The Fire -1-

-S1, Ep1: Chapter 4-

-Chapter 4: Scared-

Freddie now had his hand pressed against a towel on Earl's wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Or at least slow it down.

"Hang in there, Earl." Freddie said.

"What the hell'd you do that for?" Earl asked. "You can't save me or anyone else in here."

"I'm thinkin'." Freddie replied, looking at Richie, who was watching the other two female hostages.

"You better think fast." Earl said. "These bastards are lookin' to make a quick exit."

"I'm gonna try and get them to leave." Freddie said.

"The hell you say." Earl said. "I didn't get shot so these son-of-bitches could ride off into the sunset."

"Look, I know you're pissed, Earl, but if I don't get you to a hospital, I'm gonna burn in Ranger Hell." Freddie said. "Now, I got a plan, but we do this my way." Earl reluctantly nodded in agreeance. "Pete? How we doin'?"

"I'm doin'." Pete replied as he tried to open the safe again. "And I'm ready..." He pulled the door open and the safe was unlocked. "...to do."

Suddenly, Seth came out of the bathroom again, causing Pete to quickly pull the curtain across again and the dog to crawl closer the girl.

"How's the old man doing?" Seth asked, past the redheaded girl, the dog, Freddie and Earl.

"He needs medical attention." Freddie said.

"Yeah, well, I said you could fix him." Seth said, stopping and looking at the rangers. "That's all I said you could do."

"Well, that's not enough." Freddie said.

"You better knock it off, cowboy, or you're gonna die with that look on your face." Seth promised, about to walk away.

"He's a handful, isn't he?" Freddie asked, causing Seth to look at him again.

"Excuse me?" The Gecko asked.

"Your brother over there." Freddie answered, nodding to Richie. "Seems a little off his rocker."

"Oh, we gonna talk about my brother now?" Seth asked, getting defensive over his younger brother as he walked up to Freddie.

"He's like my partner here." Freddie explained. "He needs medical attention. Look if you wanna get outta here without something going sideways, you listen to me. Every law enforcement officer in the state's got their eyes on every roadway, every street crossing. Watching, waiting. We've already cased your car. It's burnt."

"Who says we're taking a car?" Seth asked.

"I don't care if you're taking a hot air balloon, now what I'm telling you is that I can clear you a path." Freddie replied. "Take me to my car, let the girl and her dog go, and I'll put a Gecko brothers sighting somewhere near El Paso. Throw them off your scent all together."

"And let you send them some kind of a code?" Seth asked. "This conversation's over."

"Look, just let me save this man's life!" Freddie demanded. "You don't want his death on your hands. That's a mistake."

"The only mistake that I've made is stopping my train of thought to listen to this bullshit." Seth said, about to walk away again.

"He's gonna kill someone else." Freddie said, stopping Seth again.

"No." Seth said, turning to the ranger and pointing his gun at him. "I am." Earl put his hand on Freddie's arm, causing Freddie to look down at his mentor.

"Back down, Frederico." Earl said.

"Listen to the old man." Seth said. "Now I catch you with your mouth open again and I'm gonna put a bullet in it." Seth uncocked his pistol and walked away to Richie, who was staring at the other two female hostages. "Richie." The younger brother didn't look at Seth, causing Seth to walk over to Richie more.

"They're spying on me." Richie said.

"What?" Seth asked.

"These girls were sent here to spy on me." Richie explained and then talked directly to the girls. "You think that I don't know?"

"Richie, look at me." Seth said, snapping his fingers to get his brother's attention. Richie stood up and looked at Seth. "Now we got some really good news. Carlos is sending somebody. This Carlos guy, he's from Mexico, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" Seth asked.

"So, how's he gonna get here?" Richie asked.

"He's sending a chopper across the street." Seth answered.

"Really?" Richie asked.

"This is a man with a very large operation, alright?" Seth explained. "He's got people all around."

"Yeah?" Richie asked. "So do we." Richie pointed his gun at the two girls. "These people: still here, alive, and in our way. What the hell are we doing, Seth?"

"Just relax." Seth said, grabbing a beer out of the refrigeration next to him. He took the cap off it and turned to his brother. "Have a cold one." Richie reached for it, but Seth pulled it away from his reach. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, why wouldn't I be okay?" Richie asked. Seth's cellphone rings before he could answer, and Seth passed the beer to Richie. Seth pulled out his phone and saw it was Carlos calling. He walked away to the bathroom again to answer it. As Richie takes a sip of the beer in his hand, he feels someone's eyes on him. He looks over and sees the redhead is staring at him. Realizing she had been caught, she quickly looks away and down at the dog's head in her lap. A smirk graces Richie's face and he walks over to the girl, causing Freddie's attention to be snagged away from his dying partner. The dog growls softly, letting Richie know he's getting too close to the thing the dog's protecting. Richie kneels down in front of the girl, but she refuses to meet his eyes.

"I know you're scared." Richie says, his voice causing her to tense up and her hands to grab onto her upper arms. "I know you think that no one's gonna get out of this alive. And you're right." She looked up at him now, her ocean blue eyes stunning him with beauty. "No one's gonna get out of this alive...except you." Now she was stunned by his words. Seeing the shock in her features, Richie smiled and stood up. He walked away, leaving the girl alone to think about what he meant.