Chapter 5: Holly
HOLLY WOKE, showered, and did the short workout routine she had established, in the days since they arrived at the floating iron prison. That was what she thought of the ship they inhabited. Griffon had only come by twice since their arrival, and because there were no windows or port holes in her room, keeping track of days and nights was difficult. At least at the bunker, the lighting system was synced to signify daylight and nighttime hours. But in her iron prison, there was no way for her to tell day from night, and so time just blurred on. Jesse Sullivan was about the only person Holly saw on a regular basis, and he wasn’t the most pleasant person to deal with. She wasn’t sure what his issues were. There were moments of kindness from him, but they were rare and far between. He made it clear the last time she attempted conversation with him that he was not there for her personal entertainment. He was not her friend, nor would he ever be. When he had slammed the door shut behind him, Holly hit rock bottom. She felt so low and isolated and was still mourning the death of Jared and her friend Bubba. It got to the point where it was a struggle to even get off the stack of mattresses she slept on. But she was a fighter and pushed on, despite it all.
Jesse arrived with her next meal—all of which looked and tasted the same. She still couldn’t judge the time of day, so she was up and dressed, freshly showered for a second time, after her workout, and begging for something different.
“Please Jesse, this is ridiculous. At least tell Griffon I’d like to speak with him?”
“Holly, I ca—”
She cut him off. “Bullshit. Don’t lie to me. Just tell him I want to speak with him.”
“Fine. I’ll tell him. Now will you just eat? I think he’d take you more seriously if you actually ate something.”
She looked at him with surprise written all over her face. “What? Did Jesse Sullivan just offer a bit of advice?” She teased. He couldn’t hold back the smile, and she was shocked at the difference it made. He looked approachable, almost likable even. There was a certain boyish charm to him, and she suddenly thought he may be far younger than she had first suspected. “How old are you?”
Oops... nothing personal, she remembered. He shut down faster than she could blink. He was suddenly stone hard again with no signs of boy she had thought she’d glimpsed in him.
“I’ll tell him you want to see him.”
“And I’ll eat, if you answer my question.”
He groaned and wiped his hands over his face in frustration like she was the most incorrigible person on the planet. “I’m nineteen. Now eat. He’s really worried about you.”
She grinned, “So same age as me then. Who’d have thought that with all your frown lines and scowly face.” He softened and even gave a little laugh, shaking his head. “You know,” she continued, “it’s not that I’m being stubborn and not eating in defiance. And it’s not that I’m not hungry anymore, even. Actually, I’m starving. But seriously, this food sucks!”
He actually laughed out loud. “True, but it’s filling and provides all the nutrients you need to survive. Some old military shit they used to feed the troops with. I agree, it’s gross, but I’ve had worse.”
She scrunched her nose. “Really? I was literally starving to death on our last journey home. I gave every bite possible to my squad because food was so scarce, and even then I don’t think this would have been appetizing!”
“Just eat it” he scolded but nicely for once.
“Fine, I’ll do it, but only because you asked nicely.” She grinned, shoveled a mouthful of something unidentifiable, and choked it down as best she could. He stood and watched until he was satisfied that she was eating.
“Major Maynor will be happy for this report, for once.”
“What? You report what I’m doing to him?”
“Everything, everyday.”
“I’m sorry. That’s got to be a terribly boring job. Would you like me to attack you and try to escape so you have something exciting to report?” He glared at her. “Oh come on, I’m actually pretty good at it. And with all this, uh, nutrition?”—she didn’t sound convinced—“I’ll have more than enough strength to take you down.” He quirked an eyebrow, half in challenge, half in humor. It took everything in her power not to attack him just to prove her point.
“No offense, little girl, but there is no way you are getting past me.”
Holly glared at him. “Challenge accepted.” She smirked and held his stare while shoveling another mouthful of so called food in her mouth and trying desperately not to gag on it at the same time.
* * * * *
True to his word, Jesse relayed her request to Griffon and Holly was happy to see him comply.
“Holly? You’re feeling better?”
“If that means going stir-crazy in an iron cell, then yes.”
“And Jesse tells me you ate well today.”
“Correction, I ate crap today, but I did eat.”
