Trapped

Chapter 17

            Trinity reached up and took Gabe’s wrist in one hand and looped her fingers underneath the collar.  Closing her eyes, she breathed out and her arm shook.

            “Trinity, no,” Gabe said.

            “I take this off, I am dead.  You now have nothing that will stop you from increasing your odds at surviving this.” She said. “All I have to do is pull it off and he activates the cyanide capsule.  Now, there’s nothing to stop you from escaping.  You’ll move so much faster without dragging my dead weight around.”

            “Trinity, I didn’t kill you twelve hours ago, I am not going to leave you here to die twelve hours from now and I will be damned if you kill yourself now to make it easier for me.  Until your heart stops beating and you are no longer breathing, you are not dead weight.  Do you understand that?  No matter what happens in the next twenty four hours, until you are dead and cold, you are not dead weight.” Gabe said pulling his wrist out of her grip.  He took her face in his hands and held it still.

            “Okay, I understand,” she nodded and he motioned down the hall.

            “Twenty four hours left, you ready to get out alive?”

            “Yeah,” Trinity nodded and they set off.  Dan walked ahead of Trinity, he dictated their path and over the next twenty-four hours, they got as close as they could to any possible exit.  As the forty-eighth hour passed the man came back.

            “Mr. Richard’s, Ms. Vega, it’s been forty eight hours and you are still inside the Testing Grounds.  Why is that?”

            “Because this maze of yours in a jackass and unable to be finished.” Gabe said.

            “Well, you know what that means and I think it is time you met the Exterminators.” The man said and three men turned the corner, one carried a bulletproof riot shield and two carried assault weapons.  Trinity instantly dropped down and motioned for Gabe to hang back.

            “What are you doing?” he hissed.  Trinity stayed low and rolled toward the riot shield.  The man planted the riot shield on the ground, she planted one foot on it, stepped up about halfway, forcing him to bend over, bashing his head on the end of the riot shield, she hooked her arm around his neck and drew a Glock.

            Firing two shots at the men with assault weapons and broke the neck of the one she was holding.  Laying his body down on the ground, Trinity stood up and closed her eyes.

            “If that is the best your Exterminator’s can do, I don’t think we will have a problem.” Trinity said and Gabe walked over to her.  Resting his hand on her shoulder, she opened her eyes and her breath caught in her throat as everything came rushing back to her.

            Her entire life hit her like a freight train.  Gabe held her as her knees gave out and she grabbed his shirt.  She shook for a few minutes before her body stopped moving.

            “I’m a monster,” she said.

            “You did what you needed to do to survive.” Gabe whispered in her ear.

            “And that involved killing people.”

            “Would you have preferred to been a prostitute?  Someone bitch?” Gabe asked  putting it in perspective for Trinity.   She shook her head as a tear streaked down her face.  She wrapped her arms around Gabe slowly, sobbing into his shirt.  Gabe held her as she sobbed.