Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

14.2|| At the Gates

Kyle moved from the branch to a lower one, then managed to scramble into the next tree. He wouldn't climb down if he could avoid it, and three trees later, he was proud of his progress. There was no way Snitch Gravel's men would find him.

He froze in his tracks. The sound of crunching leaves reached him. Kyle crouched on his branch and peeped through the leaves, towards the base of the tree. Jimmy was pacing around the trunk, his hands behind his back.

"What the hell are you doing? Inviting capture?"

Jimmy jumped violently, looking from left to right. Kyle rolled his eyes and jumped down from the tree.

"Where...?" Jimmy asked confused.

"I was in the tree. I've been getting around a bit less obvious than you. Well, anyway, I'm glad I found you."

Jimmy hit his forehead. "I'm such an idiot. Anyway, what took you so long to get here?"

"I hung back a little to see what happens to Tom. They sent a party out for us and they came back empty handed, no surprise there, but afterwards, Ron joined the fun."

"Ron?" Jimmy asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"I have no clue, but he seemed pretty pissed off that Tom was in such a lousy shape. Which is a good thing. I have no idea why I still trust that scumbag even if we know he's working for Snitch Gravel." It was maybe that hidden memory he couldn't access that made him believe Ron wouldn't actually hurt them.

"How's Tom? Could you tell?"

"No. He's not dead, because he moved. And that's a lot, given the circumstances. And they'll keep him alive to get us there," Kyle replied, taking his rucksack off. "Anyway, right now we're in a bit more trouble than Tom is..."

"And why's that?" Jimmy asked surprised.

"Because Snitch Gravel will feed and water Tom. We're pretty much stuck out here without food or water since all that stuff is in Jerry's backpack and Jerry's not here."

"Okay, that is a problem," Jimmy agreed.

Kyle sunk his hand inside the rucksack, looking for a signaling gun, but all he could find so far were tent pieces. "Damn Jerry and his rearrangement of the luggage! I can't find anything!"

"That's not your rucksack, anyway," Jimmy said.

"I know, mine was full of weapons." Kyle smiled humorlessly and grabbed Jimmy's rucksack, searching that one, too. His hand finally closed around the handle.

"What are you looking for anyway?"

"This!" he said victoriously, taking out a signaling gun. "The fastest and safest way to find the others."

*

Sam stopped running as soon as the army next to the fence became invisible, and signaled for the others to hide in the bushes. Everyone did, and for the next hour, they kept low, making sure no one would come out looking for them. They heard leaves rustling a couple of times, but no one came their way.

After fifteen minutes of total silence, Sam came out of his bush and looked around. This was a good place to set up camp. Pretty secluded, yet close enough to the labs. He indicated that the others could come out and start setting up camp.

As he worked on his tent, Sam could only think about Tom and how he'd jumped on Von Crooken's back to save him, how he'd been tossed into the electric fence again. His only small solace was that he knew Tom wasn't dead. He was sure he would've felt it.

He had no idea what had happened and when, but his mind was clearer than it had been for over a week. The heaviness in his chest was gone, and the annoying pain in his head and burn in his throat had finally disappeared. He couldn't believe all the things he'd done and said.

"Are you done?" Jerry asked warily.

Sam jumped and looked over his shoulder at him. Jerry stood next to Jim, Angie and Billy, all of them watching him expectantly, mild annoyance on their faces.

Sam sighed. "I'm the biggest idiot in the world. I can't believe all those things I've said to Tom. I didn't even mean any of them."

Jim, Jerry and Billy no longer frowned, but tilted their heads curiously.

"Tom was acting a bit odd, too," Jerry said fairly.

"Tom was just a little bit more selfish than he usually is. I was a walking, talking... asshole. God, Kyle was right!" Sam started pacing, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Sam, watch your mouth," Jerry said instantly.

"Thank you!" Finally, Jerry was back to normal.

Sam completed another lap, opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped when he noticed Angie looking away from him pointedly. "Is something wrong, Angie?"

"No, I totally agree with you. You've been the biggest asshole ever!" she replied, angrily, still looking away from him. "I can't believe you actually left Tom back there. I'm wondering if you didn't do it on purpose. It would be so like you."

"Finally!" Sam said relieved, causing all eyes to turn to him. "I was so sick of you always taking my side. Why on earth did you do it? I haven't said one decent thing to any of you since getting on this side of the canyon."

"I..." Angie bit her lip and seemed to be seriously considering his question. "We were both acting up, so I thought maybe crazy should stick together. I don't know!" She clutched her head. "I can't believe how awful I've been towards Tom. What if they've killed him already?"

"No, Snitch Gravel wants him alive until he gets all of us there," Sam said waving away Angie's words.

"Can I dare hope we're all back to normal?" Jerry asked quietly.

Sam squinted at him, wondering, hoping that he was right. "You've been back to normal for a while now."

Jerry shrugged, but nodded. Billy pointed to himself and Sam felt like a complete moron again. Now that he stopped to think about it, most of the others had shaken off the toxic water faster than him. It would explain why Jimmy didn't leave him bleeding on the floor of the stone house, or why Jerry had turned back to his shy self.

But was Tom back to normal? Had he attacked his twin while he was himself? The question nagged at him, like nails permanently hammered into his chest, biting into him with every breath he took.

"Let's hope so," he finally said. His blissfully clear mind started spinning as it always did when there was action to be taken. "We need to reorganize the luggage and make a battle plan."

"What about the others?" Angie asked.

"I still hope against hope that Kyle, Jimmy and Tom will appear, but we can't waste time. If they won't, we need a good plan to bust them out. And for that, I need to see exactly what's available."

The others seemed invigorated by the idea of a plan and hurried to retrieve the rucksacks. Sam looked to the darkening sky, praying with all his might that he'd get the chance to apologize to Tom.

AN: Yay, update! I mentioned it would be short and probably less than satisfying. But I have a surprise! And I'm not saying what it is because then it wouldn't be a surprise. ;)

Hope you enjoyed this tiny chapter and don't forget to vote and comment. See you soon.