Griffon smiled. “Come now, princess, not everyone within the Allied Nations is privy to the gourmet foods you’re accustomed to.”
Holly blushed, mostly in guilt because she knew it was the truth.
“So come on, give me something to do at least before I start causing trouble for Jesse.” She leaned in and whispered, “We have a little wager going, so don’t freak out when I show up missing later today.”
It was the first glimpse of his Holly that he had seen since before he chose to ally with the AMAN, but Griffon knew Jesse was watching the interaction and so he bit his cheek and tried not to grin. “Don’t go giving Jesse any trouble, you hear?” he tried to scold unconvincingly, but the gleam in his eyes told a different story.
“I’m two stories up in the command room if you manage to best him. But I’ll warn you, he’s good. Real good. Why do you think I’ve assigned him to you?”
“Again, challenge accepted.” Louder, she said, “You can go now,” but added, “but I’ll be seeing you later.”
“She’s feeling better today so you’ll need to keep a closer eye on her from now on,” he warned Jesse, who just snorted with indignation.
What neither of them knew was that Holly had already found two escape routes. One was through a drain in the floor of the bathroom. She wasn’t sure where it would lead her, but was certain she was small enough to fit and hide. She wasn’t confident she could actually escape and reach Griffon from there, but she was confident it would be enough to freak Jesse out, convincing him that she’d gotten away. And perhaps when he exhausted hiding places in her cell, he would move on to search other places, allowing her time to get out and make a run for it.
But the second and most logical way was that she had already managed to crack the lock on one of the two additional doors in the room. It led to a small storage room with another door off it. She was banking on that opening to another room similar to her own and it being empty during her escape. She knew she could also crack the final door off her room, but was certain it led directly to the hallway, and without a distraction, she’d be immediately caught that way.
The storage room seemed her safest option.
Judging by the spacing of meals, she assumed the one she just had would be considered breakfast, as it came after the longest stretch between meals. She would wait until after the second meal came. Dismiss him after a few bites, then make her move. He’d return shortly after for her tray, only to find her long gone. She was banking on anyone who might be using the room next to hers being busy with daily chores. It was risky, but she knew even if she was caught, it wouldn’t matter. Griffon already knew her plans. Heck, he might even step up security because of it, but she didn’t think he’d be angry about it.
She was growing impatient when Jesse finally brought her food. He brought his too, and sat and ate with her. It was something new, and she wondered if he had taken Griffon’s warning to heart. She tried to stay calm and keep up a constant prattle of questions that she knew would drive him insane. It seemed to work, because the second she shoved the last disgusting bite into her mouth, he was grabbing their trays and running for the door.
She moved to show she was laying down for awhile as he left the room, but the second the door closed behind him, she was off and running. As she suspected, it took her no time at all to break the second lock. Taking a deep breath and holding it, she slowly opened the door and peaked into the next room. Smiling triumphantly, she found much the same as she expected, except the room looked far more lived in than she thought it would.
Shutting the door behind her, she chose the second door, thinking it would be the farthest from Jesse’s station. Again, holding her breath, she slowly opened the door. She peeked out and found an empty hallway. She was surprised to find that there was a bend in the hallway that must have been at the storage room, so she could not see her own door from there.
Smiling to herself, she slipped out into the hallway, closed the door behind her, and took her chances to the right. It wasn’t long before she came to a staircase ladder of sorts and made her way up. She saw two men further down the way, but to her luck the stairs continued upward, so she quickly and quietly continued moving up, praying they didn’t see her. The next floor wasn’t going to be so easy, as there were several people walking about. She knew it was the floor Griffon said he’d be on. Noticing the classic AMAN clothing, she cursed herself for not thinking to change clothes to blend in.
As if she had conjured him up herself, a smaller man headed in her direction carrying duct tape of all things. Too easy, she thought to herself. She climbed back down to the lower, less occupied level and waited for him. Before he even saw her, she attacked, throat chopping him and grabbing the duct tape as he went down. She had him bound and gagged before the poor guy even knew what was happening. He thrashed around, and she apologized as he kicked him in the head as hard as she could and knocked him out. She undressed him and dressed herself, then dragged him across the now empty hall and stashed him in what appeared to be some sort of office.
