Rupture

Chapter 9

Ch9

It was a miracle no one saw her, but of course everyone had their attention on the man wailing around, punching and screaming.

She squatted behind a smaller but still obnoxious, laser and peered around to get a look.

"There! He's strapped in!! Fire it up!!" A man said as he tightened the restraints on the table. Luke continued to squirm.

"You people won't get away with this!! You hear me?!" He screamed. "She's gonna wake up soon and when she does she'll kill you all!"

Bella took aim at the man behind the laser. She had one shot before she had to move around to take her second. The laser was fired up, a red beam exiting out of the tip and landing on the metal table. She took in a deep breath and let her finger pull the trigger.

Everyone gasped when the laser stopped short and its operator fell to the floor.

Luke let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God!"

"Where'd the shot come from?!" One said as they looked around.

"I don't know it just-" he fell to the floor. 7 more. One by one they fell. 3, 2, 1.

"Who's there?!" Luke shouted out, still strapped in. "Bella?!"

She came out from her spot around the corner and rushed to him. "Hey!"

"You're okay! When did you wake?!"

"About 30 minutes ago."

"Well you sure act fast."

She smiled and untied his ankles as he sat up. He slid off the table and wrapped her up in a tight bear hug, laying his lips on hers. What a relief it was to finally have her in his arms, and him in hers.

"You have no idea how crazy this was making me! Not knowing if you were still alive killed me!"

She smiled and held his hands. "I'm sorry. I don't know what it is about these missions, but people like to hit me in the back of the head, a lot." She teased.

He let out a breathy chuckle and shook his head.

"We really need to get you protective head gear."

She smiled and tugged on his hand. "Come on." She pecked his lips. "Let's find Blakely and get the heck out of here."

He followed right behind her as they exited the room.

"Were they keeping you together?" Bella asked.

"No, they didn't want us conspiring, but we were neighbors. Come on, I'll take you to the room."

The hall way to their chambers was dark and dingy. Lights were flickering and what sounded like the plumbing from the pipes could be heard rattling over their heads. There were many doors.

"This one is Blakely's."

He motioned to the door as Bella fumbled with the keys. One by one she inserted them all into the door knob, but none worked.

"None of them are working!" She complained.

"Well then I guess we'll have to break the door down. On 3." They stepped back from the door. "1...2...3." They ran forward and slammed their bodies against the door and came crashing into the chamber with groans as they landed on the ground.

"Bella!!" Blakely called from her bed. "You're okay!" She rushed over to her and gave her sister a tight hug. "I was so worried about you! When did you wake up?!"

"Maybe 45 minutes ago."

"And you saved Luke before me?! How rude!"

"Well, they would've split him in two if I didn't, and I didn't know where you two were. It was just a coincidence that I found him when I did."

"A great, lucky coincidence!" He agreed. "Now let's get the heck out of here!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Bella agreed as she took out the hand guns. "Here." She gave each of them a gun. "I swiped them from Leeway's office. By the way, how come the diamond was in my bag?"

Luke smirked. "I may have brought a fake diamond on the trip to replace the other."

"You're a smart man Luke Lenox." She encouraged as they snuck out of the room.

"So what's the plan?" Blakely asked as she followed closely behind Bella, Luke behind her.

"Well, that's up to Luke." Bella said as they stopped at a corner. "You want to continue the mission or call for help?"

Luke chewed on his lip, frustration covering his face. "We don't have the right tools to destroy hundreds of lasers, we have no way of calling the base, and limited ammunition...I'd say this will be our greatest victory yet." He smirked as he cocked back his gun.

"We need a plan then." Bella took out a piece of paper. I found this in one of Leeway's drawers, I think it's a map."

"Okay, that's good. We need to locate that book first, then we can worry about shutting everything down."

"Um, I think I know where the book is." Blakely said as she stared at the map. She pointed to a room on the map that said 'vault'. "It's too small for any laser, but just big enough to magnify the importance of an ancient book."

"We'll check their first. Let's go."

FŜl#