Abby nodded. “I’ll put it in the bag.”

  John’s gaze lingered, piercing right through Abby’s body, causing her heart to skip a beat. A thin section of black hair lay across his left eye, Abby reached out to move it behind his ear.

  John firmly grabbed her hand before she could touch him and moved his face close to hers. “I…” He clenched his teeth together like he was trying to say something he couldn’t. “I really fucking care about you. Do you understand that?”

  Abby smiled. “I do.”

  “This is not a game, this may be the death of us, you have to understand that!”

  “John, please don’t make me more scared than what I already am.”

  “That’s…” John sighed. “That’s not why I’m saying this. Never mind. Just be careful, okay?”

  Abby frowned as he straightened up and checked his phone. “John. Just say what you want to say.”

  He looked around, checking where everybody was, making sure nobody was looking before he leant forward and kissed Abby’s lips. She drew a breath in through her nose, savouring the smell of him, thinking this will be the last time. She wouldn’t have done it, kissed him, herself, this was all John, or so she told herself.

  “Be careful,” he said and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  “You too.”

  ***

  Abby, Raven and John all stood at the edge of the black, still water. The fence didn’t seem far, but Abby still wasn’t looking forward to the swim.

  “Will the vests still work when wet?” she asked, feeling the nerves kick in.

  John nodded. “Yeah, these ones will.”

  “Alright, we ready?” Raven asked as she put her hair up in a ball on her head.

  “What’s the situation? Over.” John was speaking in a different walkie-talkie.

  After a few seconds of static, Jamie replied on the other line. “Ready for an ambush, over.”

  John placed the walkie in his waterproof bag and began walking into the water. Abby and Raven followed. Water slowly seeped into the boots, and it felt cold on Abby’s otherwise warm legs. Okay, just swim, just get in and swim, she thought to herself just before she leant forward and began swimming. Her clothes, especially the vest, made her feel heavy. It wasn’t easy to get through. She made sure she kept up her pace in line with her companions, she wouldn’t want to fall behind. She glanced back at the pickup truck and noticed Lee standing there now, with a walkie-talkie in his hands.

  With heavy steps and with water streaming through the clothes and dripping onto the ground. The three arrived on the other side. The shivers kicked in instantly, making it more difficult to focus on anything besides getting dry and warm.

  John crouched down and searched for a soft spot in the mud along the fence. He signalled for Abby and Raven to come and help him dig. Adding to the uncomfortable feeling of being soaked, now they were getting dirty, scooping the soil away from the fence.

  Once there was a big enough hole, John went through first, then Raven, and lastly, Abby. They emerged on the other side, wet and covered in soil. Abby looked up at the building in front of them. It was large, like a furniture warehouse of some kind. To their left lay one exit and another to their right. No man could be seen, not yet.

  Abby opened her waterproof bag and retrieved the shell holder and placed it around her neck. She then pulled out the gun and ensured it had two bullets ready inside the barrels. She watched John and Raven drop their bags on the ground, near the hole in the soil, so she did the same. The walkie in her hand made a soft, static noise, causing Abby to flinch.

  “Arrow to the left, over.”

  Chapter 15

  In the blink of an eye, Abby ran with John and Raven to the exit on the right-hand side of the building. Once they were pressing their bodies against the door, a man with a flashlight showed up, walking towards them. Abby held her breath as she watched John quietly trying to open the door. The man was coming closer. If it had been daytime, he would have spotted them right away. The darkness served as their rescue.

  A soft click sounded behind her, and she turned to see John had opened the door. Still holding their breaths, they tiptoed inside, one after the other. Complete darkness surrounded them once inside. John closed the door behind them and fumbled for a flashlight

  They were standing in some kind of a corridor, quite narrow and clear of any furnishings. John shone the light down the hall as he moved forward. Raven followed close behind him, and then Abby. No noises, no smells, no nothing. The thought of them entering the wrong door hit her mind, what if this leads nowhere?

