Dylan
I stare at the screens.
It’s fucking risky, but it’s got to be done. Sure, we can stay in here—but then what? The cabin is on fire. and it’ll take a while for the heat to subside for us to exit the way we came in.
What’s more, I want to get the fuckers who are doing this to Emma, to us.
We need to get out, and I need to go after them and stop them.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Emma. It seems to finally be sinking in that we’re not going to die in this room. Although she still looks a bit, I don’t know, overwhelmed.
I guess it’s a lot to take in. One minute, we’ve had the most amazing fuck, and the next, she stumbles upon my secret lair and spy equipment.
Pity I don’t keep more stuff stocked up down here. A bit of food, water, spare clothes, and weapons would come in really fucking handy right now.
But of course, over time, I let my guard down. Never let your guard down, first rule of combat. And what the fuck had I done?
Not to worry. I rummage around the drawers and shelves in the hope of finding something useful. A stick of dynamite would be fucking awesome. I’ve got visions getting out of our hideout and me running down the mountain to get ahead of these bloodsuckers and throwing a dynamite stick their way. The car would be blown up.
Sure, the bad guys would not fare too well, but hey, they’ve just killed us. At least that is what they fucking think.
In one of the drawers, I find a torch. Now here’s something useful.
“Ready?” I turn to Emma. She is huddled on the bottom step with Boss. The bear can obviously sense the danger and is keeping close to Emma.
Wide eyed, she stares at me. The light’s on, but no one’s at home.
“For what?”
“Action, babe,” I smile at her and stretch out my hand.
“I don’t—” she stops.
“We’re going to get out of here and stop those evil men from leaving our mountain.”
I fucking mean it. Those guys aren’t going to leave us here to die. Justice must be done, one way or another.
As I’ve been watching the monitors for our way out and thinking on a plan, I realized how evil these men are. They’re prepared to kill not just one, but both of us. All in the name of profit for the fat suckers at the top, not the workers at the bottom of the pile.
It’s got to stop.
It sickens me. A punch in the gut from a giant would be no more painful than the realization of what the fuck has happened to the business I once helped build up. Those at the top will go to any lengths to make sure their yearly wage stays in the eight-figure margin.
How much does one person really need? Once you have a few million, do you need to keep making more and more? And when do you stop?
“But how?” Emma slowly gets to her feet. Boss is hanging on tight and doesn’t want be put on the ground.
“I’ve got a plan, babe,” I explain. “But first, let’s get out of here.”
I take her by the hand and lead her to the very back of the room, where I move a silver filing cabinet out of the way.
Behind it is another door. This one is hobbit-sized. I open it and crawl through it.
In my right hand, I’m holding the torch. Once I’m through, I stand up and light the way for Emma.
When she’s through, I go and shut the door again. Old habits die-hard. I don’t want someone to find us, should they get into my secret lair. You never know.
I attach a lock and am doubly sure that, at the very least, I’ll have considerably slowed down anyone stupid enough to follow us.
“What’s this place?” Emma asks, and I see her pivot on her heals.
“Think of it as the centre of a maze,” I explain. “There are four different ways to leave from here. Each one comes out at a different spot, depending on the reason for the quick exit strategy.”
Emma shakes her head. “You planned for these guys to come here and kill you?”
“No. I built these exit ways just in case something happens. You’ve got be prepared for all kinds of eventualities,” I explain and take her by the hand.
“Now come on, let’s get out of here.”
The walk is no picnic in the park. Our path is narrow, damp, and in places, we have to duck right down. Baby bear has to come to terms with having to walk himself.
Emma doesn’t complain once, and I stop occasionally to check on her and make sure she’s okay.
It’s been a while since I’ve taken any of my emergency exit tracks, and I can’t recall how long before we’ll get to the cave where this particular path ends.
On and on, we walk.
“Are you sure we’re on the right track?” Emma asks and stops. She sounds a little out of breath.
I don’t want to alarm her, and so I nod.
“Of course, Em,” I inject all the confidence into those words I can muster.
Truth is, I’m starting to fucking worry myself. Did I make a mistake? Is this a path with no end, simply leading us deeper and deeper into the mountain?
It’s possible, but not likely.
“Won’t be much longer,” I promise and move on.
Behind me, I hear Emma follow before there’s another sound.
The sound of her footstep stops, and before I turn around, I know she’s fallen.
“Emma,” I call out and rush to her side. “You okay? Say something.”
“Something,” mutters Emma and tries to sit up.
“Funny, ha ha.” I shine the torch over. “Where are you hurt?”
“Everywhere.”
She wipes dirt out of her face, and Boss stares at her with big brown eyes.
“Can you stand? What happened?”
I grab beneath her arms and lift her up. She grimaces when her left foot touches the ground.
“I think it’s my ankle.”
She stares at it.
“Let me take a look.”
I bend down to take her foot gently out of the boot. Instantly, I can see the swelling and the bruising.
“Looks like a sprain.”
“With the dim light, I tripped over something,” Emma explains and leans against me.
“I can carry you.” I offer. It will be difficult, but somehow I’ll manage.
“I’m fine,” Emma insists and starts to limp off.
Boss is hot on her heels.
“I’ll stay behind you this time.”
I shine the torch ahead of us.
Where the fuck is the exit? Surely, it must be around here somewhere. How long have we been walking? Maybe fifteen minutes?
If only I didn’t take my watch off, we’d not only have the time, but a compass as well.
I sigh. Fucking bastards.
I decided to start counting to five hundred, and if we haven’t reached the exit point by then, I’ll have to go to plan B.
Right now, I’ve got no fucking idea what plan B is, but hey, there’s always a plan B.
By the time I’m at four hundred and sixty five, I’m starting to worry. When I get to five hundred, I shake my fucking head.
Something’s wrong.
“I can see it,” shouts Emma, and I look up. Sure enough, a faint light is ahead of us. Emma even manages to up her speed a little, limp faster and Boss has found his confidence again and is leaping ahead of us toward the outside.
“What are you doing?” Emma looks at me as I prepare to leave her here.
“I’m going to go after them and stop them once and for all.”
I turn to her. I don’t hide my fucking worry.
“You can’t.” She’s starting to sound hysterical. “They’ve got guns, Dylan. I don’t want to lose you.”
Emma starts sobbing.
I walk up to her and grab her by the shoulders. My right index finger lifts her chin so she’s got to look at me. “You’re not going to lose me.”
Emma sobs and sniffs. “Promise?”
I nod. “Promise.”
My mouth finds hers. We melt into each other, and I can feel her fingernails dig into my arms. Like someone drowning, she’s clutching onto me for dear life.
When I pull back, tears stream down her face.
“I love you,” she whispers. I wipe away her tears.
“I love you, too.”
For a moment, we stand there and stare at each other. Briefly, for about a microsecond, I’m thinking of abandoning my mission to go after these guys and stay here with Emma. But what would that achieve? Absolutely fucking nothing.
Once they find out we’re not dead, they’ll go after us again.
“I’ll be careful,” I whisper and turn to go. “You and Boss stay here.”
I feel her eyes on me all the way out of the cave and long after I can’t see her anymore.