Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Fifteen

A/N: Sorry about that last cliffhanger, but it was already my longest chapter yet. Besides, a little suspense is good 😜 also, I can't believe I have 500 reads!! Thank you guys so much!! Also, quick shoutout to @meganxroberts for going through and voting on all of my chapters! Thank you!

****************

"I can hear voices," I said, leaning as far out from behind our cover as I dared. They echoed faintly from somewhere near the entrance to the cave, but I couldn't make out a word they were saying.

Ward tapped me on the shoulder and jerked his head towards the wall. I paused to think about what he might be trying to tell me, but I came up blank.

"Switch spots with me," he whispered with a huff. "Whatever they're saying, I doubt it's in English."

I nodded, then shuffled as quickly and quietly as possible to the other side of Ward. He moved to crouch where I had been, and I made as little noise as humanly possible to give him the best chance of overhearing something.

After a few tense seconds of listening, Ward shook his head and turned back to me.

"They're here for the orb. Doesn't sound like they saw our camp."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. That's good, at least. But we can't just let them take the orb."

"No, we can't. If they're staging something at the entrance, though... we might just have to grab it and fight our way out of here."

I frowned. I didn't like that plan. It sounded dangerous, with a high chance of dying. We had no idea how many people we might be facing, or with how much firepower. 

There had to be another option. At least one we could try first, with grabbing the orb and running as more of a last resort.

I took a deep breath and looked around the cave. Not far behind Ward, I caught sight of a loose stone about the same size as the orb. The faintest beginnings of a plan started to take shape in my mind.

"Hey." Ward's voice snapped me back into the moment. He watched me with one eyebrow raised. "You got something?"

"...I think I might."

Ward watched me for a minute, then nodded slowly.

"Alright then. Try it."

I didn't need any more encouragement. As quietly as I could, I dug into my bag. I hardly ever cleaned it out, and luckily for me, I found exactly what I'd been looking for.

I didn't glance at Ward as I pulled out as many old candy wrappers as I could. I knew he'd be giving me a judgey look, but hopefully, after this, I wouldn't have to hear about it again.

I pulled out the old camera, then wrapped a few blue candy wrappers around the bulb. I wrapped a hair tie around the camera to hold down the button for the flash, and just like I'd hoped, the light filtered through the wrappers to create a faint blue glow.

With the camera in one hand, I crept across the floor of the cave to the orb-sized rock. I picked it up and wrapped it as tightly as possible in white candy wrappers, then glanced back at Ward. He watched me carefully, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Cover me? And get ready for the worst, in case this orb does have some kind of trap attached to it."

He hesitated for a second, then nodded. He turned and braced himself back in our hiding place, gun drawn and pointing towards the entrance of the cave.

I took a deep breath, then stood. I glanced back towards the entrance of the cave, but luckily, no one else had a sight line on me yet. I carefully stayed behind the orb to avoid casting a shadow in the direction of our hostiles, then tucked the camera into a rock ledge to project the blue light out as much as possible. I turned to the orb and paused long enough to make sure my hands were steady as I reached out, then quickly switched the orb for the candy wrapper-covered rock.