  They came to a second door at the end of the hallway. Not knowing what would be behind it, Abby took a breath and aimed the shotgun at the door as John slowly pushed down on the handle. He moved the door, exposing the room within, and held his gun in front of him as he scanned it. It was some kind of control room, with computers, all off, and a big metal safe standing in one of the corners. Although there was nobody in there to notice them, gunshots and screaming emerged from around them.

  “Jamie must be in,” John said as he quickly walked up to a second door. They needed to move fast, as the building now was aware of their presence.

  The door flung open, and they were standing on the top of some stairs, leading down to what seemed to be the main part of the building. A warehouse filled with stacks and rows of materials. Drugs, guns, and other equipment. A group of Arrows ran from one end to the other, towards the front of the building, where Jamie and his troop would have entered by now. They didn’t seem to notice John as he descended the stairs, aiming to move down the warehouse.

  With a racing heart, all Abby could think was where Luca could be. The warehouse had multiple doors leading into different areas of the building. She would have no clue as to where they might have him kept.

  As they reached the bottom of the stairs, a couple of Arrows emerged around a corner and spotted them. Abby watched as John got shot in one of his legs. He stumbled and fell to the floor. Raven made a clean shot to one of the Arrow’s chest, causing him to drop his weapon and fall as well. With shaky hands, clutching the shotgun with both hands, Abby pulled the trigger and landed a shot at the other Arrow. He fired his pistol at the same time, the bullet hitting the shelf behind her, causing a loud, metallic noise to echo around them.

  “Quickly, help me out,” Raven said as she tucked her gun into her pants and grabbed John by his arms, pulling him up to his feet. Abby couldn’t take her eyes off the Arrows, only a few metres away, squirming on the floor.

  “Abby!”

  She snapped out of it and helped get John back up the stairs; he was grunting and moaning as she dragged him, one step after the other. They placed him inside the control room, where he ripped his pants to assess the damage.

  “They will come up here,” Abby said as she kept her gaze locked on the door.

  “One of them is dead.” Raven helped to tie a piece of John’s pants around his leg. “Where did the other guy get shot?”

  “I don’t know,” Abby tried to remember, “I think I shot him in somewhere in his midsection.”

  “Yeah, they are not coming. We need to get back.”

  “No!” Abby turned, and with wide eyes, locked in eye contact with John. Sweat was dripping down his forehead, and he clenched his teeth together, trying not to scream out in pain.

  “I can’t run, Abby.”

  “I will go, I have to find him,” Abby said. She could feel her heart in her chest; the adrenaline was pumping fast, making her feel almost invinsible. She could do it; she could run across the warehouse and yank open all the doors.

  “Abby, we abandon mission,” Raven said with a stern face.

  Gunshots and screams could be heard in the distance. Abby had to think fast. She leaves and goes on her own, or she follows her companions back to the water. She couldn’t help but think she wasn’t done yet. This wasn’t supposed to happen so soon if at all, they had barely been inside the building for long enough to leave.

  She crouched down next to John and carefully moved his clothing on his leg. “How bad is it?”

  “Not too bad,” John moaned as he touched the wound and tried to put weight on it, “I might be able to continue.”

  “John.” Raven looked concerned.

  “Let’s do this.” John rose to his feet and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

  Abby smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “Let’s go back down. Raven, you go first with Abby, I’ll stay behind. Pick one of the doors closest to us, and we’ll begin searching.”

  “Look to see if there’s anyone down there now,” Raven said, looking at Abby.

  Abby walked out to the staircase and slowly descended. A set of metal, double doors stood wide open at the far right of the space, in the direction of the main entry. As far as she could see, there was nobody in sight, apart from the men they had shot, who were both still laying on the floor, not moving, bathing in a pool of blood. “All clear,” she yelled.

  Raven moved down the stairs, John following. Abby sprinted across the room, moving around the many shelves and storage bins. She reached the first door and yanked it open. Nothing. The lights were off, and it was a tiny room, with only a computer desk, a chair and a dead plant inside.

