready to face whatever came, but we could see nothing.

I was the first to notice. "It smells funny in here. Like the dentist's office." I was getting dizzy, so I sat down.

"I think it's laughing gas." Said Taylor. He fell against a wall.

Nate sagged, his hurt head forgotten. "Yeah, laughing gas."

My brain started to feel fuzzy, and spots appeared in my vision. "We need to open a window!" I was going to black out.

"What?" shouted Nathaniel.

I stood up, and toddled over to the window. I grabbed the handle and pulled. The window opened a crack. I pulled harder at it and it opened more. Pushing my nose to the screen, I breathed in fresh air. I must've breathed in too much gas, and I fell to the ground.

I crawled over to Taylor and helped him to the window. He breathed in the fresh air and tugged at the window. Suddenly, the window started to make a grinding noise. It was closing. "No!" Taylor and I shouted. We pushed at the window, but it just kept closing. Finally, it shut tight, and a clicking noise told us it was locked.

I stood for a while, but the gas was making my brain fuzzy. Sitting down, black spots again appeared in my vision, and this time I knew I was going to black out. The door opened and I hoped to see a good guy, but it was just more thugs. They had gas masks on.

One of them came over to me, and picked me up. I would have fought back, but my limbs felt so heavy. I was lulled into oblivion by the swinging of his walking.