Ashes

Part Fourteen

Chad gave Janice, James and I cloaks that would hide our identities and further hid us in the dark of night, as we were about to scurry around the streets of the town.

"We move in quietly, grab the girl and make an exit" said Chad as he drew a map of where we were going to go, but never gave us an exact description of how the hunters base looked like and how difficult the mission would be.

I looked at Janice and James, they both nodded assuringly and I looked over to Chad's men to see that they knew the plan as well.

"Let's go" said Chad and ran up the stairs and helped us all out of the door and out of the alleyway, which was way darker than before. "Where do we go?" I asked as Janice, James and the rest of Chad's group got out, "Here follow me!" said Chad as we all moved swiftly through the small town, seeing more and more of the ruins that they called a town.

We moved swiftly as the wind, checking each and every corner we moved passed and It didn't take long before Chad gave us the sign that we were close to the bounty hunter's area.

"Spread out!" whispered Chad and showed his group where they were going to take position, "Which one is your friend?" asked Chad as he looked around the corner and scouted how many hunters he saw.

"Which one? What do you mean?" I asked as I looked around the corner as well and saw that the hunters had captured 6 other teens.

"The girl with the red afro is ours" replied Janice before she crouched as low as she could go and slowly made her way towards the group of guys that were joking around and playing with their guns. "Does she think she can handle those fifteen guys all by herself?" asked Chad as he also tried getting closer to the group of guys.

I peeked around the corner from where I stood and saw that Chad had caught up to Janice, but Janice didn't care about Chad's plan however. Janice knew exactly what to do and when to do it.

Janice moved her cloak away from her shoulder and animated a knife or two from her arms before she got ready to attack. I cautiously moved over to where Chad and Janice were, but as I got halfway to them, I got noticed by one of the hunters.

"Hey! Over there!" he yelled and caught me off-guard like a deer in headlights, the other guys reacted within seconds, but so did Janice and Chad. Chad simply blinded them as Janice started slicing away on the guys, only stunning or maiming them before the rest of Chad's group invaded the hunter's base.

I threw my cloak away and ran for the group of teens with chains around their hands as Chad and Janice took care of the hunters. "Cassie! Who are these people?!" asked Rubie relieved to see me and Janice, "They are some new friends" I replied as I heated my hands to the point where I melted the chains linking all the teens together.

Rubie was the first one I released, and she turned into her Ruby form, where she simply broke off her chains and she helped the other kids she was chained with as I set fire to some of the buildings the bounty hunters claimed as their own.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The sound of gunshots echoed through the streets. Rubie grabbed a hold of the other teens she was captured with as I followed one of Chad's men, to lead the way back to the underground base.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The gun shots continued, but this time it followed us...

The gunshots started to gain a lot of attention from the inhabitants of the town, many whom actually walked out in the middle of the streets, not realizing what danger they put themselves in if a bullet hit them.

"Run!" yelled Rubie as she tried to stay behind to make sure everybody got to the base safely, Chad's soldier led us all the way to where I recognized the streets again and I continued to lead the way as Chad's soldier and Rubie stayed behind to hold of the re-enforcements the bounty hunters had gotten.

I ran through the empty street and looked behind me as I saw a large fight burst out from where Rubie and the soldier took their stands.

"Come on!" I yelled as I quickly ran down the darkest alleyway and lit a small fire to lead the way to the hidden door, "Get down! Now!" I yelled as I heard more and more gunshots coming closer and closer, and within seconds a large explosion erupted in the middle of the street.

I closed the door leading down to the underground and took my stance as I realized I was probably the last person to take a stance to protect the other kids and teens that were hiding underground.

One of the hunters was pushed across the dark alleyway as Rubie ran after him to finish him off, while Chad's soldier fired his guns, landing every single shot he fired.

Chad's soldiers slowly came back from our mission, but they had divided themselves up to smaller groups. Some had even changed their clothes not to get recognized and to not get followed, but Janice however came back proudly as she showed of her battle scars.

"Did all your men make it out?" I asked Chad as I checked his wounds for irritation or dirt, but I didn't find anything threatening in his wounds, just a couple scars. "I think so, but we don't have time to count" replied Chad determined to get out of the cave and to rescue the children from the camp.

"What are you talking about? Why don't we have time to count?" asked Rubie as she was checked by one of the few 'medics' they had down in the underground. "We're going to rescue the children from camp" Janice simply replied as she grabbed a small paper towel with some alcohol and covered her wounds, letting out a slight hiss as she did so.

"We're going back to camp?" asked Rubie as she too grabbed a paper towel with some alcohol and cover her wound. "Yes, Crystal uses the camp to collect changelings and then sells them to Prune" I explained as I walked away from Rubie and Janice to talk with Chad.

Chad checked in on the new teens him and his team rescued, made sure that they knew the rules and how everything worked down here. I assisted him, giving them a small cup of water and lighting some torches around them to light up the place.

"When do we leave?" I asked as I saw him and his soldier gear up and gathered up by the entrance. "We leave as quickly as possible" replied Chad as he handed out guns and other weapons for the teens without abilities.

Rubie and James collectively looked worriedly at me, while Janice looked more ready than she ever could be. "Let's go" I said as I threw the backpacks we stole from camp when we left there earlier, and we all made our way out of the underground.