  “Nothing,” she said as she moved to the left and opened another door. This one was a bathroom; a shower, toilet, and a couple of urinals.

  Just as she was about to search for another room, she could hear voices. She waived for Raven and John to come to her as she slid in behind the door to the bathroom. Squeezing in together, they listened as a couple of men shouted to each other.

  Footsteps echoed as the men ran. “Fucking hell! How did they get shot?”

  “I’ll check upstairs!”

  The other man was about to say something else, but his voice got interrupted by a gunshot. Abby listened has his body fell to the ground, and a couple more shots sounded. A group of people ran through the warehouse.

  “That’s us?” she whispered to John.

  “Yeah.”

  Raven peaked past the door. “Hey!”

  Abby and John moved away from the door as well and got met by a group of Streetwalkers, heavily armed. Abby recognised Sam and Garett.

  “John is hurt, can you take him back to the pickups?” Raven asked one of the men.

  “Come with us,” Garett said as he passed a glance at Abby. When their eyes met, he immediately turned away, like he was trying to avoid eye contact. There was something about the look on his face; something didn’t seem right. Abby frowned, a memory flashed before her eyes. Outside her apartment, the man with the hood and the van. No, it can’t be.

  “Will you help us find Luca?” Raven asked a couple of men Abby didn’t recognise. They both nodded, their faces almost completely hidden underneath what looked like military helmets.

  “Be careful,” John said to Abby before he got escorted away by Garett and Sam.

  Abby watched him leave, still stumped by the look she had received by Garett. It was him; it had to be. She remembered the little argument they had in the car, when they met, and how his voice had sounded then, it was the same voice, the very same voice as the guy who tried to kidnap her.

  “Abby, let’s go.” Raven took off with the other Streetwalkers, searching for places Luca could be.

  Abby grabbed hold of the walkie-talkie and pressed the ‘speak’ button. “Lee, we’ve got support. We’re with Jamie’s troop. Over.”

  A couple seconds of static. “Good. Stick with them, over.”

  Following Raven, Abby began to lose hope. There were only a couple more rooms to search in the space. One was another bathroom, the other a storage room, packed with boxes. She reluctantly followed as they headed through the double doors, toward the main entry. Scattered across the hallways lay dead bodies. Blood was splattered across the walls, and what could only be brain matter, and parts which only belonged on the inside of human bodies. When they ran passed a kitchen, lit up by strong, LED lights, she stopped.

  “Wait! There’s a room!”

  Raven nearly slipped as she stopped to turn around. “He’s not here, come on!”

  Abby didn’t listen, she ran into the kitchen, moving tables and chairs around like they weighed nothing, and spotted another door, but it was locked.

  “Raven!” she shouted. “Raven, I need to pick this lock!”

  As she waited for Raven, or anyone, to come and help her, she could hear someone trying to scream from the inside. He was there. Luca was kept inside this room.

  Chapter 16

  Three Streetwalkers came to assist in breaking down the door. Raven did her best to pick the lock, but it seemed to be jammed. Abby waited outside, biting her nails, anticipating seeing Luca again – but this time, in a horrid state. The kitchen didn’t look like it had been used for ages. The bins were empty, dirty cups lay inside a rotting sink, and the tables had not been wiped for weeks, at least. She vaguely recalled seeing another, small kitchen, in the warehouse.

  After what felt like hours, the guys managed to break the seal just enough for Abby to squeeze through.

  Raven placed a hand on her shoulder before she went inside, and smiled. The knot of hair she had made earlier had loosened up, and now it lay wet and messy all around her face and shoulders.

  Abby returned the smile and, with some help, squeezed through the broken door. She stumbled inside what looked like a bedroom, with no windows. A horrid smell attacked her nostrils, and she heaved. There was only a faint light, coming from one of the corners of the room. Someone was laying on the bed, tied up.

