sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs - sᴄᴏᴏᴘ ᴛʀᴏᴏᴘ (ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɴᴏ. 1)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴᴏ. ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ

"You know," Mia panted. "A break would be really nice right now."

"I don't think evil Russians let people have those." Dustin replied.

As they ran, they all experienced intense déjà vu. Weren't they all doing basically the same exact thing like 20 minutes ago? God, this was way too much.

And not just for Steve, not just for Dustin.

This was was too much for everyone.

Getting chased, kidnapped, almost murdered, escaping, and chased again by Russians all in one day. Was that even possible?

If not, it was now.

Dustin looked over his shoulder and realized there was a Russian that seemed a little too close too Steve. He took a double take to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

He wasn't.

The Russian was right on top of him.

"Steve!" Dustin yelled, stopping in his tracks. He pointed to the Russian behind him.

Before Steve could turn around, the Russian grabbed him. One tight arm around his chest and arms, making it impossible to break free.

And a tighter arm around his throat.

This didn't phase Steve for a second. He was too busy keeping his friends safe. He didn't even try to struggle. Without thinking, Steve determinedly tried to kick the soldier in the legs, but failed. His feeling of power and determine instantly change to fear when he realized:

He couldn't breathe.

It had finally hit him that this guy was trying to kill him, and this time, he was making everyone watch.

Steve instantly went into panic mode, scratching and punching at the man's arms. This didn't help. He doug his nails into the man's arms and scratched again. Hard.

Yet still, it didn't help.

His chest hurt and he could just feel his face turning purple. He soon started to become light headed, his punching and scratching getting weaker and weaker by the second.

He knew this was it.

His friends watched in horror and pain as Steve struggled and struggled to free himself. What could they do?

Something suddenly changed in Alex. She had this feeling. This really, really, really angry feeling. Like, rage, but even more than that. Her instincts were telling her to do something. But should she do it?

It was either do it now, or let Steve die.

Screw it.

She ran up the the Russian that held a weak and helpless Steve.

She balled her hands into a fist and let her adrenaline to the rest.

She punched the Russian in the face with every single ounce of strength that she had. It felt like it was going in slow motion, like a movie.

Her fist finally hit the Russian, sending him tumbling to the ground. He dropped Steve, who also hit the ground with a thud.

Steve gasped and choked for air, still on the ground. His purple-red face changed back into his normal pinkish white. The Scoops Troop ran over to him as Alex helped him up.

"C'mon," she said as she watched the Russian man stir on the ground. They jogged away from the Russian, and found Steve's car (which was still surprisingly there.)

The Troop hopped into the car. With Alex in the driver's seat, Steve in the passengers, Robin, Dustin and, Erica in the back, and Dom, and Mia in the truck.

"You okay?" Alex whispered with empathetic eyes.

Steve rubbed his hand up and down his throat, still in pain. "Sure." He horsley replied.

Even though everyone was shook and scared, they all shared a feeling of relief, knowing that everyone was together.