The Night of the Mobs (MCSM Fanfiction - Sequel to The Secrets Beneath the Lies)

Chapter 15 - Complications

Stop it. Jesse mentally scolded herself for the third time that morning, recognising the familiar, metallic taste of blood in her mouth. At that rate, she was going to chew straight through her own lip by the time they've reached the Blaze Rods.

Trying to keep her mind busy so she'd stop gnawing on her own lip, Jesse glanced around at her friends. Olivia was riding at the lead, holding the tracker, with Axel riding beside her. Lukas and Petra were riding behind them, while Jesse was at the back of the group.

They were in a bit of an unfamiliar part of the jungle, taking a different route to the Blaze Rods. It was a bit longer and much more tedious, but worth it for the sake of not getting tracked. They rode up two different creeks where the water wasn't too rough, and followed the most rocky paths.

"We're getting closer." Olivia said from the front. The engineer's voice was wobbling nervously.

"Just stick to the plan, and everything will be fine." Jesse said reassuring. She felt her stomach turn at her own words. She wasn't intending to follow the plan.

"What does the tracker say about Aiden and Gill?" Lukas asked.

"They're not in the area." Olivia said. "A little off to the west at a location marked as C.B on the tracker."

"What does C.B stand for?" Petra asked warily, frowning.

"I don't know." Olivia said, glancing back at them briefly.

"Hopefully not important?" Axel suggested optimistically, earning a nod from Olivia.

Petra pulled slightly on her horse's reigns, slowly the mare down until she was walking beside Jesse. Jesse gave her friend the most confident smile she could muster, hoping her fear wasn't as visible.

"Scared?" Petra asked, making Jesse's heart drop. Was it that obvious?

She shrugged lightly. "A bit concerned, but-"

"No, you're scared." Petra said, smiling vaguely. "I can sense it even from where I was riding in front of you."

"Wait, you can smell that something's up?" Jesse asked, dropping her voice to a low whisper so the others couldn't hear.

Petra frowned slightly, nodding. "Yeah. Can't remember ever having picked up on these scents before, mind you."

"Of course not, your sense of smell has never been that good." Jesse whispered back.

Petra's face fell slightly, her grip on the reins increasing. Jesse could have sworn she saw a little bit of colour drain from Petra's cheeks.

"You okay?" She asked softly.

"Fine." Petra responded, leaning back and fishing a water bottle out of her saddlebag.

Jesse frowned slightly, unsettled by Petra's reaction. Was her friend hiding something?

"Alright." Olivia said, pulling her horse to a stop. "We're close enough."

Everybody dismounted from their horses, trying them up to the nearest trees. Then they gathered around, standing in somewhat of a circle as they faced each other.

"So, I'll be staying here with our horses as planned." Lukas said, holding up a small device. "But Olivia has the other redstone powered radio. If you guys need me there at all, she can give me the signal."

"Right." Olivia said, giving him the nod of confirmation.

"This way, we'll have both our best fighters there if something goes wrong – me and Jesse." Petra said. "Axel's our strength. Need a door pried off with a pry bar, he's our man."