  “Brooke?”

  Abby’s heart jumped up into her throat and tears pushed their way out. She jogged up to the bed and placed her hands on Luca’s pale, and thin face. He had wounds all over his cheeks, a black eye, and dried blood stuck on his neck and ears.

  “Luca,” she cried, “I’m here.”

  “The ropes,” he said in a weak voice she could not recognise.

  Abby followed the ropes around his body and began untying them, they were thick and must weigh tons laying across him like that. Once he was loose, the door completely collapsed behind them. One of the Streetwalkers came inside to help Luca get out. He was thin, Abby had never seen someone so thin. He looked completely broken like he had been in that room for years. He couldn’t stand on his own feet; he collapsed as soon as his feet hit the floor.

  “I’ll carry him,” the Streetwalker said.

  “Thank you, be careful,” Abby said between her sulking. He was out. He was free. But he was broken.

  ***

  The memory of the way from the building to the vans and pickups was all a blur. Abby could barely see anything from behind the tears. She remembered Raven escorting her, making sure she ended up in the same vehicle as Luca. They got told to get in the back of a van, where Luca could lay down.

  Abby assessed his body, removing his clothes enough to see what was going on underneath. He was coughing and out of his throat and chest came a gurgling noise. The same kind of noise she had heard during the ambush at the club. It was a dying man’s noise.

  “Luca, where are you hurt?” she asked while trying to get him to look back at her. His eyes kept rolling to the back of his head.

  Frustrated and scared, Abby ripped his clothes apart and searched his body. Bruises, ribcage exposed, scars, but he wasn’t actively bleeding anywhere. She gently felt the ribs, following them around his back; that’s when she noticed, his right ribs seemed like they had collapsed, they had an odd shape.

  “Luca, is it your ribs? Can you breathe?”

  Luca made a noise, but no words came out.

  “Luca! You have to answer me!”

  “Can’t… breathe.” Luca struggled to get the words out between the gurgling noises coming from his chest. Abby felt the panic rise. His lungs, something was squeezing them, maybe a bone from the ribs, or… or he could be drowning in his own blood.

  She gently flipped him over to the side, in an effort to clear the airways as best she could. The van wasn’t helping as they drove through the mountains. Everything was shaking, and it all added to the stress.

  “Brooke.”

  “Yes?” Abby leant forward, so she could hear him better.

  “I’m dying, it’s okay. Let me go.”

  “No! You can’t die! Not now!”

  “Brooke, babe, I want to. I’m all… messed up inside.”

  Tears streamed down her face, and she began sobbing loudly. “What did they do to you?”

  “Doesn’t,” he coughed, “doesn’t matter. I love you. Thank you.”

  “Don’t.” She could barely get the words out anymore; the sobbing took over, and she let her feelings out. She laid down next to Luca, facing him, and stroke her hand across his cheek. Behind all the hurt and pain, she could see his usual, warm and sweet, brown eyes. They smiled at her, and so did his dry, broken lips.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I’m sorry I failed to come earlier.”

  “You are so pretty.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  ***

  Abby gave Luca a kiss on his cheek before handing him over to get moved to the sick room. Like a zombie, she slowly walked amongst people running back and forth, carrying the wounded, shouting for assistance. She walked past the entrance of the bunker and continued towards the water, the sea below. Once standing on the cliff, she closed her eyes and allowed everything to start tormenting her. Fear, guilt, anxiety, sadness, grief, hurt. She collapsed onto the soft grass and stayed there, watching the stars in the sky as she cried.

  She thought of times with Luca, of how they had been dressed nicely, eating at a restaurant for middle-class citizens, putting the expensive wine on the credit card, not wanting anything to ruin the moment. She saw herself, in her black dress, smiling with red glossed lips at the man on the other end of the table. A man with brown, soft eyes and auburn hair. His shoulders wide, his body trimmed. They were perfect for each other, and she had felt that from the moment they met.

 

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