Straight through the Heart

Chapter 31

Of course, Rob and I both shoot out of instinct. Ben has already dropped to the ground so the bullets miss him, but just barely. 

"Who the fuck is Ben?" Rob gives me a side glance as he measures Ben up. 

"Some dude in my fighting class thing?" I don't even know how to begin. "I don't really know him either but he was with Amber?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pull this trigger?" Rob's finger curls to press against the trigger just barely. "You have five seconds."

"I can lead you to your family. I'm on your side." Ben hurries to explain.

"I don't believe the part about you being on our side. You're too slimy for that." I raise my gun and press it against his temple firmly.

"Slimy? Harsh." He says ouch as he clutches his heart in fake pain. Even in this situation, he doesn't seem to have changed much since I last saw him. There are some scrapes and his clothes are a little worse for wear. 

"I'm on the winning side." Ben crosses his heart and gives a sincere smile.

"Sounds like a spy, right?" I cock my head towards my brother, who nods in agreement. 

"Yeah, he does. I'm not a big fan of killing in cold blood though. What should we do?" I ask him curiously. We are running on borrowed time too.

"Hello?" Ben waves. "I know you're discussing my murder, but perhaps I can lead you to your family? Then, you can do what you want with me."

"Sounds like a scheme, right?" Rob cocks his head towards my direction. 

"Yep." I raise my gun and aim carefully at him. I really have no attention in killing him, but I hope this spooks him just a little. 

"H-hey now. You don't gotta do that now." Ben puts up his hands in surrender. 

"We will give you one chance. Just lead us to our family." I sigh.

"Hold up. Do you know about these bombs inside us?" Rob asks Ben.

"We all got one." Ben shrugs likes it's no big deal. He turns around. "You coming?"

"What do you mean 'you've all got one'?" My tone turns suspicious. The more revealed to us, the more I don't like the situation we are in.

"Not all of us here are by free will. Not all of us are exactly compliant. As a way to protect them and give them insurance, we all have bombs. Didn't they tell you that? We are expendable." Ben looks at me blankly as if I should have already know. His expressionless face disappears quickly with his familiar charming smile. "It's no big deal. With the power out, there's no way for the bombs to be activated. The signal is dead." 

Rob and I tread carefully behind him. For all we know, he could be leading us to our deaths.

We slowly amble our way through the  hallways.  We don't encounter anyone on the way there though we do pass through some dead bodies. I don't want to look at their faces but I force myself to in case it's someone I recognize. 

"You don't need to keep checking. I'll do it for you." Rob grabs my arm gently and whispers. 

"Eh. It's okay. My curiosity will force me to look anyways," I pull my arm gently away. 

I bump into Ben's back suddenly. 

"We're here." His voice drops to a low whisper. I thought there would be loud shouts, bangs, and explosions. However, the hallway remains quiet. 

"I don't hear anything." Rob whispers too. We crowd behind a door. 

"This was the last place I saw them. They might not be here anymore..." Ben trails off.