The uniform was big on her, even though he was one of the smallest AMAN she had ever seen. She used the hat he was wearing to hide as much of her red hair as possible and then made her way back up the staircase. This time she kept her head low, put her shoulders back and walked purposefully towards the general area everyone seemed to be. It wasn’t long before she found him.
Griffon was standing in front of a map and giving orders to several dozen men, though for what, she wasn’t yet sure. She took a spot against the back wall, blending in with the men there. It was maybe two minutes later before Jesse came running in and interrupted the meeting. It took everything in her power not to laugh at the scene. While Griffon may have been laughing and reminding him he’d been warned, Jesse looked really pissed. Holly cringed thinking of the repercussions.
“She couldn’t have gone far, Sullivan. I told her to come find me on this floor if she got away from you.”
“It’s a big ship, sir, she could be anywhere.”
“You don’t know Holly Jenkins.” He was pacing some. “Okay, gentleman, seems we have an escape artist on our hands.”
“Sullivan can’t control one little girl?” Someone shouted to everyone’s laughter, as Jesse’s face showed even more anger. She cringed at the sight.
“Settle down, settle down. This isn’t any normal woman we’re dealing with. I’ve told you all that. And you know how important she is to us, so under no circumstance does anyone lay a finger on her, are we clear?”
“Yes sir!” Came a burst of voices surrounding her.
“Jesse, do you know how she got out?”
“Honestly, sir, I have no freaking clue!”
That caused a full belly laugh from Griffon, and Holly was glad she thought to lock the door to her room behind her. But at that moment, someone walked in half carrying the small man she had attacked who was still in nothing but his boxers and tee-shirt. Holly tried to puff her shoulders up to hide as much of her exposed face as possible. She wanted very much to quietly slip out, but thought it would draw too much attention.
“What’s this?”
“Sir, I found Jonesy duct taped and unconscious in my office a few minutes ago. From what I can get out of him he was jumped from behind and didn’t see his attacker.”
Jesse’s head whipped around to face Griffon, who had turned a little green. Holly knew her little escape fun had gone a little too far.
“Holly. Dammit. We’re going to need a full search unit to cover the ship. There’s no telling what she’s up to.”
“You think this is Holly’s doing?” Jesse laughed. “Major Maynor, that little girl has absolutely no fight in her.”
“Don’t underestimate her, Sullivan. I told you that. She’s more than she appears.”
“Oh please, Major. We all know she’s only here cause you want her. Period. I seen her when she came onboard. No way that little girl could jump Jonesy like that, and no way one person is capable of the shit storm you claim she caused out there.”
She slowly made her way to the front of the room. Everyone was so engrossed with the conversation up front that no one paid her any mind. Holly was heading for Jesse Sullivan, but at the insults of this newcomer, she changed her path. The man standing next to him was flipping a knife around in his hands watching. Holly smiled to herself.
No one noticed her at all as she grabbed the knife from the man with the big mouth and jumped on his back , placing the blade at his throat. He moved to throw her off, but she tightened her grip and dug it in just enough for him to get the message. They were all too shocked to react.
Griffon took his hat off and threw it down on the floor. “Dammit, Holly!”
“What?!? Holly!” Jesse demanded as she raised her head and gave him a devilish grin.
She jumped down holding the knife up in the air then opening her hand and allowing it to clank to the floor. She removed her hat and threw it down, too. Jaws would need to be picked up off the floor, and no one made a sound as they just stared at her in shock.
“Sorry, Jonesy. I didn’t think to grab a change of clothes till it was too late. I truly meant no harm. And you, big guy. You okay?” She asked the man she had just attacked at knife-point. He eyed her curiously but nodded and offered her his hand.
“No harm, no foul. And lesson learned. You are one badass little girl.”
She grinned and accepted his hand.
“Sullivan,” she said in her most Griffon like voice, “you were warned. And I told you I was sick of that room. Now give me something to do around here or take me home,” she said turning on Griffon.
Griffon looked irritated but he struggled to keep back a smile at her sheer audacity, and that was enough for the room to erupt in laughter.
* * * * *